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

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