If I was 30 with $0, I'd build this - Mark Pincus (Farmville founder)

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

July 10, 2026

Duration

1h 25m

Channel

My First Million

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

*140+ Business Ideas (Database):* https://clickhubspot.com/n3f7 Episode 840: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Mark Pincus ( https://x.com/markpinc ) about figuring out what projects to spend your life on. — Show Notes: (0:00) $0- $38M in 7 months (3:00) if you pick the right body of water, you don't have to have the right boat (16:51) pattern matching (23:17) there's always a new freak (25:00) picking macros (27:48) a case for gold (39:50) How to know what to chase (49:12) create a book of life (59:59) Frameworks vs instincts (1:09:00) being hated and misunderstood (1:11:13) the story of farmville (1:15:00) avoiding the fur coat moment (1:19:49) the nickelback problem (1:22:02) introspection vs rumination — Links:

• Life At The Speed of Play - https://www.amazon.com/Life-Speed-Play-Launch-Products/dp/0063352575 — Check Out Sam's Stuff:

• Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm — Check Out Shaan's Stuff:

• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/

Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC

• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Sam Parr

  host

  Co-host of the My First Million podcast and entrepreneur known for founding The Hustle.

• Mark Pincus

  guest

  Founder of Zynga and creator of FarmVille; tech entrepreneur and investor.

• Shaan Puri

  host

  Co-host of the My First Million podcast and entrepreneur/investor.

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of My First Million, featuring Sam Parr and Mark Pincus, If I was 30 with $0, I'd build this - Mark Pincus (Farmville founder) explores Mark Pincus on spotting lightning-in-a-bottle and building with AI Mark Pincus argues that success often comes from choosing the right platform shift (“body of water”), saying AI now resembles earlier generational waves like the consumer internet and social networks.

🔗 RELATED EPISODES

I spent a day with a blue-collar millionaire in NYC

Ray Dalio: This is the Holy Grail of Investing

I'm 80 and I wasted 25 years of my life. Don't make my mistake. - Howard Marks

I spent a week meeting NYC's elite. Here's 5 lessons they taught me.

A $3.6B founder's honest take on the software market right now

3 strangers reveal how they make $10M, $20M, and $30M/year