In June 2023, Venture For America held the first of three immersion trips to Tulsa for our Fellow Founders. These trips are designed to give these Fellow Founders the chance to build relationships with local stakeholders and other ecosystem support organizations, pitch to win $5,000 in grant financing, and increase their brand visibility.
We spoke with one of those Fellow Founders, Max Polec, about his experience.
Tell us about your trip! Was there a memorable moment from the week?
The top moment for me was the VFA Founders Pitch Competition. We had eight Fellow Founders in total and it was so exciting to be able to talk about my startup alongside my peers. Even though the event was branded as a competition, it felt much more like a celebration of one another.
How are you feeling about everything now and what are you looking forward to next?
I had three goals for this trip:
- Get a feel for Tulsa as a city.
- Meet and network with key leaders in the Tulsa entrepreneurial ecosystem.
- Meet and network with Fellow Founders.
I am happy to share that I was able to do all three during the program. I was meeting most of the other Fellow Founders for the first time in Tulsa. We came to Tulsa as strangers and by the end of the week, we were friends.
I also got to meet with several leaders running various programs to support entrepreneurs in Tulsa and have exciting conversations in progress about getting plugged in to help out!
Who would you recommend the Tulsa Immersion Trip for?
I’d recommend this trip to anyone who is interested in any or all of the following:
- You are considering a move to Tulsa.
- You are looking to network with others who may become future mentors, investors, and customers.
- You are looking to build community with other Fellow Founders.
- You are looking to get feedback on your pitch and have a chance to win some capital to help you along the way.
About Max
Max Polec is a 2017 Venture For America Alumni who did his Fellowship in Birmingham, Alabama. Max is the Founder of The CEO Strategy. The CEO Strategy helps first-time founders illuminate blind spots and identify business growth opportunities by providing founder-first coaching, tested with 200+ entrepreneurs so that you can be a better entrepreneur in 30 minutes.