Podcasts
Eric on air — long-form conversations, fireside chats, and interviews. 150 total
- Nov 5, 2026 World's Greatest Business Thinkers
World's Greatest Business Thinkers — Eric on AI and judgement: 'Outsource the work, not the thinking'
“As AI makes it easier to generate ideas, analyse problems, and make decisions, there's a risk that entrepreneurs will stop exercising the very judgment they need to build successful businesses.”
- Nov 3, 2026 Inside the Strategy Room, McKinsey & Company
McKinsey's Inside the Strategy Room takes up financial gravity — 'Why do so many beloved companies lose their way after taking on outside capital or going public?'
“Why do so many beloved companies lose their way after taking on outside capital or going public?”
- Oct 22, 2026 Chad Pytel
Giant Robots #628 (thoughtbot) — Chad Pytel and Eric on why best practices can harm a company's longevity, and what employee ownership is worth
“Eric flips business on it’s head as he examines why best practices could actually be harmful to your business’ longevity, how the motivations of corporations have changed over the last century, why employee ownership is often more beneficial than you might…”
- Oct 17, 2026 The Startup Leap
The Startup Leap — Eric on the 'graveyard of good intentions': 'I could bake the world's most bizarre cake out of the ingredients of products that have been destroyed by this phenomenon'
“There's a whole chart you can download, the extended version of the chart with the QR code, called the graveyard of good intentions — 200 years of this happening to companies where they are ultimately destroyed by their own investors. But people are sending…”
- Oct 15, 2026 NEW ECONOMIES
NEW ECONOMIES (38K subscribers) — Eric on the advice founders are handed: 'They are designed to make you lose control of your company by force or by corruption'
“They are designed to make you lose control of your company by force or by corruption. Either way, it's the same to you. This company will betray you eventually. We spend so much energy as leaders focused on the surface characteristics of organizations, but…”
- Oct 7, 2026 Eric Tash
Worthy for Thirty — Eric Tash and guest co-host Kass Lazerow (Buddy Media): 'what it refuses to negotiate when those values become expensive'
“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.”
- Oct 3, 2026 John Reynolds
Extraordinary Life Stories (Bloomberg TV) — Eric on delegating thought to AI: 'What a scandal — an industrial-scale scandal'
“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…”
- Sep 30, 2026 FounderCoHo
FounderCoHo (167K subscribers) — Eric on the one word he got wrong in The Lean Startup: 'We bragged about our ability to change the world, but we didn't specify for the better'
“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?…”
- Sep 29, 2026 Moe Ali
AI CXO (Product Faculty) — Moe Ali asks whether automating 95% of operations should be the goal: 'His answer was immediate: he would never set a goal like that'
“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…”
- Sep 22, 2026 Sir Richard Harpin
The Business Leader Podcast — Sir Richard Harpin hosts Eric Ries: 'Anybody who has found a way to make money without creating value is corrupting the moral logic of our economic system'
“Anybody who has found a way to make money without creating value is corrupting the moral logic of our economic system.”
- Sep 17, 2026 Tommy Stadlen & Cameron McLain
Giant Ideas (Giant Ventures) — Tommy Stadlen & Cameron McLain host Eric Ries: 'the best practices of modern corporate governance destroy value'
“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…”
- Sep 15, 2026 Seth Matlins
Create or Destroy (Seth Matlins · Vox Media Podcast Network) — 'Making Money But Creating No Value' with Eric Ries
“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 —…”
- Sep 13, 2026 Mitch Joel
Thinking With Mitch Joel #1053 — 'Great Companies With Eric Ries': the Vonnegut/Heller 'enough' moment applied to AI
“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…”
- Sep 12, 2026 The Indian Business Podcast (Think School)
Think School × The Indian Business Podcast — Eric Ries with 213K+ views: the Lean Startup / Incorruptible trilogy for first-time founders
“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…”
- Sep 5, 2026 Anastasia Koroleva
Exit Paradox — Anastasia Koroleva (4x exited founder) on why building again after a successful exit can be harder than the first time
“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…”
- Sep 3, 2026 David Pereira
Untrapping Product Teams (David Pereira) — 'Making money by destroying value instead of creating it'
“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.”
- Sep 2, 2026 Derek Andersen
Divot with Derek Andersen (Startup Grind founder) — 'The Lean Startup's creator on why good companies go bad and how to make yours incorruptible'
“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…”
- Aug 30, 2026 Don MacPherson
12 Geniuses E188 — Eric on why Costco endures: 'a prescient founder in Jim Sinegal who protected 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.”
- Aug 28, 2026 Jason Knight
One Knight in Product — 'If you have a mission statement, but this is your corporate purpose, then you are lying'
“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.”
- Aug 17, 2026 Don MacPherson
12 Geniuses (Don MacPherson) — 'The best business book I've read in 20 years'
“"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…”
- Aug 14, 2026 EO
EO — 'The anatomy of a startup death' — Eric on the governing documents almost every founder signs without reading
“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…”
- Aug 7, 2026 Jonathan Jackson & Amie Vaccaro
High-Impact Growth (Dimagi) — Eric on profit as human flourishing, financial gravity, and 'You're not stuck in traffic — you are traffic'
“Eric dismantles the conventional definition of profit and offers a radical replacement — profit as the maximization of human flourishing — then explains "financial gravity," the unconscious pull that bends organizations toward the values of whoever holds the…”
- Aug 3, 2026 Christian Soschner
Beginner's Mind (Christian Soschner) EP 180 — 'If you go to your local park, you'll find trees older than shareholder primacy'
“If you go to your local park, you'll find trees older than shareholder primacy.”
