How great companies can stay great with Eric Ries

How great companies can stay great with Eric Ries

From This Much I Know - The Seedcamp Podcast by Carlos Espinal

May 29, 2026 · 52 min

About this episode

Eric Ries discusses the challenges great companies face in maintaining their core values and the importance of governance in his new book 'Incorruptible'.

Eric Ries's The Lean Startup method is undeniably one of the most influential writings published on entrepreneurship in the last decade. It gave a whole generation of founders a new way to build - and made 'pivot' a household word. Now he's tackling an even harder subject: why do so many great companies eventually betray everything they stood for? And what can founders do to stop it? In his new book Incorruptible, Ries argues that governance is the most powerful and most underappreciated force in business. In this conversation with Carlos, they get into why shareholder primacy destroys brands, why the tools to resist that pressure already exist, and why most founders give away the thing that matters most.

People in this episode

Host: Carlos Espinal

Guest: Eric Ries

Topics covered

  • entrepreneurship
  • governance
  • business strategy
  • founder challenges
  • corporate ethics

Keywords

  • Lean Startup
  • entrepreneurship
  • governance
  • corporate ethics
  • founders
  • business strategy

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Lean Startup, Incorruptible

More episodes of This Much I Know - The Seedcamp Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the This Much I Know - The Seedcamp Podcast podcast page.