Editor’s note: Hanging out in the Portland Startup Slack, Kathryn Brown opined that many of the events and organizations trying to support founders in our community seemed a little misdirected. I asked her to elaborate if she could. What I got was a great list of things we should be doing more of… and things we should be doing less of. With her permission, I’m republishing her Slack posts, here.
Watch out, I've had lots of coffee + just posted an epic "What the #PDX #startup scene needs" in the https://t.co/FevZkxt14K general room.
— Kathryn Brown (@kathrynmbrown) August 19, 2016
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Here’s what we need more of…
1) More collaboration / interaction with the Portland business community at large
Early startup founders can really benefit from the connections that come from good ole’ executive networking.
2) Startup financial planning mentorship
Help with growth planning, financial modeling, etc.
3) Founder-run startup scene (as Brad Feld says)
Many leaders of entrepreneurship orgs. in our community have never founded a company. How do they know what it’s like / what entrepreneurs actually need?
4) Exited founders mentoring and re-investing
This makes for a mature and dynamic ecosystem. Why did FB acquire Instagram, seemingly out of the blue? Kevin was an early intern at FB and knew Zuck personally.
5) Software / tech shouldn’t be lumped with consumer goods / food / apparel
Most pitch contests here make software companies compete against noodle companies and peanut butter companies, and it’s completely flawed because the biz models and needs are vastly different.
6) Startups supporting each other / startup partnerships
Let’s use each others’ products, yo!
7) Risk-taking
Investors here are funding the most boring startups while the best and most ambitious startups are leaving our city for better opportunities i.e. Chroma. Their product is very compelling.
Here’s what we do not need more of…
1) Pitch events + pitch practice
Great, you can pitch, but it won’t get you anywhere here in PDX because the likelihood that you will “win” more than a few grand in a competition is slim.
2) Local startup competitions
Waste of time.
3) “Mentors” who actually have no practical experience
4) Happy Hours
Happy hours are fun! But we have so many of them. Let’s focus on helpful events.
Thoughts? Come discuss in the Portland Startups Slack or ping @kathrynmbrown and @turoczy on the Twitters.
