- Author
- Posted by eries (Eric Ries), with replies from many commenters
- Published
- 10 June 2026
- Kind
- Hacker News AMA thread in which an author promotes a new book
- Original
- news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48477135
- Subject
- Society and technology
What it is
Eric Ries wrote The Lean Startup and now Incorruptible. Ries opens an AMA on Hacker News and answers questions about governance and mission drift. Commenters ask about AI, Costco and startups.
What it says
- Ries says good companies drift from their missions because their structure pulls them away.
- Ries says Costco is protected by a governance fortress, not only by leadership.
- Ries says structure protects a company's ethos but cannot create it.
- Ries says foundation-governed for-profits are five or six times likelier to reach year 50.
- Ries says learning stays the bottleneck of build-measure-learn, even with AI tools.
- Ries says language models summarize well, which helps leaders see what organizations do.
- Commenters dispute the Costco example and say the Long-Term Stock Exchange lacks trading volume.
What evidence it gives
The thread offers Ries's replies and commenters' objections. Ries mentions a study that quarterly reporting costs about 5% of market cap. Another study reportedly finds 80% of founders lose the CEO job within three years. Neither study is shown. Ries hedges the year-50 figure with the words "for what it's worth".
Interests and limits
Ries sells the book and runs several ventures, which the replies promote. Most replies point to the book, so claims come without their evidence. The book was not read. A former Anthropic employee doubts that structure explains Anthropic's choices.