About Tae
"Be so good they can't ignore you" - Steve Martin
I’m Tae Kim, author of THE NVIDIA WAY (Amazon link) and one of the most trusted voices covering Nvidia, AI, and semiconductors, offering best-in-class insights and analysis.
Prior Background: Barron’s senior writer, Bloomberg Opinion U.S. tech columnist, CNBC. Before journalism, I worked as an investment analyst at a multibillion-dollar technology hedge fund and in management consulting. I’ve been a lifelong technology nerd, building my own gaming PCs for three decades. I graduated from Brown University with a degree in history.
My key context advantage is that I draw on intuition and judgement built from decades of experience across tech, media, business, and finance. A rare quadruple threat.
I won’t beat PhD engineers on technical details, but my cross-domain expertise enables me read the tea leaves more accurately and spot the most important fundamental inflection points faster, empowering readers to make the best informed decisions.
I also have significant influence and reach. Many top tech CEOs, venture capitalists, and the most successful hedge fund managers read my work. My X account now regularly exceeds one million views per day, a larger audience than most shows and articles from traditional financial media.
Follow me on X: @firstadopter. Email: taeauthor@gmail dot com.
Why Subscribe?
I believe no one in media has generated more alpha for readers over the past decade through original, fact- and evidence-based research.
The current AI infrastructure buildout and computing shift is the biggest investment theme of our lifetime. I write to help readers understand it and profit from it.
On Dec. 1, 2023, I wrote a cover story naming Nvidia, Vertiv, and Super Micro as the three best AI hardware stock ideas. Nvidia stock has more than quadrupled since then. Vertiv shares have more than quintupled. Super Micro nearly tripled in months before I told readers to take profits. I have published these best annual stock ideas lists for six different years. Every single list has soundly crushed the stock market.
What you’ll get as a paid subscriber:
1-3 (on average) posts every week with exclusive news, best-in-class analysis, and thought-provoking insightful commentary on Nvidia, AI, tech, and chips.
5–10 bull/bear calls per year, earnings breakdowns, and industry deep dives informed by decades of experience covering semiconductors and technology investing.
Interviews with CEOs and the smartest movers and shakers in technology.
A subscriber-only real-time chat community on Substack with Tae and sharp buyside investors.
My research is so thorough that even legendary fundamental investor Michael Burry (yes, THE Michael Burry of Big Short fame) is a paid subscriber to Key Context.
“Tae wrote basically the Bible of the Nvidia story .. he is the world’s foremost authority on Nvidia” - Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, commentator and contributor on CNBC.
I’m not afraid to tell it like it is. If a company is doing well, I say so. I was one of the earliest bulls on AMD’s rise, correctly predicting the market share gains for its Rome server processor before the stock went up more then tenfold.
If there's rising risk, I say that too. In 2022, I warned investors about Nvidia's weak fundamentals ahead of a 50% stock drop, citing rising inventories and Ethereum's migration to proof-of-stake (Ben Thompson of Stratechery gave me props). I made a Meredith Whitney–style call for Intel to cut its dividend on deteriorating fundamentals ahead of a 50% stock price drop. They eventually did.
I aggressively called out the problems behind space tourism SPAC Virgin Galactic's rosy projections, given its 16-year track record of failure in launching a commercial service. Its shares fell 99%.
I know everyone is incredibly busy, swamped by all the noise out there. My goal is to save you time and distill all the essential takeaways from news events, earnings calls, and interviews so you can make better-informed financial decisions.
Modern media is incentivized to generate attention. The result is misleading clickbait headlines and manufactured narratives created in bad faith to trigger emotional fear and greed rather than to shed honest light and provide quality insights.
One principle will guide this newsletter: the mission is the boss. It is the primary maxim I learned from writing my book THE NVIDIA WAY. Every decision will be made to serve you, the reader. I will provide fair and accurate context grounded in actual nuanced reality and facts.
That means I will not propagate the fearmongering sensationalism so prevalent in media. Take the hysteria around DeepSeek last year. Many journalists are not technical and had little understanding of the technology but piled on anyway. I was one of the very few writers standing up and pushing back against the false narrative that DeepSeek would lead to an AI computing glut, a narrative that sparked a trillion-dollar market selloff. I was proven right on DeepSeek. The fears were exaggerated and stocks recovered.
I’ve built deep relationships across the AI, semiconductor and tech ecosystem. I’ve interviewed movers and shakers including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Dell CEO Michael Dell, Bill Gurley, Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, Vertiv CEO Giordano Albertazzi, Arm CEO Rene Haas, Super Micro CEO Charles Liang, CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator, Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi, Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson, DeepMind cofounder Mustafa Suleyman, Yann LeCun and many more.
Tae’s Policies
Everything I write is my own independent editorial coverage and honest opinion.
I pay out of my own pocket to travel to conferences and events like Nvidia’s GTC AI conference and Computex in Taiwan to provide exclusive, on-the-ground reporting.
I do not own individual publicly-traded U.S. technology stocks or single-company name ETFs. I do not hold stakes in private technology startups. I may own diversified mutual funds or diversified ETFs that hold a basket of stocks, which may include technology securities.
I intend to take one week of vacation every three months to recharge, think, and read.
