Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
AI best practices: If at first you don’t succeed, prompt, prompt again – GeekWire
What follows is practical advice on how to use AI as a power tool rather than a slot machine. For a simple request, it’s overkill, but if you’re serious about prompting, read on.
Workshop with Todd | Build Ideas YC is looking for. · Luma
Y Combinator publishes a list of startup ideas they want to fund. We’re going to use it. In this 3-hour workshop, you’ll learn how to take a raw idea—straight off YC’s Requests for Startups page—and turn it into a production-grade Product Requirements Document so precise that an AI coding agent can build it without asking a single follow-up question. The first hour is a live demo of the full loop: pick a YC idea, distill the problem, write the PRD in Claude, and watch it become a working app. The remaining two hours are yours—pair up, pick an idea, write your own PRD, and present it back. You’ll leave with a repeatable method for going from “what if” to “it works” faster than you thought possible. All you need is a laptop and Claude.ai access.
In-Person WordPress Meetup: Ask Questions, Meet People, Tue, May 12, 2026, 6:30 PM | Meetup
Whether you’re building your first site, thinking about moving from Squarespace to WordPress, or deep in the weeds with themes, plugins, or performance, this is a space to ask questions and get real answers.
Portland’s Commercial Vacancy Crisis: What City Hall Gets Wrong — and What to Do Instead
Rather than toss a few months of operating expenses at a new small business to fill an empty storefront, we need to direct funds to existing small businesses that are at risk of closure — businesses burdened by debt accrued during COVID, and now facing decreased international tourism, high gas prices, tariffs, and weakened consumer confidence.
The Unseen Pressures: Preventing Entrepreneur Burnout and Protecting Your Well-Being – Elevate Capital
Founders are often responsible not only for their own livelihoods but also for employees, customers, and families who depend on the business’s success. The emotional weight of that responsibility can be substantial. Decisions about hiring, fundraising, or strategic pivots rarely feel abstract. They carry real consequences for people’s jobs, financial stability, and future prospects. That constant sense of responsibility can lead to chronic stress and a feeling that every decision must be perfect.
Daring Fireball: Y Combinator’s Stake in OpenAI
OpenAI was seeded by an offshoot of Y Combinator called YC Research in 2016 — when Altman was running YC.
Oregon-based Lattice Semiconductor buys Georgia-based AMI firm for $1.65 billion – oregonlive.com
Hillsboro-based Lattice Semiconductor said Monday it is buying a Georgia tech company called AMI for $1.65 billion in cash and stock, a deal the Oregon company said will improve its products for data centers and artificial intelligence.
When everyone has AI and the company still learns nothing
The current enterprise feeling of “everyone has access, don’t worry too much about the bill” will not hold forever, at least not in the form people are getting used to. Model routing, token budgets, usage-contingent pricing, inference costs, governance around which model is allowed for which task: all of that will become more explicit as companies move from casual assistance to serious agentic work.
Oregon and other states across the wildfire-prone Western US are using AI for early detection – OPB
Pano AI, whose technology combines high-definition camera feeds, satellite data and AI monitoring, has seen a growing interest in its cameras since launching in 2020. They’ve been deployed in Australia, Canada and 17 U.S. states, including Oregon, Washington and Texas. Its customers include forestry operations, government agencies and utilities, including Arizona Public Service.
New Funding Will Kickstart Internet Infrastructure in Rural Oregon. Here’s Where It’s Needed Most. — Oregon Journalism Project
Hundreds of millions of dollars are now dedicated to satellite and fiber internet programs around the state that will begin construction in late 2026.
Pollen allergies are brutal this year – a doctor explains why, and how to find relief
Over the past several decades, as global temperatures have risen, the growing season has lengthened in many parts of North America. Once temperatures begin to be above about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 Celsius), trees will begin to emerge from dormancy.
Billion-Dollar AI Rounds Push April To Third-Highest Startup Funding Month In A Year
Global venture funding reached $56 billion in April, marking the third-largest monthly funding in a year. Funding was up 100% year over year from $26 billion, according to Crunchbase data.
GameStop Makes $56 Billion Offer to Buy eBay – WSJ
GameStop delivered an offer letter to eBay on Sunday and released a copy of it following the Journal’s report on the details of the bid. Cohen wrote in the letter to eBay Chairman Paul Pressler that GameStop started building its eBay position on Feb. 4. It said its offer consists of 50% cash and 50% GameStop shares.
A Mental Model for Agentic Work | basti.io
For the first time, I found myself genuinely operating with agents across every dimension of my work: personal tasks, software engineering, company operations. Not as a novelty. As the default mode. This post is the abstraction I arrived at after weeks of doing this. A mental model that applies everywhere – because the architecture underneath is always the same.
Peter Thiel leads $140M round for Panthalassa’s wave-powered AI
One of the biggest challenges historically with wave power is the need to build costly infrastructure to move energy from the ocean to where it’s needed. Panthalassa’s approach sidesteps that problem by using power onsite to run already-trained AI models, while tapping cold ocean water to cool the hardware — solving two problems at once.
Microsoft’s new research finds an AI ‘paradox’ holding companies back – GeekWire
A new Microsoft study of 20,000 artificial intelligence users in workplaces around the world concludes that the biggest barrier to getting real value from AI isn’t the technology or the workers themselves — it’s the ingrained culture of the organizations where they work.
The Rise of Emotional Surveillance – The Atlantic
Some products analyze video of meetings or job interviews or focus groups; others listen to audio for pitch, tone, and word choice; still others can scan chat transcripts or emails and spit out a report about worker sentiment. Sometimes, the emotion AI is baked in as a feature in multiuse software, or sold as part of an expensive analytics package marketed to businesses.
Portland-based ocean energy startup gets $140 million investment from billionaire backers – oregonlive.com
Founded in 2016, the company has been working on prototype “floating nodes” to offshore one of the biggest challenges for data centers powering artificial intelligence: their immense appetite for electricity and water for cooling computer servers.
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Angel Oregon CPG
Join us for the Angel Oregon CPG (AOCPG) Investment Announcement Mixer, to be held in person on Monday, June 1, 2025, 4:00 – 7:00 pm at McMenamins Mission Theater in Portland. A special evening celebrating innovations across the full consumer product spectrum.
Capital Literacy For Women Entrepreneurs Tickets, Tuesday, June 2 • 5 PM – 8 PM | Eventbrite
Join Xcelerate Women, OEN, Latino Founders, and the Metro Region Innovation Hub for Capital Literacy for Women Entrepreneurs—an event created to help women founders get clear, confident, and connected when it comes to raising capital.
Next Wave Climate | Latino Founders
A 3-day, hands-on startup crash course for early-stage founders building in clean energy, climate infrastructure, sustainable agriculture, and the circular economy.
Gresham Vibecoders Unite!, Thu, May 14, 2026, 7:00 PM | Meetup
Join us for our very first Gresham Vibecoders Meetup! We’ll kick things off with introductions — who you are, what you’re building (only if you want to share), and what tools you’re using. From there, we’ll do an open show-and-tell where anyone can demo a project they’ve been working on, no matter how finished (or unfinished) it is. We’ll swap tips, talk about what’s working, what’s broken, and what we’re figuring out as we go.
More Oregon startup news
