Thank you for reading this column for nearly a decade By Scott Meacham This is my final column for The Oklahoman. As CEO of i2E, I have had the wonderful opportunity since January 2013 to write this weekly column for the readers of this newspaper. That stacks up to more than 460 columns on all aspects ofRead more
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Accelerators like i2E’s e3 can have a significant impact on new ventures By Scott Meacham When the team from Zen Health Technologies formally introduces their company, they describe a business that uses immersive technologies for personal development training. In a more relaxed setting, CEO Sibyl Badugu and Chief Growth Officer Jacob Mahaffey talk of solutions thatRead more
Stamina and creativity carry Monscierge through pandemic impacts By Scott Meacham When we talk about entrepreneurs and startup companies we use words like visionary, determined, energetic, and pivot. All those adjectives and more apply to the unstoppable team at Monscierge. Monscierge is an Oklahoma City-based interactive software company with solutions installed in hotels around theRead more
The Love’s Cup business plan competition offers a real world experience for aspiring entrepreneurs By Scott Meacham Spring is the high season for the Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup. January was kick-off time for this 18h season of Oklahoma’s statewide collegiate business plan competition. Student teams in both high growth and small business divisions spent the winterRead more
We must preserve, expand even, our state’s investment in research and development. By Scott Meacham The state recently appropriated $15 million to be matched by local funds to create three entrepreneurial accelerators — one in Oklahoma City, one in Tulsa, and a third to serve rural Oklahoma. It is great to see the state directRead more
Paldara Pharmaceuticals founders on a mission to make the world a better place through health care innovation By Scott Meacham For the eighteenth consecutive year, Oklahoma’s statewide collegiate business plan competition is under way. The Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup, underwritten by Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, has become an important underpinning of the entrepreneurial ecosystemRead more
OSSM’s Virtual Regional Center brings added educational opportunities and challenges to rural high school students By Scott Meacham I received a thoughtful question this week, prompted by my recent series of columns about the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics (OSSM). One of my favorite statistics about OSSM is that every student who graduates goesRead more
OSSM experience helps students ‘get to the better version’ of themselves By Scott Meacham Students who attend the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics (OSSM) are inspiring human beings. Their academic rigor alone inspires, as does their record of college admissions. They all — 100 percent — go on to college or university. David ReynaldoRead more
Oklahoma students have standing invitation to apply to OSSM By Scott Meacham About 4 million people live in the state of Oklahoma. Every year, between 140 and 200 of them are high school students enrolled in the Oklahoma School of Science and Math (OSSM). Everything about OSSM supports student academics, whether the school’s college-level curriculumRead more
Taking an out-of-the-box approach to solving customer problems is in Crossroads LED’s DNA. By Scott Meacham There isn’t a better place to see the stars than in the night sky that canopies the Black Mesa State Park in the Oklahoma Panhandle. If you haven’t traveled to the western tip of our state and witnessed theRead more
OSSM celebrates milestone anniversary as it recruits a new president By Scott Meacham Here’s great — but not surprising — news. Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics (OSSM) is ranked #20 of all the 19,984 public high schools in the country. This places OSSM in the top one-tenth of 1 percent of all public highRead more
A jump-start to building successful high growth Oklahoma businesses By Scott Meacham One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is that there are always so many people and organizations who want to help. The other side of that coin is the flinty-eyed question that every successful entrepreneur eventually learns to ask: “Is thisRead more
Tulsa-based Ten-Nine Technologies gaining attention with new battery materials. By Scott Meacham Startup companies face a virtual Mt. Everest when it comes to gaining industry credibility and the interest of potential new customers. No matter how great the product or market fit is, garnering the attention of industry leaders and decision-makers is always an epicRead more
By Scott Meacham Act Tulsa understands what it is like to be in the shoes of minority founders. Each of us has our own perspective on the plusses and minuses of 2021. There were plenty on each side of the ledger — 2021 wasn’t a quiet year by any measure. We celebrated our first unicornRead more
By Scott Meacham There is plenty of innovation in Oklahoma — with the entrepreneurial talent and the infrastructure to scale Imagine a time in the not-so-far-off future when battery power is as ubiquitous as electricity. For that to happen, batteries must be smaller, lighter, longer-lasting, and affordable. They must be “greener” and produced in quantityRead more
By Scott Meacham It is exciting to see all that Tulsa is pouring into minority founders through ACT Tulsa. ACT Tulsa, Oklahoma’s unique six-month cohort-driven accelerator program aimed at cultivating and driving innovation for underestimated founders located in Tulsa and beyond, is accepting applications for cohort #2. In just a few short months, we haveRead more
By Scott Meacham ACT Tulsa is a special initiative that those of us in this state can be thankful for. Amazing — that is the word that Program Manager Taleya Mayberry uses to describe the launch speed of ACT Tulsa, the joint venture between i2E and ACT House that is laser-focused on cultivating underestimated founders inRead more
By Scott Meacham Entrepreneurs are the rising tide that lifts all our boats. It is the season to count our blessings and the people and things for which we are most thankful. In some industries, the last few weeks of the year provide time to take a breath and take a break. That is notRead more
By Scott Meacham High-quality deals spell out a clear path to exit for investors. The reality of private equity markets is either the story of capital chasing deals, or of deals chasing capital. So, it is no surprise that when venture capitalists and others in private equity get together to talk business, capital and dealRead more
By Scott Meacham It is time to lean into the opportunities that are already in front of us to build our own Oklahoma version of the economy of the future. Will Rogers, Oklahoma’s Cherokee cowboy philosopher, delivered a quote that aptly sums up our state’s challenge with innovation and the “new” economy. As Will putRead more
