Easily the question I get asked most often around here: How do I get connected to folks in the Portland startup community? And since we currently have no single “must attend networking event” to recommend, I usually respond by sharing three simple ways folks can get connected to their peers in the Portland startup community:
- Portland Startups Slack
- Meetup.com (Starter kit: founder.coffee, Startup your startup, PIE + Portland startup community, #social_beer)
- Portland Business Journal Portland Inno
Hopefully, that gives you a strong start to connecting with startup folks. Oh. And there’s this key thing to understand about the people in our startup community.
Have other questions about the Portland startup community? Let me know by commenting on the video. I’m happy to take a shot at answering them. Someone should make use of all of this information rattling around in my head.
Full transcript
How do I get connected to the Portland startup community? It’s actually easier than you think.
I’m gonna give you three quick tips for getting better connected with the Portland startup community. And then one hack that you need to know the most basic hack for getting connected with folks here in Portland.
First and foremost, Portland startups slack. The Portland startup slack can be the easiest way to connect with other people in the Portland startup community. Or if you’re thinking about moving to Portland and want to get a head start on getting connected with people. So it’s a community slack instance, it’s open invitation. If you’re interested in Portland, Portland startups thinking about moving to Portland, join that slack.
Number two: meetup.com. Easily the most popular platform in town for people scheduling events and promoting events is meetup.com. I’ll add some links to some of the more popular events down below. But make sure to join and search around for Portland startup events, Portland tech events, and you’re sure to find plenty to keep you busy in the morning during lunch weeknights. meetup.com probably your best bet on seeing what’s happening in the Portland startup community and starting to get connected.
Three, read Portland Ino. It’s a publication by the Portland Business Journal written by Malia Spencer also includes some startup information from other spots in the nation. By reading Portland denial will really help you have a better grasp of who’s doing what in town, what companies are here, what people you need to meet.
So those are three quick things you can do to get better connected in the Portland startup community.
Here is the one simple hack you need to know about Portland, everybody is super accessible, you don’t need a warm intro, just drop him an email, hit him up on the Portland startup slack and grab some time with them. I even know some CEOs who block regular time on their calendar to schedule coffee meetings with people who are new to the community, everybody seems willing to go out of their way to meet with people. So I encourage you to take advantage of that.
You’re reading Portland, and now you see an interesting company are here an interesting person, make sure and take the opportunity to reach out to them. It’s not very scalable. But this one on one kind of meeting is really the way at the Portland community has been built.
They’re your three quick ways of getting started in the Portland startup community and that one quick hack that everybody here in town should know — pretty much everybody in Portland is super accessible.
If you have other questions about the community. I’ve been here a while. I’m happy to answer them. Make sure and drop them in the comments. And if this has been valuable, or you’d like to see more information like this, please hit subscribe.
I hope this was helpful. I’ll talk to you soon. Hang in there. Keep up the good work.
