@theventure: Before Atari, Nolan Bushnell ran carnival games in Utah. In college he worked the midway at Lagoon amusement park, selling balls for a quarter to knock over milk bottles. He has said he could set the bottles so a breeze would knock them down, or so nothing could. When the football captain came by with the head cheerleader, he made sure the water boy and the librarian won the stuffed animal. Then the captain would spend every penny he had trying to win one too. Within two years, he was managing all of the park's games. He called it his MBA. It taught him what a coin game costs, how much it has to earn, and how to keep people paying. Follow @theventure for the greatest founder stories ever told!

The Venture

Open In TikTok:

Region: US

Thursday 05 November 2026 00:01:46 GMT