Chapter 32: The Crazy First Week

One morning, selling three hundred and thirteen units of machines and earning three hundred and seventy thousand dollars was quite a remarkable feat in the United States of 1975.

Doing some simple calculations on the profit distribution, Ethan's face lit up with joy, equivalent to two and a half years of an average worker's income.

Although he didn't become a hundred-thousandaire, the speed at which he was making money was far faster than the guy next door selling potatoes.

After a brief celebration, in the afternoon, Nolan Bushnell had the Atari staff start delivering.

Over a hundred employees geared up, and pairs of individuals dashed out in pickup trucks.

It was only at this point that Ethan realized most of Atari's staff had multiple roles. When they picked up rulers and paintbrushes, they were engineers. When they put on formal uniforms, they became receptionists. And when they hopped into their vehicles, they transformed into delivery personnel and on-the-go maintenance workers for the company.

The first two roles were fine, but Ethan was immensely impressed by the fact that they shared private cars for company use.

If this were a few decades later, capitalists daring to make employees do this might incite public outrage and protests.

Of course, Atari, or rather Nolan Bushnell, didn't let them work in vain.

On top of regular wages with fuel reimbursement, for each machine delivered, they received an additional five dollars as a bonus.

A normal person could haul four machines in one trip, earning twenty dollars in half a day.

That was more than the daily wages for most people!

With such generous rewards, Atari's staff exhibited tremendous enthusiasm.

Watching the bustling scene, Ethan, acting as a supervisor, felt satisfied. At the same time, he remarked, "Nolan, is this the key to your success? Rolling over other competitors as quickly as possible?"

Though Nolan Bushnell didn't understand the term "rolling over," he knew Ethan was praising Atari's incredible execution.

So, he crossed his arms and grinned, saying, "Can't help it. In the past, the electronic gaming industry prioritized timeliness the most."

"After customers place an order, if we can't deliver within two days, their stores might already display our competitors' imitations by the third day."

"Imitation is that fast!"

"So, in our line of work, time is life!"

"The faster the machines sell, the faster we need to deliver! We must make those money-hungry merchants fall in love with us!"

Ethan liked this approach, and under his watchful eyes, Atari's folks demonstrated astonishing efficiency.

They departed around 1 PM, and by around 5 PM, they were already back.

Each signed document represented a stack of green Franklin bills in their hands.

What was even more impressive was that, at the same time, Nolan Bushnell made over a hundred phone calls to the colleagues left in the company. He contacted partners in Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

The communication was straightforward.

After a courteous introduction, he presented the facts directly, stating that they held a new product introduction meeting this morning, and their old friends in San Jose and San Francisco generously bought six hundred and twenty-six units.

Then he explained that their machines could limit players' game time. If they were interested, he could reserve a few for them, considering their long-term collaboration.

If they were unsure, that was fine too. Tomorrow, they would be hosting events in Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego. They could come directly then.

When presenting facts, pulling connections, and using the combination of past collaborations, the other party naturally agreed. Some were even eager and placed orders immediately.

After a mere afternoon, among nearly two hundred phone calls, Nolan, with his team, achieved sales of over a hundred units.

After all the company's subordinates returned, that evening, Nolan even arranged for the next day's business trip delivery.

As the second night arrived, when Ethan, having finished dinner, went to Atari to check the results, he was overjoyed to see that they had sold two hundred units in the morning and owed only a few dozen by night.

However, just as Ethan pondered how soon the shipment of 'Snake Game' could reach a thousand units at this rate, Nolan Bushnell issued an order to all Atari employees:

"Everyone, starting from tomorrow, or rather, starting now, we will no longer produce the whole machine for the 'Snake Game.' Everyone will only work on circuit boards. Pay attention! I mean, no more complete machines! Everyone will only work on circuit boards! Only circuit boards!"

'???'

This decision left Ethan somewhat perplexed. He couldn't understand why Nolan Bushnell suddenly gave up on selling complete machines.

Because the current sales momentum for complete machines was excellent!

With the profit margin higher for complete machines than game boards, making complete machines obviously yielded more income!

As he pondered the reason, Steve Jobs provided an answer.

