Incorruptible - by Eric Ries (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Instant New York Times Bestseller

"Incorruptible by Eric Ries is the best and most important business book of the year." --Dan Heath, NYT Bestselling Author & Podcast Host of "What It's Like To Be..."

A Thinkers50 Best New Management Book A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read

From Eric Ries, creator of The Lean Startup, comes a bold and urgently needed rethink of how organizations are built--and why success itself so often turns companies against the people and principles that made them worth building in the first place.

For decades, we've explained corporate corruption as a problem of bad actors, moral weakness, or isolated scandals. But that story doesn't match reality. Again and again, companies founded with strong ideals drift toward short-term thinking, extractive behavior, and mission abandonment--often despite the best intentions of the people inside them.

Incorruptible argues that this failure is not primarily ethical. It is structural.

As organizations grow, the systems that govern them--ownership, incentives, charters, accountability, and decision-making--quietly reshape behavior. When those systems are poorly designed, even principled leaders are pushed toward outcomes they never wanted. Success itself becomes a form of financial gravity, bending companies away from their original purpose.

Drawing on two decades of work with founders, CEOs, investors, and institution builders, Ries shows how these failures arise predictably--and how they can be prevented. He reframes corporate governance not as bureaucracy or compliance, but as a creative and strategic act at the heart of building enduring, mission-controlled companies.

At a moment when trust in business is eroding, Incorruptible offers a clear-eyed diagnosis and a practical blueprint for change.

Success alone will not protect what matters most. Only incorruptible design can.

Get more information and bonus materials at incorruptible.co.

Review Quotes

"Reading it made me so hopeful and excited that I've been telling everyone I know about it. This is not just a book for MBAs or people who work in business. It's for anyone who has wondered, 'Is capitalism fixable?'...The book doesn't encourage a pivot away from profit-making. Quite the contrary--it argues that if you want your business to do well, founders and executives should focus on doing good."--Ari Shapiro, award-winning journalist and news anchor, and bestselling author

"Incorruptible is the only business book I've ever read that weaves "fiduciary duty" and "human flourishing" into a single, convincing argument. Eric Ries shows why so many idealistic founders collide headfirst into a system that turns noble intentions into nasty outcomes -- and then he points a way forward. By treating ownership and governance as design problems, and by drawing on vivid case studies of unfashionable but enduring enterprises, Ries offers a bracingly practical vision of how companies can stay true and still win."--Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Regret and Drive

"Every founder eventually faces the board meeting where the mission is on the table. I've been in that room. Eric has too -- and this book will help you walk out with your soul intact. Incorruptible is as practical as it is inspiring."--Matt Blumberg, Author of Startup CEO, Startup CXO, and Startup Boards

"Incorruptible demonstrates the importance of mission-driven leadership and defying the status quo to build organizations that withstand the test of time. Through Eric's decades of experience building and running businesses, he articulates how companies avoid the traps of corruption and lead with values to thrive as organizations and reshape industries."--Ken Chenault, chairman and managing director, General Catalyst; former chairman and CEO, American Express

"After authoring the most important business book of the 2010s, Eric Ries has done it again. No business book became standard practice more quickly than Eric's first book. Before my daughter started at her first software engineering job, the company told her to read just one thing: Eric's The Lean Startup.

If you're a founder, a CEO planning an IPO, an investor seeking epic outcomes -- stop now and read Eric's book. It will change your life. Eric unveils the unspoken truths on how to build a legendary success...and keep it successful.
When will it be seen as founder malpractice to not have read this book?"--Scott Cook, cofounder, Intuit

"Incorruptible is a must-read for any founder, board member, investor, or consumer who cares about protecting entrepreneurship, innovation, and the productive power of capitalism from the dangers of short-term thinking--and for anyone who recognizes the importance of trustworthy and enduring institutions for a thriving democracy." --Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder of LinkedIn and Bestselling Author of Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future

"Incorruptible is the rare business book that is both a moral compass and a practical playbook. Ries shows us, with rigor and optimism, how to build organizations that are worthy of our trust."--Frances Frei, UPS Foundation Professor of Service Management, Harvard Business School

"Better is possible, but only if we understand what we're up against. This profound book will inform and infuriate, and then it will help you see a path forward. It should be required reading for anyone who manages (or has a manager). Gravity is real."--Seth Godin, Bestselling Author and Entrepreneur

"Every founder hopes their path is a straight line. It won't be. They hope they will have the right mentor to help them avoid problems. They won't. Eric Ries gives founders a playbook to help avoid the inevitable pitfalls and find your path to the business you set out to create."--Mark Cuban, Entrepreneur and Investor

"If you want to build a company that will be making the world a better place a hundred years from now, it's not enough to be a great person with good intentions-you need to consciously build incorruptible governance. Ries shows you how. Indispensable!"--Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor

About the Author

Over the last two decades, Eric Ries's ideas about continuous innovation, long-term thinking, governance, and market reform have reshaped company building and management practices. He is the creator of the Lean Startup method and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup, The Leader's Guide, and The Startup Way. As a founder, Eric has put his own ideas into practice with the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE); Answer.AI, an AI R&D lab; Virgil, a legal services startup; and IMVU. On The Eric Ries Show, he talks with world-class technologists, thought leaders, and executives building for the long-term. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and three children.