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What it's like to work with Mark Pincus
- gnosis 14y agoThis reads mostly like a content-free puff piece, where Pincus' former assistant is kissing his former boss' ass. Typical corporate cheerleading.
- gruseom 14y agoAw, come on. I hate "typical corporate cheerleading" as much as anyone, and your comment is totally unfair. This is a kid writing about an experience of mentorship. It's natural for someone to be grateful for that and want to express it, and it's natural to be effusive when doing so.
- grindall 14y agoYes, but we all knew it was going to be 100% positive, even before clicking on the link. He might as well have not written it in the first place.
- tptacek 14y agoSo from your vantage point, how is anyone supposed to write about Fabrice Bellard, or, for that matter, Wire's "Pink Flag"? Do we have to make up negative things about them, or are we just not allowed to write about them at all?
- gruseom 14y ago> Wire's "Pink Flag" http://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_seven_commandments_of_art_punk_wires_rules http://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_seven_commandments_of...
- tptacek 14y agoI call BS; they routinely break rule 5.
- gruseom 14y ago#4 too, though not routinely – "Mannequin", a song I suspect we'd disagree on, definitely "choruses out". Edit: hmm, I'm not sure what kind of BS you meant to call this but I'm starting to suspect it might be made up. The few Googleable instances of it all go back to a single source that posted it without attribution. Plus, "negative self-definition" sounds suspiciously PoMo... You realize what it means that I posted this, don't you? Must now explode. Edit edit: Saved. The image is made up and the caption was added later but the substance did come from Graham Lewis. http://books.google.ca/books?ei=YMQvUeffEsKWiALI4YG4Aw&id=4FEIAQAAMAAJ&dq=wire+pink+flag+33+1%2F3&q=rules#search_anchor http://books.google.ca/books?ei=YMQvUeffEsKWiALI4YG4Aw&i... Edit edit edit: since when else will this ever be apropos, here is some of the most uncomfortable television ever: http://dangerousminds.net/comments/truly_post-punk_suzanne_somers_meets_wire_on_the_late_show_1987 http://dangerousminds.net/comments/truly_post-punk_suzanne_s...
- tptacek 14y agoCrap, forgot who I was talking to. Should have known a silly comment about Wire rocking out might send you into a fugue state of attribution hunting. I DIDN'T MEAN IT!
- gruseom 14y agoYou can't take the literature grad school out of the boy. But isn't that Suzanne Somers - Wire interview seriously... whatever it is? Come on, who else am I going to get to watch that? :)
- tptacek 14y agoThat was I think one of the greatest videos I have seen in the last 5 years, despite it capturing Wire in their ill-advised Public Image Limited phase.
- generalpf 14y agoThis sounds kind of like the Valve circle-jerking, except Valve is actually profitable. Given Zynga's balance sheet, I'd do the exact opposite of what Mark Pincus does.
- xoail 14y agoNot sure why people up vote and then trash it in comments. This is good read and something positive about Zynga's master mind.
- wmeredith 14y agoAn up vote is not a sign of agreement. It means that the subject matter is interesting and merits discussion.
- MatthewPhillips 14y agoI reads mixed to me. Pincus can be both a ruthless businessman and a nice, caring person at the same time; it's not what you expect but it's possible. I certainly don't think this guy is lying about any of his interactions. On the other hand, who knows to what extent the author's medical condition was related to job stress. There was nothing in this piece about Pincus stopping by while they were all frantically trying to meet his deadline and saying "you guys are working too hard. Go home and tomorrow we'll reevaluate when this project can realistically get done".
- corresation 14y agoIt has been discussed numerous times that the people who comment often differ substantially from the people who vote (uparrow, kudos, whatever). I would take it even further that there's a much larger -- 10x+ -- group that doesn't even vote if they like the content.
- return0 14y agoBecause morality is a consistent trait, and when it's not it s considered erratic behavior.
- mrgoldenbrown 14y agoIn my view (having never met or worked for him), Pincus will always be the guy who bragged about making money no matter what it takes, even if it means screwing over users with mal/spy/ad-ware. But it is important to remember that people are multifaceted, and might treat some people well, even if he treats others like crap.
- rhizome 14y agoYes, I'm sure his kids love him.
- ebbv 14y agoThis is the first time I've read a piece from a Zynga employee that hasn't been a tale of nightmares. Unfortunately it goes beyond just being a positive story of the experience someone had at Zynga to a nearly comical worshipping of its CEO. I think the author is either in love with Pincus or is hoping Pincus will invest in his next project.
