Mark Pincus
Mark Pincus
Mark Jonathan Pincus is an American Internet entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of Zynga, which makes online social games. Pincus also founded Freeloader, Inc., Tribe Networks, and Support.com. Pincus served as the CEO of Zynga until July 2013. Zynga's top games include: Bubble Safari, CastleVille, ChefVille, CityVille, CityVille 2, CoasterVille, Draw Something, FarmVille, Yoville, FarmVille 2, Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars, Empires & Allies, Words with Friends, Hanging with Friends and Scramble with Friends...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth13 February 1966
CountryUnited States of America
You're not smarter than your competitor. Just copy what they do and do it until you get their numbers.
People were hanging out in these places, and just like at cocktail parties, they needed something to do together. I thought, 'How can we fit games into someone's life?'
I’ve grown a lot, and I’m learning every week.
Clearly as you move to being a public company, probably even more than growth, there is a huge value based on predictability.
I got involved early on in social media - I created one of the first social networks - and for me, social gaming was a natural evolution of that.
I think you're defined as a company by what you choose to do and what you choose not to do.
From the beginning... I wanted to build a company that could sustain not for two years or four years or even ten years but be something that really matters over time the way Amazon and Google and others have.
If you give people really big jobs to the point that they're scared, they have way more fun and they improve their game much faster.
I seek out a lot of advice from other CEOs.
The first rule (of investing) for me is don't have rules. You find one amazing investment and that's all that matters. If you pick the right body of water, you might not need a boat.
I like to bet on people, especially those who have taken risks and failed in some way, because they have more real-world experience. And they’re humble.
I need to aspire to be a great CEO and not just a great product engineer.
I've been good at product entrepreneuring.
We did anything possible just to get revenues so that we could grow and be a real business.