Before The Bestseller

BTB182: Eric Ries | The Lean Startup, Incorruptible, and the Hidden Decisions Behind Lasting Success

Alex Strathdee

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 33:03

Today, we’re honored to have entrepreneur, creator of the Lean Startup movement, and author of the international bestseller The Lean Startup, Eric Ries, on Before the Bestseller. His work changed how founders think about building companies by replacing assumptions with experimentation, validated learning, and building what customers actually want.

We talked about Eric’s unexpected path from teaching himself programming as a kid and landing his first publishing opportunity as a teenager, to building startups and eventually writing one of the most influential business books of the last decade. We explored how The Lean Startup emerged from questioning conventional startup advice, why validated learning matters more than activity, and how founders and authors can think through one of the hardest decisions in any creative or business journey: when to pivot and when to persevere. We also shifted into Eric’s newest book, Incorruptible, where we discussed why organizations drift away from their original mission, how incentives quietly shape decisions over time, and what founders, consumers, and builders can do to create systems worth trusting in the long run.

Tune in to hear how Eric thinks about testing ideas, knowing when to pivot, and building books, companies, and systems that can grow without losing what made them work in the first place. 

Go to www.incorruptible.com to discover more about the book and access the limited-time pre-order bonuses

Visit your local bookstore to pick up a copy of Eric’s books and support independent booksellers.

Check out Eric’s books on Amazon here:

The Lean Startup - https://a.co/d/0bwLP7TI

Incorruptible - https://a.co/d/0cWIpo70

Subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps more people discover the show, the author and their books. 

Get the popular weekly book marketing 3-2-1 and get access to our $299 Amazon Ads course when you subscribe to our newsletter here:  https://getshelflife.com/category/newsletter/

Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com

If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at Alex@getshelflife.com