Zynga founder Mark Pincus explains his 'Proven, Better, New' product framework
andrewchen · x · 2026-10-19
In a thread shared by a16z, Zynga founder Mark Pincus breaks down "Proven, Better, New," the framework he calls Zynga's religion:
- Proven: Start from what 10/10 existing users of a category already love — and don't change it. "You do not have the right to change proven."
- Better: Only add what 10/10 users agree is better. For Zynga Poker, "better" was simply no download — each download click lost half the users.
- New: Treat anything you think is better as "new" and assume it fails. "Users don't care how innovative it is. All they care about is does it feel better."
More from Companies & People
- Juan Benet revives Zuckerberg's rule: only hire people you'd work for — juanbenet · 2026-10-19
- Nathan Benaich to Host State of AI Report Meetup in NYC on Oct 27 — nathanbenaich · 2026-10-19
- Accenture caps Claude spend at $29/person/month after some staff hit $1,000 months — Panic_Lion · 2026-10-19
- Anthropic tells Congress Alibaba-linked operators ran 28.8M-exchange distillation attack on Claude — deanwball · 2026-10-19
- Dave Kasten publicly presses Anthropic staff: apologize or admit no wrongdoing? — ShakeelHashim · 2026-10-19
- On Zuckerberg's work obsession: he's been at it since 17, wife finally gets it — yenkel · 2026-10-19