Podcast

Great Companies With Eric Ries – TWMJ #1053

Welcome to episode #1053 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Eric Ries is one of the most influential entrepreneurs and management thinkers of the past two decades. Best known as the creator of the Lean Startup movement, his ideas fundamentally changed how founders, innovators, and established organizations build products, test ideas, and bring innovation to market. His work has shaped startups, Fortune 500 companies, governments, and nonprofits around the world, earning him recognition as one of the defining voices on modern entrepreneurship. In his latest book, Incorruptible – Why Good Companies Go Bad… And How Great Companies Stay Great, Eric turns his attention to a much deeper question: why do organizations that begin with strong values and bold missions so often lose their way? Drawing on years of advising founders and studying corporate history, he argues that corruption is rarely about bad people… it’s about systems, incentives, governance, and what he calls “financial gravity,” the invisible forces that slowly pull organizations away from the very principles that made them successful in the first place. In this conversation, Eric explores why mission-driven companies outperform over the long term, how corporate governance can preserve or destroy an organization’s purpose, and why stewardship may be one of business’s most undervalued leadership traits. We also discuss the unintended consequences of shareholder primacy, what today’s AI revolution can learn from previous waves of technological disruption, and why the future belongs to organizations that are intentionally designed to remain true to their values even as they scale. It’s a thoughtful conversation about leadership, innovation, governance, and what it really takes to build companies that endure. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 53:30.
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Here is my conversation with Eric Ries.
Incorruptible – Why Good Companies Go Bad… And How Great Companies Stay Great.
Lean Startup.
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Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Eric Ries and His New Book.
(03:02) – The Journey of Lean Startup and Its Impact.
(06:04) – The Dark Side of Success in Startups.
(08:50) – Understanding Corruption in Business Practices.
(12:11) – The Paradox of Enlightened Capitalism.
(15:09) – Financial Gravity and Its Effects on Companies.
(18:00) – Corporate Governance: The Need for Change.
(21:13) – The Role of Structure in Business Success.
(24:08) – Navigating the Stormy Seas of Business.
(26:56) – Civic Renewal and the Future of Business.
(28:51) – The Weight of Words: Redefining Corruption.
(32:09) – Generational Perspectives on Business Values.
(36:24) – Speed vs. Quality: The Business Dilemma.
(42:20) – AI: A Double-Edged Sword for Society.
(49:44) – A Renaissance of Mission-Driven Companies.

Download the Podcast here: #1053 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Before you go… ThinkersOne gives you direct access to the experts shaping tomorrow’s conversations. Get their insights on leadership, AI, culture and innovation all delivered to your team before the rest of the world catches on. Ideal for your meetings, off-sites, and lunch & learns.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.