- Aug 2, 2026 Cheryl Mack & Maxine Minter
First Cheque (Cheryl Mack & Maxine Minter, Day One) — Eric on financial gravity, the spiritual holding company, and 'Big Cojones'
“Eric explains why many widely taught governance best practices are actually shareholder-value destroying, and why the earliest stage of a company is the easiest time to build in protections against this drift.”
- Jul 29, 2026 Callye Keen
The Startup Defense (Callye Keen) — 'There are fates much worse than death that have plagued a lot of founders'
“I used to think your company failing was the worst thing that can happen to you. Oh, no, my friend. It's hardly in the top 10. There are fates much worse than death that have plagued a lot of founders.”
- Jul 28, 2026 Cal Fussman
Big Questions with Cal Fussman — 'Can't Automate What She Did Next' — the Devoted Health story from Incorruptible
“Eric Ries tells this story in his latest book, Incorruptible, as proof of something AI can't replicate: the instinct to ask the right question and respond to the answer as if the patient were a family member.”
- Jul 28, 2026 David Pereira
Untrapping Product Teams (David Pereira) — 'Corruption is the honest word'
“We call it mission drift, bureaucracy, enshittification. Eric says our grandparents had a sharper word for making money by draining value out of a company. As he puts it, "It's so much easier to destroy than it is to create."”
- Jul 23, 2026 Stephan Spencer
Get Yourself Optimized (Stephan Spencer) — 'How to Be Incorruptible with Eric Ries'
“Most companies eventually give in to the pressure to maximize profit at any cost, but a rare few resist that pull entirely and stay true to their mission for decades.”
- Jul 20, 2026 Aakash Gupta
The Growth Podcast (Aakash Gupta) — Eric on OpenAI's original mistake and why Anthropic's LTBT structure is different
“Eric's read is that if you've ever wondered why Anthropic seems a little more courageous than the other labs, that structure is why. Most first-time founders chicken out when the stakes get high. Dario has a structure built to support his conviction.”
- Jul 20, 2026 Halle Tecco
The Heart of Healthcare (Halle Tecco) — 'Shareholder Primacy Is Breaking Healthcare' with Eric Ries
“Healthcare companies are built to improve patients' lives. So why do so many prioritize shareholders over the people they're meant to serve?”
- Jul 20, 2026 Suzie Lewis
Let's talk Transformation #180 (Suzie Lewis) — 'Incorruptible: maximising human flourishing with Eric Ries'
“The companies that last aren't the ones that avoid pressure. They're the ones that decided early what they would refuse to trade away.”
- Jul 16, 2026 Tiffani Bova
What's Next! with Tiffani Bova — 'The hardest part of growth is staying recognizable to the people who trusted you early'
“The hardest part of growth is staying recognizable to the people who trusted you early. A company can lose its way through choices that look sensible in isolation. Over time, those choices can teach the organization to protect short-term outcomes first and…”
- Jul 15, 2026 Paul Shapiro
Business For Good (Paul Shapiro) — 'The more successful an organization becomes, the more valuable it becomes as a target'
“The more successful an organization becomes, the more valuable it becomes as a target. It becomes something worth stealing or in the book corrupting.”
- Jul 15, 2026 Stephan Spencer
Marketing Speak (Stephan Spencer) — Eric: 'companies that we used to see through the lens of such idealism are now monsters'
“I've seen the very best that this industry has to offer, but I've also seen the dark side of it. I've seen people lose control of their companies. I've seen companies go public and then get ruined, forcibly taken over, founders ejected. Companies that we used…”
- Jul 14, 2026 Adam Grant
ReThinking with Adam Grant — 'How to prevent corporate corruption with Eric Ries'
“Corruption in organizations is one of the biggest problems of our time, and many people believe it may be unsolvable—but Eric Ries doesn't think so. As entrepreneur and author, Eric has dedicated his career to helping businesses succeed and do the right…”
- Jul 14, 2026 Neal Bloom
Tacos & Tech (Neal Bloom) releases Eric's SDSU Angel Conference fireside as a podcast episode
“This week on the Tacos & Tech Podcast, Eric Ries … takes the stage at the SDSU San Diego Angel Conference for a fireside on his new book, Incorruptible. … Why do great companies get worse as they get bigger? And what keeps the rare ones honest?”
- Jul 12, 2026 Harry Max
Traction Heroes (Harry Max + Jorge Arango) open 'Agency' by reading Incorruptible — 'my 2026 book of the year'
“I'm easily going to guess this is going to be my 2026 book of the year.”
- Jul 9, 2026 Gregor Vand
Software Engineering Daily (Gregor Vand) — Eric on why good companies go bad, for engineers
“Eric Ries is the creator of The Lean Startup. He joins Gregor Vand to discuss why good companies go bad, building resilient organizations, and what founders and engineers can do to resist corruption.”
- Jun 26, 2026 Michael Krigsman
CXOTalk Episode 923 — 'Can You Build an Incorruptible AI Company?'
“Growth, outside capital, and the race to monetize all pull AI companies toward easy money. Eric Ries on whether a company can resist that pull and stay true to its mission as it scales.”
