#207 Co-Founder & Chairman Zynga, Mark Pincus: Speed of Play

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Sep 9, 2024

Mark Pincus is the founder and chairman of Zynga and a co-founder of Reinvent Capital. He shares fascinating insights on the balance between art and science in gaming, emphasizing that instinct alone isn’t enough—entrepreneurs must thrive on feedback loops. He also discusses the evolution of social gaming and the importance of setting clear intentions. Pincus reflects on his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of leadership transitions, and the vital role of grit in achieving success. Don't miss his take on navigating virtual and real commerce!

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Intro

00:00 • 4min

Exploring Frustrations and Business Opportunities in Food Delivery and Automation

03:52 • 3min

Navigating the Intersection of Virtual and Real Commerce

06:54 • 5min

Journey of an Entrepreneur: Insights from Zynga's Founding

12:16 • 19min

Reflections of a Tech Founder

31:00 • 26min

Navigating Leadership Transitions

56:51 • 15min

The Essence of Grit in Entrepreneurship

01:11:29 • 2min

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:

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This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm