内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2026/lean-startup-author-eric-ries-calls-for-a-shift-to-mission-primacy-in-his-new-book-incorruptible/

内容总结：

《精益创业》作者瑞斯新书颠覆传统利润观：企业应以“人类繁荣”为目标

西雅图讯——知名创业导师、《精益创业》作者埃里克·瑞斯（Eric Ries）近日在其新书《不败：好公司为何变坏，伟大公司如何长存》中，呼吁用“人类繁荣最大化”重新定义“利润”，并直言当前经济中许多所谓的利润实为“结构性腐败”。

在5月15日于西雅图举办的“Flow Startup Day”活动上，瑞斯对一众初创企业创始人表示：“人人都假装所有赚钱的方式都一样好，但事实上没人这么想。”他批评自20世纪80年代以来主导企业治理的“股东至上”框架，认为这一模式正掏空企业的核心使命。瑞斯提出“使命至上”的新时代理念，主张建立保护公司宗旨不被逐利投资者侵蚀的治理结构。

瑞斯在活动后的深度访谈中进一步阐释了其观点，并点评近期热点事件：

谈“腐败”： 瑞斯所用的“腐败”并非法律概念，而指结构性的衰败。当知名品牌被私募股权收购后产品变糟，或优秀公司上市后丧失灵魂，这便是“腐败”。他警告，若想建立有理念的公司，其结构必须与之匹配，否则就会重蹈覆辙。

评马斯克诉OpenAI案： 该案庭审中，微软CEO纳德拉证称其首要责任是对股东负责。瑞斯认为，这恰恰揭示了案件乃至整个商界的核心张力——在此结构下，公司最终只能听命于股东。

谏言Anthropic： 当OpenAI前员工因担忧公司方向而出走创办Anthropic时，曾咨询瑞斯。瑞斯认为仅注册为“公益公司”远远不够。最终，Anthropic成立了“长期利益信托”，这一独立机构拥有任免董事会成员的权力。瑞斯指出，这种带有制衡机制的双层结构是过去150年来最稳定的公司治理模式。

全食之殇： 瑞斯将2017年全食超市出售给亚马逊视为书中最令人痛心的案例之一。这家每季度都盈利、客户忠诚度极高的公司，在激进投资者施压下被迫出售，对方仅用六个月便获利5亿美元。创始人麦基视之为个人失败，瑞斯则认定这是结构性失败。

展望未来： 瑞斯坚信“股东至上”时代正自食其果走向崩溃。“我们就像《乐一通》中的哔哔鸟，已经跑出了悬崖，只是还没往下看。”他构想的未来是“使命至上”时代，商业应重新成为向善的力量，企业可自由定义并践行各自的“人类繁荣”愿景。

（本期播客内容已上线苹果播客与Spotify平台。）

中文翻译：

埃里克·莱斯希望让“利润”这个词退休，至少是我们通常定义它的那种方式。

这位《精益创业》的作者在其新书《坚不可摧：好公司为何变糟，伟大公司如何长存》中，将利润重新定义为“人类福祉的最大化”。他认为，当今经济中很多被视为利润的东西，实际上是一种腐败形式。

“我们本该都假装认为所有赚钱方式都一样好，”莱斯在西雅图Flow创业日活动中对一屋子创业公司创始人说，“但事实上没人真这么想。”

他呼吁开创一个“使命至上”的新时代：用能保护公司使命不被从其成功中获利的投资者掏空的结构，取代自20世纪80年代以来主导公司治理的“股东至上”框架。

在5月15日活动的开幕主题演讲环节采访莱斯后，我与他坐下来进行了这期特别的播客讨论，深入探讨书中的观点以及它们如何应用于近期新闻事件。我们聊了马斯克诉OpenAI案、全食超市的衰落、他给Anthropic创始人关于公司架构的建议，以及他为何认为股东至上已经死亡。

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关于腐败：莱斯使用这个词并非指法律意义上的腐败，而是描述一种结构性的衰败。当一个受人喜爱的品牌被私募股权收购后产品变得糟糕，或一家伟大的公司上市后失去灵魂，在他的框架里这就是“腐败”。

关于马斯克诉OpenAI案：在针对埃隆·马斯克起诉OpenAI的联邦庭审中，微软CEO萨提亚·纳德拉宣誓作证称，他的首要责任是对微软的股东，他有信托责任去最大化股东价值，并且这是因为微软是一家营利性公司。我向莱斯提及这段对话，解释在读完他的书后，这种原本平淡无奇的陈述给了我不同的感受。他说这揭示了该案以及更广泛商业世界中的核心矛盾。最终，在这种结构下，公司受制于股东。

