When Founders Have Red Lines: Investing Beyond ROI at Latitude59

Editor’s Note: As integrity becomes a defining differentiator in startup investment decisions, this feature from Latitude59 2025 highlights how Estonia is shaping a credible, values-first model for global founders and funders. In a world of rising geopolitical tensions, dual-use technologies, and increasing pressure to scale fast, the discussion titled “Integrity and Perspective” serves as both a warning and a roadmap.

Led by moderator Elise Sass, with insight from investor Sten Tamkivi and Minister Erkki Keldo, the panel presented a pragmatic framework for evaluating alignment, not just ROI. Whether it’s rejecting funding from ethically conflicted sources or vetting founders for moral clarity, the speakers made a strong case that transparency and principle must be embedded at the earliest stages of company formation and investment.

For professionals in information governance, legal tech, and venture investing, this session is especially relevant. It reinforces that integrity is no longer a footnote or feel-good add-on—it’s a measurable and defensible element of risk management, reputation, and long-term value creation.

At a time when founders must make real-time calls on data rights, global partnerships, and the militarization of tech, Estonia’s example offers a timely signal: Integrity scales when it’s structural, not symbolic.

Industry News – Technology Beat

When Founders Have Red Lines: Investing Beyond ROI at Latitude59

ComplexDiscovery Staff

The question hung in the air at Kultuurikatel in Tallinn: What do you do when nobody’s watching? For the gathered founders, funders, and forward-thinkers at Latitude59 2025, this wasn’t philosophical musing—it was the foundation of a business model.

On May 23, during what would become one of the conference’s most compelling sessions, three Estonian leaders made the case that integrity isn’t just a nice-to-have in the startup ecosystem. It’s infrastructure.

The Boutique Summit Where Ideas Take Shape

Latitude59 isn’t trying to be everything to everyone. Held from May 21 to 23, this isn’t the sprawling mega-conference where attendees collect business cards and forget names. It’s deliberately intimate—a yacht for builders rather than a cruise ship for tourists. The 2025 edition tackled one urgent theme: How can the startup and tech community address the world’s most pressing crises?

Unlike events where participants share soundbites, Latitude59 creates space where they shape actionable ideas. And in the “Integrity and Perspective” session, three voices demonstrated exactly what that looks like in practice.

Building Bridges, Not Just Businesses

Elise Sass stepped into her role as moderator with the kind of clarity that comes from building things that matter. As co-founder of LIFT99 and ex-CEO of Salto X, she’s led Microsoft’s CEE startup programs and advised early-stage ventures where tech, law, and impact intersect. Her approach to facilitation reflects her philosophy: practical optimism paired with sharp focus.

“It’s what you do when nobody’s watching,” Sass opened, immediately reframing integrity from abstract ideal to daily discipline. She created the kind of space where personal belief systems, public responsibilities, and venture realities could collide productively—and did.

The Investor Who Walks Away from Money

Sten Tamkivi knows Silicon Valley and the European frontier equally well. As Partner at Plural and co-founder of Teleport, with previous roles at Andreessen Horowitz and Skype, he’s seen what happens when growth comes at any cost. Now focusing on early-stage investments in AI, defense, and deep tech, Tamkivi offered a perspective that cut through industry platitudes.

“Technology is morally neutral. Its use is not,” he said, emphasizing that integrity in investing comes down to the coder, not the code. Then he revealed something that would make many VCs uncomfortable: his firm explicitly rejects funding from governments or sovereign sources misaligned with democratic values, including several Middle Eastern state funds.

His most memorable insight landed with the weight of experience: “Sometimes, the red lines founders won’t cross are more important than their product roadmap.”

The Minister Who Draws Lines in the Sand

When Estonia’s Minister of Economy and Industry Erkki Keldo speaks, people listen—not because of his title, but because of his country’s track record. Recognized as a Young Global Leader (2025) by the World Economic Forum, Keldo offered the government perspective on principled decision-making with the authority of someone whose nation has walked the walk.

“We’ve drawn our line. No Russian or Belarusian capital. No trade with aggressors,” Keldo stated with the matter-of-fact tone of someone describing the weather. But he didn’t dismiss nuance: “We’re small, but our clarity gives us influence. When Estonia shows up, people know what we stand for.”

Keldo’s vision extends beyond foreign policy to the foundations of democratic society. He championed open governance, digital transparency, and education as long-term defenses against misinformation and authoritarian drift. “If people can access budgets and question power, integrity scales,” he noted—a principle Estonia has turned into practice.

Beyond ESG Checklists: A Blueprint for Values-Based Investing

This wasn’t sentiment disguised as strategy. The three speakers laid out a practical blueprint for integrating values into venture logic, emphasizing that as investors and founders operate across AI, defense, and geopolitics, they must evolve past boilerplate ESG checklists.

Their roadmap for investors was concrete: Redefine due diligence to include founder values and ethical non-negotiables. Set clear fund-wide standards on where capital comes from and where it’s deployed. Be public about your values—it filters partners and builds credibility in turbulent markets.

Tamkivi’s most pragmatic insight captured the urgency: “You can fix technology. You can’t retrofit ethics.”

The Small Nation with Global Influence

The Estonian context isn’t incidental to this conversation—it’s central. This is a country that rebuilt itself from the Soviet collapse into one of the world’s most advanced digital societies. Its small size makes it nimble, its transparency makes it credible, and its experience with occupation makes it unafraid to take stands that larger nations might hedge.

Sass, Tamkivi, and Keldo didn’t just speak for Estonia; they modeled how small nations and small teams can shape global narratives. Their collective message resonated beyond borders: Integrity isn’t a burden on innovation—it’s what allows innovation to be trusted, funded, and sustained.

The Competitive Advantage of Values

As the session drew to a close, Sass posed the practical question every attendee was thinking: What’s the one thing startup builders should start or continue doing today to hold onto these values?

The answers revealed different aspects of the same truth. Tamkivi pointed to networks, not just commercial ones, but communities of shared beliefs. Keldo championed education as society’s shield against manipulation. And Sass reminded the audience that value-aligned work isn’t compensatory—it’s competitive.

Charting the Course Forward

Estonia may be a yacht in a sea of cruise ships, but it knows where it’s sailing. In a world where integrity often feels like a luxury, these three leaders demonstrated it’s actually infrastructure—the foundation that determines whether innovation builds up or breaks down.

For investors navigating increasingly uncertain waters, Estonia’s bearing offers more than moral guidance. It provides a competitive framework for the kind of principled decision-making that doesn’t just generate returns, but generates trust. And in a market where trust is the scarcest commodity, that may be the most valuable insight of all.

As Sass, Tamkivi, and Keldo made clear at Latitude59, the question isn’t whether you can afford to invest with integrity. It’s whether you can afford not to.

News Sources

• ComplexDiscovery Staff. (2025, May 23). Notes from sessions attended during the “Integrity and Perspective” event at Latitude59, Tallinn, Estonia. Unpublished observations.
• Latitude59: May 21-23, 2025 (Latitude59)

Assisted by GAI and LLM Technologies

Additional Reading

• Strategic Innovation and Ukraine’s Tech Frontline at Latitude59 and Dublin Tech Summit
• A Convergence of Purpose: The Ocean Cleanup’s Boyan Slat and Bolt’s Markus Villig Headline Latitude59 Fireside Chat
• Beyond Borders: How Legal Strategy Shapes the Success Trajectory of Tech Startups
• Baltic Startup Scene Gains Boost with Unified Pitch Competition Investment

Source: ComplexDiscovery OÜ