That didn't take long.
Only a week after Zynga
Watch your back
Zynga's been a public company for all of three months and has been a company for just under five years. Its available information shows a company growing rapidly, but also one whose growth is now slowing rapidly. Zynga's business model offers relatively minimal moats, a quality driven home by its recent buyout of out-of-nowhere competitor OMGPOP. To drive home just how fast a hot property can be surpassed, the latest Angry Birds iteration flew (angrily, of course) over OMGPOP's top-selling game the day after the acquisition.
So what kind of message is Pincus sending? Steve Jobs sold his early shares when ousted from Apple
Zynga can't buy out every competitor that crops up. Its business model has been allegedly codified as "copy what [our competitors] do … until you get their numbers." There's nothing necessarily wrong with lifting the best elements off other games. Activision Blizzard
Pincus isn't a dumb guy. He's built a billion-dollar business in half a decade. But that doesn't mean he sees his company staying dominant, and a big sale so soon after the company's post-IPO run-up sends me the wrong signal. If you're looking for long-term growth, there are better companies -- and better industries -- to invest in.
Looking for one of those superior opportunities? The Motley Fool's put together a brand-new free report on our top stock for 2012. The company in this report won't be undermined by some tiny start-up out of nowhere, and it has plenty of growth left ahead of it. Find out more -- claim your free report now.