- Jun 10, 2026 Andrea Pacini
Ideas on Stage (Andrea Pacini) — 'every time someone shows up with a spreadsheet to stack rank by ROI, they make it impossible to do the right thing'
“the most important actions, the most important decisions a company will ever make are ROI negative by definition. Because when we do the right thing, we build up our trustworthiness, the costs of doing so are very tangible, but the rewards are intangible. So…”
- Jun 10, 2026 Ian Tien
Tools for Tech Leaders (Ian Tien, Mattermost CEO) — 'Always shareholders last'
“The great Peter Ducker said it should be um employees first, customers second, shareholders last. The great Saul Price, the father of modern retail, he said it should be customers first, employees second, shareholders last. But you're noticing a pattern?…”
- Jun 9, 2026 Paul Ford & Rich Ziade
The Aboard Podcast (Paul Ford & Rich Ziade) — 'we are swimming in this corruption so much so that we don't even know what to call it'
“we are swimming in this corruption so much so that we don't even know what to call it. Like I go around, I've been talking to young people, old people, board members, se we all live this thing where brands are being destroyed, where companies become malign…”
- Jun 9, 2026 Aarron Walter & Eli Woolery
Design Better (Aarron Walter & Eli Woolery) — 'doing the right thing 100% of the time is easier than 98%'
“the late great Klay Christensen said he said right before he died, it is easier to do the right thing 100% of the time than 98% of the time. And a huge amount of modern business is having these total meetings about what is the ROI of doing the right thing.…”
- Jun 8, 2026 Nick Moran
The Full Ratchet #510 (Nick Moran, New Stack Ventures) — 'most founders think governance is paperwork. He believes it is the art of organizational soul craft.'
“Eric Ries says most founders think governance is paperwork. He believes it is the art of organizational soul craft. His new book, Incorruptible, explores how great companies scale without losing their soul. We discuss whether Lean Startup principles still…”
- Jun 8, 2026 Matt Abrahams
Think Fast, Talk Smart (Stanford GSB / Matt Abrahams) — 'as a leader, only make deposits, never make withdrawals from the culture bank'
“The rule I learned from Todd Park, the rule is as a leader, only make deposits, never make withdrawals from the culture bank. It sounds like an impossible standard, but actually, it's not that hard. The great great Clay Christensen once said that it is much…”
- Jun 5, 2026 DisrupTV (R 'Ray' Wang + Vala Afshar)
DisrupTV Ep. 441 (Constellation Research's Ray Wang + Vala Afshar) — 'what today passes as best practices are a bunch of really weak, frankly, value-destroying practices'
“The way that we teach people right now to be a board member, to be a leader, even to be an investor is driven by this set of so-called best practices that are really about structure. They're about strength. How strong is the company? And unfortunately, what…”
- Jun 4, 2026 The Brainy Business
The Brainy Business #580 (Melina Palmer) — 'a brand that you absolutely loved… and then when it did go mainstream, things started to slip'
“Have you ever found a brand that you absolutely loved? Maybe early on in their creation, one that you were so delighted to be a part of the in crowd for. You knew them when they were small and gritty and cared about you. You felt seen. Maybe they were really…”
- Jun 3, 2026 Analyse Podcast
Analyse Podcast #61 (Bernard Leong) — Eric: 'success makes you a target worth capturing'
“We're helping people create this asset, and we're teaching them the wrong idea. We're teaching them that success will protect them. But, that's backwards. Success makes you a target worth capturing.”
- Jun 3, 2026 unSILOed
unSILOed #656 (Greg LaBlanc) — Eric: 'governance is really the art of organizational soul craft'
“Governance sounds really boring, but it's really the art of organizational soul craft.”
- Jun 2, 2026 Heartful Wonders
Heartful Wonders — host: 'truly the first business book that I found myself not just crying but sobbing at times'
“I read your book Incorruptible on my vacation and on trains and airplanes and it's really truly the first business book that I found myself not just crying but sobbing at times. And it was just like even now as I think about it, it's like it was so moving.”
- Jun 2, 2026 Outthinkers
Outthinkers #168 (Kaihan Krippendorff) — Eric: 'a mission statement to build a great product… but your corporate structure says to maximize shareholder value, you're lying.'
“If you say you have a mission statement to build a great product, to care about quality, to take care of your customers, but your legal purpose and your corporate structure says to maximize shareholder value, you're lying. I'm sorry. You're lying to your…”
- Jun 2, 2026 Passion Struck
Passion Struck (John R. Miles) — Eric: 'If you have this divergence between mission and purpose, eventually the hypocrisy becomes too great and the thing collapses'
“Most organizations, frankly, are lying about what they're all about. They have a mission statement that sounds very lofty, but if you read their legal documents, they have a legal purpose that is something different... If you have this divergence between…”
- Jun 2, 2026 Success Story
Success Story (Scott D. Clary) — Eric: 'We birth organizations. We don't own them.'
“We can just build the organizations we want to build. We can just stand for what we want to stand for. When you create an organization, you become a parent. We birth organizations. We don't own them.”
- Jun 1, 2026 BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech
BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech #700 (Jeremy Au) — 'One of the biggest myths in the world is that ruthless, exploitative, and anti-human business practices are more profitable than the alternative.'
“One of the biggest myths in the world is that ruthless, exploitative, and anti-human business practices are more profitable than the alternative.”
- Jun 1, 2026 From Start-Up to Grown-Up
From Start-Up to Grown-Up #119 (Alisa Cohn) — Eric: 'the difficulty gives them an opportunity to teach the principle'
“The really great leaders just don't mind that their principles make life more difficult for everybody. In fact, they relish it. I used to think this cuz they were jerks. I'm like, why are you creating this difficulty for people? Why do you relish the…”
- Jun 1, 2026 The How of Business
The How of Business #609 (Henry Lopez) — 'being trustworthy gives you superpowers'
“being trustworthy gives you superpowers”
- Jun 1, 2026 Agents of Scale
Zapier's Agents of Scale (Wade Foster) — Eric on vibe coding, 'slop factories', and the new bottleneck after AI cheapens building
“AI has made the build step radically faster. Code that used to take weeks can now appear in minutes. But Eric's warning is sharp: when building gets cheaper, measurement and learning become the new bottlenecks. Teams that use AI to close the learning loop are…”
- May 30, 2026 The Next New Thing
The Next New Thing (Andrew Yeung) — Eric on Anthropic, vibe coding, and 'the artifact is not the asset. The learning is.'
