Yvonne Bajela (LocalGlobe) and Maria Rotilu (Openseed.VC) host Eric for a live episode of The Startup Leap at Huckletree Oxford Circus on the third day of the UK book tour. The Startup Leap airs on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
“The Startup Leap — a podcast for founders navigating the leap, hosted by Yvonne Bajela and Maria Rotilu.” — The Startup Leap
“Last night, I asked Eric Ries how receptive founders and investors have been to his message of building from Day Zero — staying anchored to your mission and remaining incorruptible. His response got me thinking.”
“Incorruptible is a book that gives you hope and encouragement to keep fighting for your principles, for the intention you had when you started a new business or a new project. It reminds you that it is possible to stand by your convictions, even when doing so is difficult, and to build organisations that create lasting value without compromising the things that matter. Because too many customers were let down and too companies were murdered in the name of profit. … Let's defy the financial gravity, together.”
“Eric wrote #TheLeanStartup, gave us language, tools, and mental models for building lean startups i suspect his new book, #Incorruptible will do the same for founders who want to create ambitious startups that outlive them for good. I was glad to read the book before its release as part of prep for our conversation with Eric on The Startup Leap, and i believe posterity will judge this book kindly. I really enjoyed speaking with Eric Ries, connecting with a wide range of intentional builders on day zero, and chatting through this book. Listening to the questions, hearing Eric's answers. Incorruptible is a must read for every intentional builder of our time.”
“There's a force that pulls organisations toward mediocrity. Eric calls it financial gravity, "the force no one controls but everyone obeys." It doesn't come from greed, or from companies getting old and tired. It comes from governance. Structural pressure, built into how a company is owned and who it answers to. … Nobody sits in a meeting and votes to become extractive. Everyone makes a reasonable call, one quarter at a time. Till a pattern emerges.”
“I've been looking for a book like this for a long time, and I'm so grateful that Eric Ries wrote it just in time for it to arrive at the beginning of the company founding path Thomas Duffield and I are on. When I came to the event, I had already read about 90% of "Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great", so the version that I was lucky to get signed by Eric was already heavily bent and highlighted. I'm glad though that I was reminded not to stop short of the last part. Most of the time, last chapters in non-fiction books can be safely skipped because they tend to read like an afterthought. The Epilogue in Incorruptible couldn't be more different: it summarised the core message beautifully. Thank you Openseed VC for hosting the evening and thank you Eric Ries for writing the best book on founding that I have ever encountered.”
“Harder is easier. That was the line from Eric Ries that stayed with me after the fireside chat on 9 September about his new book, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great. I was Head of Media for the evening, covering both the fireside chat and the podcast recording, so I had a front row seat. His point: we're always looking for the easy way out, but great leaders don't take shortcuts. They lean into the difficult moments, because that's where the real work happens.”