Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
PDX Startup Week 2025 · Events Calendar
View and subscribe to events from PDX Startup Week 2025 on Luma. Portland Startup Week (May 12-17, 2025) is a community celebration of all things startup in Portland. Whether it’s education, social, or just focusing on your mental health, we’ve got you covered!
Oregon’s mental health needs outweigh its ability to provide services, report shows • Oregon Capital Chronicle
Oregon’s behavioral crisis response systems only partially meet the national guidelines and best practices, according to the state’s audit. The report, released Thursday, included recommendations for the Oregon Health Authority, as improving behavioral health systems in Oregon can provide health and economic benefits in the long run. For every $1 invested in preventing and treating youth mental disorders and suicide, there is a $24 return in health and economic benefits over 80 years, the report shows.
Requests for Startups | Y Combinator
2025 is indeed shaping up to be the “year of AI agents”. We’ve put together a list of AI Agent startup ideas that we think are especially promising. Some of these draw attention to trends that are already in full swing, and some of them are where we think things are going next.
How founders should think about runway: A guide from Sequoia Capital. | VC & Startup Jobs.
Founders often view runway as just a number or equation, but VCs expect them to think beyond that. Sequoia Capital shared a framework on how founders should approach the runway.
Plain Vanilla
This is an overview of the major techniques used to make web sites and web applications without making use of build tools or frameworks, with just an editor, a browser, and web standards.
The Most Valuable Commodity in the World is Friction
I think what we’re witnessing isn’t just an extension of the attention economy but something new – the simulation economy. It’s not just about keeping you glued to the screen anymore. It’s about convincing you that any sort of real-world effort is unnecessary, that friction itself is obsolete3. The simulation doesn’t just occupy your attention, right, instead it replaces the very notion that engagement should require effort. Which is… wild.
A timeline of the US semiconductor market in 2025 | TechCrunch
The semiconductor industry plays a sizable role in the “AI race” that the U.S. seems determined to win, which is why this context is worth paying attention to: from Intel’s appointment of Lip-Bu Tan to CEO — who wasted no time getting to work trying to revitalize the legacy company — to Joe Biden proposing sweeping new AI chip export rules on his way out of office that may or may not actually stick.
‘YIMBY AI’ wins Seattle climate hackathon with idea to support development of backyard units – GeekWire
About 80 people participated in the event, which was held at the recently launched Seattle Climate Innovation Hub, a downtown venue that is a partnership between the City of Seattle, the University of Washington, the climate community organizer 9Zero, and a climate tech investment nonprofit called VertueLab.
A Step-by-Step Launch Roadmap for Portland Founders
This guide serves as a friendly and practical roadmap, specifically designed for early-stage founders in the Portland Metro region, aiming to simplify the journey from a nascent idea to a successful launch, all while prioritizing a sustainable and balanced approach.
Startup founders: Where are they now…?, Tue, May 13, 2025, 5:00 PM | Meetup
Remember that amazing founder you saw on stage a few years ago? Where are they now? We want you to know. That’s why Built Oregon, Latino Founders, Pitch Black, Pitch Latino, PIE (Portland Incubator Experiment), and Vanport Studio are partnering to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) founders and community leaders by learning more about their journeys.
How property taxes are driving Portland’s looming budget shortfall – Axios Portland
The Portland City Council is looking for ways to address a massive budget shortfall, but one of the drivers of the deficit — declining property taxes — is an ongoing issue with no easy fix, some experts say.
The 30-Year Unicorn Backlog
If the current pace of exits persists, it would take 30 years for every U.S. company on The Crunchbase Unicorn Board to go public or be acquired.
More Portland startup news
