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Month: March 2011

Why I broke up with Portland to build my startup… and why we’re back together

Rick Turoczy on March 14, 2011

[Editor: It’s been a while since we’ve had a guest post from Darius Monsef, founder of COLOURlovers (one of the first Portland Web startups I started following here on Silicon Florist). Want to hear more from Darius? Swing by PIE on Tuesday afternoon.]

She was a dream city with everything I hoped for. I was willing to work long hours and scrape by on the leanest of incomes to make things work. I tried again and again… but ended up having to abandon her to find real opportunities in new cities. On my journey I travelled to the mystical land of Startups. I saw over the wall into the secret garden and I’ve returned home to share what I’ve learned… and to be happily together with PDX again. Read More

If Portland is truly going to foster the startup scene, user groups are a critical component

Rick Turoczy on March 11, 2011

Nearly four years ago when I started this little blog, one of the huge motivating factors for doing so was Portland’s vibrant user group community. In a town of geekery, openness, collaboration, and collegial interactions, the user groups—be they language focused or discipline focused—are perfectly suited for the way we tinker, the way we work, and the way we create.

Ironically enough, user groups are also underserved. They seem to be doing well enough on their own. They’re grassroots by nature. They just keep going and going without much help. But if we are truly going to foster the Portland startup scene, we must find ways to strengthen the user group community. Read More

Finding funding faster: OTBC opens Oregon TechLaunch Boot Camp

Now, OTBC is launching a new initiative with one focus in mind: getting funding for every startup that goes through the program. Introducing Oregon TechLaunch Boot Camp, their new technology startup training.

Rick Turoczy on March 10, 2011

For many startups, finding funding is the only thing standing between them and realizing their dream. But it’s not easy. And there are any number of ways to screw up an opportunity.

Now, OTBC is launching a new initiative with one focus in mind: getting funding for every startup that goes through the program. Introducing Oregon TechLaunch Boot Camp, their new technology startup training program. Read More

Startup Weekend Portland progeny CPUsage ready to put your machine’s idle time to good use

That’s the idea behind CPUsage, a young Portland startup that’s looking to put your machine’s idle time to good use. And maybe gives you a little something in return.

Rick Turoczy on March 8, 2011

Now, I know you’re on your computer quite a bit. Trust me. I know. But there are times when your machine is just sitting there. Idle. Still on. But idle. What if—instead of sitting there all lonely—it could be doing good?

That’s the idea behind CPUsage, a young Portland startup that’s looking to put your machine’s idle time to good use. And maybe gives you a little something in return. Read More

Reminder: Emma is Hosting Lunch 2.0 on Wednesday

Rick Turoczy on March 7, 2011

Did you forget that Emma (@emmamail) wants to have you over for lunch on Wednesday?

Just wondering because there are only 34 RSVPs on Upcoming, and frankly, that seems a bit low for free lunch. I guess it must be because geeks wait until the absolute last minute to decide on stuff like this.

Emma is currently breaking in their new space on East Burnside; they’ve been hiring local people you might know, e.g. PostgreSQL maven Selena Decklemann (@selenamarie), and they want to get to know you over lunch.

Did I mention they’re also hiring?

Read More

Can Portland become the next Yobongo town?

Rick Turoczy on March 7, 2011

One of the biggest gripes about the Portland startup and tech scene is that we’re often overlooked as, well, a startup and tech scene. But more and more, startups and established companies alike are realizing just how cool Portland is. Example? Take Google Hotpot which chose Portland as its first test city.

Now, there’s another hot application—it’s called Yobongo and it’s rumored to be a SXSW breakout app—that’s looking to establish some more outposts besides San Francisco, New York, and Austin. Could Portland be the next Yobongo city? Read More

Still liking Instagram for iPhone photography? Portland’s Gramfeed will make you fall in love all over again

Decent Web access to Instagram photos. The experience has been pretty much constrained to one-off pics or the stream on your iPhone. Until now. Meet Gramfeed.

Rick Turoczy on March 4, 2011

While Portland lost its unique tie to the iPhone photo app Instagram when they opened a San Francisco office, there is no love lost on the app around here. People around these parts continue to snap, filter, and share photos with Intagram to the tune of thousands of local photos are uploaded daily. There’s even a Portland Instagram Group.

But you know what there’s not? Decent Web access to Instagram photos. The experience has been pretty much constrained to one-off pics or the stream on your iPhone. Until now. Meet Gramfeed. Read More

Small Society Wants to Have You over for Lunch

Rick Turoczy on March 4, 2011

IOS development shop, Small Society (@smallsociety) will be hosting Lunch 2.0 on April 6. Bring your iPad 2.

If you read here, you’ll know that Portland has a burgeoning mobile development scene. You don’t have to read here to know that, but we do talk about it a lot.

Small Society was in on the ground floor of the mobile app explosion (insert hipster meme here), and founders Raven Zachary (@ravenme) and James Keller (@semaphoria) have built a extraordinary team of iOS developers who crank out magical apps for big and small brands alike. Read More

Red Hat and Max Ogden team up for Map Hack, an all night geolocation hackathon

Red Hat invites you to join Max Ogden for Map Hack, a all-night geolocation app hackathon starting at 7 PM Saturday and running until 11 AM Sunday.

Rick Turoczy on March 3, 2011

It’s pretty late to be reading blog posts. Whatcha doing? Up hacking on stuff? What’s that? You’re reading this in the morning? Oh. Well maybe you’re still hacking on stuff. Okay. Whatever. Forget the whole time thing. Point is: you’re hacking on stuff.

Well, if you want a little company with that whole hacking, Red Hat invites you to join Max Ogden for Map Hack, a all-night geolocation app hackathon starting at 7 PM Saturday and running until 11 AM Sunday. Read More

Why is Portland a good town for startups?

Rick Turoczy on March 2, 2011

You know me. I’ll rarely pass up a chance to champion Portland as the perfect place to start your startup. And if you read the blog, you know I’ll rarely pass up the opportunity to feature Portland startup darling Urban Airship, either. Throw in a Pete Grillo mention and I simply have to post.

But I was worried I was getting caught up in my fanboi-ness. So I let it sit for a week. Guess what? I still think it’s good stuff. So I’m running it. Here’s Scott Kveton, CEO of Urban Airship, on Portland, his company, and being an entrepreneur via Startup Weekly. Read More

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