It’s been 50 years since Nolan Bushnell co-founded Atari, which brought video games to the mainstream. To celebrate, How-to-Geek asked Bushnell what he learned during the early years—and what we’ve lost sight of since then.

HTG: Do you regret selling Atari at the time you did?

Bushnell: Yes and no. I really liked my life after I sold it. I got married, I got my house, I kinda got my personal life in order. Atari was very, very hard. And we never had enough money. We were running it as if we were going to take it public, and then the market kind of went sideways.

HTG: How does it feel when someone says, “Hey, it’s been 50 years since you started Atari.” What comes into your head?

Bushnell: “Oh my god, am I that old?” [Laughs heartily.] My oldest daughter turned 50 a year ago, and I thought, “Boy, that says you’ve been on the planet a long time if you have kids that are 50.”

HTG: And Atari’s kind of like one of your kids.

Bushnell: Definitely.

You can read the full, inciteful interview on How-to-Geek.