Key Takeaways

  • Trustworthiness is a direct business asset, not a soft ideal. Eric Ries argues it's “the most underrated asset in all of business” because it lowers customer acquisition costs and boosts loyalty.
  • The "Harder is Easier" principle challenges common short-term ROI thinking. It pushes founders to make principled decisions upfront, even if they seem difficult or costly, because they yield unexpected, long-term rewards.
  • Cloudflare's ascent to a $70 billion company demonstrates this. By giving away SSL encryption for free, despite it being a profitable product, they aligned with their mission to “make a better internet” and built massive trust.
  • Most leaders struggle to defend their principles against immediate financial metrics. Ries suggests that sticking to "Harder is Easier" is a primary defense against a company losing its core mission to "financial gravity."
  • Founders can embed integrity early using Ries's Harder is Easier Principle, ensuring purpose survives growth and market pressure.

The Harder is Easier Principle

Eric Ries's new book, "Incorruptible," introduces the Harder is Easier Principle as a core method to protect a company's mission and build lasting value. It's a leadership philosophy designed to counteract the pull of "financial gravity" that often derails successful companies.

Commit to Principles

Be willing to be principled in your decision-making regarding quality, design, ethics, integrity, and safety. Do the upfront work to commit to these values, even if it seems more difficult initially.

Expect Unexpected Rewards

By committing to principles, you will gain 'unexpected rewards' such as trustworthiness, lower cost of customer acquisition, higher loyalty, and customer willingness to stick with you through mistakes or try new products. These are intangible rewards with tangible costs in the short term.

Embrace 'Figure It Out'

When faced with an impossible dilemma where living your principles seems costly, adopt the mindset of 'Let's figure it out.' This turns the difficulty into an opportunity to teach what you really stand for and innovate solutions that align with your values.

When This Works (and When It Doesn't)

This principle applies when leaders prioritize intangible benefits like trust and mission over short-term ROI. It works best when founders are prepared to find innovative solutions to uphold their values, even if it makes life harder in the moment. The Cloudflare story, where Matthew (likely Prince, the CEO) insisted the team find a way to offer encryption for free, despite it being their most profitable product, is a prime example. They stuck with it because it was what they stood for, and the trust they gained propelled them to a $70 billion valuation.

However, this approach is tough for early-stage, bootstrapped founders facing immediate cash flow crises. When survival hinges on rapid revenue, the long-term rewards of "Harder is Easier" can feel out of reach. It also requires clarity on what principles truly matter. Without a well-defined mission, "doing the harder thing" can become arbitrary or unsustainable. This principle thrives in environments where core values are deeply understood and communicated, allowing teams to innovate solutions, not just compromise.

What to Do With This

This week, pick one decision your startup faces where a shortcut exists, but a more principled path feels right (and harder). Maybe it's about collecting slightly more user data than needed to speed up a feature, or using a cheaper, less secure third-party integration. Instead of defaulting to the faster, cheaper option, apply the "Harder is Easier" Principle:

1. Commit to Principles: Identify the core value at stake. Is it user privacy? Data security? Product quality? State it clearly.

2. Expect Unexpected Rewards: Articulate the long-term trust, loyalty, or brand value you expect to gain by doing the right thing, even if it means short-term pain.

3. Embrace 'Figure It Out': Gather your team. Challenge them, as Matthew did at Cloudflare