M. Kartika Chendorain-Tulusan (Founder, GoodSpot; Cambridge Judge) — 'Eric is such a downer' — an anonymized cautionary tale of the CEO who ignored Eric's pre-IPO warning

Kartika Chendorain-Tulusan — founder of GoodSpot (privacy-first AI for preventative health); ex-IBM; Cambridge Judge Business School — retells a story Eric shared at the Mishcon de Reya Cambridge conversation. A multi-billion-dollar startup CEO sought Eric's advice before an IPO; Eric flagged weak points in the governance structure; the bankers and lawyers dismissed the warning ('Eric is such a downer'). Five months post-IPO, the stock fell 70%, the board removed the CEO within six months, and the company was sold off in pieces within five years.

“I met Eric Ries. Eric is such a downer. That won't happen to you. You're a visionary! A decade earlier, the CEO of a multibillion-dollar startup sought Ries's advice before an IPO. Ries flagged weak points in the company's governance structure, alarming the CEO but the founder's bankers and lawyers dismissed the warning with "Eric is such a downer…" reassuring him he was the exception to the rule. Can you already guess what happened next?” — M. Kartika Chendorain-Tulusan on LinkedIn