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A dysfunctional tech company plagued by its own CEO

Senior Engineer
Current Employee
Has worked at Nvidia for 6 years
September 24, 2014
Santa Clara, California
2.0
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookDoesn't Approve of CEO
Pros

Good financial compensation.

Good perks on campus, including a well-managed cafeteria and daily amenities such as dental care, car repair, bicycle maintenance, and haircuts. It's not free, but it makes it easy to get certain regular tasks done without disrupting your day.

High stress, fast-paced environment will mold you into a rock star at your next company.

Cons

Offices are outdated. Employees work on sub-standard computers. Almost everything about the company's spending habits indicates that it's not just frugal but cheap.

Departments are universally understaffed and overworked, so expect to work overtime. The environment drives away talent and encourages success to leave to find better working conditions.

Executive management is out of touch with reality in general. All employees are likely to suffer from direct micro-management by the CEO sooner or later.

The worst part about NVIDIA is that the CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, is wildly insecure, a slave to his own volatile emotions, and universally abusive of his staff. He is prone to yelling and name-calling in meetings and will personally lead witch hunts. These are made worse by the universal desire of senior management to distract him from their own political in-fighting.

He will publicly demean others and has made it impossible to form a larger, cohesive team within the company.

The internal reputation of Jensen (as he is referred to within the industry) is very poor. While he is well respected for his intellectual capacity, he is also feared and loathed for his mean-spirited, personal attacks and for being completely unapproachable.

Advice to Management

Plan more, do more market research, expand teams by a modest amount, and evaluate employee recognition. Improve communication between departments through team building. Consider letting employees work off-site to avoid direct contact with the CEO's toxic behavior.

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