“AI can make builders more powerful, but only if it strengthens human judgment, craft, and learning. The artifact is not the asset. The learning is.”
- May 29, 2026 Career Sessions Podcast
Career Sessions (James Lowry, PathWise) — 'Most companies don't fail because they're outcompeted. They fail because they succeed.'
“Most companies don't fail because they're outcompeted. They fail because they succeed.”
- May 29, 2026 Commit & Push Podcast
Commit & Push (Damien Filiatrault, Scalable Path CEO) — Eric: 'It's always too early until it's too late.'
“It's always too early until it's too late.”
- May 29, 2026 The Corporate Venturing Podcast
The Corporate Venturing Podcast (Davide Ritorto, Lamborghini) — 'Nobody orders it. It happens on its own, because the structure makes it inevitable.'
“He calls it financial gravity. Nobody orders it. It happens on its own, because the structure makes it inevitable.”
- May 29, 2026 Do Good to Lead Well
Do Good to Lead Well (Craig Dowden) — 'Corruption isn't just a crime – It's losing your purpose.'
“Corruption isn't just a crime – It's losing your purpose.”
- May 29, 2026 Social Change Career Podcast
Social Change Career Podcast (Craig Zelizer, PCDN.Global) — 'a blueprint for organizations that can grow, prosper, and endure without losing their soul'
“Drawing on two decades of work with founders, CEOs, and investors, Eric exposes the forces that make companies vulnerable to short-term thinking — and offers a blueprint for organizations that can grow, prosper, and endure without losing their soul.”
- May 29, 2026 Seedcamp Views
Seedcamp (Carlos Eduardo Espinal) — 'Governance is the most powerful and most underappreciated force in business.'
“Governance is the most powerful and most underappreciated force in business.”
- May 28, 2026 The Balancing Act
The Balancing Act #247 (Andrew Temte) — 'corporate corruption is not primarily ethical — it is structural'
“What if the corruption of great companies isn't an ethics problem at all — but a design problem?”
- May 28, 2026 Breaking Precedent the Podcast
Breaking Precedent (Leah Solivan, TaskRabbit founder) — 'This is the conversation I wish I had had when I was starting TaskRabbit'
“This is the conversation I wish I had had when I was starting TaskRabbit.”
- May 28, 2026 FOMO Sapiens
FOMO Sapiens (Patrick McGinnis) — 'You're not understanding. He doesn't work there anymore. This isn't a party. It's a wake.'
“You're not understanding. He doesn't work there anymore. This isn't a party. It's a wake.”
- May 28, 2026 Founder Mode
Founder Mode #58 (Kevin Henrikson + Jason Shafton) — Eric: 'Remember nothing else about this book — the formula is ethos plus integrity.'
“Remember nothing else about this book the formula is ethos plus integrity.”
- May 28, 2026 GeekWire
GeekWire podcast (Todd Bishop) — 'a shift to mission primacy' in Incorruptible
“We talked about the Musk v. OpenAI trial, the fall of Whole Foods, what he told Anthropic’s founders about their corporate structure, and why he thinks shareholder primacy is already dead.”
- May 28, 2026 The Innovation Show
The Innovation Show (Aidan McCullen) — Eric on the governance fortress Sears, Toys R Us, and Nokia never built
“This week on The Innovation Show, Eric Ries walks through how to build the governance fortress that Sears, Toys R Us, and Nokia never had. Nokia, to their credit, eventually built one. The other two were devoured by the cats.”
- May 28, 2026 MoneyNeverSleeps
MoneyNeverSleeps (Pete Townsend) — Eric: 'The more golden the goose, the greater the temptation to butcher it.'
“The more golden the goose, the greater the temptation to butcher it.”
- May 28, 2026 Netguru
Netguru's Next in Commerce: Eric Ries with Kuba Filipowski (May 28)
“So, this is BIG: Eric Ries comes to our Next in Commerce Podcast 🔥🔥🔥 The one and only bestselling author and visionary founder will join a conversation with Kuba Filipowski, Netguru's Co-Founder & CEO. … Join us on Thursday, May 28, at 3 PM CEST to hear…”
- May 28, 2026 Practical Founders Podcast
Practical Founders (Greg Head) — Eric: 'Financial gravity is one of the most underrated concepts'
“Financial gravity is one of the most underrated concepts. It is like trying to direct our attention away from the surface characteristics of an organization to the deeper forces that act on it.”
- May 28, 2026 Stikeman Elliott Perspectives
Stikeman Elliott Perspectives #160 (Mario Nigro) — 'sellers of purpose-driven businesses often prefer bidders that commit to maintaining their legacy over higher bids from extractive buyers'
“In Eric's experience, sellers of purpose-driven businesses often prefer bidders that commit to maintaining their legacy over higher bids from extractive buyers.”
- May 27, 2026 The Agile Brand
The Agile Brand (Greg Kihlström) — Eric on long-term brand mission as the antidote to short-term metric pressure
“We'll explore how the very systems designed to measure success can sometimes corrupt a company's purpose, and how a new definition of value can create a strategic advantage that outlasts fleeting market trends.”
- May 27, 2026 Beyond the Prompt
Beyond the Prompt — Eric: 'Their signature on the company's death warrant. They signed it the first day, but they didn't even read it.'
“You may have a mission statement that says we're going to build a high-quality product, but your legal charter says you're going to maximize shareholder value. And this disconnect between what you claim your mission is and what your purpose actually is means…”
- May 27, 2026 Designing Successful Startups
Designing Successful Startups (Jothy Rosenberg) — Eric: 'If all the entrepreneurs in the world went on strike, it would be a disaster'
“We who create new companies are the foundation of our entire economic system. If all the entrepreneurs in the world went on strike, it would be a disaster.”
