[der3k]

Start your own company then and set an example instead of criticizing others.

Edit: Thanks for all the upvotes/support. To those who see this as legitimate criticism, really? The OP elaborated on nothing - no constructive criticisms were made. Instead, it just sounds like pure anger and naïveté on my end, alluding to all entrepreneurs trying to make it/who have made it as "leeches" and "near-sighted execs" that have "networks of cronies." Stay classy.

[pkfrank]

Is it not legitimate to call out piss-poor management and cronyism without also "setting an example?" Does this mean that only people at the helm of $1b+ companies are able to criticize Zynga's pathetic ineptitude?

Not sure what your aggressive reply accomplishes; at least OP has sparked discussion to point out a major flaw and source of Zynga's downfall.

[jgross206]

Talk is cheap. It's very, very easy to criticize from afar when you have no skin in the game.

So, that type of criticism holds very little weight.

[obviouslygreen]

Bullshit. This kind of passive-ad-hominem is worse than worthless. If you disregard criticism of actions by people who aren't taking those actions, you're left listening only to people who are actually doing those things... and guess what? They're probably not exactly railing against their own paradigms.

Talk is only cheap if you're lapping it up in bulk from poor sources. If talk were always cheap, advisory boards and mentors would never, ever provide any value. So by all means, throw it away; disregard people based on who they are and not what they say. It's your own loss.

Just have the decency not to mislead people who are looking for guidance with your own cheap talk.

[larrys]

"when you have no skin in the game"

Your parent is referring to perhaps (similar to) talking heads in a way that they get on TV not knowing all the facts or reasoning and state after the fact what should be.

But even if they state "before the fact" there is not a complete record of their thoughts on everything as being vetted as correct (success has a million fathers etc.)

So you can go back and say "see I said this was a bad idea" but what about the other 20 things someone says that you don't have the same outcome? You can just cherry pick. There is a common stock ruse that works this way. You call people up and say "I'm giving you a tip don't buy now". Then next month you call back all the people that you gave "tip a" to but not failed "tip b".

That said there is much to learn from criticism no matter where it comes from or what their axe is to grind etc.

[MrMan]

that is not true. some failures are predictable, egregious, and symptomatic of cultural rot. what was easy was knowing ahead of time that Zynga was a terrible company. "skin in the game" is a meaningless cliche.

do I need skin in the game to create a histogram? to do multiple regression? to get a hunch that something is foul? judgement and critical thinking have nothing to do with skin in the game. business is not lacrosse.

[untog]

Presumably none of us are able to criticise politicians, then? Or our bosses?

[ianstallings]

You're right talk is cheap. Here's my latest startup I just built with 5 others:

http://www.brabble.com/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brabble/id570281083?mt=8

Edited: 5 others. Forgot the Angel.

[Fuzzwah]

On the brabble.com site the menu that pops in from the left pushes the text off the right of my browser window.

http://i.imgur.com/AcmcN53.png

While the site is responsive and making the window small so the left menu goes away fixes it, resizing to any amount larger than that results in some of the text being hidden off the right hand side.

Chrome Version 27.0.1453.94 m

[ianstallings]

Thanks! I'll send this to Randy who is in charge of the website now. I'm pretty sure we're in agreement, him and I, that the left menu is possibly a bad idea and we've struggled with it.

[ksk]

>It's very, very easy to criticize from afar when you have no skin in the game.

neither do the execs, if they get paid anyway. (which was the point)

[Ixiaus]

Criticism can be legitimate, constructive analytical criticism can be enlightening (studying what went wrong). Claiming that all of the execs made a terrible effort and implying that it is "unfair" they are being paid well (maybe they aren't being paid well!?!) is silly, unless of course he's an insider. Even if he was an insider, it would still be silly because of its emotional content which is what the commenter above you replied about: if it bothers you, go build your own company and exemplify all of the character and ideology you uphold as "ethical" or "moral".

His comment wasn't aggressive either. It was firm. Zynga's major flaw isn't "cronyism" or "leeches" as far as I can tell; its major flaw happens to be a confluence of bad choices and poor insight; I however, do not know enough to actually constructively criticize the company and its leadership.

[RHSeeger]

I know this isn't exactly a constructive post, but... https://www.google.com/search?q=why%20zynga%20sucks&hl=e... isn't exactly short on results. The company and how it is run are fairly widely considered examples of everything that can be wrong with social/mobile game development.

[raheemm]

If failure of such magnitude cannot be criticized, then what should be?

[tlb]

Not even trying.

Edit: no, that's too mean. But I like people who take risks, and I get defensive when people snicker at failure from their armchairs of hindsight. We should learn from failures, but not rush to say, "he failed, what an idiot!"

