Jensen Huang’s First Job Was at Denny’s. What He Saved On His LinkedIn Profile Is a Lesson for All Entrepreneurs

EXPERT OPINION BY ROBYN D. SHULMAN

In 2025, Indian billionaire Harsh Goenka wrote a post on X calling Jensen Huang’s LinkedIn profile “the most inspiring ever,” and you might agree when you look at it too. The chairman of the RPG group posted a screenshot of Huang’s LinkedIn profile, helping it go viral.

“This might just be the most inspiring profile ever. From dishwasher at Denny’s…to Founder and CEO of NVIDIA. Take a bow. Jensen Huang,” Goenka wrote.

In an ecosystem where much feels fake right now, Huang’s choice to keep his earlier roles on his LinkedIn profile makes a clear statement about humility and candor. He left his work at Denny’s on his profile, even though most people who network on LinkedIn would probably remove it.

Refreshed leadership advice from CEO Stephanie Mehta

An Inc.com Featured Presentation

• Founder and CEO
  • NVIDIA
  • 1993 – Present

• Dishwasher, Busboy, Waiter
  • Denny’s · Seasonal
  • 1978 – 1983

Own the times that were not glorious

Listing early restaurant service work on his profile instead of hiding it shows that no job is beneath anyone. It also reveals that character, hard work, and consistency matter when you’re just starting out, regardless of where you come from or how you began. The path to greatness can launch anywhere, even at a late-night table in Denny’s under flickering lights with hot breakfast served 24 hours a day. Humble origins, when owned without apology, make later success more believable and more human.

Humility is a core leadership trait

Jensen Huang still talks about the toilets he cleaned at Denny’s before NVIDIA became one of the most valuable companies on earth. “To me, no task is beneath me because, remember, I used to be a dishwasher, and I mean that,” Huang told students at Stanford GSB’s View From The Top Series in March 2024. “I used to clean toilets. I’ve cleaned a lot of toilets. I’ve cleaned more toilets than all of you combined, and some of them you just can’t unsee.”

That line isn’t just a memory about cleaning bathrooms; it shows how a founder can look at his past and see value in everything he did, regardless of his job at the time.

Source: www.inc.com