

Facebook Is The Ant; Zynga Is The Grasshopper - kunle
http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/11/facebook-is-the-ant-zynga-is-the-grasshopper/

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thenomad
"A great poker player demonstrates commitment by going “All In”."

This is a minor point, but given I live with a very serious poker player, I've
started to twitch about poker misunderstandings.

Going all-in is not a rare event - at least not in no-limit Holdem, which is
the game most people think of as "poker". Nor is it limited to the "great"
poker players - in fact, it's one of the more basic and more common
strategies, otherwise known as "shoving", to intimidate others out of a pot or
for half a dozen reasons.

I know there are probably a lot of people on HN with more poker knowledge than
me, so I'll shut up now (and wait for the inevitable discovery, possibly from
my SO, that I've got the entire concept backward) - but it just irked me.

~~~
jcc80
I read it just as a sort of throw away line in the article. But you're right,
going all in isn't rare. In tournament play when your stack size is below
certain thresholds & you're in certain positions relative to the blinds [1]
going all in is the proper play to make 100% of the time, so it's quite
common.

For cash games, which most people are less familiar with, going all in is
still generally based more in math than "commitment" or being a man. If the
way you've played a hand gives you a certain range, you can estimate what bet
sizes your opponent thinks he can profitably call. Beyond the psychology,
going all in is just a means to make your opponent commit a math error, that
long-term would be an unprofitable course of action.

1\. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-ratio> -though this is a very generic
explanation that doesn't go into position.

~~~
saraid216
But his point wasn't about the rarity of the action; commitment doesn't have
to be rare. It does have to be demonstrated and that demonstration is a
meaningful gesture that signals other players. That's his point: that
commitment needs to be _seen_.

~~~
thenomad
I guess the bit that made me twitch was the "great poker players do X". It's
true, great poker players do indeed go all in to demonstrate, amongst other
things, commitment to a hand (well, ish. Actually it's more to reduce the
value of the pot for other players. Amongst other reasons. Sort of.) - but so
do good poker players, average poker players, and crap poker players who've
read about 2/3 of a short book on no limit (the latter would be me).

Given that the point of the statement was to compare how Mark Pinkus could be
great, rather than average or crap, that rather undermines the whole
rhetorical point.

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nhangen
I think this is a neat article, but guilty of over-analysis.

Perhaps Zuck takes his mission too seriously, and Pincus doesn't take his
seriously enough. Or perhaps Pincus is smart enough to cash out while he can.

Either way, entrepreneurs approach business differently from each other.
Nothing extraordinary about that.

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michaelochurch
Actually, the proper metaphor is that Zynga is Facebook's tapeworm.

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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.

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code51
"Mark Zuckerberg truly believes that Facebook’s mission – to make the world
more open and connected – is the biggest and most important in Silicon
Valley."

open and connected. and definitely more like Las Vegas...

<http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19162971>

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Tooluka
The fundamentals of Facebook’s business – even when it was working perfectly –
are to ensure a steady stream of new users (often via M&A), to grease the user
acquisition machine via advertising on just about everywhere, and to incent
users to rope in their friends. This strategy depends on playing with copious
amounts of capital to buy companies, ads, and promotions.

And this - "Facebook’s mission – to make the world more open and connected" is
just hilarious (forgive me Louis :) ).

