Jensen Huang believes the path to success isn't finding work you love, but learning to love the work itself. The Nvidia CEO shared this philosophy with Shiv Rao, CEO of healthcare AI startup Abridge, during a late-night phone call that became a turning point in how the founder approaches his role.

Rao, a cardiologist who cofounded Abridge in 2018, reached out to Huang for guidance on a challenge he was facing. Nvidia is an investor in Abridge, which makes tools for transcribing and summarizing patient visits. When Huang called back at midnight on his way home, Rao was struck by the immediacy of the response and the depth of the conversation that followed.

What Did Huang Actually Tell Rao?

The core of Huang's advice was deceptively simple: "Your job is to fall in love with whatever the job is. That is something you can do, and you can convince yourself". This message flipped conventional wisdom on its head. Most career advice tells people to find work aligned with their passions. Huang inverts that logic, suggesting the real skill is learning to love what you're already doing.

For Rao, this meant embracing aspects of the founder role he initially resisted. One specific example was constant travel. Five years earlier, Rao said he would have rejected the idea of "living on an airplane" as part of his job. But as Abridge scaled, the work required it. Rather than fighting this reality, Rao applied Huang's lesson: he bent his mindset to love the travel itself, viewing it as essential to the company's growth.

Rao, this meant embracing aspects of the founder role he initially resisted

"One of the lessons for me that day was your job is to fall in love with whatever the job is. That is something you can do, and you can convince yourself," said Rao, reflecting on Huang's advice.

Shiv Rao, CEO of Abridge

How to Apply Huang's Philosophy to Your Own Work

• Reframe Resistance: When you encounter a task or responsibility you dislike, ask yourself whether it's truly misaligned with your values or simply unfamiliar. Huang's approach suggests many dislikes are mental barriers you can overcome through intentional mindset shifts.
• Find Meaning in the Details: Huang has said he loved being a dishwasher, busboy, and paper delivery person because he focused on doing those jobs well. Apply this by finding pride and purpose in the specific work in front of you, not just the end goal.
• Test Your Conviction: Before deciding a job isn't for you, spend time genuinely trying to love it. This doesn't mean ignoring red flags about toxic environments, but rather testing whether your resistance is about the work itself or your expectations about what the work should feel like.

Where Does This Philosophy Come From?

Huang has built his entire career on this principle. He cofounded Nvidia in 1993 and has repeatedly emphasized that he loved every phase of his professional journey. In a 2023 podcast appearance, he reflected on his early career: "I loved it when I was a dishwasher. I loved it when I was a busboy. I loved it when I was delivering papers. I loved every single day at Nvidia that I've ever had, and I just learned to love what I'm doing".

This isn't just motivational rhetoric from a successful CEO. Huang's philosophy represents a fundamental shift in how he thinks about career satisfaction. Rather than treating work as something that should match your pre-existing passions, he treats it as something you actively choose to embrace. The distinction matters because it puts agency back in your hands, regardless of your circumstances.

For Rao and Abridge, the timing of this advice proved significant. In June, just months after his conversation with Huang, Abridge raised a $300 million Series E funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Khosla Ventures. The round valued the company at $5.3 billion, a milestone that likely required the exact kind of commitment and travel Rao had initially resisted.

The broader implication of Huang's advice extends beyond individual founders. In an era where startup culture often romanticizes the "passion project" narrative, Huang's message suggests that sustainable success comes from a different source: the discipline to find meaning in work itself, even when that work is unglamorous, repetitive, or demanding. For founders navigating the pressures of scaling a company, that reframing might be more valuable than any motivational speech.