---
title: 'After 11 years, I still so so believe in you, Portland startup community'
date: '2018-08-13T20:02:23-07:00'
type: post
word_count: 391
char_count: 2379
tokens: 509
categories:
  - Community
  - Oregon
  - Portland
  - Startups
tags:
  - Community
  - Portland
  - Startup
  - Twitter
---

# After 11 years, I still so so believe in you, Portland startup community

I know it’s more difficult than it should be. I know you have to hustle harder than most. But you can do it. And I believe in you. So this weekend, I stumbled into a bit of a pep talk. So I wanted to capture it for you here.

> Hey you. Yeah you.
> 
> Startup founder. Or first hire. Or still staying up late and carving out time to work on that side project that could someday be a day job…
> 
> I believe in you.
> 
> Keep going. You got this. ❤️
> 
> — Rick Turoczy (@turoczy) [August 11, 2018](https://twitter.com/turoczy/status/1028357589531287552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> And you may say… "But investors don't believe in me."
> 
> That doesn't matter.
> 
> Investors aren't about believing. They're about making money. (Not judging. That's just their job.) And every single one of them has the story about the one who got away.
> 
> Be the one who got away.
> 
> — Rick Turoczy (@turoczy) [August 11, 2018](https://twitter.com/turoczy/status/1028358828142690304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> So what if you don't "match the pattern"?
> 
> Being innovative isn't about matching the pattern. It's about using your unique perspective to deliver a solution that works for people who think like you and share in your experience.
> 
> Fix the problem you see. And your peers see.
> 
> — Rick Turoczy (@turoczy) [August 11, 2018](https://twitter.com/turoczy/status/1028359803062513665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> I know it's hard. I know it's tiring. I know you're wiped.
> 
> But please, for all of our sakes, keep going. Keep working. Just keep going.
> 
> We'll all be better for what you're building.
> 
> And I can't wait to see you prove them all wrong.
> 
> — Rick Turoczy (@turoczy) [August 11, 2018](https://twitter.com/turoczy/status/1028360147020607488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

### And while you’re here…

For more than a decade, I’ve been writing about — and [connecting dots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0) in — the Portland startup community. But now — at a time when many of the motivations that inspired me to start Silicon Florist continue to be issues — I’ve decided that it’s time to take that decade plus of experience and do more. [I’m hoping you’ll consider being among all of the amazing folks supporting this effort](https://www.patreon.com/turoczy). But if not, no hard feelings.