Zynga

140+ Business Ideas (Database): https://clickhubspot.com/efdj Episode 840: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Mark Pincus ( https://x.com/markpinc ) about figuring out what projects to spend your life on. — Show Notes: (0:00) $0- $38M in 7 months (3:00) if you pick the right body of water, you don't have to have the right boat (16:51) pattern matching (23:17) there's always a new freak (25:00) picking macros (27:48) a case for gold (39:50) How to know what to chase (49:12) create a book of life (59:59) Frameworks vs instincts (1:09:00) being hated and misunderstood (1:11:13) the story of farmville (1:15:00) avoiding the fur coat moment (1:19:49) the nickelback problem (1:22:02) introspection vs rumination — Links: • Life At The Speed of Play - https://www.amazon.com/Life-Speed-Play-Launch-Products/dp/0063352575 — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: • Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com • Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents. • Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury for banking across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/ Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC • I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /

Mark Pincus

Founder

ZyngaReinvent Capital

Mark Pincus is a serial tech entrepreneur and investor best known as the co-founder of Zynga. He joins host Reid Hoffman to reveal the insights at the center of his new book: Life at the Speed of Play. The godfather of mobile gaming talks with Hoffman about building products people love, learning fast from your mistakes, and handling screen time for his own kids. The book: https://www.lifeatthespeedofplay.com/ Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mark Pincus

Founder

ZyngaReinvent Capital

How do you build a billion-dollar startup? Ask Mark Pincus. The founder of Zynga and creator of FarmVille, Mark turned a $350,000 personal investment into one of the most successful gaming companies in history — eventually selling to Take-Two Interactive for over $12 billion. Along the way, he invested early in Facebook, launched one of the first social networks, and learned more from his failures than his wins. In his new book, Life at the Speed of Play: Launch Products People Love!, Mark shares the product philosophy and founder mindset behind his biggest successes and his biggest swings. In this episode, Mark sits down with Oz to talk about why control is the secret to creativity and what it really takes to spot an opportunity before it's obvious to build something the world didn't know it needed. Additional Reading: Life at the Speed of Play See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Pincus

Founder

ZyngaReinvent Capital

Mark Pincus founded Zynga—the company behind Words With Friends, FarmVille, and Zynga Poker—and has arguably created more hit consumer products than anyone in history. At Zynga, eight of 10 major game launches became massive hits, reaching over a billion players. Over the past five years, Mark has been synthesizing everything he’s learned about building successful consumer products and turning it into a book, Life at the Speed of Play, which comes out on June 23. This is the first interview he’s done about the book. In our in-depth conversation, we discuss: 1. His “Proven, Better, New” framework: copy what’s proven, make it better so that 10 out of 10 people say “f*ck yes, I’ll use this”—then add something new 2. Why being less ambitious is the path to the most ambitious ideas 3. His rule of thumb that your instincts are right 95% of the time, but your ideas are wrong 75% of the time 4. “Kill hope before hope kills you” 5. How to raise kids in the age of AI — Brought to you by: WorkOS—Make your app enterprise-ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more Vanta—Automate compliance, manage risk, and accelerate trust with AI — Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-common-pattern-behind-successful — Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0 — Where to find Mark Pincus: • X: https://x.com/markpinc • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markpincus • Website: https://www.lifeatthespeedofplay.com — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction to Mark Pincus (02:46) The Proven Better New framework overview (07:29) Earning the right to innovate (08:30) What “better” really means (12:03) Quick summary of the framework (12:40) Examples of the framework in action (13:30) How to use proven correctly on your platform (15:13) The moral arbitrage of copying (23:55) Be less ambitious (28:25) The Bolt.new story and staying humble (33:15) Kill hope before hope kills you (37:00) Using AI as a failure machine (40:08) Why Zynga’s games succeeded (it wasn’t virality) (48:36) The future of consumer social apps (57:05) How to know if your product is a B+ (1:01:25) Distribution in the age of AI (1:15:39) Make everyone a CEO (1:18:18) Stay close to the metal (1:21:35) Why Mark says micromanagement is beautiful (1:23:35) The expert witness (1:25:05) The number one job of a CEO is to be right (1:26:35) What Mark is teaching his five kids (1:35:14) Mark’s “why” (1:37:08) Mark’s new book: Life at The Speed of Play — Referenced: • Tribe.net: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe.net • Zynga: https://www.zynga.com • Sid Meier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier • Electronic Arts: https://www.ea.com • CityVille: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CityVille • Words With Friends: https://wordswithfriends.com/ • Scrabble: https://playscrabble.com • Reddit: https://www.reddit.com • TED Radio Hour, MIT Media Lab founder, 1984 TED talk.: https://www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_negroponte_5_predictions_from_1984 • Peter Thiel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterthiel • FarmVille: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmVille • Craig Newmark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Newmark • How to consistently go viral: Nikita Bier’s playbook for winning at consumer apps (co-founder of TBH, Gas, advisor, investor): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-consistently-go-viral-nikita-bier • Angry Birds: https://www.angrybirds.com/ • OMGPop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMGPop • Draw Something: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draw_Something • Slack founder: Mental models for building products people love ft. Stewart Butterfield: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/slack-founder-stewart-butterfield • Brian Chesky’s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach • Garry Tan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrytan • Brian Armstrong on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barmstrong • Jason Citron on X: https://x.com/jasoncitron • Stanislav Vishnevskiy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/svishnevskiy • Jeff Bezos on X: https://x.com/JeffBezos • Andy Jassy on X: https://x.com/ajassy • Niantic: https://nianticlabs.com • Pokémon Go: https://pokemongo.com • Bing Gordon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/binggordon — Recommended book: • Life at the Speed of Play: Launch Products People Love!: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Speed-Play-Launch-Products/dp/0063352575/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0 — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. — Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

