DECEMBER POWER LUNCH:

Ventures as Tools:
Building the Oklahoma Entrepreneur Mentoring Program with Douglas Sorocco

Written by Lori Williams

Did you know that Douglas Sorocco, owner of Dunlap Codding in Oklahoma City, isn’t just an intellectual property attorney, PHOSITA blogger, chemist, visionary, social entrepreneur, and creator of DC on Film Row? He’s also one of the volunteer co-directors of the new Oklahoma Entrepreneurship Mentoring Program (OKEMP). Modeled after MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service (MIT VMS), OKEMP matches an entrepreneur with a team of unbiased, experienced mentors.
“Entrepreneurs always talk about needing a pitch deck,” says Mr. Sorocco, “but I want them to know the story they’re teaching in that deck. I tell them, ‘Print it out. Use a highlighter. Draw it up.’”
With a fountain pen in one hand and a Moleskine® in the other, Sorocco does just that. “My best ideas begin with doodling on paper,” he says. “I’m a chemist, so I love process flow.”
It’s no wonder, then, that Sorocco relishes the process inherent in the OKEMP model. He calls it “a longitudinal kind of support.”
“This type of commitment is what’s been missing in Oklahoma,” he says. “OKEMP provides mentoring teams who follow entrepreneurs throughout their whole career. Because true entrepreneurs don’t stop with just one idea.”
But when Sorocco came to Oklahoma 23 years ago, he soon noticed what wasn’t missing: “There’s a character trait here that you can do anything and your failures don’t follow you,” says the businessman and world traveler. “I have a lot of clients in Germany, and they love the idea of the West, the musical Oklahoma, the
prairie. When they meet me, they act like I’m a rock star or a mythical type figure.”
“I have to explain to them, ‘No, it’s just kind of a normal thing. We try new things, but if it doesn’t work out that doesn’t mean we can’t try again.’”
That type of innovation is apparent with OKEMP’s inaugural group of five entrepreneurs. Ideas with potential for positive social impact are well represented: Actovos, created by ittybam, seeks to streamline the connection between child welfare workers and possible foster parents. Another company, ITOT, already has a prototype for a handgun trigger lock that is biometrical and practical.
“One of the beauties of the program is that, no matter where the entrepreneurs are in their life cycle, they’re getting matched up with mentors who can offer unbiased, unconflicted advice.”
What mentors also offer is access to their experiences as successful entrepreneurs, delivered during regularly scheduled 90 minute meetings. “There is a curriculum,” explains Sorocco, “but it is driven by the entrepreneurs who are coming with questions and concerns.”
“For example, the first entrepreneur may already have a prototype without ever looking at markets. So it’s backwards! So the mentor helps identify who’s going to buy the product. Whereas the second entrepreneur may be a programmer who’s never sold anything. So the mentoring team teaches how to develop relationships that don’t seem too transactional.”
“What I love most about the MIT VMS Program,” says Attorney Sorocco, “is that it uses the venture as a tool to build up the entrepreneur.”
“Most entrepreneurs are going to fail with their first or second company. What we need for them to do is learn along the way so that when they get to number three or four, they’re more likely to succeed.”
Spoken like a true rock star, Mr. Sorocco. No myth about it.

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. 

OVF Member Highlight

Rebecca Eastham PHD
Executive Director, Business & Industry Services at Meridian Technology Center

Rebecca has a passion for helping individuals and organization achieve personal and professional excellence. Her role as Executive Director, Business & Industry Services at Meridian Technology Center gives her just that opportunity. Working with customized training, short-term adult education and entrepreneurial services, she and her team work to develop and deliver customize training and services for individuals to start-up companies to seasoned large employers. 

Prior to joining Meridian in 2009, she was a clinical professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Oklahoma State University.  She has over 25 years of experience in the lodging industry working in operations, organizational development, and training with organizations such as American General Hospitality, Inc., Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, and the five-star, five-diamond Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.  

Rebecca received a Bachelors degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration from Oklahoma State University, a Masters in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma and her PhD in Human Sciences from Oklahoma State University. 

