The hidden pattern behind successful products | Mark Pincus (Founder of Zynga)

Description

Mark Pincus founded Zynga—the company behind Words With Friends, FarmVille, and Zynga Poker—and has arguably created more hit consumer products than anyone in history. At Zynga, eight of 10 major game launches became massive hits, reaching over a billion players. Over the past five years, Mark has been synthesizing everything he’s learned about building successful consumer products and turning it into a book, Life at the Speed of Play, which comes out on June 23. This is the first interview he’s done about the book.In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:1. His “Proven, Better, New” framework: copy what’s proven, make it better so that 10 out of 10 people say “f*ck yes, I’ll use this”—then add something new2. Why being less ambitious is the path to the most ambitious ideas3. His rule of thumb that your instincts are right 95% of the time, but your ideas are wrong 75% of the time4. “Kill hope before hope kills you”5. How to raise kids in the age of AI—Brought to you by:WorkOS—Make your app enterprise-ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and moreVanta—Automate compliance, manage risk, and accelerate trust with AI—Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-common-pattern-behind-successful—Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0—Where to find Mark Pincus:• X: https://x.com/markpinc• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markpincus• Website: https://www.lifeatthespeedofplay.com—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Mark Pincus(02:46) The Proven Better New framework overview(07:29) Earning the right to innovate(08:30) What “better” really means(12:03) Quick summary of the framework(12:40) Examples of the framework in action(13:30) How to use proven correctly on your platform(15:13) The moral arbitrage of copying(23:55)