Portland Oregon startups, tech, news, events, jobs, and community

Following any part of an AI answer down its own side road without losing your place in the main answer can be difficult. Even with something like Instinct that does a pretty good job of linking replies. But, it could be easier and better. For sure. That’s the idea behind Infinity, a free AI app for Mac.

It’s Friday the 13th. What could go wrong…? (Don’t answer that.) I just wanted to provide a quick reminder that every Friday evening around 9:00PM Pacific Time, a bunch of us gather together virtual watch party from the comfort of our own keyboards to watch the latest episode of the Portland startup news weekly recap. And it would be great to have you there.

Fundraising is the easiest way to increase the number of “No”s you hear on a daily basis. You know that. But if you’re tired of collecting those rejections, Martin Tobias of Incisive Ventures has launched a new offering called Investor Match. Which is expressly built to tell you which investors are more likely to add to your collection of “Yes”s.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Your Company’s Attachment Problem

Underneath my desire to keep everything “okay” was a drive to avoid being abandoned. My actions were all weighed down by a misguided agenda of rescuing. If I saved, I mattered. And if that didn’t work, I could fall back on my black-belt-level skills in dissociation.

If you track on what’s happening in downtown Portland, the name Jeff Swickard will be familiar. The new owner of Big Pink (and a number of other buildings downtown) has been on a buying spree to help rejuvenate the Rose City. And while snapping up buildings is indeed helpful, you may have been hopeful that some of that capital hit closer to home. Maybe he’ll start investing in startups, you thought…? Well, wish granted. Swickard has become an investor in Araceli Biosciences.

Ever wish you could talk product and growth with actual humans…? Well, here’s an opportunity. It’s like the comment section of Lenny’s Podcast and Lenny’s Newsletter come to life IRL. The Lenny’s Newsletter community is holding a meetup in Portland tomorrow, Friday, November 13, 2026. And it comes with free drinks courtesy of PostHog.

It’s become a regular tradition for Mitch Daugherty, the former chair of Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, founder of Built Oregon, and current head of the Portland Office of Small Business, to put up a gentle reminder each holiday season designed to encourage all of us to remember the importance of supporting our local businesses this holiday season — even if we’re not in a position to support them financially.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Wikipedia at 25: A Fireside Chat with Selena Deckelmann CPO/CTO Wikimedia Foundation · Luma

Long before Wikipedia, Selena helped build the Portland tech community many of us grew up in. She founded the Portland PostgreSQL Users Group, co-founded the Open Source Bridge conference, launched PyLadiesPDX and mentored startups at PIE. She then spent 9 years at Mozilla, rising to SVP of Firefox and leading about 400 people. Expect stories from all of it, plus thoughts on AI from a very unique perspective.

Every month this year, a Demolicious crowd has picked a favorite. And in December, all of those favorites end up on the same stage for the Demolicious Champion of Champions 2026. But there’s a twist. According to Josh Carter, who runs Demolicious, this is the last Champion of Champions of the monthly run. That’s right. Starting in 2027, Demolicious becomes a yearly event at the Mission Theater. So this is the end of a (recent) era.