Brainstorming business ideas with a billion-dollar founder
About This Episode
Mark Pincus, the founder of Zynga and an early investor in Facebook, joins the pod to discuss his 'Proven Better New' framework for building billion-dollar companies. He details the early days of social gaming and shares his 'Book of Life' practice for personal alignment and goal setting.
Episode Description
Show Notes
- 0:00$0- $38M in 7 months
- 3:00if you pick the right body of water, you don't have to have the right boat
- 16:51pattern matching 
- 23:17there's always a new freak
- 25:00picking macros
- 27:48a case for gold
- 39:50How to know what to chase
- 49:12create a book of life
- 59:59Frameworks vs instincts
- 1:09:00being hated and misunderstood
- 1:11:13the story of farmville
- 1:15:00avoiding the fur coat moment
- 1:19:49the nickelback problem
- 1:22:02introspection vs rumination
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Key Takeaways
Use the 'Proven Better New' framework: Copy a proven business model pixel-for-pixel first to isolate what works before attempting to add 'better' or 'new' features.
Look for the '60% DAU to MAU' metric: Products that have 60% of their monthly users logging in every single day (like early Facebook and Friendster) indicate generational 'lightning in a bottle' potential.
Maintain a 'Book of Life': Once a year, have an honest conversation with yourself in writing to ensure your daily actions are in alignment with your long-term goals and to identify 'seminal' achievements.
Business Ideas Mentioned
Human Curated High-End Service Marketplace
Marketplace
Trust-as-a-Service Review Platform
Content & Media