Beyond The Core is a podcast series by Marcus Daniels and Ben Yoskovitz, founders of Highline Beta, exploring how companies are breaking free from traditional innovation models to build significant new ventures. Drawing from their experience helping organizations like RBC and AB InBev transform into venture builders, they interview leaders who've successfully launched billion-dollar spinouts, built venture studios, and created new markets. Weekly episodes feature practical insights on venture studio design, growth innovation playbooks, and strategic choices in corporate venture building.
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How Corporations Should Actually Deploy AI, with Sidney Madison Prescott
Tuesday, July 22, 2025 • Duration 43:59
Most companies are diving into AI without a map. So how do you turn hype into meaningful transformation?
In this episode of Beyond the Core, Ben and Marcus talk with Sidney Madison Prescott, Founder & CEO of MIRROR | MIRROR & ADRIATIC HARVEST, about the real state of enterprise AI.
We explore how companies are navigating chaos, where AI pilots actually work, how to build digital-human hybrid teams, and why visionary leadership, not just technology, is the real unlock.
We cover:
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Intro: Turning AI hype into action
01:00 – Agentic AI = RPA 2.0?
04:00 – The truth about automation and “cool branding”
06:00 – Why AI isn't new and that’s okay
09:00 – “Just do AI” is not a strategy
12:00 – Start with business goals, not tools
15:00 – What AI outcomes are you really buying?
18:00 – Hybrid teams: scaling without more headcount
22:00 – The cost of hesitation and poor leadership
24:00 – How to frame AI as employee empowerment
27:00 – Could your next board member be an agent?
31:00 – The power of co-creation: inside and out
33:00 – Where to start: the unexpected case for finance
37:00 – Why AI wins in finance unlock everything else
Why Corporate Innovation Need Spinouts, with Simon Ratcliffe, Venture Building Director of DNV
Tuesday, July 15, 2025 • Duration 49:57
How do you spin out successful startups from inside a 160-year-old corporate giant?
In this episode of Beyond the Core, Ben and Marcus sit down with Simon Ratcliffe, Venture Building Director of DNV, to unpack how he’s led two corporate spin-outs with a third on the way, inside one of Europe’s most respected engineering firms.
Simon reveals how DNV moved from internal incubation to true venture building, the strategic reasons behind spinning companies out, and the surprising dynamics of startup-style governance, cap tables, talent incentives, and CVC alignment.
Whether you're a corporate innovator, CVC operator, or venture builder, this is a rare inside look at what actually works and what doesn’t, when it comes to launching startups from legacy organizations.
The Future of Venture Studios: Liquidity, Structure & Scaling, with Sarah Anderson, Founding Partner at Vault Fund
Tuesday, July 8, 2025 • Duration 49:56
Venture studios are evolving fast, but what separates those that scale from those that stall?
In this episode of Beyond the Core, Ben Yoskovitz and Marcus Daniels sit down with Sarah Anderson, Founding Partner at Vault Fund, the first fund-of-funds dedicated exclusively to venture studios.
With over a decade of experience in early-stage investing and company building, Sarah breaks down what makes top-performing studios stand out and why liquidity, not just innovation, will define the future of this model.
They dive deep into fund structures, talent pipelines, follow-on capital strategies, and a major warning: studios that can’t return capital won’t survive.
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⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Intro: Why a fund-of-funds for venture studios
01:00 – How Vault Fund evolved from general venture to company builders
02:15 – Trends in 2025: Studios adapting faster than traditional VCs
05:32 – Category vs. asset class: Where studios fit in VC
06:55 – What makes a studio repeatable? Talent funnel + process
How a $4B corporation Structures and Scales innovation, with Peter Roeber (Global Strategic Growth & Innovation Leader at W. L. Gore & Associates)
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 • Duration 53:53
How do you build new ventures inside a 60-year-old materials science company without breaking the core business?
In this episode of Beyond the Core, Ben Yoskovitz and Marcus Daniels sit down with Peter Roeber, a 28-year Gore veteran and one of the leaders behind its most ambitious new ventures in circularity and sustainability.
Peter explains how WL Gore structures innovation across its operating companies, how venture ideas are sourced and funded, and how his team is launching new service-based business models in an organization built on premium materials and product R&D.
