Month: October 2023

It’s not all doom and gloom. There are glimmers of startup hope, here and there. People getting funding. Companies releasing products. Events and gatherings growing in number. The momentum is building. It may not be entirely palpable. But it’s there. And if your company is among those gaining ground looking to hire, the Silicon Florist job board can be a great resource to help you find the talent you need — and at a discount for a limited time.

I play goalkeeper. So the concept of a “fun run” is completely lost on me. But I appreciate that many people enjoy running or jogging or whatever. So I wanted to make sure to remind you running types that the 4K4Community reboot happens tomorrow, October 10, 2023, at OMSI.

Discogs is among a rare group of Portland startups — like Digital Trends and Panic — that folks in the Portland startup community have often heard of and used — but don’t realize it’s actually a local company. But it is. And perhaps even more rare, a Portland-area company that has gained and sustained worldwide recognition. But now, it’s grappling with balancing its community’s needs with the business’ needs. And, unfortunately, that’s putting one of the most amazing databases of music ever created at risk.

Bend Venture Conference, the annual gathering of Angels, VCs, and startups in Southern Oregon, continues to remain one of the largest startup pitch competitions on the West Coast — and an annual destination event for many of the folks in the industry. So it’s always nice to see Early Stage startups getting the chance to present in front of the esteemed audience.

The recent rethinking of funding for startup support organizations by the state of Oregon has raised a few questions. Not least among them was questioning why a new focus was proposed if most of the same organizations still received the funding they had always received. Note I said “most.” Because that’s where another question arose: Why wasn’t a long-time climate tech resource funded this time around — especially given the dire need for climate-conscious solutions right now?

Okay okay okay. I know that this is an incredibly bad segue after talking about Sober October. But it is what it is. I just heard that Upstart Collective, the coworking space dedicated to supporting Portland startup founders, will be hosting a monthly happy hour on the first Friday of the month, starting in October.

If you’re trying to embrace Sober October — or any other types of sobriety for that matter — you’re likely on the lookout for ways to maintain your preferred socializing rituals. But without booze. I just wanted to remind you that — thanks to a Portland startup — there’s an app for that: Buzzcutt.

In this day and age of muddled and obfuscated supply chains, keeping track of what came from where to make what can be challenging for even the most astute and organized supply chain detective. Recognizing this, the team at The Provenance Chain™ Network had the insight that tracking these elements within complex supply chains was a perfect use case for the Blockchain. So they started a company to do exactly that. And now, it’s clear that others agree they’re on to something interesting. Several others. Like the Federal Government. The Provenance Chain has sailed through SBIR to Phase III and now they’re working with the United States Space Force.

Clear communication. Obviously, I’m completely incapable of it. But I’m a huge fan of it. That’s why I really like what First Row is doing with its Ensemble Fund. They’re looking for deal flow for a one-time investment. That’s it. No follow on. All designed to get Angels to collaborate on due diligence of their first pooled fund. Think of it as a learning opportunity. Well that and the opportunity to get some capital into founders’ hands.