Rokas Peciulaitis (Contrarian Ventures): Why responsible innovation wins with better products

<p>Responsible innovation works best when it creates products people genuinely prefer, not when it asks them to accept a compromise.</p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpeciulaitis/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Rokas Peciulaitis</a>, Founder and Managing Partner at <a href="https://www.cventures.vc/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Contrarian Ventures</a>, argues that better products, longer lifecycles and stronger customer loyalty can make responsibility a competitive advantage. </p><p>Using examples from Vinted, Patagonia and Mako, Rokas explores how founders can build companies around durability, reuse and purpose, and why he believes every euro spent is effectively a vote for the kind of future we want to create. </p><p><strong>Highlights</strong></p><ul><li>Why “climate change” may be the wrong framing</li><li>Why responsible innovation has to win on product</li><li>What Vinted, Patagonia and Mako get right</li><li>How purpose can become a long-term moat</li><li>Why every euro spent is a vote</li></ul><p><strong>Timestamps</strong></p><ul><li>(01:00) The Titanic metaphor and why climate action is too slow</li><li>(03:00) Why “climate change” may be the wrong framing</li><li>(05:00) Why builders matter more than waiting for policy</li><li>(07:00) Mako: giving materials another life</li><li>(08:00) Vinted and making secondhand mainstream</li><li>(09:20) Patagonia and killing a bestselling product</li><li>(11:00) What responsible companies have in common</li><li>(12:00) Why every euro spent is a vote</li><li>(12:40) The climate worsens by default, but gets better by choice</li></ul><p>This session was recorded at the Love Tomorrow Summit, where EUVC curated the investor-focused programme.</p>