INCORRUPTIBLE

SOSV books Eric alongside Steve Blank for its Deep Tech Summit, November 4–6, free and virtual. SOSV's own announcement frames the pairing as a discussion of startups in the new AI era; Blank, who launched Lean LaunchPad at Stanford fifteen years ago and has spent this year rebuilding it around AI, says he is looking forward to it. The summit spans climate tech, human health and AI for the physical world, with 100 speakers and 5,000+ expected attendees.

“Steve will be joining our 𝐒𝐎𝐒𝐕 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 (Nov. 4-6) to discuss startups in the new AI era, alongside Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup and Incorruptible.” SOSV on LinkedIn

Eric gives a mainstage session on Incorruptible at the National Association of Corporate Directors' annual Directors Summit (October 11 to 14, Gaylord National Harbor, outside Washington, DC; 1,700+ board directors). Tuesday October 13 in Potomac A, Mainstage III (8:30 to 10:50 a.m. ET), between NACD's State of the Association and a fireside with Mark Weinberger. NACD's own session description frames the book's argument for a board audience: mission drift as a design flaw rather than an ethical lapse, and organizational integrity as a practical design problem.

“Mission drift isn't an accident; it is a design flaw that threatens even the most successful organizations.” NACD Directors Summit 2026 agenda, session description: Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great

The anonymous finance account read by 139,000 people — run by the former CFO of a multi-billion dollar company — posted a photo of the book and called it the best business book he has read in quite some time. Two replies in the thread said they were buying it on the strength of the recommendation.

“This is very good. Great exercise in thinking about good governance from first principles. Best business book I’ve read in quite some time.” The Secret CFO on X

Host Eric Tash brings back Kass Lazerow to co-host, chosen deliberately: she and Michael Lazerow built Buddy Media to an extraordinary exit without treating culture, people or purpose as expendable. The hour covers why good intentions don't protect a mission, Costco's $1.50 hot dog as a promise kept, and what OpenAI and Anthropic reveal about governance in the age of AI.

“The real test of a company's core values isn't what it stands for when times are good. It's what it refuses to negotiate when those values become expensive.” Eric Tash, Worthy for Thirty

Design Observer releases Ellen McGirt's 37-minute Aspen fireside on its DB|BD podcast, and frames it as a reckoning: The Lean Startup taught a generation to build fast, and left out the direction. The publication calls Incorruptible 'a sequel, an apology and a correction.' The conversation itself was recorded at the Aspen Business & Society Summit in July.

“The Lean Startup gave a generation of founders a methodology to build quickly, scale quickly, and build value quickly. Eric encouraged his readers to build businesses to change the world. He forgot to say for the better. And many readers took his omission seriously. The companies The Lean Startup birthed kept going bad.” Design Observer, DB|BD episode description

Incorruptible is back in the top Best Seller slot in Amazon's Startups category.

“#1 Best Seller in Startups” Amazon

Eric's episode of Extraordinary Life Stories aired Saturday morning on Bloomberg TV (Sky 502) and is now published in full. Host John Reynolds draws out the AI argument: professors watching students delegate their thinking, and the one-word change Eric proposes — ask the AI to teach you the task rather than do it. He also lands on trust as the number one asset a leader can have, and on business best practices that treat it as disposable.

“I know a lot of college professors who say that AI is robbing their students of the ability to learn because they don't read. They just ask for the summary. They delegate their thinking to the AI. Everyone's so excited about the possibility of replacing human creativity with AI. What a scandal — an industrial-scale scandal. Instead, we should use AI to augment creativity. So next time you're tempted to ask AI to make an artifact for you — write me a novel, write me a poem, write me a piece of software — just one subtle change: ask the AI to teach you how to do the task instead.” Eric Ries on Extraordinary Life Stories with John Reynolds

Eric marks the book's uptake in the academy, naming Harvard, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge among more than a dozen universities where faculty have adopted it, and citing two of the academic endorsements the timeline already carries: Tara Ceranic Salinas at the University of San Diego and Rebecca Henderson at Harvard Business School.

“One of the most meaningful developments to me this fall has been the embrace of Incorruptible in the academy. Faculty at more than a dozen universities, from Harvard and Stanford to Oxford and Cambridge, and so many more, have taken it up.” Eric Ries on TikTok

The AI Conference 2026 — the 5,500-person San Francisco gathering of AI builders, researchers, and leaders (Sept 29–Oct 1) — announces a fireside chat between Tim O'Reilly (O'Reilly Media founder & CEO) and Eric on founder responsibility and the future of the AI-powered economy.

