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Month: May 2020

Tracking the impact of COVID-19 on entrepreneurs and small business: Portland Dreams Disrupted

Early in the onset of the our region’s reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portland Business Journal began capturing the stories of a number of local small businesses — tracking their journey through this life altering experience. Now, those stories have been amalgamated with stories from around the US in American Dreams Disrupted.

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Playing good cop and bad cop on the Float Small Business podcast

As a Libra, I often argue both sides of an issue. Generally in my head. By myself. This time, part of that internal good cop, bad cop routine was captured for posterity, externally. All thanks to the Float Small Business podcast with host Amina Moreau.

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The Hidden Founders Project: Highlighting amazing entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley

Naithan Jones of Andreesen Horowitz is starting a new research project that’s going to be of interest to most — if not all — founders around these parts. He’s calling it “The Hidden Founders Project.” And it’s an effort to highlight amazing entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley.

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Making it better together: Behind the scenes with Jaime Schmidt and Chris Cantino of Supermaker

Early stage startups can always use more support. And founders can always use more resources for mentorship and capital. That’s why I was so excited to hear about the launch Supermaker and Color, two efforts from Jaime Schmidt and Chris Cantino. Here’s a recent video sharing more on what they’re building and how they’re looking to support early stage founders — including details on the Entrepreneurial Dream Project.

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Goodbye Demolicious cup. Hello Demolicious belt! (Also Demolicious is back. Again.)

There are a number of events that I hold in both high regard and high in nostalgia. One of them is Demolicious, a Portland technology event originally conceived and managed by Adam DuVander. The focus? Get people to demo a product or application that they were building — no matter how rough and unpolished it happened to be.

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Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? #SimpleSharesTheBill helps local Oregon restaurants

Granted, I’ve been a Simple customer for a long long time. (Full disclosure: They’re a PIE alum.) But if I wasn’t, this is the kind of thing that would inspire me to become one. During this Memorial Day weekend, if you use your Simple card to buy food from a local Oregon restaurant, they’ll reimburse you $20.

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How do you get started on your startup without a cofounder, a team, or funding?

So during this whole pandemic thing, people are starting new things. And I’ve talked to quite a few folks who have been inspired to start new startups. But given that finding cofounders, team members, funding, and practically anything that doesn’t involve just you is exceptionally difficult while we’re all in isolation, starting a startup can be even more difficult than it used to be.

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Let folks know you’re hiring Portland tech and startup types at half the usual price on the Silicon Florist job board

For nearly a decade, the Silicon Florist job board has been a go to resource for folks looking to land jobs in Portland startups and tech companies around town. Hundreds of companies and thousands of employees have connected because of job postings there. But these days — I have to be honest — it’s looking a little sparse.

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Chatting with the founder of Portland startup MilkRun about her journey

Any number of companies have been negatively impacted by this pandemic. But even these dark times can have bright spots. Like validating business models that local startups have been championing. Take Portland startup MilkRun, who was working to rethink the grocery supply chain long before folks were seeing the weaknesses of the large provider system.

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