From developing a glaucoma device business outside of Gore’s traditional medical focus, to launching a digital venture that’s changing how outdoor apparel is used, not owned, Peter shares real-world lessons on working with ecosystems, managing cannibalization risk, and when to spin out vs spin in.
We cover:
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⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Intro: 28 years inside Gore
01:00 – How innovation is structured at Gore
02:45 – What the Futures team does in Fabrics
04:30 – How Gore prioritizes new venture ideas
06:00 – Strategic alignment vs moonshot bets
Inside Microsoft’s Innovation Engine: How Ed Essey Built a Scalable System for 20,000+ Ideas
Tuesday, June 17, 2025 • Duration 46:48
What does it take to turn ideas into real business outcomes, at the scale of Microsoft?
In this episode of Beyond the Core, Marcus Daniels sits down with Ed Essey, Director of Business Value at Microsoft Garage, to unpack how one of the most iconic internal innovation programs in tech got started and how it’s still evolving.
From building the Garage Growth Framework to running the world’s largest corporate hackathon, Ed shares how Microsoft empowers intrapreneurs, aligns ideas with executive sponsorship, and avoids innovation theater by focusing on business value above all else.
Plus, Ed gives us a sneak peek into his upcoming book, The Inside Job: The Intrapreneur’s Toolkit to Mastermind Meaningful Change and Innovation, and explains why corporate innovators need to act more like heist masterminds than rule followers.
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⏱️ Timestamps
0:00 – Intro: Blending intrapreneurship and innovation
1:45 – What is Microsoft Garage and its mission?
3:30 – How Satya Nadella helped launch the first hackathon
4:50 – From 12,000 to 80,000 participants: scaling Garage
5:50 – Where the Garage Growth Framework came from
7:30 – Beating innovation theater with real validation
How Kroger Built 84.51 to Innovate at Scale, with Todd James, Founder & CEO of Aurora Insights
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 • Duration 48:48
How do you build a high-speed, AI-driven data business inside a $140B grocery retailer without getting swallowed by legacy systems and org charts?
In this episode of Beyond the Core, Ben and Marcus sit down with Todd James, former Chief Data & Technology Officer at 84.51° and Head of AI at Kroger, now Founder & CEO of Aurora Insights. Todd unpacks how Kroger built a wholly owned data science subsidiary to serve both internal and external customers, without killing innovation or losing touch with the core business.
Todd shares war stories, tactical lessons, and playbooks for:
- Building a shadow brand that serves the mothership
- Structuring orgs for fast decision-making at scale
- Embedding AI into business strategy (not just use cases)
- Knowing when to kill your own ideas (and how to do it right)
Whether you're building a Venture Studio, scaling AI across a large org, or launching a new business unit inside a legacy company, this conversation is packed with practical insights.
How Caterpillar Is Testing Bold Ideas Without Risking the Brand, with Nancy Yaklich
Tuesday, June 3, 2025 • Duration 44:56
What does it take to build new ventures inside a 100-year-old industrial giant, without getting buried in bureaucracy or damaging the brand?In this episode of Beyond the Core, Ben and Marcus sit down with Nancy Yaklich, a seasoned innovation leader who’s led Venture-building initiatives at Cargill, Best Buy, UnitedHealthcare, and now Caterpillar, where she’s pioneering a shadow brand called EcoForge to launch and test new business ideas beyond the core.Nancy shares her step-by-step playbook for validating ideas, getting legal and executive buy-in, working with startups, building shadow brands, and navigating the tension between innovation and risk in a legacy organization.We cover:⏱️ Timestamps0:00 – Intro: Innovation beyond the core1:00 – What is EcoForge and why Caterpillar needed it4:00 – Shadow brands: testing without hurting the mothership6:00 – Getting legal and execs to say “yes”9:00 – Spin-in vs spin-out: how Nancy thinks about scale12:00 – The “adjacency space” and why it’s full of hidden opportunity15:00 – Bottom-up forecasting vs bloated TAMs17:30 – Pitching new ideas with strategic angles19:00 – Why innovation teams must sit high in the org22:30 – Building portfolios, not projects24:00 – The “dud” concept: normalizing failure28:00 – Selling learning inside large orgs31:00 – Venture building ≠ innovation theatre33:00 – No cookie-cutter playbooks: adapting to each org38:00 – Partnering with startups and navigating slow systems41:00 – Nancy’s advice to other corporate venture leaders44:00 – Why now is the best time to swing bigWhether you’re in corporate innovation, building a studio, or just trying to make new ideas happen inside slow-moving systems, this episode is a masterclass in how to do it right.Subscribe for more conversations like these.
