Jensen Huang Doesn't Plan, and Neither Should You

Jensen Huang and Nvidia were at the top of the news cycle this week, and not in a good way. The company lost nearly $600 billion in market cap on Monday after advancements in China's DeepSeek AI.

But I wanted to pass along an idea from Jensen that I recently came across on an episode of the Founders podcast.

"Strategy is not words. Strategy is action. We don't do periodic planning, the reason for that is the world is a living breathing thing. We just plan continuously. There is no five-year plan."

I'm a financial planner - yet the founder of the third largest company in the world does not plan. And who am I to argue with that? But I actually think we are on the same page.

• I do try to make it very clear that the further out in time you go, clinging onto specific plan outcomes or projections becomes fruitless. There are too many assumptions for too long a period of time for the outcome to have any real value. Carl Richards is fond of saying, don't focus on 'the' plan, but on the process of planning. Iterations and adjustments made along the way are what drive value.
• Jensen highlights this when he says, 'the world is a living, breathing thing." All of us are subject to a great number of outside influences to our lives. Plan (or in this case, don't) accordingly. Man plans, God laughs. Prioritize flexibility over rigidity. 
• Daily steering over long-term planning. No long-term planning does not mean no direction. Automate investments and savings. Make incremental improvements over time. Grow your income. Stack good days on top of one another. Those small internals compound over time and are what have influence in determining outcomes (luck aside.) But do not let planning get in the way of doing - do not be getting ready to get ready indefinitely. Take micro actions. Daily steering. 
• Most importantly, save for nothing in particular.  Sure, it is ok to save for specific goals like a home purchase or paying college tuition bills. But only saving for rigid specific events in the future flies in the face of our uncertain world. Again, you should absolutely be saving for no reason in particular.

Jensen Huang was unlikely surprised or fazed by the DeepSeek news or drop in his stock prices this week. Being the model of consistency that he is, he likely went into work, stacked another good day and did not change a single tactical thing Nvidia was doing. Having a rigid long-term plan that didn't account for DeepSeek would have torpedoed it - so why bother?

Rent is due every day, after all.

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^{Source: #376 Jensen Huang: Founder of Nvidia}