Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, discusses the unit economics of arcade games that motivated him to create his own entertainment venue.
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“Before I sold to Warner, we were selling games. These were coin-operated games, remember? We were selling them for about 1500 dollars. During their lifetime, in CoinDrop, they'd earned 30 to 50,000 dollars.”
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More from Nolan Bushnell
Opinion
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…”
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…”
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