She and her husband, Kyle, have been residents of Stillwater for over 12 years. They enjoy spending time travelling and participating in community and OSU events. Her civic involvement includes serving on the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce Board, Stillwater CARES Board, and the Advisory Board for the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. She and Kyle are also active in Sunnybrook Christian Church. Outside of Stillwater, Rebecca serves on the Board for the Oklahoma Hotel & Lodging Association and the Advisory Board for the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois. 

Rob Reynolds, Executive Director at TEL Library

After earning his Ph.D. in Spanish at the University of Texas at Austin, Rob Reynolds began his career as a university faculty member teaching languages and literature. He has also served in university administration, as a textbook publishing executive, and as a co-founder and/or leader of multiple educational technology startups. He has additional experience as a textbook author and has been an active researcher and blogger in the learning technology space since 2003. He is the author of The Future of Learning Content and currently serves as Executive Director of TEL Library, a non-profit, public library dedicated to providing affordable learning to anyone, anywhere. For the past 20 years, Rob’s career has been focused on content design and management for education. ● In the late 90s, he was designing and authoring innovative, narrative-based learning experiences for major language publishers (Prentice Hall and Heinle and Heinle), with the goal of integrating higher levels of instruction and user experience into learning content. ● Later, as Director of Information at the University of Oklahoma, he helped move the university’s general education courses online and, as part of the process, worked to redesign course structures and content management processes to make online learning more effective and cost-efficient. ● In 2004, Rob co-founded Xplana Learning in Boston. As part of his work there, he developed the company’s information science division to help publishers normalize information structures for creating and managing their content. He also designed and led the development of a content management system for publisher assets. ● As Vice President of Digital Solutions for Cengage, he oversaw the development of taxonomic structures for academic units to support efficient tagging and reuse of digital assets and custom publishing. ● At MBS Direct Rob oversaw the design and development of digital content solutions for that company’s ambitious content management and digital publishing platform, Xplana.com. ● Today, as Executive Director at TEL Library, Rob continues to innovate content management and publishing with a goal of making high-quality education affordable and easily accessible for everyone, everywhere. He is currently building a library of high-quality, low-cost learning content that can be repurposed and distributed quickly and efficiently across multiple product types and markets. In the next phase, TEL Library’s long-term goal is to leverage its structured data framework and make its structured content available to third-party AI systems to make high-quality, affordable education accessible worldwide.

Transparency, Trust, and Transformation 

At the Better Business Bureau of Central Oklahoma 

Written by Lori Williams

How does an Oklahoma organization anticipate its 90th birthday? In the case of the Better Business Bureau of Central Oklahoma, it stays true to the core values established in 1930 while continually adapting its services to the business community. “Transparency is one of the core values of our business,” says Kitt Letcher, the CEO and President of the Bureau.  “And our standards of trust must be met before a business can earn BBB accreditation. But we’re also really trying to transform our image to business owners.” 

Transparency may be the best known characteristic of the BBB model: “The bbb.org website is a free resource that absolutely anybody can use,” says the CEO. “Consumers can look up businesses and know that both positive and negative reviews are actually vetted by our organization. The business owner sees and can respond to the reviews.” 

But posting such comments online is only the beginning. “Out of negative experiences is where most of our opportunity lies,” says Ms. Letcher. “That’s as true when we receive negative feedback about the BBB as it is when any other business fields a complaint.”  

So how does CEO Letcher define opportunity? “When we look at records from businesses receiving more than 3 complaints a year, we may see a pattern. If we feel like we can help, we reach out to the business and offer solutions.” 

Sometimes, though, the businesses are the ones reaching out to the BBB. “When I came on board in 2013,” says Letcher, “one of the biggest things I heard from businesses was, ‘I get accredited; I get a bill; I pay the money, then I never hear from you again.’” 

“That’s not what we want,” she says. So the CEO looked at the core value of trust and transformed it into something bigger.  

“We started offering Trust Talks™ this past April,” she says. “We survey our business owners and then find special speakers to address areas of concern. Coming up, we will do 2020 Planning.” 

Letcher has already done her planning for next year. In 2020 she and her team will launch a peer program and an ambassador program. 

