Skip to content
i2E
  • Programs
    • E3
    • ACT Tulsa
    • Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio
  • Services
    • Access to Funding
    • Venture Advisory Services
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Programs
    • E3
    • ACT Tulsa
    • Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio
  • Services
    • Access to Funding
    • Venture Advisory Services
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Contact
  • Media
Search

From i2E’s Scott Meacham: Love’s a natural sponsor of Entrepreneur’s Cup

Get in Touch

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

Last week, during the celebratory gala for the 2017 Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup, the same thing happened to me that happens every year. I was completely inspired by the students who participate in Oklahoma’s premier collegiate business plan competition.

Jenny Love Meyer

They are the best of the best — the kind of people that companies in Oklahoma, and for that matter around the world, want to hire. And the kind of people who want to take the leap and start companies of their own.

Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores became the signature sponsor of the Love’s Cup after last year’s competition. The importance and impact of their commitment and leadership cannot be overstated.

Love’s was founded by entrepreneurs. Jenny Love Meyer informed the audience at the gala that entrepreneurial culture and mindset not only endures, but permeates the company. The people at Love’s will tell you that entrepreneurial spirit is the force behind their success — that and their dedication to their customers, employees and to the communities where Love’s employees and customers work and live.

It’s only natural that Love’s recognizes the potential in these students — and the students are inspired by Love’s. Love’s is the gold standard of Oklahoma entrepreneurship.

We kick off the Love’s Cup during the fall with a full-day seminar called “Who Wants to Be an Entrepreneur.” After that, students form teams and figure out an idea for a business plan. They do the research, create the financial projections, and perform market validation to build a product that their target customers would want to buy.

They learn how to talk to investors and how to seek out and take the advice from mentors and industry experts. They figure out how to work as a team and how to delegate. In the service of entrepreneurship, they do things they’ve never done before.

They take what they’ve learned in classrooms and labs and apply it to the real world. And while they are doing that, they are taking classes, making grades, and many of them are holding down jobs.

In 2017, the Love’s Cup attracted a record number of students with wide representation from across the state. Teams came from the full breadth of Oklahoma’s learning institutions, from research campuses to two-year colleges and private regional universities.

For many of these students, this is their first encounter with Oklahoma’s business community. For the Love’s Cup teams, there’s nothing more important than the people skills they build during this competition and the connections they develop — to team members, to advisers, and even to potential future investors.

More than 35 plans have gone on to become i2E clients. Other participants enter established businesses. Either way, it’s Oklahoma’s gain.

I don’t know about you, but it is nice to be inspired by the next generation of leaders. With the Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup, that’s a guarantee. When it comes to success stories, the Love’s Cup sets the bar.

It’s inspiration by the gallon.

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 support 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].

Read the article at newsok.com

 

 

  • Sarah Graves
    Sarah Graves

More News

Loading...
Black doctor smiling with stethoscope
Blog, i2E
02.09.23

Titan Intake Automates Patient Referrals to Accelerate Care

Read more
man and woman reviewing paperwork at a table
Blog, i2E, News
01.10.23

Stories of Oklahoma Innovation: Building a Startup

Read more
woman in lab conducting a study
Blog, i2E
12.13.22

Bayesic Technologies Improves Effectiveness and Efficiency of Data Analysis in Healthcare

Read more
Bison grazing fields
Blog
11.30.22

Bison Underground Merges Nature, Science, and Technology to Tackle Climate Change

Read more
African American family sitting on couch reading and chatting
Blog, E3, i2E
11.22.22

Fokes Connects Families, Caregivers and Care Agencies for Smoother Communications and Care 

Read more
i2e blog post graphic
Blog, News
11.03.22

Introducing: Stories of Oklahoma Innovation

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.28.22

Oklahoma Grown! i2E Invests in BIO startups

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Moleculera Labs BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

Oklahoma State University BIO

Read more
Default Featured Image
OKBio
06.13.22

ECHO Investment Capital BIO

Read more
i2E

Oklahoma City Office

840 Research Parkway, Suite 250
OKC, OK 73104
+1 (405) 235.2305

Tulsa Office

100 S. Cincinnati Ave – Suite 514
Tulsa, OK 74103
+1 (918) 582.5592

  • Client Portfolio
  • About Us
  • Media
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Resources

© 2022 i2E Privacy Policy

Follow us:

Facebook Twitter Linkedin

Programs

  • E3
  • ACT Tulsa
  • Love's Entrepreneur's Cup
  • OKBio
  • Client Portfolio

Services

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