Vertical Venture Studios Are the Future, But Only If You Do This Right
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 • Duration 34:44
In this episode of Beyond The Core, Ben Yoskovitz and Marcus Daniels answer the 10 most common questions they’ve received about vertical venture studios—from how to pick the right vertical, to the real ROI metrics, to why launching multiple studios simultaneously might be smarter than it sounds.
Whether you’re a corporate innovation leader, investor, or builder curious about how the studio model is evolving, this episode dives deep into the operational playbook behind Highline Beta’s 3.0 strategy—and what it really takes to make a vertical studio succeed.
🔗 Learn more: https://highlinebeta.com
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Intro
01:08 – Why we launched two new vertical venture studios
01:44 – How do we know a vertical isn’t just a hype cycle?
03:39 – What makes a great corporate partner for a vertical studio?
05:35 – How do we measure success beyond financial return?
08:09 – Which industries are best suited for the vertical studio model?
10:20 – How do we manage regulatory risk in vertical studios?
12:59 – What are we learning from launching multiple studios at once?
15:29 – How do we pick new verticals to explore?
Building Startups Where No One’s Looking: Why Dan Magnuszewski at Radial Ventures is Betting on Buffalo
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 • Duration 53:05
In this episode of Beyond the Core, we sit down with Dan Magnuszewski—co-founder of ACV Auctions (NYSE: ACVA) and now founding partner at Radial Ventures, a new venture studio focused on launching startups in Buffalo, New York.
Dan shares what he learned taking ACV from zero to IPO, why he’s doubling down on building in Buffalo, and how Radial Ventures is using AI to turn “unsexy industries” into billion-dollar opportunities. We cover everything from venture studio structure to ROI models to sourcing overlooked ideas in overlooked markets.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Dan’s journey from engineer to startup founder to studio builder
5:00 - What Dan learned building ACV Auctions into a public company
7:30 - Spinning up an internal R&D lab inside ACV
11:00 - When moonshot projects become strategic growth levers
14:00 - Building for revenue vs. building for value
19:00 - Why Dan launched a venture studio in Buffalo
22:00 - How 43North helped seed Radial Ventures
25:00 - Why Buffalo is an underrated startup ecosystem
How Mastercard Builds Innovation That Actually Ships, with Maja Lapcevic, Senior Vice President, Martech, Innovation and Commercialization
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 • Duration 49:21
What does real corporate innovation look like inside a global financial services giant?
In this episode of Beyond the Core, we sit down with Maja Lapcevic, Senior Vice President, Martech, Innovation and Commercialization at Mastercard, and formerly led innovation management and helped architectthe Mastercard Foundry—a world-class innovation engine that actually ships and scales new ventures.
We cover:
Why speed starts in the back office—and how Mastercard shrank pilot timelines
How they measure and kill “zombie projects” with ruthless clarity
The tools they use to track materiality, velocity, and quality across their portfolio
Why co-development with business units (not innovation theater) drives commercial wins
What startups really want from corporate partners—and how Mastercard protects customer trust
How to earn internal credibility by helping business units win fast
Their $50M+ benchmark for new growth bets—and how they test before they build
If you’re navigating innovation inside a large organization, or partnering with one, this episode is packed with tactical lessons.
for weekly episodes on corporate venture building, innovation strategy, and scaling new ideas beyond the core.
08:00 – Why 5+ builds matter to prove a studio’s efficiency
10:31 – Platform differentiation: Insights from industry-focused builders
12:48 – Generalist vs. specialist builders: What the data says
13:58 – Mud puddles vs unicorns: What most studios miss
14:23 – Sarah’s biggest concern: The liquidity crisis
16:52 – “We’re in the exiting business, not just building”
17:56 – Why secondary sales should be part of the studio playbook
19:03 – Many studios lack institutional investor DNA
21:07 – The learning curve for builders who ignore exits
22:24 – Studio survival: Darwinism and cash returns