- zerooneinfinity 14y agoTwist, the author IS Pincus
- dm8 14y agoHN is not reddit. So please no more 'twist' comments. :)
- zem 14y agothat is unnecessarily cynical. i think user:photorized has it right: > Sounds like the author was too young/naive/inexperienced to understand the issues. And the mentor meant the world to him. This is like imprinting in ducks and geese.
- AVTizzle 14y ago"I did every horrible thing in the book to, just to get revenues right away. I mean we gave our users poker chips if they downloaded this zwinky toolbar which was like, I dont know, I downloaded it once and couldn’t get rid of it. laughs We did anything possible just to just get revenues so that we could grow and be a real business…" http://techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/zynga-scamville-mark-pinkus-faceboo/ http://techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/zynga-scamville-mark-pinkus... Not to mention the stock option scandal [1], and notoriously horrible working conditions [2]. I haven't met the guy, but it seems to me like the ship he runs is pretty fucked. [1] http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57322150-17/zynga-to-employees-give-back-our-stock-or-youll-be-fired/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57322150-17/zynga-to-emplo... [2] http://www.itworld.com/software/228383/more-why-it-sucks-work-zynga http://www.itworld.com/software/228383/more-why-it-sucks-wor...
- jfisk87 14y agonotoriously horrible working conditions? really? I work here, interact with plenty of the teams and it is very far from horrible. Yes things get a little hectic when deadlines are due but thats the nature of things. Zynga cant teach you a work life balance, you do, and that seems to be respected by managers.
- AVTizzle 14y agoEven if I gave you that I'd still be 2 for 3. Zynga would still suck and Pincus would still be a bastard.
- wpietri 14y agoZynga is notorious for it. E.g.: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/zyngas-tough-culture-risks-a-talent-drain/ http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/zyngas-tough-culture-...
- grindall 14y agoObviously it was a positive write up. If it was negative he wouldn't be posting it. The post was useless.
- speeder 14y agoI am stumped. That is the first terrible read I had on svtble, the first so excessively positive view of Mark Pincus that it reads like a PR stunt, and the first time I wonder what the hell happened. I mean, seriously? WHY? What is the point? Why write a bordering absurd praise of a guy that is so infamous for his own admitted horrible things in the book? If it was more realistic, I mean, praising the good and the calling out the bad is one thing, but I don't see this sort of treatment even with Steve Jobs (even very positive texts on Steve Jobs mention how he had bad temper and people feared to get fired by just being near him, or how he sometimes got stubborn with ideas that were not necessarily good ones).
- corresation 14y agoPeople can have remarkably different experiences with people, and it's possible that this is the genuine experience of this person. They mention almost dying and Pincus being their first visitor days later when they emerged from a coma...which is very strange.
- ceejayoz 14y agoThat bit made me sad. No visitors for two days while lying in a coma? No friends and family?
- jonny_eh 14y agoI read it as the first visitor since waking up. It's still pretty sad :(
- samnm 14y agoI am a close friend of Sash's and I'd like to point out that his family were by his side every hour they were aloud in the hospital. By no means was Pincus the only visitor, just the first non-family visitor.
- saraid216 14y agoI didn't read the OP, but I did read the other posts in the blog. I'm not really impressed by her capacity for insight.
- OoTheNigerian 14y agoWhy so many negative responses to this post? Are you disappointed that not everyone that has interacted with Mark Pincus had a bad experience? I found it interesting because it was certainly different. It shows another side. I do not know about most of you guys calling this piece "puff" because it is not bashing Pincus, but i do like balance while learning about people and things. It is possible to infer from this that Pincus goes out of his way to be kind to talented workaholics and is not an all round devil. Therefore, if you are naturally a workaholic, you would enjoy working for him. If not, you should really consider. This post brings a balance to the otherwise one-sided narrative about Mr Pincus/Zynga.
- wpietri 14y agoI think the negative responses come from the total disconnect with what is known about Pincus and Zynga. The piece would have a lot more credibility if he acknowledged the issues. He could have denied them, or, better, could have explained that they were legitimate but that there was another side to Pincus. But as it is, all I can feel about the piece is WTF. Is the guy clueless? Is this denial? Is he kissing ass? Did he just see the hero he was looking to see? Is he right but only seeing a narrow slice? Do we all just have Pincus wrong? No idea, but the piece gives me no reason to find out.