关于为Anthropic创始人提供建议：当Anthropic的创始人因担忧公司发展方向而离开OpenAI时，莱斯是他们咨询如何构建新公司的人之一。他们已经决定注册为公益性公司——在特拉华州提交的两页法律文件，承诺公司肩负超越最大化股东回报的使命。莱斯告诉他们这还不够。

“我的职责是告诉他们，这很好，但不够。如果你们只做到这一步，对于你们的目标来说，力度还不够，”他说。

他们最终创建了一个“长期利益信托”，这是一个有权任命和罢免董事会成员的独立机构。莱斯表示，研究表明，这种带有制衡机制的双层结构，是过去150年来最稳定的公司架构。

关于全食超市：莱斯将2017年全食超市出售给亚马逊称为书中“最悲伤的故事之一”。这家公司每个季度都盈利，顾客喜爱它。创始人约翰·麦基基于他称之为“自觉资本主义”的理念建立了这家公司，其核心是对顾客和员工的爱。当激进投资者出现，强迫出售，并在六个月内赚取5亿美元时，这一切都无关紧要了。麦基仍将其视为个人失败。莱斯则认为这是结构性的失败：“如果你想建立一家有理念的公司，结构必须与之匹配。否则，就会发生这种事。”

关于未来：莱斯相信，股东至上时代已经在其自身重压下崩塌——只是大多数人尚未察觉：“我们就像那部动画片里的走鹃。我们已经跑下了悬崖，但还没低头看。”他设想了一个替代方案，他称之为“使命至上”，在这个时代，商业应成为一股向善的力量这一观点将再次变得不言自明，公司可以自由定义自己版本的“人类福祉”并在市场中接受检验。

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英文来源：

Eric Ries wants to retire the word “profit,” or at least the way we usually define it.
In his new book, “Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great,” the “Lean Startup” author redefines profit as the maximization of human flourishing. He argues that a lot of what passes for profit in today’s economy is actually a form of corruption.
“We’re supposed to all pretend that we think all the ways of making money are equally good,” Ries told a room of startup founders at Seattle Flow Startup Day in Seattle. “But nobody actually thinks that.”
Instead, he calls for a new era of “mission primacy”: replacing the shareholder-first framework that has dominated corporate governance since the 1980s with structures that protect a company’s purpose from being hollowed out by the investors who profit from its success.
After interviewing Ries for the opening keynote session at the May 15 event, I sat down with him for this special podcast discussion, going further into the ideas in the book, and how they apply to recent news events. We talked about the Musk v. OpenAI trial, the fall of Whole Foods, what he told Anthropic’s founders about their corporate structure, and why he thinks shareholder primacy is already dead.
Listen below, and continue reading for highlights.
On corruption: Ries uses the word not in the legal sense but as a description of structural decay. When a beloved brand gets taken over by private equity and the product turns to garbage, or when a great company goes public and loses its soul, that’s “corruption” in his framework.
On the Musk v. OpenAI trial: During the federal trial over Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified under oath that his primary responsibility is to Microsoft’s shareholders, that he has a fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value, and that this is because Microsoft is a for-profit corporation.
I brought up that exchange with Ries, explaining how the otherwise matter-of-fact acknowledgment struck me differently after reading his book. He said it illustrates the central tension in the case, and in the business world more broadly. Ultimately, companies in this structure are beholden to shareholders.
On advising Anthropic’s founders: When the founders of Anthropic left OpenAI over concerns about its direction, Ries was one of the people they consulted about how to structure the new company. They had already decided to file as a public benefit corporation — a two-page legal filing in Delaware that commits a company to a mission beyond maximizing shareholder returns. Ries told them it wasn’t enough.
“My job was to tell them that’s good, but insufficient. If you only do that, it’s not strong enough for what your goals are,” he said.
They ultimately created a Long Term Benefit Trust, an independent body with the power to appoint and remove board directors. Ries says the research shows this two-tiered approach, with checks and balances, to be the most stable corporate structure of the last 150 years.
On Whole Foods: Ries calls the 2017 sale of Whole Foods to Amazon one of the saddest stories in the book. The company was profitable every single quarter. Customers loved it. Founder John Mackey had built it on a philosophy he called conscious capitalism, rooted in love for customers and employees.
None of that mattered when activist investors showed up, forced the sale, and made $500 million for six months’ work. Mackey still sees it as a personal failure. Ries sees it as a structural one: “If you want to build a company with an ethos, the structure has to match. Otherwise, this is what happens.”
On the future: Ries believes the shareholder primacy era is already collapsing under its own weight — it’s just that most people haven’t noticed: “We are like the Road Runner. We have already run off this cliff, but we haven’t looked down.”
He envisions a replacement he calls “mission primacy,” in which it becomes obvious again that business should be a force for good, and companies are free to define their own version of human flourishing and put it to the test in the market.
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