Chairman's Perspective 

Kyle Golding

Admit it, how many times have you heard this: “You can’t do that in Oklahoma. There isn’t the infrastructure, talent, funding, experience, etc…. in Oklahoma.“ If you have lived in our great state for more than a week, then you have heard at least one version of this myth. 

If you’re like me, proving these misguided theories wrong is greatly satisfying. Prime examples of this are the two businesses we learned more about at our October meeting: CareATC and ePathScreen.

CareATC is very successfully disrupting the behemoth employee healthcare insurance industry. A truly impressive feat, which earned the founders and CEO Phil Kurtz a massive payout for sale of 85% of the company. Kurtz background and experience are on par with anyone in the country (or world). Partnering with I2E was just one of the many great ideas Kurtz brought to CareATC as CEO.

Our Pitch Presenters ePathScreen are tackling cancer diagnosis via better imaging software. There is great potential for this Oklahoma company to help medical professionals save lives in the future. How exciting is that?

As members of the Oklahoma Venture Forum, we know these misconceptions about business in our state are just simply not true. OVF is on the front lines of pushing back on outdated ideas of that a business can only be successful when launched or operated on the East Coast or in Silicone Valley. In fact, the trend we’re seeing today is Oklahoma is prime to become the “Silicone Valley of the Midwest” thanks to the talents, collaboration and successes of Oklahoma companies, business leaders and investors. 

Working together is more important than ever. We have everything we need right here, right now. Every time you attend an OVF event, look around the room at the members, guest and speakers. Everything an Oklahoma business would need - from Startups to International Corporations - is right there, available to all of us. Let’s get to work making Oklahoma a Top 10 state for business success.