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Nolan Bushnell Quotes

Entrepreneur

Nolan Bushnell is an outstanding entrepreneur and a pioneer in the video game industry. Born on February 5, 1943, he is renowned for his role in the creation of Atari and his contributions to the video game industry.

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Famous Nolan Bushnell Quotes

“Every company needs to have a skunkworks, to try things that have a high probability of failing. You try to minimize failure, but at the same time, if you're not willing to try things that are inherently risky, you're not going to make progress.”

Ifs Needs Trying Company Progress Failing Willing Probability Willing To Try

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“Everybody copied Atari products. So we started messing with them and it was fun. We bought enough chips that we could get them mislabeled. So we bankrupted at least two companies which copied our boards, and bought all the parts but they were the wrong parts, so they're sitting on all this inventory they can't sell because the games don't work.”

Two Enough Games Fun Company Products Sitting Sells Boards Chips Inventory Atari

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“I always loved both 'Breakout' and 'Asteroids' - I thought they were really good games. There was another game called 'Tempest' that I thought was really cool, and it represented a really hard technology. It's probably one of the only colour-vector screens that was used in the computer graphics field at that time.”

Hard Used Games Technology Fields Computer Screens Colour Really Cool Tempest Asteroids Vectors Computer Graphics

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“I was actually the manager of the games department of an amusement park when I was at college, so I understood the coin-op side of the games business very well.”

Wells Games Sides College Understood Managers Parks Department Coins Amusement Amusement Parks

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“I've been in navigation systems, robotics, restaurants, communications systems, touch screens, and now I'm back in games. I like to say I have five-year A.D.D.”

Years Games Five Communication Screens Restaurants Five Years Robotics Navigation I'm Back Back In The Game

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“In 1980, Atari was bringing in around two billion dollars in revenue and Chuck E. Cheese's some five hundred million. I still didn't feel too bad that I had turned down a one-third ownership of Apple - although I was beginning to think it might turn out to be a mistake.”

Source: Finding the Next Steve Jobs: How to Find, Keep, and Nurture Talent

“In 1980, business at my company, Chuck E. Cheese's, was thriving and I was feeling flush. So I bought a very large house on the Champ de Mars in Paris, right between the Eiffel Tower and the Ecole Militaire. The home was quite amazing: At six stories, it spanned 15,000 square feet and featured marble staircases and a swimming pool in the basement.”

Stories Feelings Home House Company Feet Six Paris Swimming Squares Pool Cheese Towers Mars Marble Basements Chuck Swimming Pool Staircases Eiffel Tower Eiffel Chuck E Cheese

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“In the early days of the video game business, everybody played. The question is, what happened? My theory - and I think it's pretty well borne out - is that in the '80s, games got gory, and that lost the women. And then they got complex, and that lost the casual gamer.”

Thinking Wells Games Lost Happened Theory Complexes Video 80s Casual Gamer

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“One of the big concerns I have is that most of the HR departments in a lot of companies are hiring away from creativity and they don't know it. For instance, they are requiring everybody to have a college degree. The most creative people I know couldn't deal with college.”

People Knows Bigs Deals Company Creativity Creative College Degrees Concern Instance Department Creative People Hiring College Degree

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“The subtle generational cues that make one thing cool and another uncool aren't always obvious to a parent. My children are my dinner-table sounding board. I've come up with some wonderful ideas that they universally dismissed as 'lame.'”

Children Ideas Parent Wonderful One Thing Tables Come Up Obvious Dinner My Children Boards Subtle Lame Dinner Table Uncool

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“Today, companies have to radically revolutionize themselves every few years just to stay relevant. That's because technology and the Internet have transformed the business landscape forever. The fast-paced digital age has accelerated the need for companies to become agile.”

Needs Years Age Today Company Technology Forever Internet Landscape Digital Relevant Transformed Fast Paced Digital Age

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“Walk to work, even if it's four miles. Ride a bike to work. Drive a different way. On your way there, try to find beauty. You'd be surprised how much more of the neighborhood you can perceive and experience when you're looking for unique spots of beauty.”

Ifs Way Trying Different Walks Four Unique Miles Spots Perceive Different Ways Neighborhood Bike

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“When it kind of went to 'Street Fighter', where you had to push 13 buttons with all 13 of your fingers and ripped the spine out of somebody, you know, violent games lost the women. Complexity lost the casual gamer.”

Knows Kind Games Lost Streets Fingers Violent Fighter Complexity Buttons Casual Spine Ripped Gamer Street Fighter

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.”

“Creativity in life is about saying yes to new ideas.”

Ideas Life Is Creativity New Ideas Saying Yes

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“The best ideas lose their owners and take on lives of their own.”

Ideas Loses Acceptance Innovation Rejection Owners Adoption Innovators Business Innovation Innovation And Business Ideas And Innovation

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“If you don't hire at least one or two people that are smarter than you are, then you're a terrible manager and I don't need you.”

People Ifs Needs Two Business Terrible Managers Smarter Need You Don't Need You I Don't Need You

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“The true entreprenuer is a doer,not a dreamer.”

Dreamer Doers

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“A lot of people think that success is luck and being in the right place at the right time. But I think if you’re willing to work harder than anybody else, you can create an awful lot of your own luck.”

People Ifs Thinking Willing Hard Work Harder Luck Awful Right Time Right Place Work Harder

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“The true entrepreneur is a doer”

Entrepreneur Doers

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“I'm glad to see the casual game play coming back now on the Internet, games that aren't violent, that aren't complex that you can sit down and you can have some fun.”

Play Games Fun Internet Down And Complexes Glad Violent Coming Back Casual Playing Games

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“I'm the only one who was predicting the Nintendo Wii would beat Sony's PlayStation 3.”

Beats Predicting Sony Nintendo Playstation Wii Playstation 3

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“I've always been a tech-head.”

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“I've always thought legal addictions are a great way to create a business. Starbucks is a wonderful example.”

Way Wonderful Example Addiction Starbucks

Author:Nolan Bushnell

“I founded Atari in my garage in Santa Clara while at Stanford. When I was in school, I took a lot of business classes. I was really fascinated by economics. You end up having to be a marketeer, finance maven and a little bit of a technologist in order to get a business going.”

Littles Ends School Order Bits Class Little Bit Economics Finance Fascinated Santa Garage Stanford Clara Atari Mavens

Author:Nolan Bushnell

About the Author

Born: February 5, 1943
Known for: Entrepreneur
Quotes: 75

Books & Sources

Finding the Next Steve Jobs: How to Find, Keep, and Nurture TalentRelated source material

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