“Join Tim O'Reilly, Founder & CEO of O'Reilly Media, and Eric Ries, Founder and Author of The Lean Startup and The Startup Incorruptible, for a fireside chat on what it takes to build AI companies that matter.” The AI Conference on X

A 68-minute interview on FounderCoHo, built around the line Eric says he regrets. He traces it to the Anakin-and-Padme meme — 'I'm gonna change the world' / 'for the better, right?' — then goes and checks his own book, and finds the phrase sitting in the last sentence of the introduction without the qualifier. The conversation runs from there through Vectura's sale to Philip Morris, foundation-controlled companies, and advising Anthropic on governance.

“I kind of feel like the whole technology industry failed this very simple test. We bragged about our ability to change the world, but we didn't specify for the better. And so many technology companies have changed the world for the worse. So what happened? Anyway, I didn't think I was responsible for this. I told people very clearly to change the world for the better, or did I?” Eric Ries on FounderCoHo

Grant Canary CEO & Founder, Mast Reforestation

Grant Canary, founder and CEO of Mast Reforestation, photographs an email signature carrying a line from Incorruptible — 'Anything worth protecting eventually will need to be' — and posts it as a sighting in the wild. He recommends the book as an antidote to enshittification and notes the line travels well beyond business.

“The quote is from Eric Ries in his new book Incorruptible (highly recommend if you're looking for an antidote to enshittification). He also happens to be Anthropic's governance advisor. Quote also applies to the United States' democracy and many other things.” Grant Canary on LinkedIn

Moe Ali, CEO of Product Faculty, publishes his AI CXO conversation with Eric. It runs the Sol Price and Fedmart story into financial gravity, then turns the frame on AI: how Eric advised Anthropic's founders on protecting their mission, whether a student has learned anything if AI built their capstone, and why AI may improve your output while weakening your ability to judge it.

“Eric uses it to explain something he calls financial gravity: the pressure that slowly pulls a company toward decisions nobody seems to want, but everyone feels compelled to make. And that made our conversation about AI much more interesting. Because every founder is now being asked some version of: “How much can you automate?” I asked Eric if automating 95% of operations should be the goal. His answer was immediate: he would never set a goal like that.” Moe Ali on LinkedIn

Swapna Peri reviews Incorruptible for Storizen, the Indian literary and lifestyle magazine. The review walks through the incorruptible blueprint — compliance, a purpose that supports human flourishing, metrics kept coherent with that mission, and integrity — and lands on the balance between systems thinking and practical strategy as what sets the book apart.

“What makes “Incorruptible” stand out is its insightful balance between big-picture systems thinking and practical strategy. While some readers might find ideas like the Spiritual Holding Company challenging to implement in traditional corporate environments, the book forces leaders to confront urgent questions about ethical culture and moral principles. Ultimately, it is a clear and necessary read for founders, executives, board members, and investors who want to build resilient organisations that achieve lasting success without losing their heart.” Swapna Peri in Storizen Magazine

Mikail Yilmaz Founder, Repair IT Now · Circular IT lifecycle partner, Netherlands

Mikail Yilmaz — founder of Repair IT Now, a Dutch circular IT-lifecycle company — met Odoo founder and CEO Fabien Pinckaers at Odoo Experience 2026 in Brussels, told him about his business, and was recommended two books: Never Split the Difference and Incorruptible. The photo is taken at the conference's 'Fabien's book selection' wall. Yilmaz then applies the book to his own scaling problem: making the mission as true for customer one hundred as it was for customer one.

“Op Odoo Experience 2026 in Brussel ontmoette ik Fabien Pinckaers, oprichter en CEO van Odoo. Ik vertelde hem over Repair IT Now. Hij raadde me twee boeken aan: → Never Split the Difference – Chris Voss → Incorruptible – Eric Ries” Mikail Yilmaz on LinkedIn

Real Ventures — Montreal-based VC firm (21K followers) — hosts its 2026 Annual Meeting around the theme #DefyingGravity, with Eric as the keynote walking attendees through the novel ideas behind Incorruptible. Every LP, founder, investor, and community member in the room went home with a copy of the book. Host: Aithan Shapira. Corporate account post: 25 likes.

“To Eric Ries, thank you for joining us as our keynote and walking us through the novel ideas behind your new book, #Incorruptible. Eric made visible the forces that quietly pull mission-driven companies away from their purpose as they scale, and provides concrete ways for founders to safeguard their mission as they grow. The room was captivated, and every attendee went home with their own copy of this #mustreadbook. We can't wait to see what his ideas spark in our community.” Real Ventures on LinkedIn

Responsive Conference — the 275-person CHRO/CPO/founder convening established in 2016 from the Responsive.org manifesto — returns to the Oakland Museum of California with Eric on the speaker roster alongside Rebecca Hinds (Your Best Meeting Ever), Adam Rosendahl (Late Nite Art), Tony Levitan (Leaders in Tech), and A.C.T.@work.

