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Being more critical of the Northwest tech scene: All Things Critical takes off the rose colored glasses

Rick Turoczy on August 4, 2011

For some, the picture being painted of the Rose City startup and tech scene is a just a little too Utopian. They purport that maybe, just maybe, the Northwest startup scene isn’t so much a world of rainbows and unicorns. And they would like to see some more objective assessment and criticism of what’s happening.

Enter All Things Critical, the latest online effort from Robert Wagner of Portland Sucks and Cascadia FM fame.

Why Robert? Well, for one, he’s never one to shy away from expressing his opinion. But he’s also got experience and insight to offer.

I’ve been involved in software and technology in some capacity since I was a teenager and I’ve consistently worked in the industry either full time or part time since. Originally from Seattle, I watched the dot com implosion (and gross mismanagement and investing) claim thousands of jobs and millions of dollars. I moved to Portland several years ago not because this city had a lot to offer me, but because it seemed to have a lot to offer everyone else – it was everything Seattle wasn’t. I wanted to be where big things were happening because I enjoy watching good people succeed. I believe that the Internet continues to provide us all a level playing field where everyone has an equal opportunity to get noticed and do amazing things – and I’m as cynical of businessmen as I am enamored with developers.

All Things Critical joins Silicon Lumberjack and Portland Tech Insider, two other new blogs designed to provide more objective viewpoints on what’s happening in the Portland tech scene. And of course, they all join the grandaddy of all objective reporting on the Northwest tech scene, Silicon Forest by Mike Rogoway.

I’m really looking forward to watching all of these blog report on what’s happening around here. The more people writing, questioning, and commenting on the current scene, the better. And the better we’ll all be for it.

For more, visit All Things Critical or follow @allthingscritic on Twitter.

Published by Rick Turoczy

More than mildly obsessed with the Portland startup community. Founder and editor at Silicon Florist. Cofounder and general manager at PIE. Follow me on Twitter: @turoczy

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  9. Lynn Fredricks August 6, 2011 at 12:46 am

    I just read Robert’s article over on OregonLive about the state of the SAO.

    I credit Matt with increasing membership, especially among real start ups. SAO has been in a corpse-like malaise for years. Although not genuine life, it was an improvement.

    I was an active member for several years but, noticed that the SAO couldn’t figure out what their purpose was – advocating for large locally represented tech companies that really didn’t need it (Intel, HP, etc) seemed like a priority for quite some time, even though their membership was made up primarily of much smaller software companies. Of the start ups now, what does SAO have to offer them at this point?

    Along with criticism Robert, I hope you’ll also inject any wisdom you’ve brought along from Seattle to the benefit of your readers.

  10. Betsy Richter August 4, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    Robert also co-hosts the Redoing Media show with me on Cascadia.FM. Today, I put him in the hot seat as guest, where he talked about why he first got involved in ATC, why he chose to take it on as yet another project, and what he hopes ATC will accomplish.

    Do drop by to grab the 55 minute podcast (now available on the RM site) – I’m biased (Robert’s a friend; I’ll be playing some small role to help ATC grow) – but I think it’s well worth listening to!

  11. Jeff August 4, 2011 at 1:12 pm

    Kudos to Wagner for having the guts to write and publish under his name, unlike Lumberjack and Insider which both appear to be anonymous efforts.

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