Jensen Huang says Nvidia's first working day was "February 17th, my birthday in 1993"

Jensen Huang’s recollection of Nvidia’s first working day links it to his date of birth in 1993. Speaking on Sequoia Capital’s Crucible Moments podcast, the co-founder placed that start in the same year he, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem met at a Denny’s in East San Jose to discuss a chip for realistic 3D graphics on personal computers. Their first product, the NV1, was sent back almost entirely—roughly 249,000 of 250,000 units—and the startup nearly collapsed. A $5 million Sega investment in 1995 provided about six months of runway, according to The Next Web, and the 1997 RIVA 128 helped turn the business around before its January 1999 IPO. Nvidia was valued at about $4.94 trillion as of Oct. 30, 2026.