Episode 57. “You Didn't Read the Document” with Eric Ries
About Our Guest:
Eric Ries changed how a generation of founders think about building companies. Now, with his new book Incorruptible, he is making the case that teaching people how to build something great was only half the job, and the other half, how to protect what they built from the governance structures designed around it, is the part almost everyone skips.
This conversation covers why good companies go bad by design rather than by accident, why shareholder primacy has no democratic legitimacy and is already in intellectual collapse, and what it actually means for lawyers and in-house counsel to be in the room when these structures are being built. Eric tells the Vectura story in full, and it is the kind of story that changes how you read a corporate charter.
You will leave this episode with a clearer framework for what governance is actually doing, what financial gravity is doing to organisations you may be advising or working inside, and why mission primacy is not an idealistic alternative but a structurally coherent one.
Connect with Eric:
New Book: Incorruptible - out now!
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Connect with Mel:
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