Mark Pincus Releases 'Life at the Speed of Play' Strategy Book

Mark Pincus, the entrepreneur behind social gaming giant Zynga, has officially released his new book, Life at the Speed of Play. The book serves as a collection of management advice and lessons drawn from his career as a founder of ten companies, including the social network Tribe.net and the support platform Support.com.

Lessons from the Zynga Years

Pincus’ career is marked by a focus on viral products and social gaming. After taking Zynga public in 2011, he navigated several leadership changes, including hiring Don Mattrick in 2013 and eventually returning to the CEO role himself to steer the company toward what he calls "forever franchises."

Reflecting on the challenges of game development, Pincus notes that "too many founders find an odd sense of honor in sticking with their losing product." He argues that the "winning path goes through many shots on goal and many failures." Pincus points to the development of FarmVille 3 as an example of a project that became too expensive and "too big to fail," eventually stalling despite significant investment.

The Philosophy of Product Making

The book draws heavily from the curriculum Pincus developed for his product management class at Stanford Business School. He emphasizes a "data-centric, rapid iteration" approach to building products. One of his core pieces of advice is: "Your instinct is probably right, but your idea is probably wrong." He suggests that founders must move at speed to test which of their ideas are actually viable.

Pincus also addresses the concept of "founder mode," suggesting that there is no substitute for the founder's own judgment. He recounts his return to Zynga as a "thankless job" but one that was necessary to save the company from a "business plan and path that was probably going to lead to eventually going out of business." He highlights that when he returned, he cut the company's revenue in half to focus exclusively on core titles like Words With Friends and Zynga Poker, prioritizing quality and app ratings over a broad, unproven slate of new games.

Looking Toward the Future

Since his time at the helm of Zynga, Pincus has founded Dot Earth (formerly Erth.ai), a venture aimed at building a social and entertainment platform. He remains active in the startup space, utilizing the lessons he learned—and the ones he failed to learn—to guide his current work. He notes that regardless of past success, founders often feel "agitated" and "out of position," suggesting that the drive to build is a perpetual state rather than a destination.