I'm Eric Ries, author of "The Lean Startup" and new book "Incorruptible" – AMA

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Reception of the books and ideas

  • Many commenters say The Lean Startup shaped how they think about startups, product, and careers; several still gift it to founders.
  • A smaller but vocal group is skeptical, arguing the original case-study companies failed and that the ideas feel like generic “business-book platitudes.”
  • The new book Incorruptible is seen by supporters as a timely diagnosis of “why good companies go bad”; skeptics question whether it can overcome selection bias or entrenched incentives.

Financial gravity, corruption, and governance

  • The new thesis: most “corruption” is structural (“financial gravity”), not individual villainy.
  • Core mechanism: today’s governance “best practices” and shareholder-primacy norms push companies toward short-term profit, undermining missions and founders.
  • The book claims mission-driven firms often outperform, but are structurally vulnerable to being “captured” or redirected.
  • Proposed remedy: redesign governance (e.g., foundations owning operating companies, “governance fortresses,” worker or stakeholder representation, long-term stock structures).

Examples and counter‑examples

  • Positively discussed or analyzed: Costco, Patagonia, Novo Nordisk, Mondragon, credit unions, co‑ops, some tech firms (e.g., AI labs, dev tools, infra companies).
  • Negatively: cases like Wells Fargo, DuPont, emissions scandals, some big tech enshittification, and high-profile AI organizations drifting from original missions.
  • Some argue leadership quality alone explains outcomes; others insist structure is what protects or dooms good leaders over time.

Capitalism, incentives, and alternative models

  • One camp sees “financial gravity” as just capitalism’s basic logic; any long-lived for‑profit will be pulled toward exploitation.
  • Another camp agrees incentives are warped but points to cross‑country variation, co‑ops, foundations, and steward‑ownership as evidence that different designs can resist.
  • Debate over whether “good” companies must underperform the market; participants cite examples on both sides and dispute how to measure “awful” behavior.

AI, Lean Startup, and organizational practice

  • Many ask how Lean Startup changes in the AI era when MVPs can be built in hours.
  • Response: the core loop (“build–measure–learn”) still holds; AI speeds “build” but not “learn,” which remains the bottleneck in human understanding.
  • The author endorses using AI as a skill amplifier (research, editing, summarization), not as a “vibe-writing” replacement.
  • Concern that AI metrics like “tokens used” and low-quality MVPs become new vanity metrics and enshittification vectors.

Other recurring themes

  • Strong interest in tools and firms that support mission-protective formation (PBCs, special law firms, LTSE).
  • Recognition that similar “gravity” affects nonprofits, governments, HR, media, and open source, not just corporations.
  • Several comments frame the real test as succession: most organizations fail when founders leave; a few structures seem to extend mission resilience, but nothing is truly “immortal.”