Eric Ries is an entrepreneur and author whose new work asks: what does it take for institutions to last?

The Long Now Foundation welcomes Eric Ries, Incorruptible by Design

Attend the Long Now Talks in-person or via our livestream

Mix and mingle over drinks and small bites with other attendees at our pre & post-show gathering in the re-imagined Cowell Theater Lobby! All of our commercial and civic infrastructure is invented by us — and it can be reinvented. Eric Ries, building on his upcoming book, Incorruptible, will talk about how founders and leaders can build incorruptible organizations that will last for decades and tangibly support human flourishing.

Today's organizational design choices will either become tomorrow's liberating structures or inherited constraints. How do we architect accountability mechanisms that outlive their creators? What governance structures remain resilient across generations of technological, economic, and cultural transformation? Ries will explore how building for incorruptibility requires imagining not just the organization we need today, but the institutions that future generations will thank us for creating.

This conversation-style Long Now Talk will be facilitated by Denise Hearn, Long Now Director of Strategic Partnerships.

Why This Talk Matters Now

Ries’ work arrives at a moment when leaders are searching for alternatives to systems that reward corruption, concentration, and short-term wins. We have the urgent responsibility to shape our collective future in ways that are accountable and aligned with human flourishing.

The Long View

This talk situates organizational design within the tradition of long-term thinking, asking: how do we build structures that remain legible, trustworthy, and adaptive long after the founders are gone? By exploring incorruptibility as a design principle, this conversation will propose the building blocks for enabling institutional responsibility across generations.