“Established in 2016, Responsive Conference brings together 275 CHROs, CPOs, founders, and executives for an immersive two-day experience about work — built for leaders who want new ideas, tools, and a community that understands what it's actually like to lead amidst uncertainty.” A.C.T.@work on LinkedIn

The Business Leader Podcast — UK business publication (38K YouTube subs; sponsored by RBC Wealth Management) hosted by Sir Richard Harpin (founder of Homeserve; £4B exit) — releases a 62-minute conversation with Eric on Incorruptible. Frames the book as 'Silicon Valley's innovation bible, Part Two': how successful startups get ground down by corporate governance norms and best practices, why financial gravity affects even visionary founders, and Ries's blueprint for retaining integrity through long-term growth.

“Anybody who has found a way to make money without creating value is corrupting the moral logic of our economic system.” Eric Ries on The Business Leader Podcast with Sir Richard Harpin

Giant Ideas — the podcast of Giant Ventures (Tommy Stadlen and Cameron McLain, purpose-driven VC firm) — releases a 26-minute conversation with Eric framed around a double mystery from Incorruptible: why successful companies get ruined, and why a handful avoid that fate. Eric argues the best practices of modern corporate governance destroy value, that a strong founder is not enough to protect a company, and reflects on what he'd change about The Lean Startup if he could.

“Eric wrote the book that taught a generation of founders how to build under uncertainty, and he has spent the years since trying to fix what happens to those companies once they grow. His new book, Incorruptible, is about a double mystery: why successful companies so often get ruined, and why a handful avoid that fate. Tommy Stadlen and Cameron McLain talk to Eric about why he thinks the best practices of modern corporate governance destroy value, why he believes a strong founder is not enough to protect a company, and what he'd change about The Lean Startup if he could go back.” Giant Ideas podcast description

Augment.org — the Paris-based learning platform whose instructors include Morgan Housel (Personal Finance course) and Mark Pincus (Building Products Billions Love, Aug 18 live session) — hosts a live fireside on September 15 with Eric on why so many great companies stop being great. With The Lean Startup Eric taught a generation of founders how to build; Incorruptible is about how to last. Students answer live in Q&A.

“Why do so many great companies stop being great? It's easy to blame bad leaders but Eric Ries thinks the real problem is something else entirely: success changes companies and many of the best organizations drift from what made them worth building in the first place.” Augment.org on LinkedIn

Seth Matlins — marketer, host of Create or Destroy: Reimagining Marketing (Vox Media Podcast Network) — releases a 55-minute Eric Ries conversation covering Sol Price's Costco origin, why profit ≠ value, the 78% of CFOs who admit killing profitable projects to hit quarterly targets, and why 'culture can walk out the door when people leave, but architecture endures.' Positioned as required listening for every CMO, CEO, CFO, and board member.

“In a study of 401 CFOs, 78% admitted they'd cancel profitable projects to hit quarterly targets, which means they're knowingly destroying the value they were hired to create. And yet the companies that resist this — Costco, Patagonia, Vanguard, Novo Nordisk — don't share culture or brand or geography or personality. What they share is governance architecture, structural protections that keep the short-term from cannibalizing the long-term, because as Eric puts it, culture can walk out the door when people leave, but architecture endures.” Seth Matlins on Create or Destroy (Vox Media)

Mitch Joel — author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, founder of the Next Era Institute, one of Fast Company's Most Original Minds in Marketing — hosts Eric on episode #1053 for a wide-ranging conversation on Incorruptible's core themes: financial gravity, why 'more' becomes the direction instead of the outcome, and the Kurt Vonnegut / Joseph Heller 'enough' anecdote applied to the current AI moment. Mitch's own accompanying LinkedIn essay (150+ engagements) elevates one Eric line above the rest: 'speed requires a long-term container.'

