--- title: 'Silicon Florist links arrangement for April 29, 2025' date: '2025-04-29T09:14:14-07:00' type: post word_count: 744 char_count: 7175 tokens: 968 categories: - Portland --- # Silicon Florist links arrangement for April 29, 2025 Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today: [Oregon Startup Conference 2025: Where Innovation Meets Community Tickets, Fri, Jun 20, 2025 at 10:00 AM | Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oregon-startup-conference-2025-where-innovation-meets-community-tickets-1318861423019) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get ready for a high-energy, one-day experience spotlighting Oregon’s brightest entrepreneurs and early-stage startups. The Oregon Startup Conference is more than a pitch event—it’s a celebration of bold ideas, community-driven innovation, and the power of entrepreneurship to shape the future of our region. [Best Large Cities to Start a Business (2025)](https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-to-start-a-business/2281) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In order to determine the best cities for launching a business, WalletHub compared 100 cities, across three key dimensions: 1) Business Environment, 2) Access to Resources and 3) Business Costs. Our sample considers only the city proper in each case, excluding cities in the surrounding metro area. We evaluated the three dimensions using 19 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for startups. Data for metrics marked with an asterisk (\*) were available at only the state level. [Virtual Speed Networking Event: Vision to Venture](https://blkbook.io/vision-to-venture) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A one-day virtual speed networking event where founders, investors, and industry leaders actually get sh\*t done. [3 Charts Show The State Of Startup M&A Right Now](https://news.crunchbase.com/ma/startup-acquisitions-charts-ai-healthcare-private-equity/) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ With IPOs stalled and valuations down from their 2021 peak, more companies are snapping up venture-backed startups so far this year than in quarters past, Crunchbase data shows. [Oregon bill would implement protections for Uber, Lyft drivers • Oregon Capital Chronicle](https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/04/28/oregon-bill-would-implement-protections-for-uber-lyft-drivers/?emci=560b42ab-fa24-f011-8b3d-6045bded8cca&emdi=8467793f-0225-f011-8b3d-6045bded8cca&ceid=435409) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The bill is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Kayse Jama, D-Portland, who told the Capital Chronicle last week that he introduced the bill after meeting with Uber and Lyft drivers over the summer. Like many of the drivers, Jama is an immigrant who first moved to Portland as a refugee from Somalia more than a quarter of a century ago. [On Dropouts and Bootstraps – charity.wtf](https://charity.wtf/2025/04/28/on-dropouts-and-bootstraps/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There was a window of time in the 2000s when tech was an escalator to the middle class for a whole generation of weirdos, dropouts and liberal arts misfits. That window has been closed for a while now. I understand why the window closed, and why it was inevitable (software isn’t a toy anymore), but it’s still.. bittersweet. [Business Founders Are Less Valuable Than They Think](https://verdikapuku.com/posts/business-founders-are-less-valuable-than-they-think/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So instead of wasting your time peddling with no progress, focus on building an asset that is hard to ignore: a deep rolladeck of people that will answer your call on the 3rd ring. That will be your impossible-to-beat advantage. It will remove your name from the unserious-wanna-be founders list and put you in the top 5% of the can-actually-get-sh\*t-done founders list. [Median US CEO pay hits record $16.8 million on soaring stock awards | Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/median-us-ceo-pay-hits-record-168-million-soaring-stock-awards-2025-04-24/?_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_lhLs0Eo98ZULDP91MJvLqmeftJiAvpMvgHIKRTWkyf5bAakTGlRJN3WK9pQq_HygZRqcNxBe-f5eV3DrlXX8_-BHrUg&_hsmi=358931100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Median pay for top U.S. CEOs rose to record level in 2024 [From Weekend Project to Fortune 10 Adoption — Reducto’s Path to Product-Market Fit](https://review.firstround.com/reductos-path-to-product-market-fit/) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “There’s a disparity when founding a company. We hear inspirational stories of these grand visions and the big-picture ideas. So when you’re a new founder and you’re thinking about how to talk to customers, it doesn’t feel instinctively right to just reach out to people on Slack. It feels like you should be doing something flashier or cooler,” he says. “But in the beginning, it only matters whether or not people are using your products.” [Sustainable manufacturer Got Bag plans South Waterfront office – Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/stories/news/2025/04/29/gotbag-paisi-paisdzior-downtown-office.html?utm_source=st&utm_medium=en&utm_campaign=me&utm_content=PO&ana=e_PO_me&j=39632968&senddate=2025-04-29&utm_term=ep2&empos=p2) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paisdzior’s company, Got Bag, makes backpacks, cross-bodies and other bags from recycled ocean plastic that are fully waterproof. He just leased a 1,000-square-foot office space in South Waterfront at 5331 S. Macadam Ave. More Portland startup news --------------------------