Why success destroys the companies we love, with Eric Ries

Why success destroys the companies we love, with Eric Ries

From Rapid Response by WaitWhat

May 26, 2026 · 48 min

About this episode

Eric Ries discusses the flaws in current business assumptions and the undervalued asset of courage in entrepreneurship.

What if the way we think about business value, trust, and capitalism itself is fundamentally broken? Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup changed how a generation of entrepreneurs build companies. Now, Ries takes aim at some of the most sacred business assumptions today in his new book, Incorruptible. 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 Cloudflare, Novo Nordisk, and Whole Foods to make the case that courage, not capital, may be the most undervalued asset in business right now. Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Guest: Eric Ries

Topics covered

  • business value
  • trust
  • capitalism
  • entrepreneurship
  • courage in business

Keywords

  • business
  • entrepreneurship
  • capitalism
  • trust
  • courage
  • The Lean Startup
  • Incorruptible

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Anthropic, Cloudflare, Novo Nordisk, Whole Foods

Books & works: The Lean Startup, Incorruptible

More episodes of Rapid Response

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Rapid Response podcast page.