We’ve spoken with a lot of venture builders navigating corporate systems, but few guests have lived and breathed it across as many cycles, and divisions, as Peter Roeber.

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Peter’s spent 28 years at W. L. Gore. And his journey reads like a masterclass in corporate innovation across complex, regulated, and product-driven markets. From building a glaucoma implant business in a company best known for outdoor gear, to launching a circular apparel venture that’s rewriting the rules of business model innovation. Peter has done it all.

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This episode was a deep look at what it really takes to build new businesses inside a global organization with deep legacy, powerful assets, and a famously unique culture.

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Here’s what stood out:

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Structure follows culture—not the other way around.

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Gore’s famous for its “lattice” model: no formal hierarchy, an emphasis on leadership by followership, and the belief that anyone can raise their hand to drive something forward. But Peter was clear—when it comes to venture building, the people who succeed are those with range, scar tissue, and strong internal networks. Gore doesn’t hand out $100 million checks because someone had an idea. You still have to earn the trust. Culture makes it possible, but credibility makes it real.

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Venture building inside Gore starts with adjacent advantage.

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Peter’s approach to new ventures isn’t about moonshots. It’s about adjacency. In his words: “I want to take what we have available. I want to harness it and convert it to rapid value creation.” Whether it’s reapplying membrane science to ophthalmology or leveraging Gore-Tex’s brand and customer relationships to test a circular clothing model, the ventures are always grounded in capabilities the company already owns. That’s where the advantage lives.

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You don’t need a new material. You need a new mindset.

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When Peter shifted from medical devices to the Fabrics division, he wasn’t trying to develop the next polymer. He was trying to test business models. Circularity, usership, ecosystem plays. Suddenly the challenges weren’t technical. They were about privacy compliance, data ownership, and digital infrastructure—stuff most materials scientists don’t spend their time on. It forced the team to lean on external partners just to run a basic smoke test. It was new territory, and they had to build the plane as they flew it.

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Spinouts are a survival mechanism. Not a strategy.

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Peter is actively working on a potential spinout right now. Not because it’s trendy, but because it’s necessary. The venture he’s leading—focused on apparel circularity—has needs that simply don’t map to Gore’s existing operating model. Hiring, compliance, incentives, tech stacks. Everything is different. In his words, “if we keep going down this road without separation, we’re going to get in our own way and kill this.” This is the most honest and tactical explanation of spinouts we’ve heard in a long time.

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Strategic growth ventures must be billion-dollar ideas.

The biggest unlock came near the end of our conversation. Peter said: “If you’re going to build a $50 million venture or a billion-dollar venture, it looks the same in the beginning. So I’m going for the billion-dollar ones.” That statement captures what so many companies miss. The journey is hard either way. So if you’re not swinging for something that actually matters—strategically, financially, culturally—what’s the point?

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Peter’s episode is a reminder that corporate innovation isn’t a playbook. It’s a system of beliefs, decisions, relationships, and bets.

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And if you’re not willing to rethink your business model, or explore options that might cannibalize your core, you’re not really building beyond it.

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– Ben & Marcus

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