--- title: 'Silicon Florist links arrangement for June 17, 2025' date: '2025-06-17T10:54:44-07:00' type: post word_count: 999 char_count: 9117 tokens: 1299 categories: - Portland --- # Silicon Florist links arrangement for June 17, 2025 Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today: [Apply to Y Combinator | Y Combinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/apply) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Y Combinator is accepting applications for the Fall 2025 Batch funding cycle. The batch will take place from October to November in San Francisco. The deadline to apply on-time is August 4 at 8pm PT; if you apply before the deadline, you will get a decision by September 5. If you apply after the deadline, we will still consider the application but can’t promise exactly when we’ll get back to you. [I Convinced HP’s Board to Buy Palm for $1.2B. Then I Watched Them Kill It in 49 Days](https://philmckinney.substack.com/p/i-convinced-hps-board-to-buy-palm?utm_source=tldrnewsletter) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I’ve never shared this story publicly before—how I convinced HP’s board to acquire Palm for $1.2 billion, then watched as they destroyed it while I was confined to bed recovering from surgery. [Act-On Software terminates $53.2M acquisition by Banzai – Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/stories/news/2025/06/16/act-on-software-banzai-acquisition-terminated.html?utm_source=st&utm_medium=en&utm_campaign=ae&utm_content=PO&j=40311539&senddate=2025-06-16&utm_term=ep1&empos=p1) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the letter Johnson highlighted a June 5 phone call between the two executives in which she said Davy told her a necessary funding source would not be coming through. Johnson also wrote that Davy informed her that Banzai has “no reliable alternatives to raise the necessary funds,” to close the deal. [Utilities are lining up to work with an AI-powered wildfire detection startup that just raised another $44M](https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/power-grid/smart-grids/15-utilities-are-already-using-an-ai-powered-wildfire-detection-startup-that-just-raised-another-44m/) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered wildfire detection startup Pano AI has announced the close of a $44 million Series B funding round, bringing its total amount raised to $89 million. The round was led by new investor Giant Ventures, with additional new participation from Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures and Tokio Marine Future Fund, as well as continued support from Congruent Ventures, Initialized Capital, and Salesforce Ventures. [Community Broadband PDX Monthly Meet up » Calagator: Portland’s Tech Calendar](https://calagator.org/events/1250482069) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bring your summer campaign ideas to help Portlanders learn about the possibility of a public utility dedicated to bringing affordable, fast internet service to every Portland home and business. [Too many sandwiches, not enough sleep, and just the right amount of AI Portland ✅](https://mailchi.mp/5901628413e0/recap-thanks-navigating-the-ai-revolution-event-12928627) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last week was a blur, in the best way. Two big events. One podcast. Too many sandwiches. If you missed it (or just want to relive the magic), here’s what went down: [Intel will lay off 15% to 20% of its factory workers, memo says – oregonlive.com](https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2025/06/intel-will-lay-off-15-to-20-of-its-factory-workers-memo-says.html) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “These are difficult actions but essential to meet our affordability challenges and current financial position of the company. It drives pain to every individual,” Intel manufacturing Vice President Naga Chandrasekaran wrote to employees Saturday. He said the company is targeting job reductions between 15% and 20%, with most of the cuts taking place in July. [AI Use at Work Has Nearly Doubled in Two Years](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/691643/work-nearly-doubled-two-years.aspx) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The use of AI at work is accelerating. In the past two years, the percentage of U.S. employees who say they have used AI in their role a few times a year or more has nearly doubled, from 21% to 40%. Frequent AI use (a few times a week or more) has also nearly doubled, from 11% to 19% since Gallup’s first measure in 2023. Daily use has doubled in the past 12 months alone, from 4% to 8%. [The 2025 James Beard Awards Winners in Portland and Oregon – Bridgetown Bites](https://bridgetownbites.com/2025/06/16/2025-james-beard-awards-winners-in-portland-oregon/) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 2025 James Beard Awards winners have been announced, the gala commenced, the medallions given. Portland and Oregon had six entries in four categories, and of those six, two went home with an award—one from Portland and one from rural Oregon. Congratulations to both! [Volatility may push more retail investors into private markets – PitchBook](https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/volatility-may-push-more-retail-investors-into-private-markets?utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=daily_pitch&sourceType=NEWSLETTER) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Serocold: Investors often turn to private market investments because of the volatility and uncertainty in the public markets and the opportunity for durable, uncorrelated yield. That is currently what we are seeing now. There is above-average interest in income-producing asset classes such as private credit and infrastructure, and we believe what we are seeing is part of a broader longer-term shift in allocations to the private markets. [AI Autonomous Agents Are Top 2025 Trend For Seed Investment](https://news.crunchbase.com/ai/autonomous-agents-top-seed-trend-2025/) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unsurprisingly, it is about AI. More specifically, Crunchbase data shows a continued boom this year in seed-stage funding to startups working on autonomous AI agents, assistants and companions, with a particular focus on enterprise customers. [Ben Silbermann shares two lessons from the early days of Pinterest](https://www.startuparchive.org/p/ben-silbermann-shares-two-lessons-from-the-early-days-of-pinterest) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “There’s a stereotype of where early adopters come from and \[people think\] they should be these technology-forward folks. And I just think that idea is really outdated now. So many people have these amazing computers in their pockets. Early adopters are coming from everywhere. And I think if we had been really dogmatic about wanting cool Silicon Valley people to like it, we probably wouldn’t have made the service we made.” [Coding agents have crossed a chasm // flurries of latent creativity](https://blog.singleton.io/posts/2025-06-14-coding-agents-cross-a-chasm/?utm_source=tldrai) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- But here’s the thing: while these human-in-the-loop tools were transformative, the fully autonomous experiences just weren’t close to good enough until recently. I’d tried various “AI does the whole task” tools and they’d inevitably just get stuck and fail to produce anything meaningful. I’d regret having spent the time to set them up having been assured that no, this time it really works. More Portland startup news --------------------------