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
I think we live in a unique time - the verbs that make up our online and mobile lives haven't been completely invented or imagined for us. That was kind of a life path I was on.
There are people who want the comfort and structure of a job where they're given tasks and told what to do. I think it's actually a minority of people. The majority of people don't want that, but I'd say that the companies I've built are full of people with something to prove.
I think failing is the best way to keep you grounded, curious, and humble. Success is dangerous because often you don't understand why you succeeded. You almost always know why you've failed. You have a lot of time to think about it.
I think you're defined as a company by what you choose to do and what you choose not to do.
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.
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.
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.
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 need to aspire to be a great CEO and not just a great product engineer.
I've been good at product entrepreneuring.
You can manage 50 people through the strength of your personality and lack of sleep. You can touch them all in a week and make sure they're all pointed in the right direction.
You're not smarter than your competitor. Just copy what they do and do it until you get their numbers.