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

The Law of the Lever

Get in Touch

By Scott Meacham

Copyright © 2014, The Oklahoma Publishing Company                                                          

“Give me a fulcrum, a stick long enough, and a firm place to stand and I will move the earth.”

This oft-paraphrased quote from Archimedes aptly describes the effect that ready access to capital and efficient advisory services can have on new company and job creation in Oklahoma.

Leverage is truly the story of i2E. Leverage in terms of money, partnerships and people. We are a compact organization, yet in our 15 years of history, we have served 600 Oklahoma companies and interfaced with 1,469 entrepreneurs or start-up businesses.

We guide clients through every stage of business development to help start-ups reduce risk, and that’s why better than two-thirds of our clients are in business after four years. The national survival rate is less than half.

More than just survive, these young companies create jobs and wealth and deliver a higher than average impact on Oklahoma’s economy.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, in 2012 i2E’s 184 active portfolio clients employed 2,427 people and had a total economic impact of $228 million.

Our clients grew jobs in 2012 by 30 percent. That’s 16 times the statewide average. And these are jobs with an average annual wage of $73,395, which is 90 percent higher than the state average.

i2E entrepreneurs have developed more than 500 applications for patents. We help entrepreneurs line up their technologies with markets and customers who have problems they are needing to solve and dollars to spend to solve these problems. i2E clients have introduced 204 new products and services to the marketplace.

Start-ups in Oklahoma are able to create these products and jobs and generate this wealth because they have access to commercialization assistance and capital.

Last year we helped 30 entrepreneurial companies for funding.

As of the end of 2013, our total funded investments of $23.5 million have leveraged $483 million in private capital. That’s a ratio of better than 20-to-1. In addition, i2E clients have further leveraged i2E-managed funds by attracting more than $72 million in grant funds.

According to a study published by the Harvard Business School, start-ups that receive angel capital investments are 27 percent more likely to survive the four-year mark. Another study from the State of Washington indicated that the five-year survival rate for all companies (retail and non-retail) that receive both capital and business assistance was 90 percent.

This is the i2E model: capital plus business advisory services equals leverage.

The magic of leverage is that small forces can move great weights. Given the right tools, even the most seemingly impossible tasks can be accomplished.

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

 

DID YOU KNOW? I2E client companies report that 80 percent of their revenue comes from outside Oklahoma.

More News

Loading...
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
Blog, i2E
12.13.23

Entrepreneur’s Cup Marks 20 Years: Reimagined Competition and Brand – Same Entrepreneurial Spirit

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