[ianstallings]

I'm curious how you know so much about me. How do you know what I've done? I've already started my own companies bud and sold them, twice. I'm working on my third now after just building a startup with some others called Brabble. Here it is: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brabble/id570281083?mt=8

To the post below: BKRGB which was an signage platform and ShaiSoft, which sold networking library software. The rest of the details are none of your business sir. I like how you belittle me because my numbers aren't big enough on the Brabble app. I've heard all this type of BS before. Don't listen to me then. Just keep attacking other developers for trying.

BTW, we have a NASCAR running this on June 7th in the Party in the Poconos 400 with our logo on it. Keep an eye out for it. We're just starting.

[ScottBurson]

I'm curious how you know so much about what's happening at Zynga. You haven't supplied any evidence at all to support your speculation that undeserving people are benefitting. I'm not particularly up on the situation either, but it looks to me like the OMGPOP people had a one-hit wonder and timed the sale of it perfectly. Do you have any basis for your accusation that cronyism played a role?

[tlb]

Hey, that's great. I hope Brabble succeeds, and the next one and the one after that. Perhaps, someday, one of your ventures will fail. You can minimize the psychic pain by learning not to equate business failure with bad intentions.

[IAmAI343]

Since you brought it up, which companies are those? Otherwise It just seems like you are making it up to make yourself look better.

By the way, I've also made iOs apps that barely get any ratings.

[ianstallings]

BKRGB which was a signage platform I built last year with a partner and sold and ShaiSoft, which sold networking library software that I sold in 2002. I'm not rich because of it but I have tried and succeeded.

It's interesting how you belittle me because my numbers aren't big enough on the Brabble app. If I had bigger numbers could I criticize then?

[IAmAI343]

>>It's interesting how you belittle me because my numbers aren't big enough on the Brabble app.

Sorry about that. It was uncalled for. Honestly I thought you were just making stuff up. You've certainly done more than most.

[hobonumber1]

I dont think anyone here is saying "he failed, what an idiot".

[Ixiaus]

Criticizing it is totally okay. What the OP said though was much more than "constructive analytical criticism" - there was a lot of emotion and ambiguous assumptions built into his statement that make very little sense.

[Helianthus]

Critical people, clearly.

[ryguytilidie]

There is nothing I dislike more about Silicon Valley than this attitude. Yesterday I saw someone tweet "funny how people who criticize startups usually aren't the ones starting them, might be something to that..."

Or maybe we could realize that this creates a ridiculous logical fallacy on the level of "only god can judge me". Who decided that the only people who can criticize obvious mistakes, shady behavior and being a downright bad person is literally immune to all criticism from 99% of people? How on earth does even a single person think this is passable logic? I get that being a founder is hard, but saying that people literally cannot criticize founders unless they themselves have started a company is absolutely absurd. I cannot believe you and others would lack the self awareness to realize this...

"alluding to all entrepreneurs trying to make it/who have made it as "leeches" and "near-sighted execs" that have "networks of cronies." Stay classy."

Just saw this edit. I really don't know how you managed to read it like that. But yeah, there you go, just create a strawman, tell others to stay classy and smugly believe you're right and you'll never have to actually deal with the idea that you might be wrong.

[der3k]

"We need to take our industry back from the leeches." Hence, my recommendation to create his/her own company as an effort to "take back the industry."

I never mentioned or implied that one would need to be an entrepreneur in order to criticize others in this field. And if you are going to criticize others, do it constructively, which the original OP obviously didn't do. Thanks.

[crimsonzagar]

Criticism is extremely important for any cos. and its executives. Criticism can potentially save any Zynga from sliding away to nothingness ...

[Samuel_Michon]

Given its products and business model, Zynga fading away into nothingness is probably the best thing for everyone.

[mseebach]

It very charitable to call the GP's rant "criticism".

[crimsonzagar]

That's correct. Which makes me wonder if rant = criticism + emotion? If yes, then he/she who rants does make good for an entrepreneur but only if that quality gets toned and put into action.

I believe there would exist some analysis/research around this already. For there does seem some evidence of great companies been built by people who were hurt, emotional or egoistic about their shit.

[ksk]

So you need to start your own restaurant before complaining about food?

[tomovo]

The price, maybe. Food - not.

[socialist_coder]

Ex-Zynga here, and that's exactly what I've done. We're prioritizing profit sharing over equity, so as the company does really well (as Zynga did in the years prior to their IPO), all employees who contribute will be making a lot of money, not just the founders.

[ianstallings]

It's legit because IMHO there is a pervading feeling across the industry that we are being taken advantage of. Ask around, I can't be the only one that feels as if there are a bunch of hanger-ons who learn the bare minimum about tech and want to share in the riches. Look around you.