.

Looking for users? How about the City of Portland?

You’ve discovered an incredible pain point. And you’ve built an incredible and elegant tool that resolves it, without a question. But you’ve still got one big problem: getting users on the platform.

Well, your next user may be the city in which you reside. You see, the City of Portland would like to try your product.

Wait what? Yep. It’s true. A few years back the City asked “What can we do to help our startup scene?” And one of the responses that was heard loud and clear was “Buy local. Use the stuff we’re building here.”

And so this is an opportunity to do just that. To take advantage of the City’s willingness to try your product.

We’re looking for a local business with a great product hoping to engage in a partnership to get things off the ground. If you’re just looking for a larger audience for a great technology or service, we might be able to help. Check out the City’s Official Adopter RFI to see how a partnership might help.

Local businesses of all shapes and sizes, young and old, have the opportunity to use the City’s workforce as a testing ground.

Yes, it’s a Request for Information (RFI). Yes, that’s a little bureaucratic. And yes, there’s a form or two you have to complete.

But, that said, the City of Portland has a bunch of people who could find your product incredibly valuable.

So if you’ve got a few minutes, hustle over to the City of Portland procurement site, register for a procurement number, and pitch your product. You’ve got until Friday.

For more information, see Portland Mayor Sam Adam’s blog.

(Image courtesy Barry M. Used under Creative Commons.)