June 11, 2025
If you’re a corporate leader trying to build businesses beyond your core, you’ve probably felt the tension: move too fast and you break things; move too slow and you miss the window.
That’s why our recent conversation with Todd James was so valuable. Todd has helped build and scale businesses at Fidelity, Kroger, and most recently 84.51°—a wholly owned subsidiary of Kroger focused on retail data science, media, and insights. Today, he’s the founder of Aurora Insights, where he’s helping companies build real AI strategies (not just decks with “ChatGPT” slapped on page 2).
Todd has seen the full spectrum: standalone ventures, embedded business units, innovation theater, and true operational transformation. And he’s brutally honest about what works—and what doesn’t.
Here are our biggest takeaways from the episode:
When Kroger created 84.51°, it wasn’t just about launching a data company—it was about giving that business enough space to operate independently. Different culture. Different space. Different org chart.
That space enabled speed. Autonomy. Focus.
But there’s a cost: when you’re too far from the core, you lose business intimacy. As Todd put it: “If you don’t have enough context to deliver value, you’re too far away.”
Success means constantly tuning the dial between independence and integration. Most companies treat this like a switch. Todd treats it like a spectrum—and that flexibility is what keeps ventures alive past year one.
We’ve seen this in our own work—and Todd confirmed it: even when the venture is great, distribution will kill you if you don’t get it right.
He shared the classic scenario: a new business has a killer product, but it’s being sold by a different sales team. That creates friction internally (“Why didn’t our sales team mention this product?”) and confusion externally (“Who are you, and where’s my usual rep?”)
The best adjacent businesses balance independence with shared go-to-market clarity. If the customer doesn’t know who to call, your innovation dies in the inbox.
One of our favorite moments was when Todd said: “Business isn’t analog. It’s digital.”
What he meant was: stop looking for one-size-fits-all org structures. Sometimes a new venture belongs inside the core. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it starts outside and moves in.
The key is setting up the right telemetry to know when to pivot:
That level of objectivity is hard to maintain when you’re deep in the weeds. But it’s what separates innovation that scales from innovation that stalls.
Todd made a bold claim: We’re in the middle of a once-in-a-lifetime global replatforming.
Most companies say they’re “doing AI.” But what they’re really doing is experimenting on the sidelines—not integrating AI into their strategy, ops, or talent systems.
According to Todd, the difference between dabbling and scaling is 60% higher profitability and 2–6x better total shareholder return. That’s not hype. That’s data.
And the solution isn’t another AI task force—it’s embedding AI into business strategy, not sitting it in a corner.
We asked Todd about venture studios. His response?
“They’ll become more important—not less.”
Why? Because the pace of change is now faster outside the company than inside. Studios create the infrastructure for systematic collaboration between outside innovators and internal operators. They act as a pressure valve, a speed booster, and a culture shifter.
But—and this is key—they only work if leadership is committed. Otherwise, you end up with a pretty logo and no velocity.
Todd reminded us that not all innovation starts in the C-suite. In fact, many of the most effective changes happen two or three levels below—when cross-functional teams build together, day to day.
But even then, leadership matters.
If the C-suite doesn’t see the momentum, validate it, and resource it, those pockets of innovation die in the shadows. The best orgs make it easy for those ideas to rise—and for experiments to scale.
We’re grateful Todd joined us on Beyond the Core. He’s a rare mix of strategic thinker and systems-level doer—and if you’re building businesses inside a large company, his wisdom is essential.
Listen to the full episode above—and stay tuned for more tactical conversations from the edge of innovation.
— Ben & Marcus
Highline Beta
We always enjoy conversations about innovation and startup building so please get in touch.
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