One of the most promising young companies in recent Portland startup history — founded by a serial entrepreneur, funded by local investors, and securing a bunch of seasoned local talent — Bumped has been quietly chugging along in a closed beta. But all of that is changing soon. And so is the Bumped offering.
Read MoreMonth: October 2020
Five Portland area startups graduate with latest Founder Gym cohort
While any number of startup accelerator programs have been struggling to convert to a virtual program during this time, always virtual programs — like Founder Gym — hasn’t missed a beat. Because they’ve always been virtual. Their latest class just graduated. And it included a number of Portland area participants.
Read MoreWorkfrom only Oregon startup to garner investment from Google for Startups Black Founders Fund
It makes sense that I’m composing this post while sitting in a Workfrom cafe. I mean, it’s a virtual cafe. But still. More on that later. What’s top of mind right now is that Workfrom has received a $50,000 non dilutive investment from Google for Startups as part of the Black Founders Fund.
Read MoreNeed my focused effort on your startup problem? I’m hoping this will help
Even though I’m a complete introvert, I do everything I can to muster the energy to meet with people. It’s my way of collecting and connecting dots. For the benefit of the startup community. Meeting with folks who want to get connected and putting them in touch with folks they need to meet.
Read MoreCraving the craft of customer support? Maybe it’s in the Margins
There was a time when a product that did something worthwhile was enough. No matter how ugly or unusable. Then people started to expect more. And wanted more functionality. And now, even after the functionality got good, people want more. Like customer support. But that’s still a challenging topic for many companies. Which is why the craft of customer support can be helpful.
Read MoreA new name and some new money to help introduce it: Meet DeepSurface (formerly Kanchil)
I’ve been tracking on a Portland startup called Kanchil for a bit. Mostly because they’ve posted opening to the Silicon Florist job board. It seemed pretty stealthy at the time, so I was reticent to post much about it. But now, they have a new name and some new funding. And other people are writing about it. So now I feel more comfortable encouraging you to take a look at DeepSurface.
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