As they prepared to depart Nvidia, David Hoeller and Nikita Rudin nervously joined a late-night call with their CEO.
The duo had dedicated years to robotics at the semiconductor giant, advancing simulation frontiers and helping execute a demo where CEO Jensen Huang shared the stage with a group of humanoid robots.
Seeking greater autonomy to commercialize that technology, they exited in 2024 to launch Flexion Robotics, a startup developing robot intelligence.
Dialing in from a Munich conference, Huang didn’t attempt to dissuade them from leaving, though he took issue with their planned startup name, Checkpoint.
“He told us that the name was bad, and that we had to change it,” Rudin recalled, noting they’d heard similar feedback that the name evoked a different sector. “I don’t want to give him all the credit, but we probably changed it because of his comment.”
Huang also cautioned them about the arduous path ahead.
“His message was, ‘We don’t realize how tough a journey it’s going to be,'” Rudin said.
Flexion’s experience reveals how Huang mentors some departing founders: with encouragement but minimal sugarcoating. That bluntness permeates Nvidia’s culture, where Huang is known for bypassing management layers and personally weighing in on matters ranging from employee performance to customer grievances.
Flexion’s ties to Nvidia didn’t end there. Nvidia later invested in the Zurich-based firm, which is now expanding into the US, having recently opened a San Francisco office and recruited researchers from companies like Meta. In total, it has secured more than $57 million in funding.
Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment.
<h2>Founders say Jensen Huang gives ‘honest feedback'</h2>
For Bing Xu, Huang’s parting counsel was more personal.
Xu joined Nvidia after it acquired his first startup in 2024. He departed earlier this year — forgoing a potentially life-changing amount of Nvidia equity, he said — to build another venture called INT21, which leverages AI to enhance chip software.
After Xu outlined his plans, Huang spent two hours with him and other Nvidia executives reviewing his work and attempting to persuade him to remain.
Huang also delivered a pointed critique. He identified communication as Xu’s primary weakness and warned it could constrain his accomplishments. Xu tended to assume others possessed his technical expertise, making his explanations hard to follow — and Huang suggested staying at Nvidia might be the wiser path, Xu recalled.
“This is the most honest feedback I had in the past 10 years about myself,” said Xu, who now collaborates 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 solely tough love. Xu said he was grappling with high blood pressure and other health concerns at the time, and Huang urged him to take time off and recover.
He viewed both the concern and criticism as proof that Huang wanted him to succeed.
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