Kyle Karnes

Kyle Karnes is an experienced senior executive with more than three decades of experience successfully starting, leading, managing, buying/selling, and owning businesses. While he has worked across multiple industries in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors (including Technology, Professional Services, and Education), his work has always focused on leveraging technology, operating discipline, and strategic investment to drive sustainable growth and margin expansion.

Over the course of his career, he has led the build-out of a successful start-up that went public during the dot-com era, managed large operating groups, engineered domestic and international acquisitions, founded and managed a strategic advisory firm, and served for more than a decade as the CEO of an organization in the education sector.  Additionally, having personally coached and mentored more than three hundred college students in the areas of business and entrepreneurship, Kyle is considered a thought leader in training and preparing the next generation of business leaders.

Business Highlights:

• During the dot-com boom, Kyle led the development and build-out of Harris Interactive, the world’s first internet-based market research firm. While growing revenues to $260 million at 50%+ gross margins, the team successfully took the company public with a first-day valuation of nearly $450 million.
• In his role as Group President, Kyle held full P&L responsibility for a professional services operating group that delivered $50 million in revenues at 30%+ net operating income, while growing more than 20% YOY.
• As the Corporate Development Officer tasked with executing a global expansion strategy, Kyle successfully negotiated and closed more than $30 million of strategic acquisitions across North America, Europe, and Asia.
• As the Founder and President of a strategic growth consulting and international M&A advisory firm focused on providing global growth strategy development, execution, and transaction advisory services to small and middle market companies, Kyle serviced clients in North America, Russia, and South Korea.
• For more than a decade, Kyle served as the CEO of an educational nonprofit where he coached and mentored more than 300 college students in the areas of business and entrepreneurship. In addition, during his tenure as CEO, he successfully completed a 5-year $26 million development project for a new 60,000 sq. ft. mixed-use building with 100 residential beds and three commercial tenants. Despite the complexities spanning the COVID years, the project was delivered on time and on budget.

Kyle holds a B.S. in Operations Research & Industrial Engineering from Cornell University, where he served as the Interfraternity Council president and was a member of the Quill & Dagger senior honor society. He also holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business, where he graduated with Distinction.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Kyle has lived most of his adult life in the Northeast, before relocating to the Charlotte, NC area in 2024.  He has been married to his wife, Evie, for 28 years and they have raised three daughters who are all now in their twenties and beginning their own professional journeys. Kyle is a very active person and loves the outdoors. When he is not working, you will probably find him out in the woods hiking with his dogs, playing tennis, or out for a ride on his Harley.