Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Digital healthcare has long been one of Portland’s strongest areas of startup success and support. But like so many awesome Portland things, it’s also a tightly knit community for which it can be difficult to figure out where to start. That’s why OTRADI Oregon Bioscience Incubator started a regular happy hour. So that making those connections could be easier.
While our only local connection to Techstars programs was a brief stint as the home of the first powered by Techstars accelerator, Portland startups have long had great collaborations with Techstars programs all over the place. With Portland folks heading off to Techstars programs in Seattle, San Antonio, New York, Chicago… the list goes on an on. Now, you’ll have the chance to meet with three different program leads to get all of your Techstars related questions answered—but without leaving town.
As someone who works to build community—and is, at best, mediocre at it—I’ve been super impressed, inspired, and astounded by the Zebra Movement, as one of those striking a chord movements that provides a space to collaborate with a likeminded community. And now, to continue their momentum, they’ve partnered with Institute for the Future.
This Spring, I was given the opportunity to take the stage for TEDxPortland. Which, I later learned, is among the top three TEDx events in the world. And it’s a good thing that I learned that later, because that definitely would have tempered my acceptance of the opportunity. But as someone who suffers from stage fright—and someone who did not yet understand the stature of the event—it seemed like one of those interesting personal challenges. A growing experience. I mean, what could go wrong?
It’s the end of the week. A time to reflect. And prepare for the week ahead. And for many startups, it’s a time to realize, yet again, that startups are just hard. And difficult. And messy. You don’t always have the answers. You don’t know where to find them. And you’re often lost. But there are folks who want to help. With things like Startup Therapy Office Hours.
I know you’ve been busy making stuff. But I didn’t want you to lose track of the fact that the deadline for applying to be a maker at the Portland Mini Maker Faire is rapidly approaching. Like tomorrow.
Startup folks, am I right? They’re always thinking of creative solutions to problems. And in Portland, unlike some of our differently motivated neighbors to the south, they’re often thinking about solutions that make life better for everyone in our community. Like Business for a Better Portland. An ad hoc chamber of commerce that sprung out of a desire to inform a collaborative—rather than contentious—model of public-private partnership.
If you were part of the Portland startup or open source community a decade ago—or if you were a startup type who visited Portland during that time period—you probably had the chance to attend Beer and Blog once or twice. If you weren’t around Portland then, you’ve no doubt heard me wax nostalgic dozens of times about the event, a weekly happy hour that served as the point of connection for our fledgling community.
Vancouver, Washington—our neighbors directly to the north—have gone by any number of names and descriptions over the years. As has the startup community in the ‘Couv’ and its supporting organizations. But all of that may change, now that they’ve revealed an identity designed to serve as the front door for the Vancouver startup community. Meet North Bank Innovations.
It’s OSCON week in Portland. Which means our usually jam-packed meetup schedule is even more jam-packed than usual. There are any number of events happening around town to showcase Portland to the visiting open source types. And if you’re looking for something to do tonight, Portland startup Stackery has you covered. They’re hosting a fireside chat on serverless with Kelsey Hightower of Google Cloud.