“I’m super excited about these programs,” she says. “With the peer program, we pull together eight to ten business owners and put them in a group.” 

The day of the peer program will begin with a specially designed curriculum to address specific small business issues. The afternoon will include a round table discussion.  

“Because this will be a confidential setting, business owners will be able to bring to the table an issue they’re currently working on. Then someone else in the group might say, ‘This is how I solved that problem.’ Keep in mind that that advice is not a theoretical statement; it’s coming from experience.”  

For businesses in far flung parts of Oklahoma, Kitt offers an alternative program. “We cover about 70% of the state,” she says, “but it’s difficult for us to have a physical presence in all the communities where we have accredited businesses.” 

“Next year, host businesses in places like Ada, Shawnee, Stillwater and Guymon will begin offering monthly meetings for other accredited businesses in their area.”  

“There will be at least one tangible takeaway from each meeting, whether it’s the best way to respond to a complaint or how to increase customer reviews. It will also be a networking opportunity.” 

“We’re really trying to transform our image to business owners. We want them to see us as a resource for helping and/or stabilizing their businesses.”  

Earlier this month OVF hosted Philip kurtz with CareATC and LB Dahle with ePathScreens.

Did you miss the event?

There are a variety of ways to access our podcast Interviews. 

Visit our website and go to the Call to Action tab and click View/Listen, or you can subscribe to our Youtube or iTunes Podcast Channels.

Host Organization: Oklahoma Venture Forum

Event title: OVF Power Lunch "The Exit Strategy"

Event type: Success Speaker & Pitch Presentation

Event date & time: October 9th, 11:30 am-1:00 pm

Link to registration: Attend

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Host Organization: Moore Norman Technology Center

Event title: 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity

Event type: Lunch & Learn

Event date & time: 7 Nov 1130A -130P

Link to registration: https://enrollment.mntc.edu/short-term-classes/lunch-learn-franklin-coveys-5-choices-extraordinary-productivity

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Host Organization: Oklahoma Venture Forum

Event title: OVF Power Lunch Local Business & Education Technology

Event type: Success Speaker & Pitch Presentation

Event date & time: November 13th, 11:30 am-1:00 pm

Link to registration: Attend

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Host Organization: Moore Norman Technology Center (South Penn Campus)

Event title: Franklin Covey’s 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity: One Day Essentials

Event type: Workshop

Event date & time: Friday November 15, 2019 830A – 400P

Link to registration: https://enrollment.mntc.edu/short-term-classes/franklin-coveys-5-choices-extraordinary-productive-one-day-essentials

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Host Organization: Oklahoma Venture Forum

Event title: OVF After Hours

Event type: Networking & Presentation

Event date & time: Nov. 21, 2019 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: TBA

Link to registration: LINK

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If you have questions about events?

Please use the link included in each event.

Do you have questions about OVF membership?

Please reach out to me, I am always happy to help.

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We are eager to begin the 2019-2020 session. 

Oklahoma Venture Forum is a membership-based business organization dedicated to fostering new and existing small business ventures in Oklahoma. Membership in the Oklahoma Venture Forum is essential for any business, organization, group or individual involved in economic development on a local, state or national level.   

Memberships have helped us accomplish so much. 

• This year we will be able to once again provide sponsorship of important community events, and contests that share our goals of fostering new and existing business ventures and the entrepreneurial spirit in Oklahoma. 

• We have developed a new media marketing presence that includes short video interviews, podcasts and other products used to promote, Main Speakers, Pitch Presenters  and member growth. 

• This year we will host main speakers and pitch presentations with topics including Early Development - Teen Founders, The Importance of an Exit, and Managing Multiple Funding Sources. 

Join Oklahoma business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs for networking, new business opportunities and informative stories of success from all over our great state. Monthly OVF Power Lunches are a great way to meet and learn from each other all while fostering a better business future for Oklahoma. This is the best hour per month anyone can spend in pursuit of opportunity and connection with like-minded professionals.   

Each OVF Power Lunch offers a combination of peer-to-peer conversation, Pitch Presentations of viable business scenarios (not just potential) and Success Story presentations full of real-world specifics that inform and engage all attending.  

