Advancing Entrepreneurship

A SUBSTANTIAL INTERVIEW WITH NC IDEA PRESIDENT & CEO THOM RUHE

The NC IDEA Foundation is on a mission to strengthen the economy of North Carolina through a strategic combination of grants and programs depolyed directly and through a network of partners. The vision is clear and that's to help people achieve their entrepreneurial potential.

At the helm of this independent private foundation is Thom Ruhe, an entrepreneur, investor, mentor and thought leader.

Thom works with entrepreneurs, governments, universities and NGOs around the world to embrace the entrepreneurial mindset needed to grow vibrant economies.

Listen to the All Things Substantial Podcast episode with Thom Ruhe

Thom has served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Entrepreneurship, addressed the United Nations Assembly on Entrepreneurship, lectured at conferences around the world and serves on multiple boards including Innovation Fund America and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina.

Substantial had the opporunity to sit down with Thom to talk about the importance of diversity in entrepreneuriship.

SM: Thom tell our audience a little bit about who you are. What's the Thom Ruhe origin story?

TR: Let me start by saying, I have the good fortune to work with an incredible team of very committed people at NC IDEA.

As for an origin story, I put myself through college with an Air Force ROTC scholarship. When I graduated in the late 80s, instead of going in and serving, the then president, Ronald Reagan, did a very large reduction in force. So they cut substantial parts of the military. And one of the ways that they cut was all these newly commissioned officers after going through four years of college. So we were all kind of set free if we wanted to get out. Seeing as I had a degree in computer science, it wasn't that hard for me to find a job, so I was like, "Yes, please, I'll take that option."

I spent the next 20 years kind of bouncing around entrepreneurship and I just dumb luck stumbled into a startup.

Very early in my career, I watched a man by his own admission, he would describe himself, you know, having barely graduated from high school. I watched him. In the three years that I worked for him, I made him a millionaire.

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