Connor Hitchcock, BS '16 – Co-Founder & CEO, Homefield

Connor Hitchcock, BS '16 – Co-Founder & CEO, Homefield

From IU Ventures by IU Ventures

April 30, 2026 · 55 min · Episode 35

About this episode

Connor Hitchcock discusses the founding and growth of Homefield, a premium collegiate apparel brand, and shares insights on entrepreneurship and customer expectations.

IU alum, lifelong IU fan, and Indiana native Connor Hitchcock founded Homefield in 2018 alongside his wife and co-founder Christa out of their Broad Ripple basement. What began as a passion project to create thoughtful collegiate apparel has grown into a premium collegiate apparel brand, with over 180 university licenses and distribution through 100+ retail locations. Today, the 30 members of the Homefield team operate out of their facility in Speedway, as they work to become the world's most thoughtful collegiate apparel brand. Hear the IU football moment that inspired him to start Homefield, why he would not exist without Kirkwood Avenue, how to scale your startup at a sustainable level, the value of Hoosier pride in the IU Angel Network & beyond, and how customer expectations have changed in the last 10 years. Learn more about Connor at HomefieldApparel.com and on LinkedIn , and learn more about IU Ventures at IUVentures.com . This podcast is presented by Kelley Direct Programs. Learn more at Kelley.IU.edu

People in this episode

Guest: Connor Hitchcock

Topics covered

  • entrepreneurship
  • collegiate apparel
  • startup scaling
  • customer expectations
  • IU alumni

Keywords

  • Homefield
  • collegiate apparel
  • startup
  • IU alumni
  • entrepreneurship
  • Kirkwood Avenue
  • customer expectations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Homefield, IU Ventures

Places: Broad Ripple, Speedway, Kirkwood Avenue, Indiana

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