- May 27, 2026 Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People — 'What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About Success'
“That phrase alone made my head explode.”
- May 27, 2026 Ignite Podcast
Ignite #274 (Brian Bell) — Eric: 'AI is an amplifier. Whatever problems you had before, you're going to have much worse with AI.'
“AI is an amplifier. Whatever problems you had before, you're going to have much worse with AI.”
- May 27, 2026 SuperCreativity Podcast
SuperCreativity #375 (James Taylor) — Eric: 'I've taken the most boring topics imaginable and tried to make them' the most exciting things in the world
“Governance is one of the most powerful and exciting things in the world. And, you know, it's weird. Like my previous books have been about management and accounting and now governance. I've like, I've taken the most boring topics imaginable and tried to make…”
- May 27, 2026 The Transaction
The Transaction #78 (Craig Rosenberg + Scott Albro) — Eric: 'Trust is the asset that compounds'
“We have built an economy that is eating itself alive as we hollow company after company after company. Trust is the asset that compounds.”
- May 26, 2026 AlchemistX: Innovators Inside
AlchemistX: Innovators Inside — 'Human flourishing is a vast tapestry, but everyone's got to slice off some piece'
“Human flourishing is a vast tapestry that can support quite a lot of different missions and visions, but everyone's got to slice off some piece. And the counterintuitive finding in my research and in my experience is that if you make that declaration…”
- May 26, 2026 Paul Zelizer
Awarepreneurs #396 — 'From Lean Startup to Incorruptible Social Enterprises'
“Over the last two decades, Eric Ries's ideas about continuous innovation, long-term thinking, governance, and market reform have reshaped company building and management practices.”
- May 26, 2026 Adam Job
BCG Henderson Institute's Thinkers & Ideas — 'we built these companies with no locks on the vault'
“If you create a massive vault full of the most valuable assets in the world, people are going to try to steal it from you. Obviously. But we built these companies with no locks on the vault. What are we doing?”
- May 26, 2026 The New Build
Bubble's The New Build with Emmanuel Straschnov — 'mission driven' vs 'mission hopeful'
“Central to that is the distinction he draws between being "mission driven" and "mission hopeful," which reframes a lot of what founders are usually told to prioritize.”
- May 26, 2026 My Favorite Mistake
Mark Graban's My Favorite Mistake — Eric on the dorm-room 'category error' that became The Lean Startup
“Why are we building these extractive, weak-ass companies that are like addicted to quick, short-term growth, cutting costs, disregarding quality, and human lives? Like, why when we have a template for how to do it better?”
- May 26, 2026 HBR IdeaCast
HBR IdeaCast on launch day — 'Most organizations operate as sophisticated zombies'
“Most organizations operate as sophisticated zombies.”
- May 26, 2026 Seb Agertoft
Humans in the Loop (Seb Agertoft) full episode — 'a battle for the soul of our economy'
“I've been at the front lines of a battle that most builders don't even know is going on. A battle for the soul of our economy.”
- May 26, 2026 Inside Outside Innovation Podcast
Inside Outside Innovation with Brian Ardinger — 'Building Companies That Last Without Selling Out'
“Eric and I talk about the challenges and opportunities of creating incorruptible company, the difference between value creation and value extraction, and how companies like Costco and Patagonia build value by violating conventional best practices.”
- May 26, 2026 The Inverted Podcast
Inverted Podcast #22 — 'Become Incorruptible'
“Eric shares powerful stories from companies like Costco, Cloudflare, and Anthropic, explaining how trust, governance, and long-term purpose can become real competitive advantages—not just ideals.”
- May 26, 2026 Joshua Wilson
The Investor Relations Podcast (Joshua Wilson) — Eric on the Harvard Law study: 'Everyone thinks they're part of the 20% exception'
“The vast majority of companies eventually encounter this gravitational pressure to conform, to abandon the spark, to lose what made them special. And in the book I quote a Harvard Law School study that shows that among venture-backed companies who have…”
- May 26, 2026 Andrew Keen
Andrew Keen on Incorruptible (Episode 2921) — Eric: 'I took it for granted that we were trying to make the world a better place'
“I took it for granted that we were trying to make the world a better place. But I think in retrospect that was naïve.”
- May 26, 2026 Leading Learning Podcast
Leading Learning #479 — 'Mission drift doesn't happen all at once. It creeps in.'
“Mission drift doesn't happen all at once. It creeps in—and, according to our guest, it often happens because organizations are following the so‑called best practices for how to grow and govern.”
- May 26, 2026 Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Leap Academy (Ilana Golan) — 'The Lean Startup: Eric Ries Reveals the #1 Mistake New Founders Make'
“In this episode, Eric chats with Ilana about why most startups fail before they even launch, how to test ideas early to uncover what actually works, and how leaders can build companies that scale without losing their values.”
- May 26, 2026 Nielsen Norman Group
Nielsen Norman Group's UX Podcast: Eric tells UX designers they're 'already a revolutionary'
“Most people who encounter this book for the first time don't realize what a revolutionary they already are. If you have a simple belief as simple as you think that you should make products good… you're already so at odds with our dominant business culture…”
- May 26, 2026 Power & Impact
Power & Impact (Jim McCann) — Eric on a coming 'Chernobyl moment for AI' if innovation outpaces responsibility
“Eric warns that society may be moving faster than it understands — and why the world could be headed toward a "Chernobyl moment" for AI if innovation outpaces responsibility.”
