Public transcript

GTA co-creator's advice for young people - When you get a chance, take it | Dan Houser

By: Lex Clips
Length: 5 min
Language: English
Text from: the video's captions
Transcribed: 12 October 2026

Read the full transcript Open on YouTube

Notes in English.

Summary

In this short clip, Dan Houser, co-creator of Grand Theft Auto, shares career and life advice for young people: take chances when they come, don't worry too early about a career, and build a rich intellectual inner life rather than doing a vocational degree. He recounts how a dangerous episode in Cartagena, Colombia in the late '90s led him to accept a six-week job in New York, which coincided with the founding of Rockstar, where he ended up staying.

Key points

Dan Houser's core advice is: when you get a chance, take it, which he says he did well.
He advises young people not to worry too early about their career and to avoid vocational degrees as an undergraduate.
He recommends cultivating a rounded intellectual inner life because you spend your whole life in your own head.
He says success in jobs is simple: turn up in person, be enthusiastic, and help people.
At 25, while making poor life choices in Colombia, he fled a mugger with a machete on a beach in Cartagena.
After the mugging incident, he checked email at an internet café and got an offer to work on a game for six weeks in New York.
He arrived as Rockstar was starting, wrote mission statements, helped set the tone, and ended up staying.
He found late-'90s New York under Giuliani less fun than London, with rules against dancing in bars, but loved its energy.
He now lives in LA, which he considers a good decision because of its creative and entertainment environment.

Questions it answers

00:02Career advice

What career advice does Dan Houser give to young people?

He says to take chances when they come, not to worry too young about a career, and to build a rounded intellectual inner life rather than doing a vocational undergraduate degree. He also argues against the recent obsession with STEM subjects.

When you get a chance, take it.
Avoid vocational degrees as an undergraduate; study something random and focus later.
You'll spend your whole life in your own head, so make it interesting.

01:56How to be fine in any job

What does Houser say makes someone successful at work?

He says jobs are not that hard: turn up in person, be enthusiastic, and help people, and you'll be fine in any job.

Turn up in person and be enthusiastic.
Help people.

02:17The machete incident in Colombia

What happened to Houser in Cartagena, Colombia?

At 25, while making poor life choices during Colombia's war, he was approached on the beach at 8 a.m. by men — one with a machete, one with a broken gun — and sprinted away, escaping in a taxi. His only injury was a cut foot from a rock.

Muggers started at 8:00 but police didn't start until 9:00.
He escaped by sprinting down the beach and jumping into a taxi.
His only injury was cutting his foot on a rock.

04:03The move to New York and Rockstar

How did the Colombia episode lead to Rockstar?

After the incident he went to an internet café and got the chance to work on a game for six weeks in New York. He arrived just as Rockstar was starting, wrote its mission statements, helped set the tone, and ended up staying.

The offer came via email in late '98.
He felt staying in South America would get him killed.
He planned to stay a year but ended up staying long-term.

04:57New York vs. LA

What did Houser think of New York and LA?

He found Giuliani-era New York less fun than London — bars didn't allow dancing — but loved its energy, working hard and dining late. He considers moving to LA a good decision because of its creative and entertainment environment.

Late-'90s New York had great energy despite clampdowns on fun.
LA is still amazing for creativity and entertainment.

Notes

Advice for young people

Dan Houser describes his life as lucky, saying he "fought to mess things up" but fate kept throwing him a bone.
His main piece of advice: "When you get a chance, take it." He believes he was good at taking chances when they appeared.
He advises not worrying too young about a career, and instead building a "rounded intellectual inner life," since you spend your whole life in your own head.
He argues against doing a vocational degree as an undergraduate — study something random and focus afterwards. He had previously argued against the obsession with STEM subjects, noting AI may make them irrelevant anyway.

How to succeed at any job

"Turn up, be enthusiastic" — specifically, turn up in person.
Help people. He says you'll be fine in any job if you do these things.

The Colombia machete story

At 25, Houser was in Cartagena, Colombia during a war, making "a series of very poor life choices."
He got up too early — police started work at 9:00 but muggers started at 8:00 — and was walking on the beach when a Rasta he'd talked to the day before approached with two other men, one carrying a machete and another a broken gun.
He sprinted down the beach in "silly shoes," jumped into a taxi, and screamed "Take me anywhere!" The driver saw the man with the machete and drove him to safety. His only injury was cutting his foot on a rock.

The chance that changed his life

At an internet café (late '98), he received the chance to work on a game for six weeks in New York.
Feeling he'd get himself killed if he stayed in South America, he went — arriving just as Rockstar was starting.
He wrote the mission statements, helped set the tone, and ended up staying, initially telling himself "I'll stay for a year 'cause New York's pretty fun."

New York and LA

He describes late-'90s New York under Giuliani as "the height" before "he was a maniac" — you couldn't dance in bars, so it was less fun than London, but had great energy.
He loved working hard and going out for dinner late, and was exposed to "the madness of New York capitalism."
Moving to LA was a good decision: it remains amazing for creativity and the wider entertainment industry.

Text from the video's own captions. Summary and notes written by AI from the transcript, so check anything important against the recording.