When I took over AMD, the stock was $2 and people asked why I would take that job. I saw a company with great engineers and a bad plan. I fixed the plan.
Great products win. That is not a complicated strategy. It is just very hard to execute consistently.
The Zen architecture was a bet-the-company moment. If it failed, AMD was probably done. It did not fail.
I do not think about Intel or NVIDIA. I think about what customers need and whether AMD can build it better than anyone else.
An MIT PhD in electrical engineering helps in exactly one way as a CEO: I can read the data sheets. I know when my engineers are telling the truth and when they are optimistic.
AMD's stock went from $2 to $200 under my watch. But I do not manage for the stock price. I manage for the next great chip. The stock follows.