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Today's Episode

I quote Mark Pincus more than almost anyone, and I still feel a little guilty every time I do. For years, the internet calls him a "FarmVillain," the founder who copies his way to the top.

Today he owns it.

Mark (founder of Zynga, author of Life at the Speed of Play) steps up to my whiteboard and draws Proven Better New, the framework I reach for every time I plan a product. He shows me how Zynga Poker copies the leading tables down to the chip sounds and still wins on one small new bet.

Then he makes the case that most AI founders today are being too clever for the moment.

If you're building anything consumer right now, this is the one episode to watch.

10 Key takeaways

1. Copying is what every product maker already does - Mark argues that all music, movies, stories and games are derivative work. The real skill is the magic trick: you learn from someone else's proven success and make it feel new. Steve Jobs did it better than Bill Gates, even though both copied Xerox PARC.

2. Trust your instinct, doubt your idea - Mark puts your instinct at about 95% right and your specific idea at maybe 25%. Proven Better New lets you act on both at once.

3. Proven means pixel-level, for this audience on this platform - You copy the experience click by click, legally. "Instagram" can't go in your proven column. Today's best version of the specific experience can.

4. Better is what 10 out of 10 existing users would choose - What you think is better is actually new. Better is usually small: no download, free, fewer clicks, a cleaner onboarding.

5. Isolate your new so you fail for the right reason - Zynga Poker copies the leading tables down to the chip sounds, drops the download and adds one new thing, your real friends from Facebook and MySpace. Mark says friends end up at the same table 25% of the time.

6. Onboarding belongs in proven - Zynga's PMs call social Civilization and SimCity Social dead on arrival because of their long tutorials. In casual games you need to reach the good stuff in three clicks, not three minutes.

7. All new fails - Zynga still repeats this mantra. Expect your new to fail so you kill it fast, and treat new that works in the market with reverence, because it just became proven.

8. Early in a platform shift, ship less new - Supercell's Hay Day launches with 0% new, just a FarmVille built for mobile. In the AI cycle, users sit in discovery mode, so an AI version of something they already do beats an idea that's too clever for the moment.

9. Copy everything by default, then cut on audience - FarmVille copies Farm Town's gifting and its two-way neighbor bar, friction included. It cuts only the stranger marketplace, because that doesn't fit its core audience of middle-aged women on Facebook.

10. Test the top of the funnel before you build - Mark's problem with the MVP is the word viable, because it fills you with hope. Test names and web ads first, and set a click-through bar before you write real code.

Go Deeper

How you need to think about product strategy in the age of AI (with Tim Herbig)

The Ultimate Guide to Onboarding

Ultimate Guide: Activation

The Multiplayer Lever

Ultimate Guide: Growth Loops

The PM's Guide to Governance with Eric Ries

Listen and watch on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.

If you want to advertise, email productgrowthppp[at]gmail[dot]com.

How to steal your way to a hit product, with Mark Pincus (founder, Zynga)

The Growth Podcast

How to steal your way to a hit product, with Mark Pincus (founder, Zynga)