Technology is awesome. When I was a kid, we had to rely on rumor to figure out where Santa Claus was at any given moment. Now? We’ve got any number of services helping us keep an eye on the big man. Read More
Month: December 2012
Slumbering giant: Janrain is quietly becoming the dominant force in registration management
Portland companies, by and large, have a very difficult time tooting their own horns. “Oh no no. We’re not doing anything special. Don’t worry about us.” But sometimes, they get discovered for the actual potential they hold. And the site-of-record for the Bay Area, PandoDaily, just took a closer look at one of them: Janrain. Read More
Enterprise product development is broken. Portland's Jama Software is working to fix it.
For a town as small as Portland, we’ve got an awful lot of dark horse companies. No, not that Dark Horse, although they’re here too. No, I mean companies that are quietly working on creating really compelling businesses with name brand customers—but they don’t often get the attention they deserve. Read More
Brilliant! Urban Airship floats over the pond to open London office
Continuing its expansion, Portland’s Urban Airship has now opened a London office. Cofounder MT Richardson has relocated to London to help with the effort. And they’ve already brought on some big name to help stand up the new “premises.” Read More
Visualizing Vizify: "Your Year on Twitter" lands Portland startup on TV with Steph Stricklen and KGW Live at 7
It’s always nice to see Portland startups taking center stage on KGW Live at 7. This time around it was Vizify, who recently announced a partnership with Twitter to help power part of Your Year on Twitter—a visualization of the tweets, followers, and words that you used on the popular social network. Read More
Making it a happier holiday season for makers: Chirpify powers transaction-fee-free Etsy sales via Instagram and Twitter
In Portland, we love our makers. And Portland’s Chirpify is proving it by putting their money where their mouth is. Or not taking money where their mouth is. Or something. What I’m trying to say is Chirpify is helping Etsy folks sell their wares on Instagram and Twitter with no transaction fees—for life. Read More
Portland gets even more Drupal-icious: Acquia expands Portland presence
[Insert overplayed "gift" analogy here]: Upstart Labs opens startup applications via AngelList
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Upstart Labs is the best thing going in Portland right now for startups, Not only do they provide a chunk of capital, they also augment your startup teams with successful entrepreneurs, developers, and mentors. Read More
How I became a better entrepreneur by failing my first meeting with a VC
I faced a big challenge on Friday. It was TresPlace’s first formal pitch with an investor. I met with Tom Sperry, Managing Director of Rogue Venture Partners. It was a humbling experience. Read More
Making stuff for the makers: Funded Portland startup Tindie aims to be the Etsy for hardware hackers
You’ve heard it time and time again. But it bears repeating: We Portlanders like the making. And the craft. So it only stands to reason that—as one of the leading towns on Etsy and Kickstarter and the home of XOXO—we would be a place where people make things for the makers, so that makers can make more stuff. Well, and money. Read More