Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
Building A One-Person Unicorn? This Startup Just Raised $8.7M To Help
“Over 95% of our code is written by AI,” says Andrew Pignanelli, the company’s co-founder and CEO. “Ideally we get that to 100%.” Andrew is on a mission to build the operating system for one-person, billion-dollar companies.
Portland mayor on economic development, downtown revitalization – Portland Business Journal
“We know we have a lot of work left to do. But when I look around, I see all the ingredients we need,” Wilson said. “We’ve already sparked our renaissance, now all we have to do is turn that spark into a fire.”
AI in 2025: gestalt — LessWrong
My view: compared to last year, AI is much more impressive but not proportionally more useful. They improved on some things they were explicitly optimised for (coding, vision, OCR, benchmarks), and did not hugely improve on everything else. Progress is thus (still!) consistent with current frontier training bringing more things in-distribution rather than generalising very far.
Claude Code and Slack | Claude
Today, we’re introducing the ability to delegate tasks to Claude Code directly from Slack. Now in beta as a research preview, Claude makes it easy to move context from Slack conversations to coding sessions.
Has the cost of building software just dropped 90%? – Martin Alderson
The economics have changed dramatically now with agentic coding, and it is going to totally transform the software development industry (and the wider economy). 2026 is going to catch a lot of people off guard.
Uncommon Thinkers: Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is planting the seeds for a decentralized digital world – GeekWire
Most social networks today are walled gardens, where one company runs the servers, owns the data, and sets the rules. The AT Protocol (which Graber pronounces “at”) is an open technical standard for social media that Bluesky’s team built as the foundation for its network. Bluesky is just one app on top of it, and in theory you could move your posts and followers to another app or server with different moderation or algorithms without losing your social graph.
Here’s the pitch deck used by Yoodli, the Seattle startup now valued at more than $300M – GeekWire
Define the problem. Describe the solution. Note the value proposition. Highlight leadership bios. Call out your customers. Show growth metrics. Set the long-term vision. This is the pitch from Seattle startup Yoodli — and it seems to be working well.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson wants to double size of city’s small business tax exemption – oregonlive.com
During a speech at the Oregon Leadership Summit, Wilson said he will propose doubling the city’s business license tax exemption from $50,000 in gross receipts annually to $100,000.
Oregon’s economy isn’t working for most people. State leaders met Monday to chart a new path – OPB
On Monday, economic and political leaders pitched their vision for a path forward to steer the state’s economy back to relative stability, when they gathered for the annual Oregon Leadership Summit.
Two Initiatives, One Mission: Reshaping Workforce Development
As automation and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the job market, the parallel evolution of the Michigan Central and Emergent Campus initiatives demonstrate that innovation in workforce development doesn’t have to be confined to a single location or approach.
Schooled by Mississippi — Oregon Journalism Project
Reading scores at fourth grade are considered a vital bellwether for a student’s educational progress. Adjusted for demographics, Oregon landed 50th—at the very bottom. Mississippi, a state some Oregonians like to deride as backward, scored at the very top.
Shop Local with Xcelerate: 17 Women-Owned Shops in Portland
Explore 17 women-owned retail businesses we’ve supported & collaborated with this year. Use the Shop Local with Xcelerate map to find Portland shops to visit and support.
Your December dispatch from the Office of Small Business
December is here, and the holiday season is in full swing! To encourage downtown shoppers, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is offering free SmartPark parking at all five SmartPark garages on the weekends of December 13-14 and 20-21. Be sure to let your customers know!