Ken Hoes
Varsity Bridge – MICRO Spring 2024
Published November 13, 2024
As part of our ‘Meet Our Founders’ series today, we introduce Ken Hoes, Founder and CEO of Varsity Bridge based in Cary, NC. Varsity Bridge is a platform to help universities better engage with their alumni by fully leveraging their thousands of alumni volunteers to create lifelong relationships.
Q: What problem are you trying to solve and what influenced you to start your company?
A:I’ve been a volunteer with my local Virginia Tech alumni chapter for 14 years and I’ve served as President twice. I really believe in the power of the connections you can make with your fellow alumni at a local level. My first two jobs in the Triangle were through the alumni chapter and I’ve attended weddings of friends who I have met through the chapter. Unfortunately, it’s hard work for both the universities and the volunteers to keep these chapters going and that’s what we’re trying to fix.
Q: How will your NC IDEA grant funds advance your company?
A: It’s impossible to be an expert in everything required to start a company and be successful, especially as a first time founder. The NC IDEA grant funds help me hire a bit of the expertise I need to avoid a few of the mistakes I was probably going to make as I learned. Experts also help you see further. When you don’t understand the big picture you just work day-to-day. When given the big picture you’re now able to work month-to-month or year-to-year.
Q: When did you know you wanted to take an entrepreneurial path?
A: I’m not a “natural” entrepreneur. The stress, the uncertainty – all of it scared me off for a long time. But then I realized I had all those things with my regular day job. So I figured, why not give up the paycheck, as hard as that was, and do something I believed in.
Q: What have you enjoyed most about starting your own company?
A: When I remember (or I’m reminded) to pause and take a look at the progress I’ve made I realize how much I’ve actually accomplished and how much I’ve learned. Every day, even if it doesn’t always feel like it, is actually different from the one before it.
Q: What is one thing you wish you understood about entrepreneurship before you ever got started?
A: I don’t think I was ready for the amount of snake oil in the entrepreneurial space or the amount of people peddling it. When you’re desperate to learn everything as fast as you can, that snake oil looks awfully enticing. On a more positive note, that’s made me appreciate the real connections I’ve made and I work hard on nurturing those relationships.
Q: Who do you look to for advice and mentorship?
A: I do my best to be a sponge because you can take away advice and mentorship lessons from everybody you meet and every word you read. Even negative interactions can teach you important antipatterns – sometimes they’re the only way you’re going to learn that lesson. That being said, it’s more fun to keep your mind open and find inspiration in unexpected places.
Q: What other passions do you have besides your business?
A: I’ll tell a story about my wedding here. In my vows I promised my wife to keep my hobbies to three main categories: 1. Transportation; 2. Food and Beverage; and 3. Miscellaneous. She wasn’t as impressed with my loophole as I was but she’s stuck with me for 10 years despite my endless hobbies.
While visiting Cary, Ken recommends:
- I live in Cary and we have some incredible food from around the world tucked away in strip malls, gas stations, and other nondescript locations. If you walk in and the TV is playing a soap opera in a language you don’t understand you’re in the right place.
Support Varsity Bridge and Ken by:
- We’re always looking for introductions into different universities and their local alumni volunteers. These folks are always super busy so if we can get that warm introduction it helps a ton.
