What happens when you intentionally pair longtime community residents with newcomers to launch ventures?
Builders + Backers and Tulsa Remote tested this question in April 2023 by bringing our proven entrepreneurial workshop, the Idea Challenge, to Tulsa. While the Idea Challenge activated hundreds of new entrepreneurs across the Tulsa community, it also provided the foundation for groundbreaking research by Harvard Business School.
The Idea Challenge, designed and delivered by Builders + Backers, brought together nearly 350 Tulsans from all backgrounds – including longtime residents and newcomers to the city – to transform ideas into action through our proven methodology. Participants were matched in pairs and guided through problem identification, solution development, and creation of actionable experiments to test those ideas.
The Idea Challenge presented a unique research opportunity, thanks to Tulsa Remote's innovative program which has attracted thousands of new residents to the city through $10,000 relocation grants. With this ready pool of newcomers working alongside longtime Tulsans, the Idea Challenge offered researchers a perfect laboratory to study whether different perspectives and experiences combine to create stronger ventures.
The Harvard Business School research team, led by Professor Prithwiraj Choudhury and Georgia Tech's Professor Astrid Marinoni, studied the dynamics of the participants over the two-day boot camp. Their findings, published in early 2025, revealed that when longtime residents and newcomers collaborated, they generated ventures with stronger community impact compared to teams with similar backgrounds. This outcome demonstrates how Tulsa Remote's talent attraction strategy, combined with entrepreneurial support programs like Builders + Backers, can catalyze meaningful innovation.
"We're proud to have created a program that not only teaches entrepreneurial thinking but also facilitates meaningful connections between different segments of the community," said Donna Harris, CEO of Builders + Backers. "Our unique approach to getting ideas off the sidelines proved to be the perfect laboratory for studying how diverse perspectives can strengthen entrepreneurial outcomes."
The success of the Idea Challenge was evident in its outcomes: nine top-performing teams, representing 18 Tulsans, were awarded shares of $50,000 in prize money. Perhaps most importantly, 85% of participants were first-time entrepreneurs, demonstrating the program's effectiveness in activating new entrepreneurs in the community.
The Idea Challenge exemplified Builders + Backers' core mission: democratizing entrepreneurship by providing the tools, methodology, and support needed for anyone to transform ideas into action. It also created an environment where diverse perspectives could combine to generate innovative solutions for community challenges, supporting both Builders + Backers' mission to activate new entrepreneurs and Tulsa Remote's goal of fostering meaningful connections between new and established residents.
For more information about Builders + Backers' entrepreneurship programs and methodology, visit buildersandbackers.com or buildersandbackers.foundation