Vator Box episode

Raptr - the social plumbling of gaming?

Zynga's Mark Pincus helps us evaluate online gaming company Raptr


Innovation show by Bambi Francisco
May 13, 2009 | Comments (0)
Short URL: http://vator.tv/n/863

5

We took Vator Box on the road and visited Mark Pincus, CEO and founder of Zynga, the leading social gaming company with 45 million unique monthly visitors. Lyla, Zynga's mascot also joined us. Pincus was our guest host, joining me and Ezra Roizen to analyze Raptr, an online gaming company that raised $12 million in funding from Accel Partners and Founders Fund. 

Here's a few highlighted observations about Raptr, and CEO and founder Dennis Fong, who refers to Raptr as a Facebook for gamers.

- On a macro level, Raptr's gaming service - which is to connect online gamers across social networks and existing gaming communities, such as World of Warcraft - is a great idea because social gaming is a fast-growing industry. "I think he's going into a great body of water," said Pincus. Clearly, with Pincus at the helm of leading social gaming company Zynga, he's a big believer in the theme. 

- While Fong was polished and came across as genuine and sincere while giving his pitch, he could have improved his pitch by discussing whether the product was in the market and demonstrating traction, or just explaining how people were using his product. 

- The big macro opportunity is to be the social plumbing of the Web, much like Facebook and Twitter have become the social plumbers of the Web. Social plumbing, as defined by Pincus, is the network that seemlessly connects Web sites together without users not having to try. "If I were writing his pitch," said Pincus, "I would say, there are a small number of companies creating social plumbing, I'm going to be the social plumbing of gaming." 

- Lastly, Lyla gives Raptr a big paws up!

There's a lot more observations, but you'll have to watch the show to hear them. 


Related companies, investors and entrepreneurs

Plogo_zynga_zynga-logo-for-screen-v2
Zynga
Startup/Business
(3 ratings)
2634 views
Description: Zynga is the largest social gaming company with 8.5 million daily users and 45 million monthly users.  Zynga’s games are available on Fac...
Plogo_raptr
Raptr
Startup/Business
(2 ratings)
2264 views
Description: Raptr is a Silicon Valley based startup that has built a revolutionary social games platform to change the way people play and discover g...
12736
Dennis Fong
CEO,
Raptr, Inc.
CEO,
Raptr, Inc.
Bio: Founder & CEO of Raptr.  Previously founded three companies: Xfire (http://www.xfire.com), Lithium (http://www.lithium.com), and...
12951
Mark Pincus
Founder and CEO,
Zynga
Bio: Mark Pincus is a leading Internet entrepreneur, having founded and established four successfulcompanies.  His latest venture Zynga, ...

Related news


0 comments

Courses are developed to give you the tools and expertise you need to rapidly scale your business.

Latest company updates on Vator.tv

rentcycle - Tim Hyer (Founder)
Rentcycle lands another SF client, Big Swingin' Cycles! Check out the homepage: http://www.bigswingincycles.com/
See more about 2 hours ago, 1 thumbs up
Neputation joined the competition "Vator Splash Competition", vote for them! about 2 hours ago
Thumbtack.com's data was edited about 3 hours ago
Thumbtack.com's data was edited about 3 hours ago
RTM-Asia - Jeremy Geiger (VP, Business Development)
Japan economy growing at 4.8%. TOKYO - Japan's economy expanded at an annual pace of 4.8 ...
See more about 3 hours ago

Other episodes of this show

A dating site worth hooking up with

7508_threadfinal

Vator Box

by Bambi Francisco
Angel investor Aydin Senkut is our guest host analyzing Thread, the dating site leveraging Facebook

QLess - line management that's worth a look

7424_qlessfinal2

Vator Box

by Bambi Francisco
Vator Box guest host Mayfield Partner Raj Kapoor says QLess has promise

Is it time for private company marketplaces?

7329_sharespostvfinal

Vator Box

by Bambi Francisco
Vator Box takes a look at SharesPost, an online marketplace to trade private company shares

Thumbtack (People's Choice) on Juice Box

7250_juicebox_final

Vator Box

by Bambi Francisco
Startup wants to be the next-generation local services marketplace, combining Yelp and eBay

AirBnB should leverage Facebook's network

7184_airbnb_final

Vator Box

by Bambi Francisco
Vator Box gives AirBnB a thumbs up for novelty
© 2009 Vator, Inc.