Ignite Startups: Eric Ries on Lean Startup and Building Mission-Driven Companies | Ep200

Ignite: Conversations on Startups, Venture Capital, Tech, Future, and Society

Eric Ries is the author of The Lean Startup, founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE), and host of The Eric Ries Show. With decades of experience shaping how founders build, scale, and sustain companies, Eric has influenced a generation of entrepreneurs to move faster, reduce waste, and think long-term. In this episode, he shares his journey from early startup failures to pioneering the Lean Startup movement, and how he’s now tackling short-termism in public markets through LTSE.

In Today’s Episode We Discuss:

00:01 – Welcome & Ignite’s 200th Episode with Eric Ries

01:28 – Eric’s origin story: growing up with computers in a family of doctors

03:23 – Early startup failures and hard lessons in Silicon Valley

07:10 – Countercultural ideas that sparked the Lean Startup method

10:43 – Learning from Steve Blank and building a startup theory

12:28 – Naming and launching the Lean Startup movement

14:06 – From The Lean Startup to The Startup Way: scaling ideas inside large companies

16:32 – Observations on short-termism across corporations

18:25 – Virgin America, Wall Street, and the spark for the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE)

21:38 – How LTSE works and its principles-based listing standards

24:55 – The hidden cost of quarterly reporting on markets

26:45 – Founder-led vs. traditional governance practices

27:36 – Costco’s governance “fortress” and lessons in long-termism

33:53 – Why mission-driven companies outperform short-term players

37:32 – Designing “mission-controlled” companies for the future

41:20 – The AI boom: bubble behavior vs. true disruption

46:41 – The coming societal impact of AI and institutional change

48:08 – Advising early-stage founders on purpose, trust, and governance

53:50 – Lessons from Novo Nordisk: mission structure driving $500B+ value

59:32 – Anthropic’s governance model and mission boards for AI

01:02:23 – Investing as an LP and building First Momentum Capital

01:05:32 – Audience Q&A: U.S. innovation, AI’s role in Lean Startup, and new paradoxes

01:11:32 – Looking ahead: Eric’s hopes and concerns for the next decade

01:12:37 – Closing thoughts & rapid-fire wrap-up

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