Zynga reviews

* top and mid management (they just don't know what they want, no long term vision, nobody wants to take responsibility); * strategy changing every time; * permanent reorg (probably good if you want new manager every month); * Pincus: he ruined a lot of good games. His smartest decision was resignation; * leadership principles just don't work; * fast follow approach for new games, no original IP; * no central tech (almost all central tech attempts, including zcloud, failed, thanks to Cadir); * stupid strategic decisions (zynga.com disconnected from facebook, 2nd version of everything) * best engineers leaving; * lack of execution, some games in development for years without any results;

I used to believe in their "meritocracy" when I first came on. I was a huge advocate of Zynga for the first year and a half. But recently we've faced major cutbacks, layoffs and restructuring, and found the company will no longer be giving bonuses for the next year and a half. I worked extremely hard but Zynga doesn't recognize hard work; their awards ceremony works like a high school rally in that it's a huge popularity contest. And the higher ups will continue to take credit for the grunts' hard work, no matter how much of an influence you make. Good ideas are shot down if it isn't a tried and true game that makes millions on the market; they speak of innovation year after year but it is still all about fast following for the money. Morale is sinking lower and lower, only the ones who are gung-ho about Zynga Spirit or those that make the most cash for the company (despite lack of innovation) will get that $100,000 stock reward, or $5000 cash plus a 4-day trip to any place in the world, or get to borrow the company Tesla.