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Month: May 2011

Spend a few cycles hacking for good at the PDX Applications for Good Code-a-thon this weekend

I know you. You spend a lot of time hacking on technology to make things better for people. Using data in interesting ways, building applications that make information more accessible, or just figuring out if something can be done.

But what if you were able to channel that creativity into creating something that solved problems for less fortunate folks? That would be cool right? Well take a look at the Portland Applications for Good Code-a-thon taking place this weekend. Read More

Is that Hellboy in your pocket or are you just Buffy to see me? Dark Horse Comics unveils Dark Horse Digital iPhone and iPad apps

Okay okay. Dark Horse Comics isn’t really a startup. But I could argue that any number of its titles are. And it is in Portland. Well okay Milwaukie. Fine. But you know what? When someone in Portland releases a really cool mobile app? That’s like a startup right there. So I’m totally covering this.

That’s right. Portland’s Dark Horse—the third largest comic publisher in the world—has officially released Dark Horse Digital, its new bookshelf app for iPhone and iPad. Read More

Former DEMOgod, Ontier Pixetell acquired; Brainshark to take over services

While there aren’t many details I can find, users of Pixetell from Portland startup Ontier were just alerted that Brainshark has acquired the product will take over support of their product [hat tip to Mike Rogoway]. It’s not clear by whom the product and/or company was acquired. No financial details were disclosed.

Customers of Pixetell received an email announcing the acquisition. The Pixetell site contains the same letter. The content of that letter can be found below. Read More

Pete Grillo talks Iterasi, startups, naming, investors, and getting the band back together

Talk to anyone about the Portland startup community and it will inevitably come back to one noticeable gap. No, I’m not talking about funding. I’m talking about the fact that we’re a tad short on entrepreneurs with successful exits. But they are here. If you can find them.

Pete Grillo is one of those entrepreneurs. He’s managed to successfully exit—twice. But that hasn’t stopped him from working on another startup—Iterasi—and advising other startups on how to play the game. Read More

You don’t have to go big to succeed: Lifestyle Startups according to Jason Glaspey

[Editor: Thanks to Dale Davidson of TrekDek for another guest post.]

In the tech community, it has become an axiom that a startup, or any newsworthy startup, should have the goals of building a revolutionary product, receiving venture funding, scaling up massively, and selling the company for hundreds of millions of dollars. Read More

Three techie Portland Kickstarter projects that could use a little love… and one that’s been successfully funded

Portland loves the Kickstarter projects. And not just because Andy Baio was the CTO while he was living here. There’s simply something about the friends and family funding model that appeals to the Portland mindset.

So it should come as no surprise that there are any number of Portland projects on Kickstarter. But what may be surprising are some of the more tech oriented projects that wind up there. Here are a few of my favorites. Read More

Are you a majestic unicorn? 31+ Portland jobs that could be your dream job… even if you’re not a unicorn

There’s a lot of hiring in the Portland area as of late. And happily, a lot of it is happening in bulk—with a number of companies advertising multiple positions.

If you’re a developer, you’ve got a ton of choices. Maybe you want to help reinvent Rumblefish, build out ForeclosureRadar, or make COLOURlovers even more awesome.

And if you’ve been thinking of moving to Portland, there’s no better time of year. Read More