What my old Atari system taught me about startups
When I was growing up, I used to go to Charlie's Arcade with my Dad every couple of weeks. It was the ultimate father/son outing......then he got me a gift that changed my life! I'll never forget the day my dad brought home an Atari. I can still remember it like it was yesterday! What is this thing I thought?? Then the world revealed itself to me in the form of plastic cartridges, bad graphics, and joysticks that had to be "broken in" to really master most games. I remember telling my buddies at school.......oh ya....Atari.......it's at my house. Instant street cred as a kid.
Ok....fast forward a few months. Other kids started getting Atari systems, so then it became about how many games you had, or your high scores. Yes, in those days high scores were actually something you bragged about. You got how many points on Centipede? What level did you get to on River Raid? I was a MASTER at them all. I used to love inviting my friends over just to "school" them like a champion!
Fast forward a few years.....I should have know my first kid business would come out of video games. By the ripe age of thirteen I was selling and trading nintendo games out of my house using the nickel ads in the paper. I was making $500-$700 a weekend and outfitting full video stores clearing $2-3k at a time! I quickly became a business legend to my buddies. I guess you could say I was sort of Game Crazy before it was around! I had business cards that said "Gregg's Games." Looking back I can now see that I was cut out of some crazy cloth that believed you could accomplish anything and that HUSTLE got you a long ways. That is still pretty much the way I just handle life today.
As I look back on those young years I realize some fun lessons that Atari taught me about startups:
NO PAUSE BUTTON: I'll never forget being on level 36 of Defender, palms sweating profusely, with full concentration required. Look away from the screen for one second.....the game would be over. Then the stupid phone rang........unfortunately this external distraction made me flinch. To this day I still remember that man that called that day.....Ben Tatel. It had taken me over an hour to get to that level, so it was a big deal! Sorry Ben! In startups you have to fully concentrate on what you are doing to be successful. FOCUS like it's level 36 of Defender every day. You and your team's success is counting on it.
BAD GRAPHICS: The Basketball game........One legged basketball players with square basketballs........selling and making millions. Need I say more? Well, yes. Nothing in your startup is ever going to be perfect. You have to build and iterate quickly.....just get your product out there. The USERS will tell you if you SUCK or NOT. Find out what they want and what they will pay for. Even with bad graphics, if you solve a problem for them, they will forgive you! Don't get me wrong, make it as beautiful as possible, but get it to market! Small tweaks won't make or break your product!
HIGH SCORES: Everyone brags about their high scores in startups also known as "Vanity Metrics." This will probably never change, but rather than following all the vanity metrics, truly understand the METRICS that DRIVE your business to success. Know those metrics and you you can better understand what is moving the needle. Although, always have some "high scores" on quick draw for fun! It's always fun to share those.
ONLY ONE BUTTON ON THE JOYSTICK: Atari was easy to use because it only had one red button! In a startup you should only have one red button as well. That button is FAST! Don't get FAST right and you can DIE QUICKLY. Get it right and you MIGHT succeed. Do more faster, and in everything you do, attempt to out execute anyone and everyone! Win by doing more today.
BREAKING IN A CONTROLLER: Whenever we got a new joystick it was always a pain. It wasn't "broken in" like the old one. You know....the one you got all those high scores on! A start up is like a one of those controllers.....you have to break it in to get the high scores! With any good problem you want to solve, the solution will "break in" and you might not get that high score the first time out. Don't get discouraged.....just play it again until you get it right. Your 5 year overnight success is waiting!
So, the next time you start to "over analyze" your startup, just go back to the basics and remember the simplicity of ATARI!
PS>To bring this post full circle, in my last startup, one of my customers was actually the Dad to the kids pictured on the Atari box. He was one of the early employees of the company. It made for some great trips down memory lane.
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