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By Paula Burkes Copyright © 2017, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. It was a tiny advertisement in the corner of a crowded bulletin board at Harvard College that fortuitously sent Paul DeAngelis, a professor and scientist at the University of Oklahoma, on his career path of studying sugar polymers — and the now real potential forRead more

If you are in a decision-making position in an Oklahoma company, is there any reason you wouldn’t want to consider doing business with a startup? You might think that there’s too much risk with a startup. Personally, I like optimism and passion. I favor businesses that stretch, that run lean, and that focus on cashflow. And I like to be part of helping a new business grow. I bet when you think about it, you do too.

There were some natural concerns among Oklahomans back in 1998 when Texas native Tommy Harlan put together a venture capital fund and began investing in life science startups spun out of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

The loss of the state’s EDGE Fund has meant less funding opportunities for the state’s bioscience companies such as Caisson Biotech and Selexys Pharmaceuticals.

Long before he enrolled as a Harvard undergraduate student out of a Baltimore high school, Paul L. DeAngelis knew what he wanted to pursue as a career. Not the work of a stock broker. Or athlete. Or an actor.