- OoTheNigerian 14y agoI would have supported your point if I remember people demanding for the "positive side" of Pincus in comments discussing posts bashing him/Zynga. I read this as a deeply grateful person writing about his positive experience with a mentor of his. It might have been written because the author wants to balance the solely negative stories we hear of him. Because this is Svbtle does not mean we should forget that this is a personal blog.
- wpietri 14y agoIf this is an attempt at balance, he should say so. The problem isn't with his core story. It's the poor management of audience expectations.
- Macsenour 14y agoI read it and my first thought was: YMMV (Your Millage May Vary)
- raverbashing 14y agoI find the reaction about the text interesting For one, apparently no one saw "The Devil Wears Prada" Oh I am sure Pincus is everything (bad) they say of him. Every word. What we were missing is someone that's capable of adapting to his style and seeing the things beyond that. Yes, sorry, 'his style' is usually an euphemism for 'making people cry and being awful', but there's more to it than that usually (because of what he did). "Angry bosses" are a dime a dozen, but only few of them manage what MP has achieved (with a lot of moral issues, I'm sure).
- doe88 14y agoMost of the time people think things are necessarily black or white, but often it is somewhere in the middle and may also depend in the context. I believe he genuinely thinks what he wrote and it might be his truth. Of course, it doesn't discard all the justified criticisms on Marc Pincus, it is just another side, there are not mutually exclusive imo.
- far33d 14y agoThis is an accurate and uplifting account of what it was like for _Sash_ to work with Mark. The reality for many other people, myself included, is quite different. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
- zwass 14y agoRegardless of the truth of this story, I hope someday to have a manager/mentor that works with me with such care and talent.
- ryanklee 14y agoI found this to be an interesting read, simply because (1) it rings true, and (2) it's contrary to everything I know about Pincus and runs up against my personal ire towards Zynga's apparent M.O. Concerning (1) -- Yes, "rings true" is subjective. But even if the story's exaggerated emotionally, it still managed to generate empathy in me towards someone I previously would have written off (and maybe unjustly) as, well, scum. Which leads me to (2) -- Contending with competing notions of persons one hasn't met is a valuable thing. Human subjects should ideally be humanized, which means engaging the idea that people are sometimes very contrary beasts. Whenever that idea is buried over, wrong thinking. Whenever that idea is illuminated, better thinking. That said, the write up could be disingenuous, false or true. Even so, I took value from it simply because it humanized someone I previously would have cheered being thrown to the wolves. No longer, even if he is a total dirt-bag, as others contend.
- LookACamelToe 14y agoSo, you just met him, and he asked you to be his technical assistance right on the spot? Despite the fact that you were young and pretty clueless about pretty much everything? I don't want to be offensive, but did you guys have a different relationship than that of a boss-employee? And you went to his house and talked for hours when you decided to leave? At the company were they lay off people for fun?
- cpressey 14y agoHe came into the room and sat on the arm of a chair with his feet resting on the seat. I have to assume that wasn't a typical conference-room chair -- or it was really well engineered.
- trotsky 14y agoWe seem to want everyone to be one dimensional, but nobody on earth is.In the 90's Gates was synonymous with evil in the tech collective consciousness, yet now he relentlessly works to improve the lives of millions. In the last decade jobs was elevated to near deity status by many, despite his status as a legendary dick. People are complex, deal with it.
- rdouble 14y agoAt my first startup, the founder was a legendary dick to almost everyone, but he was always cool to me.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- nineteenturtles 14y agoThis is not a pro Zynga blog post. The main point of the story that the OP was highly valued by Zynga, but he left anyway. It details his rapid access to key people and that his old boss begged him to stay (multiple hour convo at boss' house). It's sort of like saying your old girlfriend was super into you, and begged you to stay with her, but you left her anyway. Most people might agree that making a public declaration of this would not be doing her any favors. A reasonable person could consider this post unprofessional. Zygna (whatever your personal opinion of the company) was singing his paychecks and could be considered to deserve the sort of respect many people give former employers in public.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- joshschreuder 14y agoJust as a little side-story, it would appear as though Sash is the same person from dcurtis's The Fight blog post: http://dcurt.is/the-fight http://dcurt.is/the-fight
- chris_gogreen 14y agoYou know what else you saw while at Zynga? The stock price drop like a rock. They spent two months teaching you things someone in your position of Technical Assistant to CEO of a public company should already know. This is an example of poor allocation of resources.
- jbarham 14y agoI can't help but wonder if there's a correlation between "spending many late nights at the office" and the fact that the OP had a heart attack at the age of 21...
- joezhou 14y agoCool, I just realized I'm doing something very similar for my job.