Incorruptible

This is a book review by Steve Blank (a prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur and academic known for the "Customer Development" methodology that helped shape the Lean Startup movement) of "Incorruptible," a new book by Eric Ries. Ries is the author of "The Lean Startup" (2011), a hugely influential business book that introduced concepts like the "MVP" (minimum viable product), "pivot," and "build-measure-learn" loops — ideas that became gospel in the startup world. The review doesn't summarize the book's content; instead, it's a personal reflection on its significance. The title "Incorruptible" and subtitle ("Why Good Companies Go Bad… and How Great Companies Stay Great") signal that Ries is now tackling the question of how successful companies avoid the bureaucracy, stagnation, and loss of mission that plague them as they scale. For readers in the tech/startup discourse, Blank's endorsement is itself notable — he isn't a casual blurb-giver, so his framing matters.