# 47: Bridge of Toothpicks

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2014-04-16
- Length: 1h 32m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-04-16-47-bridge-of-toothpicks
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/mes-ep47mp3

## Summary

Nathan Tuck, a manager at NVIDIA working on the Tegra K1-64 CPU architecture, joins hosts Christopher and Elecia White to discuss the evolution of the hardware industry, career paths, and management challenges. The conversation covers the shift from big companies like SGI and HP to startups, the difficulties of remote work, and the pitfalls of agile methodologies and rigid scheduling in engineering. They also explore different types of burnout, from physical exhaustion to organizational fatigue, and the importance of maintaining conceptual integrity in product design.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-04-16-47-bridge-of-toothpicks#t=6) Introduction and Career History
- [3:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-04-16-47-bridge-of-toothpicks#t=199) Industry Evolution: SGI, HP, and Cisco
- [4:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-04-16-47-bridge-of-toothpicks#t=273) Remote Work and Corporate Secrecy
- [11:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-04-16-47-bridge-of-toothpicks#t=662) Career Advice and Hiring Trends
- [25:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-04-16-47-bridge-of-toothpicks#t=1508) Project Management and Scheduling
- [1:15:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-04-16-47-bridge-of-toothpicks#t=4514) Burnout and Organizational Culture
- [1:26:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-04-16-47-bridge-of-toothpicks#t=5178) NVIDIA Hiring and Tegra K1-64

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Founder wellbeing](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/founder-wellbeing)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- NVIDIA (company)
- Tegra K1-64 (product)
- Silicon Graphics (company)
- HP (company)
- Cisco (company)
- Eyefluence (company)
- AMD (company)
- ARM (chip)

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- [Michael Kubba | Working for Apple, Tesla, and Google](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-07-15-michael-kubba-working-for-apple-tesla-and-google) (Being an Engineer)
- [100 Episodes! Break Out the Champagne! A Retrospective](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2026-08-24-100-episodes-break-out-the-champagne-a-retrospective) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Gotta Update My Dog](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2016-04-29-gotta-update-my-dog) (The Amp Hour)
- [‘I Feel Like Little God!’ | The Pop of the TOPS | The Most Hated Company in The Biz](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2020-08-28-i-feel-like-little-god-the-pop-of-the-tops-the-most-hated-company-in-the-biz) (EE Times Current)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-04-16-47-bridge-of-toothpicks. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.