Everyone who's ever taken a shower has an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.
Nolan BushnellRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the playful and competitive spirit of innovation in the tech industry.
Nolan Bushnell's quote highlights the humorous yet strategic approach of Atari in dealing with competitors who copied their products. By creatively manipulating the market, Atari not only had fun but also managed to outsmart rivals who were imitating their technology, illustrating the challenges of innovation and the sometimes ruthless nature of competition in the tech world.
Themes
InnovationCompetitionCreativityStrategyTechnology
In practice
Example use cases
During a tech conference, this quote could be used to illustrate the playful rivalry often seen in the industry.
More from Nolan Bushnell
All quotes →Creativity is every company's first driver. It's where everything starts, where energy and forward motion originate. Without that first charge of creativity, nothing else can take place.
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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.
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The game business reinvents itself every five years.
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Do I really want to do a mobile game that's one of 300,000, where discoverability is everything? You really have to have a little more sizzle on the steak. I would rather be one of 100 apps for Google Glass than one of 300,000 for iOS and Android.
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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.
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