Coffee #2: Billy Hoskings - from Surf to Buffalo Bills, a crucible moment, to founding Kavira IT

It’s been a while between Coffee 1 and Coffee 2 (this will become more of a regular series I promise!!) but we’re back and today we’re diving into the journey of Billy Hosking, a surfer dreamer turned cyber-security entrepreneur.

Today, Billy is making waves (get it?) with his new Cyber Security for SMB’s venture, Kavira IT, but his story is one of a Red Hill boy who started dreaming of a life of adventure sports, to rising through the ranks at a Canadian night club (appropriately called Buffalo Bill), to Entrepreneur in cyber-security!

Early Aspirations: Politics, Economics, and the Surf

Billy's childhood was painted with dreams of becoming a pro surfer or skier. However, geographic limitations (waves that weren’t pro level to the lack of Snow in Mornington) and self-awareness led him to pivot from these aspirations.

Billy's university life studying Politics and Economics was less about the degree, and more about studying a degree that allowed him to surf 5 days a week, work on the farm pretty much full-time, and spend time with his mates and girlfriend at the time! Billy graduated, spent some time working for as successful fathers PA learning the ropes and then got an itch. While everyone had partied at Uni, he had surfed and worked.

So, he quit his job and moved to Canada to Ski & to test out all the local beers (would be rude not too?). The next few years took him through various roles and countries, including Canada, Brazil, France, and the USA. From managing nightclubs to dabbling in sales and marketing, each experience adding layers to his skillset and perspective, shaping his entrepreneurial outlook. Not a joke in the slightest though, his most pivotal role there was his experience at Buffalo Bill where under Graham Page, he was given a huge kick up the arse, moving up from “door bitch” to bar manager! Graham taught people the value of one’s self, customer service and providing a really good party!

Life was good at Buffalo Bills but on this path, there wasn’t a world where he would be heading up his own Cyber Security Business.

His Crucible Moment!

A week before his 30th birthday, life threw a curveball at Billy with a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). This was the type of incident that would break most but at this point, Billy thought I have two choices: ask why me and die early or take the opportunity to come back better! This became a pivotal moment, and Billy used this experience as a catalyst for change, propelling him towards new challenges and opportunities. This event shapes his empathy and compassion when helping people but also his strong belief in fairness and a fair go.

He went from not being able to walk further than the front fence and needing his food mashed for him, to losing 10 kg’s, helping build a start-up to $1.5 million in revenue to now starting his own start-up.

So, Billy returned home and his new life begun. He started his Master’s in human resource management losing interest after he obtained a grad cert, found it hard to break into the industry, got a job in recruitment and started dating someone new!

Getting on the Founder Track

Billy’s new role at Robert Half saw him working for Clinton Marks. Clinton was on the money, he focused on ethics & creating sticky clients. Billy liked this but we were in 2020 and it wasn’t to be! His role was wrapped up as we headed into Covid but it was just another failure that helped him on his path.

In fact, on a reference call at Robert Half, he met a guy who started Jinba IT and got his first taste of the world of “start-ups”, IT services and cyber-security. He got 5% equity and worked for free for 8 months (that’s some serious sweat equity). But he was a partner so he got to work. In this role, he brought on 90% of the clients, taking home 20% of the service revenue so he got a take of his capability. But working for free, bringing in a lions share of clients, lacking any support or budget, with minimal equity or salary was not sustainable. However, Billy being the annoying always opportunist, focused on how we helped the founders realise their dreams, helped a lot of great businesses, partners and learned the security baselines from the great Jesse Marsh. All these learnings, gave him a foundation to dive deeper into cyber-security.

 So he pulled up stumps and tried his luck with two more roles. The first with Red Cursor, a Pentesting Security firm headed by the ever amazing (and direct) Gordon Maddern & then he joined Adrian Boyle at IdentityXP.

Mentorship and Growth: Learning from Life and Work

Throughout his journey, mentors played a crucial role. From a supportive GM in a bar to working under his successful father and pestering sales heavy weight Alan Gill and the successful tech guru Tal Evans, Billy learned the nuances of leadership, self-confidence, and business acumen. He’d learnt about the world of sales, and carved a niche as the “Head Translator” in other people’s cyber security businesses. He’d learnt what he liked and what he wouldn’t do himself & he was ready to do it himself!

The Birth of Kavira IT: Realising a Vision

Transitioning into the IT sector from a non-technical background, Billy recognised a gap in the market and seized the opportunity. Kavira IT was born out of a desire to create a company that not only excelled in cyber-security but also resonated with his ethos of empowerment for the Small to medium business sector and his employees.

So, what does Kavira do? Kavira is a Cybersecurity and Cloud consultancy who seek to work with primarily with the SMB’s in the For-Purpose and professional services sectors. They provide cyber security and IT advisory, design, management and support and whilst only just kicking off operations, already have their first 5 clients lined up (AND ARE HIRING!!).

Looking Ahead: The Future of Kavira IT

As for the future, Billy envisions Kavira IT not just as a successful enterprise but as a platform for innovation and positive change in the IT sector. He remains committed to his vision of a business that prioritises both profit and purpose. And operationally they’ll build out SOC services, threat detection and business enablement offerings across most common business systems such as Microsoft, Google, and MAC.

Insights for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Reflecting on his journey, Billy emphasises the importance of resilience, adaptability, and the value of learning from every experience. He advocates for a balance between professional ambition and personal well-being and fun underscoring the significance of staying true to one's values.

Billy Hosking's story is more than just a tale of career transition; it's a narrative of resilience, adaptability, and the relentless pursuit of fairness. His journey from a surfer dreamer to a successful IT entrepreneur is a testament to the fact that our early aspirations, no matter how far-fetched, can lay the groundwork for a future we never imagined.