Proven, Better, New: Mark Pincus on the Rules of Product Innovation

1. Embrace Founder Mode

Maintain total agency and control over your company’s destiny, betting on your instincts and accepting the right to be wrong, even if it means sacrificing valuation for full control.

2. Build Wrong, Build Fast

Move beyond the “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP) trap by prioritizing speed and rapid iteration; quickly test minimum idea states by “building it wrong” rather than investing time in a “viable” product that might be fundamentally incorrect.

3. Operate a Democratic Dictatorship

Ensure every team member’s voice is heard and considered, but maintain a single decision-maker (the CEO) to provide clear direction and avoid decisions based solely on popularity.

4. Obsess Over User Value

Continuously ask “What will our players/users thank us for?” and focus on delivering what your core audience truly wants, even if it’s small, rather than building features based on internal assumptions or desires.

5. Create a Failure Machine

Rapidly test hundreds of small ideas at the top of the funnel (e.g., through click testing) to quickly identify what resonates with your core audience and efficiently discard what doesn’t.

6. Implement the Book of Life

Annually engage in a “Book of Life” practice to strategically plan your personal and professional life by asking what your future self would thank you for doing this year, fostering accountability and positive change.

7. Become a PhD in Proven

Before innovating, deeply deconstruct existing successful products and features at a pixel level to understand precisely why they work, earning the right to improve or create new solutions.

8. Leverage Proven Better New

Apply the “Proven Better New” framework: legally copy proven elements, identify statistically verifiable “better” improvements (e.g., no download, free), and iterate extensively on “new” features, assuming they will fail until proven otherwise.

9. Foster True Meritocracy

Uphold a meritocratic culture by promptly removing ineffective team members, even if they are smart, to ensure high-performing employees are valued and to prevent the erosion of organizational culture.

10. Scale Leadership with Tech Assistants

Develop future leaders by employing “tech assistants” who shadow you in every meeting and work on product-related side projects, efficiently training promising individuals into key roles.

11. Eliminate One-on-Ones to Reduce Politics

Avoid one-on-one meetings to prevent internal politics; if someone complains about a colleague, immediately facilitate a direct conversation between them to signal that back-channel gossip is not tolerated.

12. Trust Instincts, Question Ideas

As a founder, trust your instincts as they are often correct, but be highly critical of your specific ideas, as they are frequently flawed and require rigorous validation.

13. Avoid Death by Compromise

Clearly define your goals and resist making compromises (e.g., on board members, talent, or vision) that ultimately lead to a company or outcome you no longer desire.

14. Adopt an Offense Mindset

Approach challenges by focusing on what could go right and preparing for success, rather than starting with concerns about what could go wrong, to maintain momentum and avoid premature defeat.

15. Empower with Extreme Responsibility

Give employees significantly more responsibility than they might expect, encouraging them to “be a CEO” and “own outcomes” for specific areas, which fosters challenge, adrenaline, and job satisfaction.

16. Uphold the Moral Contract with Builders

If your builders (e.g., engineers) work hard to create a product, commit to working equally hard to unlock its value, demonstrating respect for their effort and building trust.

17. Define Your Founder’s Why

Clearly articulate your fundamental purpose as a founder (e.g., building products that move people) to guide your efforts, provide deep meaning, and sustain you through challenges.

18. Embrace the Founder’s Abyss

View the unstructured, often dark period between ventures as an opportunity for reflection and process (like the Book of Life), engaging in small projects to eventually reignite passion and purpose.

19. Seek “Heat” for Idea Validation

Look for an undeniable, intuitive “true signal” or “heat” around an idea, which indicates genuine traction and excitement, rather than relying solely on numerous statistics to convince yourself.

20. Challenge Established Rules

Be willing to modify or challenge established rules and frameworks to introduce new dimensions and possibilities, making experiences richer and fostering innovation.