Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
A lesson on Oregon’s business climate • Oregon Capital Chronicle
There’s no question that the quality of public services impacts the business climate and that Oregon needs to keep improving its public services, as there will always be room for improvement.
Slack founder: Mental models for building products people love ft. Stewart Butterfield
In this rare podcast appearance, Stewart shares the product frameworks and leadership principles that most contributed to his success. From “utility curves” to “the owner’s delusion” to “hyper-realistic work-like activities,” his thoughts on craft, strategy, and leadership apply to anyone building products or leading teams.
Cascadia Innovation Corridor pushes high-speed rail, AI and more – Portland Business Journal
Smith helps guide the Cascadia Innovation Corridor, a public-private effort launched in 2016 to create a unified, globally recognized innovation hub along the 316 miles between Portland and Vancouver, B.C. He highlights the historic 1921 partnership between Canada and the U.S. West Coast, symbolized by The Peace Arch between Blaine and British Columbia, as a foundation for today’s cross-border “super-region” initiative.
Nix flakes explained: what they solve, why they matter, and the future
Understanding Nix has been one of the bigger challenges in my 18 years working with developer tools. At times I’ve wanted to put my focus elsewhere, but the thing is, I simply can’t afford to interact with our customers and with the community without knowing my stuff. Do I need to know how to deploy NixOS systems to production? Fortunately not! But I do need to discuss some basics of Nix intelligently to be effective in my role.
As Lovable hits $200M ARR, its CEO credits staying in Europe for its success | TechCrunch
Osika credited the AI-assisted coding software maker’s decision not to move to Silicon Valley as the main reason for its success thus far. Osika said Lovable decided to stay in Europe despite getting a lot of early advice that the company would only be successful if it left the region and relocated to the U.S.
Americans’ Social Media Use 2025 | Pew Research Center
Growing shares of U.S. adults say they are using Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and Reddit, but YouTube still rises to the top
Lam Research opens $65M building in Tualatin, Oregon – Portland Business Journal
Intel job cuts have rocked the Portland metro, but in Tualatin, there’s a sign of life for the region’s economically vital semiconductor industry — one that rises four stories and includes 120,000 square feet of office space.
OpenAI’s dominance is unlike anything Silicon Valley has ever seen
And as OpenAI has proven recently, through a dizzying array of mammoth deals and product rollouts, the artificial intelligence lab is investing up and down the stack — from the picks and shovels of data center development to consumer applications, coding tools and even devices. Its flagship ChatGPT chatbot has reached 800 million weekly users.
I left a16z to go build – by Robin Guo – The Bird’s Nest
I came here almost four years ago now off of a cold email. I’ve done many different things: learned consumer investing from some of the best, spun out to establish the games fund, and built out a16z speedrun as part of the founding team from the very beginning. I’ve been an investor, salesperson, invite tsar, software PM, program manager, growth hacker, product advisor, and therapist. It’s been the most challenging and fulfilling way to spend my late 20s.
Sierra’s revenue flex – by Alex Heath – Sources
That’s the subtext here: ARR has quietly become one of the most important recruiting signals in the AI startup market. Startups used to hype funding rounds or valuation. They still do, but some are also sharing revenue numbers that, in a different era, would have stayed buried.