Along with our monthly Power Lunches, OVF members receive the added value of attending private events, access to the member directory on our website, receiving curated business information via our email newsletter, member spotlights, our podcast/video series and social media mentions along with sponsorship and marketing opportunities.  
Your highest potential ROI is membership in OVF. 

Please consider how much more you could do for OVF by becoming a member. 

If you have any questions about membership options or the renewal process I hope that you will reach out to me, I am always happy to help. 

• Optimism
• Ingenuity
• Overcoming obstacles
• Not taking NO for an answer
• That can-do spirit

These are just a few of the Oklahoma business traits we witnessed from the sharp middle school students who are part of WristWorld, our Pitch Presentation for September along with their adult mentor Michael Hirsch from Loveworks Leadership. 

Our youngest OVF pitch presenters were possibly some of the most prepared, polished and poised yet. These young entrepreneurs do not believe in the “how it's always been done it” approach to business. The future of the WristWorld start-up and the careers of the youth involved looks very bright. Hopefully, you were as inspired and motivated by their Pitch Presentation as I was. If you missed it, catch the podcast on iTunes and YouTube.

What happens after a start-up becomes a successful business? Potentially, a successful exit for the founder(s) at some point. That is exactly the story we will hear at our October Power Lunch. After a 30 year journey, Philip Kurtz, CEO of CareATC found his exit and will tell us all about it. CareATC provides customizable healthcare solutions to employers, an area of major focus and opportunity over the last decade. CareATC serves more than 250,000 patients through its partnership with 150 clients in 35 states.

In my opinion, Kurtz 30-year journey from start to exit will be the perfect follow-up to the LoveWorks / WristWorld story of optimistic youth.

The October Pitch Presenter is L. B. Dahle, CEO and Founder of ePathScreen, a medical device development company established to acquire and develop technologically promising devices, equipment and instruments in the medical and bio-medical market sector. The medical space is full of attention and opportunity right now. No doubt this will be another interesting and informative Pitch Presentation. 

I love this time of the year. The weather is cooling off, football season has begun and the Oklahoma Venture Forum 2019-2020 session is off and running successfully. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at our October meeting. Bring a co-worker, a peer or an interested friend as your guest. We all work better when we work together. 

Kyle Golding 

Daniel Will is the Executive Director of Cowboy Technologies where he directs the strategy and activities of the company. Cowboy Technologies was organized in 2011 as a for-profit, limited-liability company owned by the OSU Research Foundation to be a catalyst for commercializing Oklahoma State University technology through successful startup companies. Through OSU researcher collaboration, Daniel and his team scan for and progress technologies that have a strong, commercially viable product-market fit. Cowboy Technologies provides business advising, sponsored research funding for technologies still at OSU, seed capital investment funding in operational startups, capital raise preparation and positioning, non-dilutive state and federal funding assistance, and access to scalable business facilities and amenities. Previous to joining Cowboy Technologies, Daniel worked for Agilent Technologies, Inc., a Fortune 500 life science and electronic diagnostics technology company, serving in a variety of roles including business development, product planning, marketing, sales, distribution channel manager, and product line manager. Daniel received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering at Kansas State University and his MBA at the University of Colorado.
Cowboy Technologies Mission and Strategy 

Cowboy Technologies was organized in 2011 as a for-profit, limited-liability company owned by the OSU Research Foundation to be a catalyst for commercializing Oklahoma State University's technology through successful startup companies.  Cowboy Technologies collaborates with the OSU Research Foundation’s Technology Development Center and OSU’s researchers to identify technologies that have commercial interest and viability, and progress them to later stages of development that will meet market needs.  It works closely with developers and entrepreneurial leaders to develop business models and go-to-market plans, and provide ongoing business advisory services to the team.  Cowboy Technologies additionally provides sponsored research investment for technology development while still at OSU, and seed capital investment in startups entering into operations with licensed OSU technology.  It also positions startups to raise new capital form aligned investment partners while also helping identify and apply for state and federal government sources of non-dilutive funding.  Finally, Cowboy Technologies helps enable startups with access to first class, scalable business facilities and amenities in Stillwater and the region.