Innovation & Adaptability: An Interview with the CEO of Venture Medical,LLC

In an industry where innovation and adaptability are key, Venture Medical, LLC has carved out a unique space, blending bold ambition with a steadfast commitment to quality and service. Over the past few years, the company has experienced exponential growth, but what truly sets Venture apart isn’t just its expansion—it’s the culture, leadership philosophy, and relentless pursuit of excellence that fuel its success.

In this exclusive interview, the CEO of Venture Medical, John Schroeder, shares insights on what makes the company’s culture thrive, how we select the right people to join our mission, and why a maverick mindset balanced with reliability is at the heart of our brand. From embracing bold ideas to fostering a workplace where initiative and ownership are celebrated, this conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Venture Medical is redefining success in the healthcare space.

Q: How do we define Venture’s culture?  

John: From the very beginning I wanted to build a company that didn’t take itself so seriously that it prevented people from thinking out of the box and contributing in more than traditional ways if they chose.   Being a recovering corporate malcontent as a result of overly burdensome definitions of roles and levels, I have naturally gravitated toward less structure and more reward for initiative, effort, and results, no matter where or who the source.

While over time we have added some structure to incubate efficiency and canonize processes beyond workstyles as we promote rapidly from within, this has left an ever-present celebration of excellence and powerful positivity in which all feel more inclined to reach for possibilities rather than settle for old paradigms or probabilities.  While a bit idealistic, we are constantly mindful that our actions have an impact on providers and patients, and that often we are the ones who will put in the last bit of effort, when no one else will, to solve problems and uncover solutions.  Culture is everything at Venture, from the newest employee to the most seasoned, from inside the home office to every far-flung sales territory, we all passionately serve the same mission: to go far above and beyond each other’s and our customers’ expectations through listening, continuous improvement, flexibility, accountability, and candor.

If Venture had a “brand,” how would you define that?  

Venture’s Brand is a seemingly paradoxical cross between maverick and trustworthy stable workhorse.  It embraces “and” rather than “or.”  Venture is nimble and independent but also seasoned and practiced.   We seek next-generation solutions but we also make sure we carefully prove them out over time so that we don’t impose hidden liabilities or risks on our clients, both internal and external.  In its essence it is the mantra “Be Bold, Be Prepared, Lead Change.”   This means sometimes doing the hard work of not pursuing the universally liked position in the marketplace.  It means we are decisive and value oriented at all costs. It also means we are willing to take risks and make unrealistic goals happen.   I also means we are introspective, willing to fail, but eager to learn how to do it better next time.    

Why do we choose the products that we represent?

We choose products that solve a problem in a unique way, one that clearly stands out above everything else that has been attempted.  Then we prove them out objectively with data and determine both benefits and limitations with a transparent process

How do you maintain and enhance culture while experiencing such rapid growth?

Obviously hiring right is the first thing.  We don’t hire people we believe will be excellent contributors just for that potential contribution.  Employees can be hired for their skills and expertise.  At Venture, we look deeper than that.  We create the environment that calls to heart and soul.  It’s more than a job; it’s a mission.  We hire people who have demonstrated strong work ethic, integrity, and skill but also who have a potential to lead others.  Part of having the right culture is knowing when to help people grow or change to a role in which they can be the best version of themselves and contribute at their highest level possible during that part of their life and career.  Sometimes we miss, sometimes they miss.  Sometimes people need to go elsewhere to grow or go a different direction within Venture.   A strong culture cannot survive negative producers who stay but don’t fit.  ‍

How has the exponential growth made it even more important to choose the right people?

When we hire for rapid growth no number of seminars on corporate values or mission statements can prevent some loss in translation of who we are and why we demand that our company culture is sacred to all of us.  We must be decisive on the way in because the mission is growing at warp speed. When we make a mistake that cannot be easily remedied there is a huge temptation to kick the can down the road because we are all busy.  We are continuing to learn to “fail fast” at hiring people. Helping someone see they are not a fit later than is warranted is a disservice to them and the organization.  

What do we look for in people?

I believe that it is fundamental that a candidate be able to tell a story of perseverance against a concrete obstacle in their life.  Greatness sometimes requires doing hard things. Doing hard things requires dedication and desire.  Without both qualities, a person cannot be either self-confident or fulfilled, which in either case will come back to undermine performance and organizational fit.  We keep our eye on the north star, those values we believe are the red thread throughout our organization.   Whatever challenges we face day-to-day, integrity and authenticity need to be fully embraced by everyone.  

How do we reward initiative and ownership?

Initiative begins when employees are allowed to have crazy ideas and to make mistakes.  Ownership starts with eliminating shared accountability.  The best time to reward ownership is when we see people taking initiative to breach gaps or cure inefficiencies that they find on their own.  At Venture we strongly believe that people bring forward solutions with problems.   When you are scaling a company rapidly, ideas and observations on process improvement are essential and needed before current systems are broken or overloaded.   Ideas are all incredibly valuable and its only our ability to uncover why that limits the contribution they can pull forward into the organization.   Even a potentially “bad” idea can reveal a problem no one knew about or potentially an internal miscommunication.  The receiver of an initial idea must treat that idea as a premature infant and incubate it until it reveals that sometimes hidden prize.  

What does success mean to us?

Success always comes when we help other people get more of what they want and less of the inconvenience or risk that they don’t want.  Success is more than just growth.  Growth in capability and proficiency, within teams, in expanding skill sets, in organizational leadership, in employee satisfaction and fulfillment are all more important to us than growth in revenues and profits.   At the end of a career hardly anybody looks back and says “Wow I sure am glad I spent a ton of time away from my family to make that company a lot of money because the culture was so amazing.”  What people really look back on at the end of a career is whether that career served them well by helping them grow and stretch their abilities to achieve while overcoming obstacles and uncertainties in every part of their life.  A successful career means we brought irreplaceable value to those we touched within and beyond the organization.  

What does TEAM mean to us?  

Venture is more like a long-distance relay team, where everyone has a responsibility to carry the baton as fast as they can, but also to hand off the baton in the most efficient way possible.  This type of team is nothing like 8-year-olds on a soccer field all chasing the ball. It's a coordinated, synchronized, and beautifully orchestrated crescendo of individual effort among people who might have different talents or who run better phases of the race better than others, but all come together in the end to mark the win. Gratitude and respect for each other pervade conversations and thoughts.

Where does Venture go from here?

As we have contributed to wound care and regenerative medicine for many years, we like to think we have a glimpse of some future technologies that could be transformative. Venture will embrace reimbursement and payment models that focus on value and overall cost savings while promoting greater health and quality of life for patients. The biggest challenge we see in the future is a lack of investment due to unpredictability in payer behavior.  Venture is committed to making the future of wound care and regenerative medicine more predictable, more attainable for patients  and more sustainable for physicians who embrace new technologies and who exceed current gold standards for quality care.    As we execute on this vision, we will earn from the wound care community an appreciation for our presence and contributions to their efforts to care for patients.

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