350. Zynga Founder Mark Pincus: Why Your Favourite Ideas Are Almost Always Wrong

Mark Pincus founded Zynga that was later acquired of $12.7B by TakeTwo and still thinks he misplayed the hand. On this episode he unpacks the playbook behind Life at the Speed of Play: why all new fails, how to run a company as a democratic dictatorship why anyone lecturing you about culture has a team rolling their eyes behind them.

Life at the Speed of Play: https://www.lifeatthespeedofplay.com/

Key timestamps:

00:00 — Intro
1:30 — Why Mark wrote Life at the Speed of Play
8:49 — How to test instincts: proven, better, new
15:45 — “Know your goal or suffer death by a thousand compromises”
20:36 — The “democratic dictatorship” approach to leadership
26:59 — Getting people to do the right things when you’re not in the room
29:34 — Getting teams to take bold risks and innovate
36:14 — Why CEOs should spend time on product
39:15 — What Pincus would do differently at Zynga
44:04 — Reflecting on the games industry and missed opportunities
50:40 — ADHD as a feature for product makers, anchored by a singular vision
52:14 — Why most MVPs don’t succeed