“Eric has spent years thinking about how great companies get built… and increasingly, what happens to them after they succeed. And too often, what happens next isn't great. We don't know what "enough" means. It reminded me of that famous story… at a party hosted by a billionaire, Kurt Vonnegut pointed out to his friend Joseph Heller that their host made more money in a single day than Catch-22 had earned in its entire history. Heller responded that he had something their host would never have… enough. For a company that's a very strange idea… enough? We don't build companies around enough… we build them around more. AI may be our Vonnegut moment… this relentless pressure for more without any understanding of when it will be enough.” Mitch Joel, host of Thinking With Mitch Joel #1053

Think School's Indian Business Podcast releases a 66-minute conversation with Eric that reaches 213,276 views + 2,400 likes within days — the largest single-video audience the Incorruptible tour has landed on so far. Framed as a masterclass for first-time founders on Product-Market Fit, vanity metrics, and the three engines of growth. Description positions Eric's full trilogy — The Lean Startup, The Startup Way, Incorruptible — with a direct link to incorruptible.co.

“Your startup can have 10,000 customers and STILL have zero Product-Market Fit. In the age of Meta ads, vanity metrics and AI, it has never been easier to convince yourself that your startup is working. But according to Eric Ries, the creator of the Lean Startup, most founders are measuring the wrong things.” The Indian Business Podcast (Think School)

Disruptive Innovators Network (UK housing-sector innovation forum) hosts Eric in conversation with Ezechi Britton MBE at the top of Salesforce Tower on September 11 — an exclusive DIN-members event closing Eric's UK tour week. Every delegate receives a copy of Incorruptible courtesy of Fusion21.

“So we're delighted that on 11 September at Salesforce, Eric will be joining us for an exclusive event for DIN members, in conversation with Ezechi Britton MBE, where he'll explore what it takes to build a successful business and then keep it there.” Disruptive Innovators Network on LinkedIn

Eric joins KPMG for a partner-only conversation at Canary Wharf London on the fourth day of the UK tour, with an internal livestream to UK and Swiss partners.

“KPMG — a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services.” KPMG

UK-tour Day 4 breakfast: Eric joins Prosper co-founder Nick Perrett for a morning conversation about Incorruptible at The Old Sessions House in Clerkenwell, London. Multiple attendee recaps within hours — CMO Hattie Moll ('Corruption breaks the logic of capitalism itself'), Andrew Olley ('a must read for businesses of all shapes and sizes'), Seyi Ayinla ('the best thing a founder can do is listen'), Stewart Bewley ('deeply refreshing and amazing'), and physician Dana Mincer among them.

“Corruption breaks the logic of capitalism itself.” Eric Ries at the Prosper breakfast (via Hattie Moll)

Eric joins Octopus Energy at their Oxford Street London office for an employees-only fireside on Incorruptible during the UK tour.

“Octopus Energy — a global energy technology company disrupting a stagnant industry.” Octopus Energy

Eric joins Richard Kilgarriff's long-running 'Books for Breakfast' series at Soho House London on the second day of his UK book tour. Bookomi has hosted authors in this format at Soho House clubs since 2011; Soho House members RSVP through the club network.

“Books for Breakfast — Bookomi's flagship series of author breakfast events, running at Soho House clubs since 2011.” Bookomi

Eric visits Mishcon de Reya's Cambridge office for an invited-clients-only conversation on Incorruptible during his UK tour. Recording published after.

“Mishcon de Reya — an independent law firm serving businesses and private clients internationally.” Mishcon de Reya

Anastasia Koroleva (4x exited tech founder, 9-figure first exit) hosts Eric for a 69-minute conversation on what changes when founders build after success — why the motivation that carried you the first time may not carry you again, why experience doesn't automatically become useful learning, and why founders often leave a difficult exit with a personal story that avoids changing the structures that allowed it. Chapters span Sol Price / Costco, Eric's four dimensions of governance, vanity metrics, and contribution vs status.

“Building a second company after a successful exit can look easier. You have experience, a network and financial freedom. But one of the forces that carried you through the first company may no longer be there: financial necessity. Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup and Incorruptible, joins Anastasia Koroleva to examine what changes when founders build again after success.” Anastasia Koroleva on Exit Paradox

Product-management thought leader David Pereira hosts Eric for a 37-minute Untrapping Product Teams conversation released Sep 3. Chapter markers span Sol Price getting fired from FedMart, Costco's governance fortress, Anthropic's mission protection, the culture bank ('every decision is a deposit or a withdrawal'), and why 'harder is easier'.

“Think about a favorite product after the company went public or got taken over by private equity. Did it get better? Of course not. Eric puts a name on what's happening: corruption. Making money by destroying value instead of creating it.” David Pereira on Untrapping Product Teams

Derek Andersen — Startup Grind co-founder — hosts Eric on his new podcast Divot for a 45-minute conversation covering why Build-Measure-Learn is more relevant than ever in the AI era, why software has gotten more expensive (not cheaper), the sentence hidden in nearly every corporate charter that legally forces mission-betrayal, and Anthropic's Mission Guardian as the model others are copying.