- May 26, 2026 Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
The Product Podcast: Eric Ries with Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia (May 26 — book launch day)
“After starting The Lean Startup movement that changed how companies build digital products, Eric Ries is back with his new book, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad, and How Great Companies Stay Great. He'll be joining me on #TheProductPodcast next…”
- May 26, 2026 Bob Safian
Rapid Response (Bob Safian) — 'courage, not capital, may be the most undervalued asset in business right now'
“Ries joins Rapid Response to share what he witnessed firsthand in the clash between Anthropic and the US government, and why he believes the current system is failing the very people it's supposed to serve. He also brings in-the-trenches stories from…”
- May 26, 2026 Rob Walling
Rob Walling on Eric — 'Tobacco companies are technically profitable. So are Ponzi schemes'
“Tobacco companies are technically profitable. So are Ponzi schemes. Eric Ries says the definition is broken, and he has a better one. The author of The Lean Startup and his new book Incorruptible joined me to revisit the ideas that changed how founders think…”
- May 26, 2026 The Room Where It Happened
Jake Humphrey on The Room Where It Happened — 'How can it be that you can taste private equity in the food?'
“How can it be that you can taste private equity in the food?”
- May 26, 2026 School for Startups Radio
School for Startups Radio (Jim Beach) — 'Success can quietly create the conditions for failure'
“Eric shares a powerful warning for leaders: success can quietly create the conditions for failure. Great companies do not stay great automatically. They stay great through trust, accountability, innovation, and the courage to adapt.”
- May 26, 2026 The Startup Leap Podcast
The Startup Leap — 'This Founder Lost Control Because His Company Worked'
“This week, Eric Ries joins us for a conversation about the hidden cost of startup success. From mission drift and shareholder pressure to governance structures and long-term thinking, Eric explains why many companies lose the very thing that made them great…”
- May 26, 2026 Rob Walling
Startups for the Rest of Us #834 (Rob Walling) — Eric on Incorruptible, revisiting Lean Startup 15 years on
“To make a profit is simply to maximize human flourishing. If we leave human beings better off than we found them, we have created profit.”
- May 26, 2026 TBPN
TBPN launch-day appearance — Eric on the $0.03 trap: 'the business equivalent of taking heroin'
“He says, 'It's like the business equivalent of taking heroin. You do it once, and then you got to do it again, and again, and again. Next thing you know, you're not the low-price leader.'”
- May 26, 2026 Tech Lead Journal
Tech Lead Journal #259 (Henry Suryawirawan) — 'an invisible force that pulls even the most principled companies toward corruption'
“Why do companies with the best intentions end up betraying their customers, employees, and mission? Eric Ries calls it "financial gravity" — an invisible force that pulls even the most principled companies toward corruption, and understanding it is the first…”
- May 26, 2026 Rita McGrath
Thought Sparks with Rita McGrath: 'corporate corruption does not stem from a few bad actors but is baked into the structure of poorly designed corporate governance systems'
“What if we reframed how we think of corporate corruption? Next week on the Thought Sparks Podcast, Eric Ries will be joining me to share the findings of he new book, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great. His thesis…”
- May 26, 2026 Transform Your Workplace
Transform Your Workplace (Brandon Laws, Xenium HR) — 'It's always too early until it's too late'
“It's always too early until it's too late.”
- May 25, 2026 Mark Blackwell
Arkaro Insights with Mark Blackwell — 'we run rings around our conventional competitors because they can't think past the current quarter'
“We run rings around our conventional competitors because they can't think past the current quarter and we can make multi-decade investments.”
- May 25, 2026 Alex Strathdee
Before the Bestseller (Alex Strathdee) — 'how do we create organizations people can still believe in?'
“How do we create organizations people can still believe in? Eric Ries, bestselling author of The Lean Startup and The Startup Way, joins us on Before the Bestseller to talk about his new book, Incorruptible. In this episode, we go beyond business strategy…”
- May 25, 2026 Dave Stachowiak
Coaching for Leaders (Dave Stachowiak) — 'If you build a great organization, the predators will come'
“If you build a great organization, the predators will come. With the right principles in place, not only can you protect what you love, but help many people flourish because of it. In this conversation, Eric and I show you exactly where to start.”
- May 25, 2026 Alison Jones
Extraordinary Business Book Club, Ep 494 — 'we actually create the conditions for our own failure by blindly pursuing success'
“The more successful an organization is, the more valuable it is as a target. So the more golden the goose, the more the temptation to butcher it. So we actually create the conditions for our own failure by blindly pursuing success.”
- May 25, 2026 Geoff Nielson
Info-Tech Research Group's Digital Disruption: Eric with Geoff Nielson — 'fear around AI is actually fear about capitalism'
“Eric Ries thinks a lot of the fear around AI… is actually fear about capitalism. This Monday on the Digital Disruption podcast, the creator of The Lean Startup Co. joins Geoff Nielson to unpack why great companies decline over time, how "financial gravity"…”
- May 25, 2026 SaaS Group
SaaS Unbound (SaaS Group) — 'I taught people how to build something worth protecting but not how to protect it'
“I taught people how to build something worth protecting but not how to protect it. And the sad reality like everything that is worth protecting will eventually need protection. It's always too early and then one day it's too late.”