Mark Pincus

Founder

ZyngaReinvent Capital

(0:00) The Besties welcome Mark Pincus! (3:53) Mark's background (6:02) How Mark got red-pilled for Trump, maintaining friendships despite political differences (23:21) LA Wildfires update: Newsom's EOs, market impact of price controls (51:32) Congestion pricing in NYC, fixing broken cities (1:08:33) TikTok ban: origin and potential outcomes (1:19:15) MBA hiring downturn (1:34:37) Conspiracy Corner: Mark's take on UFOs and UAPs! Follow the Besties: https://x.com/chamath https://x.com/Jason https://x.com/DavidSacks https://x.com/friedberg Follow Mark Pincus: https://x.com/markpinc Follow on X: https://x.com/theallinpod Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theallinpod Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theallinpod Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allinpod Intro Music Credit: https://rb.gy/tppkzl https://x.com/yung_spielburg Intro Video Credit: https://x.com/TheZachEffect Referenced in the show: https://www.piratewires.com https://x.com/micsolana https://www.athena.com https://nypost.com/2024/11/04/us-news/tech-billionaire-mark-pincus-reveals-hes-voting-for-trump https://x.com/TheTechnXMedia/status/1878459564980392410 https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/EO-N-4-25-Rebuilding-Final-signed.pdf https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/EO-N-7-25-_-Land-Speculation-1.14.25-bl-_GGN-Signed_.pdf https://x.com/MayorOfLA/status/1878630125786566664 https://congestionreliefzone.mta.info https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/nyregion/congestion-pricing-nyc.html https://x.com/friedberg/status/1652334973586915328 https://x.com/markpinc/status/1878575249505333606 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T72DfPEBn0A&t=29s https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-14/china-discusses-sale-of-tiktok-us-to-musk-as-one-possible-option https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/harvard-mba-employment-rate-job-hunt-difficulty-addfc3ec

Mark Pincus

Founder

ZyngaReinvent Capital

Guest: Mark Pincus, founder & chairman of Zynga, and managing member & co-founder of Reinvent Capital Before Zynga and Facebook made social gaming mainstream, the video game industry was “extreme on this being about art and crafting,” recalls Zynga founder Mark Pincus. He believes his winning instinct was the realization that games were “at least 50 percent science” — but it’s not enough to just have the instinct.  Mark says entrepreneurs like him have to quickly take multiple shots on the goal and “look for feedback loops that tell you your instinct is right ... you need to get to a minimum viable idea state and you need to find true signal around that idea state, that it’s right or wrong, and move on.” Chapters: (01:40) - Rubbing sticks together (07:01) - Virtual businesses (12:10) - Pre-Zynga companies (13:51) - Setting the real intention (17:44) - Internet treasures (23:21) - Disrupting gaming (30:14) - The chip on Mark’s shoulder (33:19) - The end of Tribe (37:24) - Zynga Poker (42:59) - Explosive growth (46:57) - Making the virtual real (52:02) - The downturn (58:12) - Stepping aside (sort of) (01:01:50) - Back into the fire (01:08:45) - In the abyss (01:11:46) - What “grit” means to Mark Mentioned in this episode: Dot Earth, Elon Musk and the Boring Company, Uber Eats and Dara Khosrowshahi, ChatGPT, Roblox, Madhappy, Reid Hoffman, Craigslist, Google, Napster and Sean Parker, the California Culinary Academy, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, Yahoo, John Doerr, Words with Friends, LinkedIn, Tribe.net, Supercell and Ilkka Paananen, FarmVille and Hay Day, Parker Conrad and Rippling, Bing Gordon, Fred Wilson, Brad Feld, the Game Developer’s Conference, CNET, Matt Cohler, Don Mattrick, Microsoft and the Xbox, Joe Biden, Jason Citron and Discord, Steve Jobs, Super Labs, Marcus Segal, Frank Gibeau, The Courage to Be Disliked, and Stewart Butterfield. Links: Connect with Mark Twitter LinkedIn Connect with Joubin Twitter LinkedIn Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com  Learn more about Kleiner Perkins This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Mark Pincus