“Eric explains why 'Lean Startup' has held up in the AI era, why AI has made building software nearly free while learning what customers truly need remains the real bottleneck, and why founders chasing AI-generated demos are skipping the customer validation that actually determines survival. 'The learn step,' he says, 'has always been the rate-limiting step.'” Derek Andersen on Divot

Don MacPherson hosts Eric on 12 Geniuses episode 188 to unpack Costco's 40-year run — attributing its endurance to Jim Sinegal's foresight in building governance structures that shielded the company from external financial pressures.

“Eric Ries, author of 'Incorruptible,' explains why Costco can attribute its success to a prescient founder in Jim Sinegal who protected the company from external financial pressures.” Don MacPherson on LinkedIn

Jason Knight hosts Eric on the podcast's 6th anniversary episode for a deep conversation on Incorruptible: why MVP is more important than ever in the age of AI, why founders take marching orders from their own lawyers, and why mission statements that don't match corporate charters are lies to customers and employees alike.

“If you have a mission statement, but this is your corporate purpose, then you are lying. You are lying to your customers, you are lying to your employees, and you are lying to yourself about what this company really is. Fix it.” Eric Ries on One Knight in Product

Zebra Growth — the Amsterdam-based regenerative-growth studio — hosts a free online 'Playground' pairing Eric with Rana Dajani, the Jordanian molecular biologist who founded We Love Reading (now in 70+ countries reaching close to half a million children). Moderated by Zebra's Moh Al-Haifi.

“Join Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup and Incorruptible, and Rana Dajani, scientist, social entrepreneur and founder of We Love Reading, for a timely conversation about the future of growth.” Zebra Growth on LinkedIn

Technovation and Google's Women Techmakers program host Eric on The Builder's Room — a virtual conversation with founder Tara Chklovski, with half the questions coming from the Technovation and Women Techmakers communities and half from attendees. Technovation notes Eric gave the keynote at their World Summit 14 years ago and his work shaped the entrepreneurship modules used by 20 years of Technovation builders (25,000 apps and 6,000 AI prototypes to date).

“Eric coined the term "vanity metrics." He built a career telling founders to stop measuring what looks good and start measuring what's real. Technovation builders have always worked that way. His new book, Incorruptible, distills two decades of research into why organizations drift from their mission and what it takes to build one that doesn't.” Technovation on LinkedIn

Pennant AI and the Society for Corporate Governance (Northern California, Hawaii & Nevada Chapter) host the Corporate Governance Tech Summit at WorkOS HQ in San Francisco. Eric opens with a fireside on the governance lessons in Incorruptible, moderated by Evan Epstein (Founder of Boardroom Governance). Every guest takes home a copy of the book. Speaker lineup includes Coinbase, Parnassus Investments, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Agenda also covers DExit (Delaware/Texas/Nevada reincorporation), AI in the boardroom, and shareholder activism.

“Opening fireside with Eric Ries — NYT best-selling author of "The Lean Startup" and founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange — on the governance lessons in his new book, "Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great". Moderated by Evan Epstein, Founder of Boardroom Governance. Every guest will take home a copy of Eric's new book.” Pennant AI on LinkedIn

Don MacPherson releases E188 of his 12 Geniuses podcast with Eric. Announces the episode with a 29-like LinkedIn endorsement that goes further than most: 'the best business book I've read in 20 years' and 'This book will influence a generation of entrepreneurs.' Frames the book as an answer to the question 'What if human flourishing was the measure by which we evaluate organizations?'

“"Incorruptible" is the best business book I've read in 20 years. I found this copy out in the wild at my local bookstore. This book will influence a generation of entrepreneurs. It answers the question: "What if human flourishing was the measure by which we evaluate organizations?" I am so thrilled that I had the chance to interview the author Eric Ries for E188 of 12 Geniuses.” Don MacPherson on LinkedIn

EO (700K-subscriber global media brand for builders) releases a 25-minute Eric interview walking through why good companies get destroyed in the name of profit, the governing documents almost every founder signs without reading, and the structures a few companies use to protect their mission — the Sol Price firing at FedMart, the Philip Morris acquisition of Vectura, and how Anthropic and Patagonia stay true to purpose. Closes with a 15-year revisit of The Lean Startup and what AI can and can't speed up.

“Fifteen years after The Lean Startup, he's onto a different problem. Not how to find something worth building, but how to keep it. In this conversation, Eric explains why good companies get destroyed in the name of profit, the governing documents almost every founder signs without reading, and the structures a few companies use to protect their mission.” EO episode description