[naeem]

And yet Mark Pincus is a multi-millionaire and a massive Valley success story. Not to mention the last guy that had Zuckerbeg's "zeal" and lived in a humble house died recently, and was known for being an unbearable dick to his employees.

It's usually a big can of worms to judge an entrepreneur by anything other than his success. Besides -- what is so wrong about Pincus wanting to get rich?

[pxlpshr]

If you're referring to Jobs as the last guy that had "Zuck's zeal", you need to get to get a reality check.

Jobs built multiple multi-billion dollar companies that redefined innovation. He (and his team) created the personal computer market, transformed it again 20 years later, transformed telecom 'overnight' while slaying RIM and Nokia with one swoop, and in many regards — introduced new childhood memories that will not be forgotten for decades, like Snow White's glass slipper. The MySpace abomination barely left a wrinkle in history's culture.

I'm not one to hate on entrepreneurs but Zuck has a long way to go. I feel like there needs to be a history book for new entrepreneurs who think the glorified web startup guys are Gods among men. Most of the Gods aren't socializing at this weeks Startup FunFunFun HappyHour Fest 5000.

[dasil003]

It's a big can of worms to judge anyone for any reason. However I am comfortable judging Pincus because I think Zynga is a flaming pile of shit that feeds off human weakness and is a blight on humanity. The fact that he would try to steal back shares from his employees is just the cherry on top.

[bryanlarsen]

We judge an entrepreneur by what he has built. You can get rich by "extracting rents" or you can get rich by building something that makes the world so much better that people fall all over themselves trying to give you money for it.

[wpietri]

Nothing is wrong with wanting to get rich. But there's a lot wrong with wanting to get rich no matter how it harms other people.

Also, I'm not sure I'd call him a Valley success story. Zynga is company number 4. The last three all made him some money without going anywhere. Like the article's author, I think Zynga is on the same path to long-term irrelevance.

Few in the Valley look back on the wreckage of Bubble 1.0 and think of those companies as success stories, however much they enriched their founders.

[jfaucett]

really "a can of worms to judge by anything but success"? What about the Samwer brothers or some of gates dubious tactics? The Samwers just rip ideas to get rich, and I think we can agree there is a bit of a difference in an entrepreneur like Jobs who was innovative and pushed his field to new levels and one like gates who built a monopoly by rather unethical means...

[michaelochurch]

Q: What's better than being a multimillionaire?

A: Not being Mark Pincus.

[option_greek]

If the stories of how bad zynga is to its employees keep pouring out, "Stop being a pincus" might even become mainstream.

[michaelochurch]

As a portmanteau of "pink phallus", maybe?

He could run as a certain abrasive ex-Senator's Veep. "Get Santorum on your Pincus in 2016." I say this as one who desperately wanted to see this ex-Senator win the Republican nomination (I dislike the Republican Party that much at this point) and choose Boehner as his running mate.

[joelrunyon]

You're also assuming the metric for success = money, which while that may be your barometer for success, you should be wary about assuming that's other people's metrics as well.

[saraid216]

> Not to mention the last guy that had Zuckerbeg's "zeal" and lived in a humble house died recently, and was known for being an unbearable dick to his employees.

The article cites several examples of CEOs with similar "zeal", none of whom are dead, and none of whom are known for being unbearable dicks.

[kqr2]

I think he is referring to Steve Jobs.

[saraid216]

Except that Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg are not the only people in the world who have zeal.