--- title: 'Silicon Florist links arrangement for June 10, 2026' date: '2026-06-10T11:20:16-07:00' type: post word_count: 957 char_count: 8896 tokens: 1245 categories: - Portland --- # Silicon Florist links arrangement for June 10, 2026 Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today: [RIP software hackathons. Long live the hardware hackathon.](https://blog.oscars.dev/posts/rip-software-hackathons-long-live-the-hardware-hackathon/) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For this reason, the focus of hackathons has completely shifted away from typing code with aching fingers and zero sleep, to thinking of the system as a whole (not a very unique opinion now, I know) and iterating on intricacies of implementation with radical refactors has become a trivial task. This leaves free mental RAM to actually faff with hardware and how it interfaces with the physical world. [Operations and Management of My People’s Market – Bid Locker](https://bidlocker.us/a/prosperportland/details/6138_Operations_And_Management_Of_My_Peoples_Market) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Prosper Portland, the economic development and urban renewal agency of the city of Portland, Oregon, is seeking a qualified and experienced partner to oversee the management and operations of My People’s Market. [Oregon’s physical AI ecosystem takes flight](https://www.fdiintelligence.com/content/86fb7313-f578-4b92-99e2-66a7494f9a67) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unlike Silicon Valley, where there is “more talking about a grand vision” of the future as if it existed today, Corvallis innovation tends to be rooted in “academic rigour”, says Hurst. Agility has built more trust with investors and customers by building “at a rate that is realistic and rational” rather than the prevailing hype around AI and humanoids, he adds. [Economists Weigh In on the Future of Work and AI – WSJ](https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/economists-weigh-in-on-the-future-of-work-and-ai-f59311e9?st=DQTFjz&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There’s little doubt AI will boost productivity, economists we surveyed said, and smaller and newer companies should benefit from its growth. But economists diverged when it came to the question that worries many Americans the most: in the coming years, will AI eliminate more jobs than it adds? [‘This is Seattle’s position on AI’: City Council votes unanimously to pause big new data centers – GeekWire](https://www.geekwire.com/2026/this-is-seattles-position-on-ai-city-council-votes-unanimously-to-pause-new-data-centers/) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s a major statement in a region that’s home to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, as well as engineering centers for Google, Oracle, Meta and other companies collectively spending hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers globally to meet demand for AI. [Everyone wants to think they’re open-minded – here’s why most people aren’t](https://theconversation.com/everyone-wants-to-think-theyre-open-minded-heres-why-most-people-arent-282807?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter%20%20June%2010%202026%20-%203800238910&utm_content=Daily%20Newsletter%20%20June%2010%202026%20-%203800238910+CID_f0926a209d4fc004b9721af9168d0c08&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=Why%20we%20should%20practice%20existential%20humility) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All of us hold myriad beliefs that range from the mundane to the magnificent. “Is pineapple a legitimate pizza topping?” is very different from “Is there life after death?” Yet these seemingly disparate beliefs are connected through an interlocking set of ideas and principles that help us make sense of ourselves and the world around us. [Sector Snapshot: Semiconductor Startup Funding Still Running Hot](https://news.crunchbase.com/semiconductors-and-5g/chip-startup-funding-2026-cerebras-matx-ayar-labs-ipos-nvda/?utm_source=cb_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20260610&utm_content=intro&utm_term=content&utm_source=cb_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20230703) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Broadly, semiconductor startups are benefiting from the more widespread investor enthusiasm around the growth of AI and their continued support for the massive infrastructure outlays it requires. [Tie Women](https://tiewomen.pitchday.pro/demoday/events-portfolio/1710?mode=webview) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are a woman entrepreneur with a passion for innovation and a drive to make a difference, we encourage you to apply to participate in this prestigious program. Whether you are in the early stages of launching your startup or have an established business looking to scale, this competition offers a platform to gain visibility, network with industry leaders & investors, and access mentorship. [LLMs are picking winners. Here’s how to become one.](https://newsletter.posthog.com/p/llms-are-picking-winners-heres-how?utm_source=tldrfounders) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PostHog has 14 products and counting, and (sadly) not all of them are recommended by LLMs at the same scale or rate. While most models know us for product analytics, session replay, error tracking, and feature flags, fewer acknowledge we also offer a data warehouse, AI observability, logs, and a lot more. This is likely the case for your product too. Changing it requires dipping into the mystical new field of answer engine optimization (AEO), which I’ve learned a lot about as the person responsible for it at PostHog over the last year. [Initial impressions of Claude Fable 5](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jun/9/claude-fable-5/) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I didn’t have early access to today’s Claude Fable 5 release, but I’ve spent the past ~5.5 hours putting it through its paces. My initial impressions are that this is something of a beast. It’s slow, expensive and has been quite happily churning through everything I’ve thrown at it so far. As is frequently the case with current frontier models the challenge is finding tasks that it can’t do. [How Justin Ernest invested nearly $500M into hot startups without a traditional VC fund | TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/09/how-justin-ernest-invested-nearly-500m-into-hot-startups-without-a-traditional-vc-fund/) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last year, Justin Ernest noticed a massive gap in how venture capital was working: Family offices and smaller institutional investors were eager to invest in the fastest-growing AI companies but couldn’t get access to those cap tables. [Oregon startup aims to tuck robotic farms into tennis court-sized urban spaces](https://www.verticalfarmdaily.com/article/9844546/oregon-startup-aims-to-tuck-robotic-farms-into-tennis-court-sized-urban-spaces/) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “We’re trying to create the future job for local farmers, where essentially you franchise a robotic farm, you have almost no employees, and you can provide organic produce to your community,” said David Ashton, CEO and co-founder of Canopii.