Founder

ZyngaReinvent Capital

You might recognize the name Mark Pincus but we almost guarantee you recognize the game Farmville.  Mark Pincus is the founder and longtime CEO of Zynga, known for its massive global franchise of games, including those household names like Farmville and Words with Friends. Zynga was also at the forefront of the transition to mobile and the use of large platforms like Facebook for distribution. In this episode Mark joins Josh Lu from the a16z Games team for a fireside chat. They discuss navigating major tech waves and recognizing "true signal" opportunities, and explore a wide range of topics, from the strategic insights that propelled Zynga to success, the future of the Metaverse, and the philosophy behind minimum viable products.  This conversation offers invaluable insights for both gaming industry insiders and enthusiasts looking to understand the dynamics of tech innovation and entrepreneurship. Topics Covered: 00:00 - How Zynga Spotted the Mobile Wave 02:47 - Challenges of Starting Zynga 05:24 - Zynga's Early Workforce and Learning HTML 07:40 - Preparing for Tech Waves 11:29 - The Importance of Being Too Early 15:42 - The attribute of great founders 18:33 - Hiring Philosophy  22:02 - ‘Everyone is  a CEO’ 24:20 - Fast Iteration and Learning from Failures 31:06 - Personal Gaming Preferences 32:52 - Advice on Reevaluating Projects and True Signal 35:50 - AI's Role in Consumer Adoption and Gaming 40:17 - Community as a Core Element 43:31 - UGC Gaming Space and Future Computing Paradigms Resources:  Find Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/markpinc Find Josh on Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshlu Learn more about SPEEDRUN 3.0: https://a16z.com/speedrun3 Learn more about SPEEDRUN: ttps://a16z.com/speedrun-your-gaming-startup Stay Updated:  Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mark Pincus

Founder

ZyngaReinvent Capital

To succeed, you have to be relentless about pursuing a big opportunity — and ruthless about killing your own bad ideas along the way. Zynga founder Mark Pincus upended the gaming industry with social games like Farmville and Words With Friends. And he did it by gathering data; killing ideas that didn't move the needle, and going all-in on the ones that did. With cameos by Andrea Jones-Rooy, data scientist and comedian, and Matt Ruby, founder of Vooza. Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/mark-pincus-how-to-kill-your-bad-ideas-masters-of-scale-podcast/ Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mark Pincus

Founder

ZyngaReinvent Capital

Mark Pincus is a serial entrepreneur and investor, best known for founding Zynga, the first company to introduce the mass market to social gaming. To date, more than one billion people around the world have played Zynga's games, which include hits like FarmVille and Words with Friends. Mark is also known for his investments in some of the internet's largest and most successful companies, including Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb, Snapchat and Xiaomi. One of the earliest pioneers in social networking, Mark founded multiple startups including support.com and tribe.net, before going on to create Zynga. A fun fact - recognizing the importance of social networking, in 2003 Mark teamed up with his friend Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, to purchase the fundamental Six Degrees patent – which broadly covers social networks – in order to keep it out of the hands of patent trolls and guarantee that all players could innovate on this technology. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) Having founded one of the first social networks, Tribe and seed invested in Facebook, what convinced you that 2007 was the right time to start a social games company, Zynga? 2.) Having mastered distribution with Zynga, does Mark believe we are in a "fallow" period for consumer with a lack of distribution channel availability? If distribution is not the core problem, what does Mark believe is the fundamental issue? 3.) What have been Mark's biggest lessons when it comes to assembling truly great teams? What does Mark mean when he says that he looks for people with "broken resumes"? Why is that so beneficial to potential candidates? 4.) When investing, how does Mark determine timing on when to ride winner and cut losers? What does Mark really mean when he says, ''you have to instill a mindset of expected value over loss avoidance"? 5.) What are the 2 biggest lies in Silicon Valley told by founders and VCs? How can founders truly test the alignment with their VC? How did Mark do this in pitches with Zynga? What were Mark's learnings on optimising board composition and performance? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Mark's Fave Book: Ready Player One As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Mark on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. Available in carry-on and check-in sizes, Raden is the case for better, smarter travel. By pairing the lightest and most durable materials with technology, travelers can charge their devices on the go, weigh, and track their cases. Visit Raden.com to use code 20VC at checkout. With purchase, receive credit towards Tablet Hotels for the next year. If a UK listener, head over to Selfridge's and shop Raden today. The Simba Hybrid. The most advanced mattress in the world. With a unique combination of two thousand five hundred conical pocket springs and responsive memory foam, it offers the perfect support for two people. A mattress that responds to you and your partner's sleeping patterns. Delivered free, with a one hundred night sleep trial, free returns and a ten year guarantee. Start your free trial at simbasleep.com

Mark Pincus

Founder

ZyngaReinvent Capital