Month: August 2024

Lots of good analysis and insights popping up. Just last week we had the 2024 Oregon Innovation Index and the subsequent AI analysis of the findings and opportunities. And now local investor Elevate Capital has released their insights on the Oregon investor ecosystem and startup economy — and ways to improve it.

Think you’ve got what it takes to win the largest Angel pitch competition in the Pacific Northwest? Well, I admire the confidence. But you’ll never get the chance to prove how worthwhile your startup is to the Bend Venture Conference audience if you don’t get your application submitted. They’re due August 9, 2024.

Personally, I’ve had experience with any number of incredibly creative and talented people who couldn’t market their way out of a wet paper sack. And I totally get it. When you’re using all of your talent to build things, other things fall by the wayside. That’s why I’m glad to see folks trying to solve that problem for promising entrepreneurs — and everyone else. Meet BLUPRNT.

It may seem like an odd number to fixate on, but the 17th anniversary of starting this blog is especially meaningful to me. I mean, I’m still as confused as ever as to how I’ve managed to keep doing this consistently for 17 years. Poorly… but consistently. (“Demented and sad… but social.”) Post after post after post. (5,170 posts over the course of 6,209 days — so far.) Shouting into the ether. Typing things into the Internet. But perhaps even more confusing than my consistently and unceremoniously indulging in this bad habit, day after day, is the simple fact that you continue to show up on a regular basis to consume this drivel. Like some glutton for punishment.

It’s that time of year. Time to start getting your travel plans ready to attend Bend Venture Conference in October. But in order to make that trip worthwhile, it would be beneficial to have a ticket to attend the event. Well, you’re in luck. Tickets to BVC are on sale now — at early bird prices.

Remember that Oregon Innovation Index 2024 report I shared last week…? Well a few folks have taken a bit of innovation to the Innovation Index by running it through some analysis by AI. And so I thought it would be nice to share that. In case you didn’t want to read the whole thing. Or in case you were curious what intuitive leaps might be inspired by the content of the document.

I usually think of Fridays as a bit of a respite from the deluge of startup news. But every once in a while, there’s just something that drops on a Friday that I can’t wait to share. Like Portland startup Studson getting coverage in Fast Company.

It must be accelerator season. We just learned about the new class of the Latino Founders Accelerator. And now, we’ve got a whole new crop of interesting consumer products companies beginning their cohort in the Built Oregon Accelerator. So who made the cohort? Let’s take a look.