This post was going to be titled “can you take yourself too seriously?” until I listened to Jensen Huang’s Dwarkesh Podcast interview. For the uninitiated, Jensen is the CEO of Nvidia, the most valuable company in human history, which makes GPUs, the computer chips fueling the AI revolution.

Dwarkesh, the eponymous host of the podcast, asked Jensen why (besides the $$$) he is in favor of reducing export restrictions on GPUs to China, suggesting it might lead to the US losing the race for AGI (artificial general intelligence, basically “Super AI”) & that the Chinese would steal Nvidia’s IP, like they did to Tesla cars.

Jensen then responded with one of the most memeable quotes of the 21st century:

And yes, it’s even funnier in the video:

This interview has led to some of my favorite commentary of 2026. For one, some (mostly young) people asserted Jensen is less intelligent than his 25-year-old interviewer:

Jensen has been incredibly consistent in this role. Here’s a talk from 2007 he gave with Morris Cheng, Founder and CEO of TSMC. “I tried to call Morris, I just didn’t get a phone call back,” he laments in a sarcastically-wimpy tone (22:50).

In particular, dialogue like the below has confirmed my suspicion: Jensen is so successful because he is so disarmingly charming. He plays this classic “Asian little brother” role incredibly well, so well that even people he is worth 100x more than still refer to him with affectionate condescension. His public affect allows people above and below him to continue underestimating him.

Case in point: This picture from October. Jensen tossed Samsung around like a rag doll throughout 2025, and Lee Jae-yong (Samsung Electronics CEO) looks like a proud siblings on his 21st birthday! They are genuinely having fun and seem like very old friends. (Side note: This is what life is about.)²  

Although he plays the role of a scrappy but thoughtful underdog well, Jensen is also clearly a killer. Aside from the stories we’ve all heard about him raising his voice, there are moments where anyone who’s been exposed to greatness can instantly recognize killer instinct in another person.

This is exemplified perfectly when Dwarkesh tries to change the subject after Jensen passionately defends his position with a calm but raised pitch. Jensen, with completely loose shoulders and a gentle grin on his face, says, “You don’t have to move on, I’m enjoying it.” Then, he—not one, but twice—looks Dwarkesh up and down with his eyes, like a heavyweight prizefighter who just got swung on by a drunk at a bar.

This reminded me of my favorite Kobe Bryant story¹ , when Dwyane Wade calls to apologize for breaking Kobe’s nose and Kobe simply says, “I love it,” before dropping 33 points in a Lakers victory. Wade, a hyper-competitive Hall of Famer himself, is clearly still shaken by Kobe’s killer instinct. When Wade tells the story, his voice deepens to Batman-levels of raspy and his face contorts into an audacious scowl.

Early in my career, someone told me, “Being great is just eating shit longer than anyone else until you succeed.” I truly believe that, and Jensen survived and outlasted everyone else in the eating shit era.

He gives anecdotes suggesting as such in the podcast, like when he said Nvidia had the “precisely wrong” graphics architecture. He didn’t just overcome slightly better competition, he survived with the exact opposite of what the market wanted, long enough that the market could only use him.

Regarding the podcast episode, I will first note that Jensen is the CEO of a publicly-traded company upon which the entire world economy depends, so he can’t exactly speak freely. Second, I’m inclined to agree with writer Sherry Ning:

We are living in what I call the “Well, Actually…” Generation, where TikTok-clippable one-upmanship is temporarily overpowering persistence. I don’t think that lasts.

Oddly enough, Jensen has been telling the same “precisely wrong” story since at least 2009. Well before he was signing chests and sporting leather jackets, Jensen knew he was a killer. It only took 15+ years for others to realize it, too.

Now, let’s get to what I had originally written for this week:

After a few months of being laser-focused on my career development, I’m coming up for air. I realized something needed to change when my coworker, a benefit of my recent single-mindedness, told me, “I think you might be too locked in.” When I asked why, he said, “You used to be a lot smoother. None of your jokes this week were funny.”

Readings

As a result, I’ve read some fascinating Substacks recently:

First, a really fascinating breakdown of the Chinese phrase “人家 (ren-jia)”, meaning “other people.” 

Chinese friends, I’d love to know if this interpretation rings true/is culturally or linguistically accurate, or if I just exposed myself as a member of the cut fruit diaspora by buying into some English-major-level BS.

Second, a profile of Jasmine Sun, a writer in Silicon Valley who has become quite famous in SF with a recent NYT Sunday front page and a new gig at The Atlantic. There’s an interesting telling detail how she selectively talks fast (which I wrote about a few months ago, see link).

I have a soft spot for profiles, especially ones where it is clear the author has real admiration for the subject and the subject is clearly obsessed with mastering their craft. A transparent appreciation for Robert Caro (why else would you quote Lyndon B. Johnson?) is always a plus.

Third, a weird essay about a sardonic substack writer named Worst Boyfriend Ever, who lives in a van and chronicles his sexcapades with women. The linked essay is a reflection on why someone like WBE can develop a following. Reader discretion advised:

The most interesting assertion in this essay, to me, is quoted above: that respect has become gendered, and that male-coded respect is somehow preferable to female-coded respect.

I find this especially curious because the idea and embodiment of girlhood seems far richer and more affecting than those of boyhood or manhood. (What even is the standout trait of manhood? Toxicity? Sports? A lack of grudges, except when grudges inexplicably ruin decades-long friendships, a la The Banshees of Inisherin?)

Female friendships seem far more nuanced than male friendships. In my experience, women are more attuned to reality than men. So why doesn’t respect from women mean more than respect from men? Maybe the perceived simplicity of male interpersonal dynamics is considered a feature, not a bug? To be loved simply is to be loved unchangingly?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Until next time,

Sam

1  This is probably my only positive thought associated with Kobe Bryant. The short essay “I Can’t Let Kobe Go” by Tara Menon unpacks this (from the opposite POV, reluctance to de-pedestalize) better than I ever could.

2  Side Note 2: This camaraderie also seems well-deserved. Jensen mentions on the podcast that he always honors his word when it comes to pricing his GPUs. That is much appreciated by customers in upswings like this (when Jensen could charge more), and I’m sure it’s appreciated by suppliers like Samsung in downswings (when buyers regularly try to renegotiate pricing downwards).