- May 25, 2026 Yaniv Bernstein
The Startup Podcast (Yaniv Bernstein) — 'trust the guy who made project management exciting, to make governance exciting'
“But what happens once the product is built, and becomes successful? How do we stop what sometimes feel like the inevitable slide towards enshittification? Well, Eric has not been resting on his laurels. His new book "Incorruptible" explains the forces…”
- May 25, 2026 Andy Walsh
Startups Decoded, Ep 70 — 'we teach people that success will protect what they care about'
“We basically are teaching people this philosophy that is about using the startup as a financial instrument to enrich its shareholders. Like that's its essential purpose. That's what it does. And we teach people that if you do this well, you show obeisance to…”
- May 24, 2026 Ryan Hawk
The Learning Leader Show: Ryan Hawk on Eric's 'organizational soul craft' — 'I want to know who would you rather die than betray'
“In this episode, you will learn: ❖ Why success makes your company a target for takeover, and why the most successful companies are the most vulnerable ❖ The story of Saul Price, the father of modern retail, and the governance lesson hidden in Costco's origin…”
- May 22, 2026 Founder's Story
Founder's Story: Eric on the 75% founder-regret stat and 'the architecture of institutional longevity'
“A recent study found that 75% of founders regret selling their company one year after the exit. Eric Ries, the author of The Lean Startup and one of the most influential business thinkers of the last 20 years, has spent his career trying to understand why.…”
- May 22, 2026 Rajiv Parikh
Spark of Ages, Ep 64 — Eric on mission-controlled companies as 'governance fortresses' against financial gravity
“I advocate in the book for the creation of what I call mission controlled companies and that is a very specific structure that the data shows is more stable just like a unicameral legislature is is not as good as a bicameral legislature. We got all this data…”
- May 22, 2026 Garry Tan
Y Combinator's Main Function: Eric Ries with Garry Tan — 'why don't we just stop pretending that we think that's good?'
“The best way to make money is to create more value than you capture, right? To build something that people want. And yet, we're all supposed to pretend these days that we think all kinds of making money is equally good. And there's so many ways of making…”
- May 21, 2026 Nathan Chan
Foundr Podcast: 'The Man Who Wrote the Startup Bible Has a WARNING for Every Founder'
“Eric Ries wrote the book that changed how the entire world builds startups. Now he's back with a more urgent argument: the way we're taught to build companies is quietly turning them against everything that made them worth building in the first place. The…”
- May 20, 2026 Kara Goldin
Kara Goldin Show: Eric Ries on Incorruptible — 'I taught people how to create something worth protecting, but not actually how to protect it'
“Building a company is hard. Keeping it from losing its way may be even harder — that's the conversation 🧭✨ On The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Eric Ries , bestselling author of The Lean Startup and now Incorruptible. We talk about why good companies…”
- May 19, 2026 Amy Cortezy
ImpactAlpha's Agents of Impact: 'From lean startups to spiritual holding companies — the education of Eric Ries'
“There's a through line through all of my work which is really about how to build great organizations. Not just okay, we made a little money. We got lucky. But no, how do we create innovation that can really work in any kind of environment, no matter how much…”
- May 19, 2026 Ksenia Se
Turing Post 'Inference' with Ksenia Se: Eric on incorruptible companies, AI disruption, and the future of capitalism
“What if the biggest threat to a great company isn't failure — but success? And why it becomes even more relevant now – when everyone becomes an AI builder? Eric Ries, entrepreneur and author of The Lean Startup and Incorruptible, argues that the more…”
- May 18, 2026 Ryan Honeyman
Ryan Honeyman on Incorruptible — 'one of the most important books for B Corps and mission-driven businesses I have ever read'
“I am excited to release this interview with Eric Ries, author of "The Lean Startup," about his forthcoming book "Incorruptible." Incorruptible is one of the most important books for B Corps and mission-driven businesses I have ever read. Eric's main point…”
- May 12, 2026 Rachel Botsman
Rachel Botsman, Rethinking Trust: 'The structures we build either earn trust or quietly destroy it'
“Trust in institutions is eroding. But that's not the whole story: trust isn't disappearing, it's being redesigned. Rachel sits down with Eric Ries, author of 'Incorruptible', who argues the same thing is happening inside companies. The structures we build…”
- May 10, 2026 Lenny Rachitsky
Lenny Rachitsky on Eric Ries: 'A lot of people liked the Lean Startup, but no one ever said it made them cry'
“"A lot of people liked the Lean Startup, but no one ever said it made them cry." In 16 days, @EricRies's new book Incorruptible comes out. It's about why you can taste it when your favorite restaurant gets bought by a PE firm, why even Steve Jobs got fired…”
- May 8, 2026 Alex Shevelenko / RELAYTO AI
RELAYTO AI's Alex Shevelenko on Eric's framing: ''Sounds good' are the two most dangerous words in entrepreneurship'
“Too many companies still run on opinions that "sound good." But as Eric puts it: "'Sounds good' are the two most dangerous words in entrepreneurship."”
- May 6, 2026 Robin P. Zander
Robin P. Zander on Snafu: 'perhaps the best book I've read certainly in the last handful of years on organizational design'
“As somebody who's been studying resilience in organizations for a decade through Responsive, this is perhaps the best book I've read certainly in the last handful of years on organizational design, company culture, and how to create interlocking rings of…”
- May 5, 2026 Ryan Honeyman
Ryan Honeyman (B Corp Handbook): 'Incorruptible is one of the most important books for B Corps and mission-driven businesses I have ever read'
“Incorruptible is one of the most important books for B Corps and mission-driven businesses I have ever read. Eric's main point in the book is that good companies do not usually lose their way because people stop caring. They drift because "financial gravity"…”
- May 4, 2026 Barry O'Reilly
Barry O'Reilly Announces Unlearn Podcast With Eric Ries: 'why AI makes the design of incorruptible organizations even more urgent'
“What does it take to build companies that don't just grow fast but last? Next week on the Unlearn Podcast, I'm joined by Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup and his new book Incorruptible, for a timely conversation on how to build organizations that can…”
- May 4, 2026 Chad McAllister, Product Mastery Now
Eric Ries on Product Mastery Now: 'you're telling me there's people in this world who make forecasts of things and then the forecast comes true?'