What Tae’s Readers Are Saying
“Thank you Tae for sharing your insights on why this time memory is likely different. Bought EWY then DRAM which I otherwise would have sat out. Credit to this chat for also pointing out DRAM early! I did not have the context on why memory historically traded so low and why there is opportunity for multiple expansion as durable demand continues to materialize. Has been the star of my portfolio this year - well worth the Substack subscription.”
“Congrats again Tae on the early CPU call, far before any sell side analysts or much of the buy side caught up to you, and yet another reason why a paid subscription to your substack is so worth it” after Intel shares rise 80% in less than two months.
“I have to toot your horn for you, that you really were one of the first on your original bold call on CPUs and AMD and Intel in particular .. Markets were at least two or three weeks behind if not more on both sell side and buy side. Following your work is much more important than reading any analyst reports. Grateful for your amazing work.”
“Hi Tae. Congrats on your prescient early call on CPU demand. You really nailed the INTC and AMD calls”
“@Tae Kim have to say your $CRDO idea alone has made me so much to make this subscription worth it forever.”
”I’m learning a lot from your recent work -- thank you!” - founder of the largest and most successful venture capital firm in the world.
“Dear Tae Kim, I spent 45 years in the semiconductor industry and I always read your newsletters with interest as you seem to be the only corporate media tech journalist who actually knows what he is talking about.”
“I read your original article on AI stocks, liked it ... I have since realized a profit of more than $56,500 in just two months!! I want to thank you very much for your excellent analysis.”
“Thanks to you I bought the [AMD] stock in early 2019 at a price of $24.10.” - Email on Nov. 4, 2025. AMD shares have risen 10 times.
“Please know I think the world of your journalism. .. Keep up the great work. It is nice to have a voice of reason and competence in a sea of misinformation and noise!”
"Tae - so glad you were back firmly in seat for the DeepSeek moment! Your rare, well-researched and 'not afraid to take a perspective' type insights are most welcomed!”
“I’ve been a Barron’s subscriber for many years. Tae is one of the best writers they have ever employed. ”
“Congratulations on being the best at what you do - doing the due diligence/research, understanding the tech & secular trends and its real world applications while facing down doubt from many traditional analysts.”
“Tae was the first to see the bigger story of Super Micro and Vertiv, which I read in Barron’s ... His analysis of tech goes much deeper than other tech commentators.” — Matthew Schwartz
“I run portfolios for a midsized RIA on the westcoast & since I started reading your work a few years back, my returns and my confidence in certain trades have skyrocketed ... Our clients have directly benefited from your writing, and there are thousands of people out there who are better off financially because of you.”
“Your article prompted us to do deeper research on Smartsheet and Datadog, both stocks that have done very well for our clients. All of this to say, I just want to say that I am grateful for your writing as it has benefited me tremendously to be a reader. It has been both insightful and profitable.”
“Take a bow: Super Micro has doubled in about 7 weeks; Nvidia about 35%. I never would have purchased these stocks without having read your article. It’s having a profound impact on my family. What more can I say except ‘well done’ .. my little 8 month old granddaughter is getting a surprise 529 gift this weekend”
“I always follow your lead on investing. I read Barron’s when you were writing back then and made a lot of $$ because of your insights. And bought Nvidia many years ago. Thank you sir.”
“I also own NVDA stock — substantial profits from which go to my child & animal rescue charities. So hope you keep up the great work!!”
“Mr Kim, My investment, prompted by your article, has more than doubled. I believe I owe you a beer (or 2)”
“I’m up 246% since 10/20. I’ll have to buy you dinner if our paths ever cross in the future. Keep up the great work!”
“Finally got convinced to buy NVDA also. That’s crushing it! Thank you, Tae, for sharing your most valuable insight. You be smart so I can be lucky.”
Tae’s Book on Nvidia
“Tae wrote THE NVIDIA WAY and it is excellent.” — Michael Burry, whose prescient bet against subprime mortgages was depicted in the film The Big Short
“The definitive look at the most remarkable business story of this era.” — Morgan Housel, New York Times best-selling author of The Psychology of Money and Same As Ever
"Everyone should go buy it .. I’m glad someone wrote it about Nvidia and I’m glad it was you."― Ben Thompson, Stratechery
THE NVIDIA WAY is “an essential read for understanding the rise of artificial intelligence”— Chris Miller, New York Times best-selling author of Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology
THE NVIDIA WAY is the first definitive history of the chipmaker. I took the obligation of being the “first draft” of history seriously, painstakingly corroborating multiple sources for every key event to produce the most accurate historical account possible. Early senior Nvidia employees I didn’t even speak with for the book have since confirmed that I got the story right.
For additional praise of THE NVIDIA WAY from the smartest, best-informed semiconductor and technology business experts, go here.
Order THE NVIDIA WAY (Amazon link)
Tae’s Recommended Newsletters
Asianometry · Cassandra Unchained · Chipstrat · Chris Miller · Derek Thompson · Dwarkesh · Fabricated Knowledge · FundaAI · Intrinsic Value by Roger Lowenstein · Irrational Analysis · More Than Moore · Newcomer · SemiAnalysis · Sources · Stratechery · TMT Breakout · Vik’s Newsletter
Disclaimer
The content of this newsletter is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other form of professional advice. Nothing contained herein should be construed as a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments. You should not rely on any information in this newsletter as a basis for making any investment or financial decisions. Always consult a qualified financial advisor or other appropriate professional before making any investment decisions. The author and publisher assume no liability for any actions taken based on the information provided herein.
