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

Responsible innovation works best when it creates products people genuinely prefer, not when it asks them to accept a compromise.Rokas Peciulaitis, Founder and Managing Partner at Contrarian Ventures, argues that better products, longer lifecycles and stronger customer loyalty can make responsibility a competitive advantage. 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. HighlightsWhy “climate change” may be the wrong framingWhy responsible innovation has to win on productWhat Vinted, Patagonia and Mako get rightHow purpose can become a long-term moatWhy every euro spent is a voteTimestamps(01:00) The Titanic metaphor and why climate action is too slow(03:00) Why “climate change” may be the wrong framing(05:00) Why builders matter more than waiting for policy(07:00) Mako: giving materials another life(08:00) Vinted and making secondhand mainstream(09:20) Patagonia and killing a bestselling product(11:00) What responsible companies have in common(12:00) Why every euro spent is a vote(12:40) The climate worsens by default, but gets better by choiceThis session was recorded at the Love Tomorrow Summit, where EUVC curated the investor-focused programme.