Mark Pincus unpacks his "Proven, Better, New" framework (with Reid Hoffman) | Masters of Scale
About Mark Pincus
Mark Pincus has been promoting his book "Life at the Speed of Play: Launch Products People Love," published in June 2026. In numerous podcast appearances, he has discussed his "Proven, Better, New" framework for product development, which he described as a "cheat code" that can improve a founder's odds of success. Pincus argued that founders should study and copy successful products before attempting innovation, stating that "the best masters of the craft are the best at copying" and that "all new fails." He also discussed his view that the consumer technology sector is currently "not investable" due to distribution challenges, but said the opportunity to build new consumer products has "never been greater" because of advances in AI and agents. Pincus described himself as an "AI maximalist" and said the consumer side of AI is being "underweighted" compared to enterprise and coding applications. He predicted a transition from a "knowledge worker economy" to a "prompt worker" economy. Pincus also discussed his investment approach, including co-founding a fund called Reinvent with Reid Hoffman focused on finding venture-like returns in mature companies. He noted that he publicly supported Donald Trump before the 2024 election, a decision he said cost him some friendships but that he was "happy" his past self took that stand.