VC | E512 | Riding First Tracks: Circularity, Purpose & Leading Beyond Hierarchy

EUVC

Welcome to a new episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.
This week, Andreas is joined by Oliver Brunschwiler, purpose-driven entrepreneur, former pro snowboarder, and longtime systems thinker, along with Enrique Molina from Chi Impact Capital, co-hosting this deep dive into what it means to lead with purpose, design for circularity, and build organizations that reinvent themselves from the inside out.
Oliver’s journey goes from first tracks on fresh powder to first tracks in organizational design—helping companies ditch rigid hierarchies for role-based, purpose-led systems. Enrique brings the investor lens, showing how these principles translate into impact capital and portfolio building today.
In this episode, they break down how circularity is moving from hype to hard reality, why trust and leadership still matter in the most “self-organizing” teams, and how the best founders navigate the tension between market dips and mission-driven staying power.
This Episode’s Themes:

• Holacracy, role-based teams & why leadership still matters
• Circularity’s gap phase—and what’s quietly thriving
• Industrial impact: batteries, PET, and supply chains redesigned
• Policy tailwinds: how the EU is making circular the new norm
• First tracks mindset: from snowboarding to systems change

Here’s what’s covered:

• 00:00 | From pro snowboarding to purpose-driven business
• 02:00 | Sports, freedom & the roots of Oliver’s entrepreneurial DNA
• 04:30 | The value of pushing limits—on boards and in boardrooms
• 08:00 | Holacracy & new work: why “no boss” usually fails
• 12:00 | Purpose is boss: role-based systems done right
• 15:00 | AI, agents & managing the unmanageable—what changes, what doesn’t
• 19:00 | When people don’t want ownership—why clear leadership stays vital
• 20:00 | Circularity: beyond the hype cycle and into tough reality
• 24:00 | Surviving the stock dip: founders reconciling mission and market
• 28:00 | Industrial scale impact: batteries, chemical recycling & what’s next
• 32:00 | Where Oliver sees big opportunities now (food, upcycling, building)
• 36:00 | Corporates, supply chains & Fairphone as a case in point
• 40:00 | The EU Green Deal, Right to Repair & why policy matters
• 44:00 | Final thoughts: trust the purpose, ride the dip, build the system