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By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2018, The Oklahoman Startup companies are like snowflakes — no two are exactly alike. Uniqueness, after all, is a vital part of every new company’s secret sauce. The most successful startups always break new ground. They do original things in original ways. They invent new materials (nanoparticles anyone?), new systemsRead more

By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2018, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. Oklahoma’s innovation economy is a complex system with many moving parts. Our state’s innovation engine is driven by motivated and coachable entrepreneurs with ideas and technologies that disrupt. To be successful, Oklahoma’s entrepreneurs need investment capital from angels, venture capitalists and banks. They need world-classRead more

By Scott Meacham Copyright © (2018), The Oklahoma Publishing Co. This week, we are at the midpoint of the year — and, at least here in Oklahoma, smack in the middle of the dog days of summer. It’s easy in July in the Midwest to succumb to the summer doldrums — that is unless youRead more

By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. CB Insights, the research company that zeros in on private company data and analysis, has an interesting stream of reports about why startup companies fail. They began gathering postmortem information back in 2014 with information from about 100 failed firms; most of the stories wereRead more

By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. The high point in the relationship between entrepreneur and investor is when the investor is about to invest for the first time. Investors never like the entrepreneur more than at that stage. It’s the honeymoon, the brightest moment. It’s when all the promise and possibilitiesRead more

Entrepreneurs are the drivers of this phenomenon we have branded Innovation to Enterprise. They prove concepts. They convince investors to invest. They convert the doubtful. They persuade first customers to take a risk on their new ideas. They encourage founding teams to stay the course on the darkest days. And entrepreneurs inspire. They show the rest of us what is possible and what is NOT impossible. Their inspiration is what the 2016 Oklahoma Entrepreneurial Summit and Who Wants to Be is all about.

The i2E Angel Fund I provides seed-stage capital with professional management and diversification, plus offering the satisfaction of investing in job and wealth creation in Oklahoma. The fund benefits from i2E’s deal flow of quality, well-vetted startups. (The fund’s primary focus is on Oklahoma companies, but to ensure adequate deal flow, the fund may invest outside the state.)

Ten years ago, Oklahoma’s landscape for seed capital was like Black Mesa. We were high and dry. There was no venture capital money here. SeedStep Angels hadn’t been organized yet. Entrepreneurs simply didn’t have access to the investment capital to fund the milestones that move young companies from concept to startup to potential successes in the marketplace.

In the vocabulary of startups, the word “pivot” holds a special significance. When something isn’t working well, isn’t working as expected, or just plain isn’t working at all, the startup pivots from plan A to plan B or C or D.

Since we introduced the Donald W. Reynold’s Governor’s Cup collegiate business plan competition 12 years ago, more than 1,700 college students have taken the Gov Cup challenge. This year, 55 teams entered business plans. This competition involves college students across the state, with divisions for two-year and regional colleges, for research universities, and for graduate students.

Angel investors are called angels for a reason. These accredited investors are the primary source of early stage capital for startup firms. The metric for angel investing is return on investment; however, angels, who are often former entrepreneurs or retired business persons, also show a strong desire to help entrepreneurs.

There’s the economic impact from our portfolio, $228 million at last count, driven by 2,400 jobs created, salaries that are more than 90 percent higher than the Oklahoma average, and revenue drawn into Oklahoma from other states and nations.

Oklahoma City has been named one of the nation’s four “Best Cities to become an Entrepreneur by the Investopedia website.

Savvy entrepreneurs know that there are many startups that do succeed; that success is not random, and that it doesn’t just happen. It takes a plan.

Nearly two-thirds of Oklahoma entrepreneurs responding to an online survey reported higher revenues during the last half of 2013 and 81 percent of those expect higher revenue in the first half of this year.

I’ve never seen any stats on this, but I imagine that football players might make pretty good entrepreneurs, because there are so many similarities between the game and entrepreneurship.

An interesting thing happens when successful entrepreneurs become angel investors and participate on due diligence teams; they become more focused on eliminating pitfalls

Tulsa ranked No. 7 among medium-sized cities in a list of the “Best Cities for Young Entrepreneurs 2013,” according to the website of Under30CEO.

Due diligence is not simply about legal documents and background checks, it’s information that puts the opportunity together for potential investors.

The growth of entrepreneurs and small businesses started in Oklahoma means more home offices, the holy grail of all economic development activity.