In 1993, Nvidia cofounders Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem sketched out their vision for a chip company over coffee at a Denny’s. More than three decades later, the company has grown into one of the world’s most valuable businesses, boasting a roughly $4.7 trillion market capitalization as demand for its AI chips has skyrocketed.
Now, Huang believes the technology Nvidia helped build has created an even bigger opportunity for the next generation of entrepreneurs.
“This is absolutely the single greatest time to start a company,” Huang said this week at Y Combinator’s Startup School 2026, in conversation with its CEO Garry Tan.
Huang, who is 63, added he was “jealous” of the opportunity ahead for young founders. While the pace of technological change can feel intimidating, Huang argued that overthinking is often the biggest obstacle and encouraged entrepreneurs to approach any challenge with one simple question: “How hard can it be?”
“Let the suffering come to you a little bit at a time,” Huang said. “Don’t imagine how hard it’s going to be and let all of that turn into anxiety and not doing something about it. You want to imagine in your head, ‘How hard can it be?’”
