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Month: July 2015

Why just work when you can cowork? Portland startup Workfrom spearheads local arm of International Coworking Week

Portland is no stranger to coworking. It’s been popular as both an office format—and an ad hoc coffeeshop format—here since the turn of the century. But we’re not the only ones who love it anymore. It seems these days every city and town has their own set of awesome coworking spaces. And with this whole Portland coworking renaissance taking place, it’s nice to see Portland startup Workfrom organizing Portland’s own arm of International Coworking Week, next week. Read More

No matter how shaky your pitch is, it's still good enough to earn you a beer from Portland Seed Fund

Running a startup is a lesson in always defending what you’re doing. Always selling the concept. And always trying to get other people to appreciate the value and potential of your brilliance. You’re just always pitching. And refining that pitch. It’s not easy. And that’s why the Portland Seed Fund thinks your pitch is worth a beer. Read More

Got something to say to the broader startup community? There's still (barely) time to pitch a talk for SXSW 2016

Whenever I’m talking to the amazing startup and tech folks in Portland, there is one thing I always, always, always encourage people to do: get outside of Portland. Because for as collaborative and collegial as our community is, it’s still a microcosm of what’s actually happening out there. Learning what other communities are doing and sharing—more broadly—what you’re building can be key drivers to your success. And one of the best places to do this? SXSW. Read More

Don't just read all of the stupid things I say about Portland startups, listen to them

No. I didn’t start another podcast. But for reasons beyond my comprehension, I get asked to talk about Portland and startups. A lot. And it just happened again. Twice. And since the topic of conversation is based on you and your startuppy awesomeness, I thought you might like to know. So, if you’ve got a few minutes, tune into these podcasts from Partially Derivative and Launch Yourself. Read More

With startups, it's all about the timing: Startup Weekend Vancouver (Washington) postponed

While the team, the execution, and the initial idea are important, the success or failure of most startups comes down to one thing: timing. Forcing something at the wrong time is almost worse than not doing it at all. And that’s why I’m happy to see the Startup Weekend Vancouver (Washington) team adjusting their timing. Read More

We Code: Nike and Puppet Labs host second women's hackathon

Portland has no shortage of hackathons. But it’s always nice to see something with a particular focus or centered around a certain community. And what’s even nicer? When they happen on a regular basis. Which is why I’m psyched to see We Code—a women’s hackathon hosted by Nike and Puppet Labs—which is taking place for the second time. Read More

REMINDER: Portland's black founders take the stage for Pitch Black, Thursday

As we work toward building a more diverse and inclusive Portland startup scene, we’re seeing a number of events that speak to unique and distinct communities within our larger startup community. It’s a positive trend. And one I hope we see continue. The next opportunity? Pitch Black, a pitch event featuring awesome Portland black entrepreneurs—with no slide decks. Read More

WITCHing hour: Women In Tech, Coding, and Hacking gather for Summer Soiree

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: Portland is, by its very nature, a collaborative and collegial community. But even so, it’s rare for us to do a good job of getting a bunch of groups together on a regular basis. That’s why I was happy to see the WITCH Summer Soiree. Read More

Did AWS Device Farm sound familiar? That's because Amazon acquired Portland startup AppThwack to build it

Last week, the Web was all abuzz with this nifty new mobile testing environment from Amazon called AWS Device Farm. Folks were waxing philosophic about the magic of being able to test their mobile apps on real physical devices. And we, here in Portland, were sort of scratching our heads. Wasn’t this what AppThwack does? Well, yes. And yes. You see AWS Device Farm is AppThwack. Read More