"When selecting the first batch of invited customers and the second batch of delivery customers, we choose those who are easy to talk to."

"They are willing to embrace new things, but that doesn't mean they will fully accept our sales pitch."

"If we initially tell customers to replace all their arcade machines with 'Snake Game,' they will definitely refuse because the market has never tested the capabilities of 'Snake Game.' So, they would rather spend money to buy complete machines, use time to test the effectiveness of 'Snake Game,' and witness the results with their own eyes."

"And once they complete this step..."

"Those who understand that 'Snake Game' can really make money, as well as other merchants, absolutely won't go for buying complete machines."

"Since new games can make more money than old ones, why don't they just switch the machines? This way, they can save a lot on procurement costs!"

"And for us, we actually like this model."

"Because one pickup truck can only carry a few arcade machines, but it can haul a whole load of circuit boards."

"Believe me, within a week, we'll be swamped!"

"Because those guys will go crazy calling in, saying they want to replace their circuit boards!"

'Is that so?'

Having only learned about the arcade industry through various rumors, Ethan, who had never personally experienced it, felt like he had gained some insights.

And as Ethan waited, just three days after the first batch of 'Snake Game' was shipped, Atari's phones were blown up!

Merchants who had cooperated with Atari before expressed their desire to buy the game!

Even those who hadn't collaborated wanted to purchase arcade machines!

Initially, Atari's staff politely recorded the requests.

But later on, their attitudes turned worse one after another.

"Okay!" was a good response.

Expressions like "I f*cking got it, just you wait!" were becoming more and more common.

This kind of lousy customer service attitude made Ethan, playing the role of a supervisor, a bit dissatisfied.

He immediately stated that customers should be treated with god-like gentleness!

But when he personally went down to demonstrate to the staff how to handle calls, as soon as he picked up the receiver, heart-wrenching shouts erupted —

"Oh! Sxxt! Atari, huh? Atari, huh? You bunch of bastards!"

"Last year, I bought ten arcade machines from you guys! Ten arcade machines!"

"I supported your business throughout the whole year! How can you not inform me about the new game release!"

"D*mn it! The club next door took two machines from you guys!"

"And in one night, he made two hundred dollars!!!"

"MFxxk!!! That's two hundred dollars, dammit!!!"

"My customers! My customers were stolen by that bastard!"

"You bunch of animals! You have one day! Deliver ten game boards to me!"

"Remember your grandpa's name! I'm in Sacramento! I am the great Tim!"

'...'

'This is just an accident.'

Ethan awkwardly smiled and wrote down "Silly Tim" on paper.

Then, he picked up the second phone —

"Ha? Atari, huh? Do you pieces of sh*t look down on me?"

"Why did the stores around me all receive notifications about the new product launch, but I didn't?"

"MFxxxxx! Your bastards made me lose a lot of money!"

'...'

"D*mn idiots!"

Ethan couldn't be bothered to deal with him and hung up directly.

Then, with a smile, he waved to the Atari staff, "Continue, carry on."

Steve Jobs found Ethan's struggling appearance amusing.

He approached, "Why do I feel like you're quite interested in selling game boards?"

"Of course, I'm interested! Because it means money!" Ethan rolled his eyes at Steve Jobs.

At the same time, he secretly muttered in his mind, 'I can't exactly tell you I'm here to learn, can I?'

Seemingly sensing what Ethan was thinking, Steve Jobs chuckled and said, "Oh, Ethan~ Would you like to know how we go about replacing boards for others? Like, the original machine has the 'Pong' casing and 'Pong' game inside, but now we've replaced the game with 'Snake Game,' while keeping the 'Pong' casing."

The tongue-twisting words made Ethan raise an eyebrow.

Although a bit confusing, he understood, "Don't you just directly bring back those arcade machines for board replacement?"

"We used to, but not anymore, because that's too troublesome!"

Steve Jobs said, "Now we replace them on the spot!"

"Huh?"

This fact intrigued Ethan, "On the spot replacement?"

"Yeah? On the spot replacement!" Steve Jobs nodded, "Interested? If you are, come with me and take a look?"