Bing Gordon is currently a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a world-leading venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Gordon has a long history in the gaming arena, including spending 26 years at Electronic Arts (EA), a global interactive entertainment software company. With Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Gordon has invested in social gaming companies such as Zynga. Gordon understands the influence of social and gaming in our current society and that this influence will only grow. He emphasized that companies must embrace gaming’s influence, including recognizing that each employee has a different skill set, small teams work best and a reward system increases motivation.
Gordon has been involved in social and gaming for nearly 30 years, so what better person to discuss the influx and importance of gaming in our social world? Bloomberg BusinessWeek reporter Brad Stone sat down with Gordon for his solo panel at the Austin Convention Center. Gordon delved into the topic of how companies can utilize gaming to motivate employees, especially those under 35. According to Gordon, people make their lifelong media choices at age 16 and hiring those who were around 16 when the Internet exploded is key for companies. Gordon argued that every Fortune 500 company should have a gamer, because they understand the fast-paced, instant feedback world of social. People who grew up playing games look at the world differently, and they understand the concept of failing fast. Most people are afraid to jump in and take a risk, but gamers understand that failing is necessary. Additionally, gamers relate to people under 35 and they know what these consumers want.
Gordon argues that, “building a company is like building and playing a game.” The world looks like games, and when you run a company, you must provide instant feedback. Companies tend to think that each employee has the same skill set. Instead, Gordon argues that a company should be structured like a game, including having teams of five and providing instant feedback and reward systems. One way to design your company like a game, is giving privileges to employees. Think of these privileges like levels in gaming. “Once you get people believing in virtual rewards this doubles their behavior. Creating a system of virtual rewards can change behavior, but the behavior has to already be there.” This generation wants to learn by doing and companies must utilize this spirit. Gordon believes that using a scoring system and creating a win-win environment improves both the work and spirit of employees. “Optimism breeds creativity. We must create a platform of confidence for employees and gaming is one way to do this.” We are moving to an age of learning by doing and this panel provided attendees the opportunity to hear a true gaming pioneer speak about the present and future for both companies and entrepreneurs. Gordon reiterated the key point that companies and people alike must not be afraid to fail fast! Follow Bing Gordon on Twitter.