“There's a fundamental misalignment between the basic tools of management that most companies embrace and entrepreneurship. A lot of our management tools are variation reducing — which is good in a factory, very important. But entrepreneurship is variability…”
- May 4, 2026 Maike Kauffmann, Purpose Foundation
PURPOSE® Fireside: How a Blocked Merger Saved Novo Nordisk — and the $500B Lesson Behind Ozempic
“In the late 90s, a board of trustees blocked a merger that would have made everyone in the room very, very rich. Two years later, the company they were about to merge with was acquired and shut down. Meanwhile, the company they protected went on to invent…”
- Apr 25, 2026 Ryan Hanley
Eric Ries on Finding Peak: 'We do not really own the organizations. We birthed them.'
“I feel like we do not really own the organizations. We birthed them. So we've actually legalized huge swaths of nonvalue-creating money-making in the name of market efficiency. If you build something really valuable, the more gold in the goose, the greater…”
- Apr 22, 2026 Davide Ritorto
Davide Ritorto: 'You're fighting gravity every day, inside a machine optimized to resist you'
“The more successful a company gets, the stronger the pull toward safe metrics, quarterly thinking, and protecting the core. No bad actors. No bad strategy. Just a system doing exactly what it was designed to do. And the worst part is that you don't feel it…”
- Apr 21, 2026 Anthony C Taylor
Anthony C Taylor: 'It's about designing your organization so the architecture itself keeps you honest'
“Eric has spent two decades watching it happen. His argument: long-term outcomes trace back to how you design the structure. Principled leaders with aligned teams still drift when the architecture pulls against them. It's not about being perfect. It's about…”
- Apr 21, 2026 FranklinCovey
FranklinCovey: 'your culture is the problem — not your people'
“All those people work for you. So if they're all consistently doing the wrong thing, what is the one thing they have in common? You. They all work for you. You are the source of the problem. Are you really willing to change? And most people are like, nope.…”
- Apr 21, 2026 Interintellect / Anna Gát
Anna Gát Hosts Eric Ries at Interintellect: 'a wrong turn in how we build companies'
“We've made a wrong turn in how we build companies, and it's time to unmake it. Last week, @ericries joined @TheAnnaGat to discuss his new book, Incorruptible, and why the current obsession with short-term extraction has hollowed out our best institutions from…”
- Apr 21, 2026 SME Strategy
SME Strategy: 'why most best practices are quietly killing the companies that follow them'
“How many of today's governance best practices — the things that we're all taught are like inevitable natural laws of capitalism, things that we have to do in a market economy to be efficient or whatever — are actually value destroying. And I say that not…”
- Apr 20, 2026 Craig Zelizer
PCDN Social Change Career Podcast Livestream: Financial Gravity and Governance
“Success itself becomes a form of financial gravity, bending companies away from their original purpose. Eric reframes corporate governance not as bureaucracy or compliance, but as a creative and strategic act at the heart of building enduring…”
- Apr 20, 2026 Florida Funders
Skin in the Game: 'Saying startups fail because they run out of money is like saying planes crash because gravity pulls down'
“Saying startups fail because they run out of money is like saying planes crash because gravity pulls down. That's technically true, but if the engine is working, gravity isn't really the issue.”
- Apr 16, 2026 Seb Agertoft
Humans in the Loop Podcast Announces Eric Ries Episode on Incorruptible Organisations
“Upcoming episodes include: Incorruptible organisations w/ Eric Ries”
- Apr 16, 2026 Kim Scott
Kim Scott: 'one of the most important books I've read in the last decade'
“Eric Ries has a new book coming out, and I've been thinking about it since I read it. It's one of the most important books I've read in the last decade. The argument is deceptively simple: companies don't fail their missions because of bad people. They fail…”
- Apr 14, 2026 Auren Hoffman
Summation Podcast: Eric Ries on why 'bad governance' outperforms
“new summation pod with founder of lean start up method Eric Ries on why companies with "bad governance" outperform companies with "good governance." also: why capital is a gravitational force that bends companies away from their mission and building…”
- Apr 11, 2026 Andrew Keen
Andrew Keen on Incorruptible: 'an important argument to get us away from this personality-driven cult'
“He has a new book out called Incorruptible. Why good companies go bad and how great companies stay great. He makes a structural argument… worrying about these individuals is really beside the point because in Incorruptible he suggests that good companies go…”
- Apr 7, 2026
The Ageless Warrior Lab Podcast: Building Companies That Promote Prosperity With a Purpose
“I had a great talk with Eric Ries about his new book which is all about how to protect the mission of your company (or anything people build). The book is called Incorruptible and presales have started.”
- Apr 1, 2026
New Books Network: Incorruptible
“Eric Ries shares how financial 'gravity' pulls great companies away from their founders' purpose, and his solutions in his new book Incorruptible.”
- Mar 31, 2026
American College of Governance Counsel Podcast
“Eric Ries: Incorruptible, and the Case for Long-Term Governance Reform”
- Mar 31, 2026
Boardroom Governance Podcast: 'one of my biggest fears was how governance experts would react'
“One of my biggest fears when writing this book was imagining how genuine governance experts would react to it. After all, I am not a lawyer (although sometimes it feels like I play one on TV).”
- Mar 16, 2026
Technovation: Why Good Companies Go Bad
“Eric argues that corporate corruption rarely begins with bad actors. Instead, it emerges from organizational design — governance structures, incentives, and metrics that gradually push companies away from their original mission.”
- Feb 18, 2026
Why Good Companies Go Bad — Eric Ries and Reid Hoffman
“Corruption in modern organizations isn't primarily caused by bad people or moral collapse. It's the predictable result of organizations that were never designed to withstand success, scale, or financial pressure.”