Skip to content
i2E
  • Programs
    • For Startups
      • E3
      • Bridge2
      • OCN
    • For Students
      • Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • For Corporations
    • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Programs
    • For Startups
      • E3
      • Bridge2
      • OCN
    • For Students
      • Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • For Corporations
    • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Media
Search

Creating an atmosphere to spark innovation

Get in Touch

By Scott Meacham
Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Co.

Innovation is unpredictable. Like the grocery cart inspiration that came to Sylvan Goldman or the parking meter idea that came to Carl Magee, the seeds of innovation can come from anywhere.

Although there is no precise formula for innovation, there are indicators that make innovation more likely.

One of those is the willingness and ability to pivot — that’s what we in the business of entrepreneurship call it when an innovator’s initial plans for the application of an invention don’t pan out and he or she faces giving up or trying something new.

Consider the You-Version Bible app. In 2006, Bobby Gruenwald, founder, stood in an interminable TSA line at O’Hare airport in Chicago when it hit him that technology could change how people engage with the Bible — just as Gutenberg’s printing press and the resulting Bibles sparked the 1400s version of mass communications.

YouVersion started out as a website, but not many people came. People didn’t want to plan their Bible-reading around their time at the computer screen. Around that time, Apple opened the door for iPhone apps. YouVersion pivoted and was one of the first 200 apps in the iPhone store.

Since then, this app, which offers a library of 1,588 versions of the Bible in more than 1130 languages, has been installed more than 300 million times.

Two more predictors of innovation are education in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and people who constantly seek better ways to do their jobs. Ryan Dennis, MD, hospitalist, and founder of Linear Health Sciences, typifies both.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to keep an open mind walking through the hospital to bring value to the system,” said Dennis, a graduate of the Oklahoma School of Science and Math. “I can only see a certain number of patients in a day, but, through invention and innovation, I can affect many more patients in many more places, far beyond the places where I live and work.”

An observable occurrence in any hospital is medical professionals managing IVs, central lines, or peripherally inserted central catheters that have become accidentally dislodged when they are caught or pulled too far.

The team at Linear Health Sciences has developed the Orchid, a breakaway valve that separates when the medical tubing in peripheral are caught or pulled too far. The valve creates a sterile seal and prevents the tubing from being pulled out.

“The idea of being able to invent something that fills a gap and solves a problem and that has the potential to be applied to every patient around the world means I can potentially make things better for patients and health care professionals everywhere. I can leave a lasting effect,” Dennis said.

From shopping carts, to Bibles, to breakaway valves, Oklahoma’s innovators continue to serve markets, solve problems, and create jobs across our state.

Scott Meacham is president and CEO of i2E Inc., a nonprofit corporation that mentors many of the state’s technology-based startup companies. i2E receives state appropriations from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology and is an integral part of Oklahoma’s Innovation Model. Contact Meacham at [email protected].

More News

Loading...
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.25.25

Oklahoma Collegiate Entrepreneurs Take Home Over $167K at Entrepreneur’s Cup

Read more
Blog, Featured, News
12.16.24

MidAmerica and i2E Announce Award Winners

Read more
Blog, Featured, News
11.21.24

i2E & Plains Ventures Surpasses $100M Milestone in Total Investments

Read more
Blog
09.30.24

i2E Receives 2024 Excellence in Economic Development Award from IEDC

Read more
Blog
06.18.24

Bridge2 Demo Day Returns, Highlighting Promising Oklahoma Startups

Read more
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
05.13.24

Student Entrepreneurs Triumph at 20th Anniversary Entrepreneur’s Cup, Winning $158,000 in Prizes

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.24.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Jessica Kinsey

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.23.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Nathan Fountain

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.23.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Srijita Ghosh

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.18.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – MaxQ

Read more
Blog, i2E
01.30.24

i2E Celebrates Success of Inaugural Bridge2 Demo Day

Read more
Blog, i2E, News
12.18.23

i2E and MidAmerica Industrial Park announce award winners for high school entrepreneurship program

Read more
i2E

Oklahoma City Office

201 Robert S Kerr Ave, Suite 600
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
+1 (405) 235.2305

Tulsa Office

12 N. Cheyenne Ave, Suite 112
Tulsa, OK 74103
+1 (918) 582.5592

  • Client Portfolio
  • About Us
  • Media
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Funding
  • Venture Advisory

© 2025 i2E Privacy Policy

Follow us:

Linkedin Twitter Facebook Instagram Youtube

Programs

  • For Startups
    • E3
    • Bridge2
    • OCN
  • For Students
    • Entrepreneur’s Cup
  • For Corporations
  • For Investors
  • For Startups
    • E3
    • Bridge2
    • OCN
  • For Students
    • Entrepreneur’s Cup
  • For Corporations
  • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio

Services

  • Access to Funding
  • Venture Advisory Services
  • Events
  • Contact
  • About
  • Our Values
  • Our Team
  • Board of Directors
  • Corporate Partners
  • Media
i2E