i2E Managementi2E Managementi2E Managementi2E Management
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Team
  • Funds
  • Investor Login

An Oklahoma woman’s entrepreneurial journey

    Home News An Oklahoma woman’s entrepreneurial journey
    NextPrevious

    An Oklahoma woman’s entrepreneurial journey

    By sarah | News | 0 comment | 13 March, 2018 | 0

    By Scott Meacham
    Copyright © 2018, The Oklahoma Publishing Co.

    One of the real changes we’ve seen in Oklahoma over the past 10 to 15 years is a groundswell of talented young people who want to be career entrepreneurs and start their own high growth companies.

    We first met Stacey Brandhorst when she was working on her MBA at OSU and competing in the Governor’s Cup (now Love’s Cup Competition) with a business plan for PristineCal, a company that produced ultrapure calcium powder. Stacey won the pitch and interview competitions, but the PristineCal business plan didn’t place.

    Stacey Brandhorst

    “After we lost, i2E approached us,” Brandhorst recollects, “and said that if we were still serious about taking the business on, we could come through the i2E Proof of Concept Center. We worked for 12 weeks, graduated from the program, and in the big final pitch thanked everyone by saying that we had decided NOT to move forward with PristineCal because we had come to realize the market wasn’t there.

    “Sure, we failed, but in that failure, it was a win because we pivoted and went off to try something else,” she said.

    Eventually, Brandhorst returned to i2E — this time as a venture adviser teaching in a later more, compact iteration of the same class where she had been a student.

    “In my almost three years at i2E, I have seen more companies than most people ever see — 300 businesses and many more than 300 mistakes,” she said. “I’ve seen companies go the way of PristineCal and I’ve seen huge exits. I’ve seen entrepreneurs who are literally one year out of college and serial entrepreneurs who are coming off their latest IPO. The experience and insight I gained at i2E is every entrepreneur’s dream. There is literally no place like it for learning how to become a better entrepreneur.”

    Brandhorst was the self-described hole-poker and problem-finder — the one who is always pointing out things that can be done better.

    “I’m a tough critic and I ask the hard questions,” she said, “I’ve seen things fail that looked like they should work, but if entrepreneurship were easy, everyone would be doing it.”

    And now Brandhorst has moved to a new opportunity — COO of iRecommend, a Tulsa-based startup that she got to know through her advisory work at i2E. iRecommend’ s proprietary software is revolutionizing the search and product recommendation functions that connect retailers and customers.

     

    Stacey Brandhorst’s entrepreneurial journey is a 100 percent Oklahoma story, and exactly how things are supposed to work. She is the beneficiary of a knowledge transfer from dozens of Oklahoma entrepreneurs who came before.

    And what’s the most important thing Brandhorst learned?

    “There are people everywhere in Oklahoma cheering for us,” she said. “They want us to win. They want the rest of the world to see that Oklahoma is a state that is friendly and helpful to startups and entrepreneurs. Oklahoma is hungry for another tech win, and at iRecommend, we are working to be that win.”

    Scott Meacham is president and CEO of i2E Inc., a nonprofit corporation that mentors many of the state’s technology-based startup companies. i2E receives state support from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology and is an integral part of Oklahoma’s Innovation Model. Contact Meacham at i2E_Comments@i2E.org.

    Read the story at newsok.com

     

     

    Love's Entrepreneur's Cup, Stacey Brandhorst

    Related Post

    • Early stage investing in startups is essential

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2018, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. Last week, after I wrote about valuation — the negotiation that happens between entrepreneur and investor over what the startup company is worth on theRead more

    • Innovations carry Stillwater’s XploSafe beyond explosive detection

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Jim Stafford Copyright © 2018, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. STILLWATER — A sample mixer rotates slowly in a tiny laboratory at Stillwater’s XploSafe LLC, turning small vials filled with novel materials that are partRead more

    • GE Summer Science Academy takes creative approach to academic, engineering challenges

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Jim Stafford Copyright © 2018, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. Inside a science laboratory on the campus of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, teams of students last week attempted to connect syringes toRead more

    • Valuation of startups is a delicate negotiation

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2018, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. There is no aspect of the relationship between entrepreneur and potential investor that has more opportunity for conflict than the negotiation of the value ofRead more

    • Broken Arrow firm on cutting edge of micro optics

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2018, The Oklahoma Publishing Co. The other day, Bob Hogrefe, CEO of Access Optics, posed this thought-starter: What is it that battlefield observation systems, minimally invasive robotic surgery, and cellphonesRead more

    Leave a Comment

    Cancel reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    NextPrevious

    Investor Login

    • Disclaimer & Disclosure

    Oklahoma City Location

    840 Research Parkway, Suite 250
    OKC, OK 73104
    PHONE 405/235-2305

    Tulsa Location

    618 E. Third Street, Suite 1
    Tulsa, OK 74120
    PHONE 918/582-5592

    • Disclaimer & Disclosure
    Copyright 2021 i2E, Inc. | All Rights Reserved
    • About
    • Portfolio
    • Team
    • Funds
    i2E Management