Jonathan Bertfield (CEO, Lean Startup Co.) — 'If you thought a company was a vital living thing designed to make your customers' lives better, you are suckers'

Jonathan Bertfield — CEO of Lean Startup Co.; long-time Eric collaborator — publishes his Prosper Old Sessions House recap four days after the breakfast, pulling one of Eric's sharpest lines. Frames the actionable takeaway: are you operating with a custom mission statement or stuck with the default 'maximize shareholder value' language baked into most US charters and UK articles of incorporation?

“One of the big challenges Eric Ries put to the audience — what is your definition of a company? As Eric put it, if you thought it was a vital living thing that is designed to make high quality products that make your customers lives better, you are suckers. In fact when the pressure mounts and push comes to shove, the only thing that counts is maximizing shareholder value. It is the default mission statement written into almost every company charter in the U.S. or articles of incorporation in the UK.” — Jonathan Bertfield on LinkedIn, quoting Eric Ries