With headlines dominated by the global pandemic and people experiencing a strange new normal, a respite from all of that can be welcome. Which is why I’ve been actively tracking and retweeting the women leading consumer products companies in Oregon that Built Oregon has been sharing as part of Women’s History Month.
Read MoreMonth: March 2020
Time to get meta: A list of lists for COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus resources for Portland startups (and anyone else)
One of my favorite things about Portland is its culture of craft and creativity. A close second is the culture of encouragement. When you combine those two things, you get the wackiness that is Portland. You get 200 different flavors of donuts, thousands of flavors of beer from hundreds of craft brewers. Food carts. Coffeeshops. It’s the combination of those cultures that truly makes Portland, Portland.
Read MoreRecognizing the impact of COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus on Oregon small business
You know those times when you’re ridiculously busy — you mean everyday? says every entrepreneur — and you’ve convinced yourself that that thing you forgot to do was actually done. But it wasn’t. Yeah. That. I meant to share the details of a survey Built Oregon and our partners recently completed to help give folks a better understanding of the impact of this whole COVID-19 situation on local business. But I didn’t. So I am now.
Read MorePersonal Protective Equipment for healthcare professionals: Local startup community fundraising campaigns
I’ve tried to get away from promoting active campaigns on fundraising platforms, because I could honestly cover that all day every day. But in this weird new normal, I’m willing to shake it up a bit. Especially because these campaigns are working to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) into the hands of healthcare professionals. And that’s desperately needed.
Read MoreIt seemed too soon for a punny hacking virus headline: COVID-19 Global Hackathon
Used to be, Portland had tons of hackathon opportunities. So many, that we kind of hacked ourselves out. And people found other ways to stimulate their creativity and occupy their time. But we have this latent hackathon potential. And a whole bunch of new folks in the ecosystem. So this seems like a really interesting and meaningful way to test the waters. There’s a COVID-19 Global Hackathon.
Read MoreWith all of the layoffs happening in and around Portland, would you be interested in a virtual job fair as a job seeker or employer?
Searching for some positive news? Meet a bunch of new Portland startups. All from the comfort of your Web browser.
Clearly, there’s a palpable amount of negativity floating around, these days. And with good reason. But the continued onslaught can get grating, if not completely debilitating. So if you’re looking for something more positive — and you’ve already binge watched all the Arthur and Zoboomafoo episodes you can stomach — maybe consider meeting some new Portland startups.
Read MoreThinking about a startup that lessens the impact of this pandemic? WeFunder wants to help
Inspiration comes from the strangest places. So no matter how jarring, frustrating, or weird our new normal may be, I know that there are entrepreneurs inspired to create solutions that help us out of our current plight — and to help ensure this doesn’t happen again. And WeFunder wants to help those founders with the “Fight the Virus” challenge.
Read MoreIf you have fallen victim to a layoff, I’m sorry. Take a moment, take a breath, and then consider these resources.
Some of us have seen this before. And yet for many of you, this is a whole new experience. An incident occurs. The markets tumble. The economy starts to tank. The bubble pops. And then come the layoffs. It’s sudden, shocking, and paralyzing for folks affected. And it can be hard to figure out where to turn. So given the already escalating number of jobs eliminated in Portland, I thought it would be wise to provide a few resources that may be helpful in this time of need.
Read MoreExperimenting with social distance: PIE Demo Day goes fully virtual
I sincerely hope you’re hanging in there. Stuff is weird. I mean, seriously. To be more blunt, shit is weird. And isolating. And lonely. But PIE, one of Portland’s oldest startup accelerators, is hoping to, ahem, disrupt that isolation. By holding its demo day virtually. With appropriate social distance.
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