As they were preparing to leave Nvidia, David Hoeller and Nikita Rudin anxiously hopped on a late-night call with their CEO.
The two had spent years working on robotics at the chip giant, pushing the boundaries of simulation and helping pull off a demo in which CEO Jensen Huang took the stage with a coterie of humanoids.
The pair wanted more freedom to bring that technology into the real world and left in 2024 to found Flexion Robotics, a startup building robot intelligence.
As they dialed in from a conference in Munich, Huang didn't try to talk them out of leaving, though he did have one problem with their startup: its intended name, Checkpoint.
"He told us that the name was bad, and that we had to change it," Rudin said, adding that they'd heard from others that the name sounded like it belonged in a different industry. "I don't want to give him all the credit, but we probably changed it because of his comment."
Huang also warned them about the long road ahead.
"His message was, 'We don't realize how tough a journey it's going to be,'" Rudin said.
Flexion's experience offers a glimpse into how Huang counsels some departing founders: with encouragement and little sugarcoating. That directness extends through Nvidia's culture, where Huang is known for cutting through management layers and personally weighing in on everything from employee output to customer complaints.
Flexion's relationship with Nvidia didn't end there. Nvidia later invested in the Zurich-based company, which is now expanding into the US, having recently opened a San Francisco office and hired researchers from companies like Meta. In total, it has raised more than $57 million.
Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment.
Founders say Jensen Huang gives 'honest feedback'
For Bing Xu, Huang's parting advice was more personal.
Xu joined Nvidia after it acquired his first startup in 2024. He left earlier this year — walking away from a potentially life-changing sum of Nvidia equity, he said — to build another startup called INT21, which uses AI to improve chip software.
After Xu shared his plans, Huang spent two hours with him and other Nvidia executives discussing his work and trying to convince him to stay.
Huang also offered a pointed critique. He said communication was Xu's biggest weakness and that it could limit his achievements. Xu had a tendency to assume others shared his technical knowledge, making his explanations difficult to follow — and Huang suggested that staying at Nvidia would be a better path, he recalled.
"This is the most honest feedback I had in the past 10 years about myself," said Xu, who now works with a public relations firm. "I didn't think my communication would be such a big problem, but when Jensen told me, I decided I could take this opportunity to become a better version of myself."
The conversation wasn't all tough love. Xu said he was dealing with high blood pressure and other health issues at the time, and Huang encouraged him to take time off and rest.
He viewed both the concern and criticism as evidence that Huang wanted him to succeed.
Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at gweiss@bjinnox.com or Signal at @geoffweiss.25. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.
