Bushnell: Atari eliminated dress codes and time clocks to evaluate solely by outcomes
Nolan Bushnell · Atari & Chuck E. Cheese's: Nolan Bushnell (2017) · Mar 26, 2018 · at 27:31
Atari founder Nolan Bushnell discusses the pioneering workplace culture and countercultural management philosophy at Atari during the 1970s.
0:00 / 0:24exact quote · 24.7s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“And then we didn't have a dress code, and we didn't have time clocks. We had this attitude that everybody knew what they needed to do, and they were adults, and they could wear what they want, and they could come and go when they want, and we weren't big brother. You know, so we tried to make this meritocracy in which outcome was the only thing we counted.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Nolan Bushnell
Bushnell believes Atari paved the way for young founders like Jobs
“And I actually feel like I paved the way for Gates and Jobs and some of the idea that you can be young and still a serious businessman.”
Bushnell: Young Steve Jobs was opinionated but never wrong
“He was opinionated, but he was never wrong in his opinions. You didn't have to worry if you empowered Steve to do something. It happened. I mean, Steve had one speed. It was full on.”
Bushnell claims Atari paved the way for young tech CEOs
“I was the youngest CEO, and people didn't know what to think about a CEO in their twenties. I mean, that was just off the radar. And I actually feel like I paved the way for Gates and Jobs and some of the idea that you can be young and still a serious business…”
Bushnell: Atari produced only 35,000 of the 150,000 Pong machines deployed
“About a 150,000. Only of which, Atari only did about 35,000 of them. We got massively copied.”
Steve Jobs offered Bushnell a third of Apple for $50,000
“And so he got the apple going and he came to me and says, I want to start this company and I'm going to be leaving. Do you want to be my first investor? And I'll give you a third of the company for 50,000 dollars.”
Bushnell: Executive perks and traditional hours create toxic corporate divides
“I don't think you need to arbitrarily create an us versus them mentality in your company, you know, and one of the things that happens when you're owned by a New York company, they think that your laid back style is that you're not working as hard, and they th…”