Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network: Angel Oregon Tech
Join us for the Angel Oregon Technology (AOTech) Investment Announcement Mixer, to be held in person on Monday, August 17, 2026, 4:00 – 7:00 pm at McMenamins Mission Theater in Portland. A special evening celebrating innovations across the full technology spectrum.
(2014) Hacking on hardware? Beaverton has a startup accelerator for that
The Portland area has no shortage of startup accelerators. But the vast majority of them are focused on products that could be best described as ethereal. What about folks working in the physical world? Well, meet e1ectr0n, a Beaverton based accelerator designed to help folks working on hardware-based technology.
Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta warn against overregulating open-weight models
Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, Palantir and more than 20 other companies released a letter on Friday urging policymakers to avoid “premature restrictions” on open-weight artificial intelligence models that would “stifle competition or drive innovation overseas.”
Trump expands voluntary pledge to curb data center utility costs | AP News
The president promised that electricity prices would drop because of the nonbinding pledge, saying there would be a surplus of power. It’s not clear that data centers generating their own electricity will be sufficient to overcome the rising demand for electricity, but that did not deter Trump from saying that utility bills — a major concern for voters — will be lower.
Anthropic updates Claude voice mode with more capable models | TechCrunch
Anthropic said that the new voice mode can help users with longer conversations, including providing feedback on their communication style, talking through a pitch to a client, and brainstorming product market research.
Em dashes are fucking amazing – by Sasha Putilin
I fucking love em dashes. There is no greater joy in life than typing a sentence, realising it needs a clarification, a caveat, an addendum — but in the same sentence, not a new one — and, guess what, the em dash is right there for you. You want to package things neatly together — and the em dash lets you do exactly this. Em dashes make writing feel like you are assembling lego bricks.
It’s getting harder to focus every day | Glyphack
My goal was not to find an answer for this problem. I wanted to see what’s going on and why I am not doing anything inconsequential in the past few months. Anyway the timer I set to write this really helped. I spent a lot more time to write this but it gave me the initial motivation to write.
Claude Cookbook
Practical guides and examples for using Claude effectively
Could a third-party candidate shake up the Oregon governor’s race? – OPB
“My name being on there is going to hurt Tina Kotek,” Smith, a 44-year-old Molalla resident, said in an interview last week. “I have no intention of backing down. There’s nothing the Democrats can tell me that’s going to make me.”
PIGSquad’s Will Lewis | CreativeMornings/Portland, OR
Hi, I’m Will! I’m the Founder & President of the Portland Indie Game Squad, a 501(c)(3) community platform that helps folks of all demographics and skillsets make games together! I recently directed PIGCON, a Portland Indie Game Convention led by my vision of helping people share their creative projects and experiences in a safe, encouraging, collaborative environment accented by industry connections and learning activities. I’ve hosted over 80 game jams (haven’t counted in a sec) and have 30-ish random projects and jam games on itch.io!
A trillion dollars of deals runs through his startup’s software. Indian tech has barely heard of him. | YourStory
In March this year, the value of deals that had passed through his software crossed $1 trillion. The company announced it on May 13, from Portland, Oregon. Around $30 billion of live opportunities, he says, now move through the platform “every single month”.
How AI Is Changing Sales, and Why Your Buyers Are More Confused
This was originally an AMA with Madrona portfolio companies, but we wanted to share David’s full sales playbook with founders, GTM leaders, and operators for a grounded look at how buying behavior shifted and where to focus when the old tactics stop paying off.
Chain React 2026 – A React Native Conference
Since 2017, Chain React has been the US React Native conference. Hosted by Infinite Red, Expo, and React Foundation, it’s a community effort where you’ll meet top consultancies and the industry leaders shaping the future of React Native.
InfraTrust Unlocks Critical Hardware Risk Intelligence
Today we’re excited to announce InfraTrust, a global hardware infrastructure security knowledgebase making mission critical infrastructure security data available faster, so you have it when you need it to defend your enterprise. InfraTrust is a searchable, continuously updated source of security advisories and risk data from major enterprise hardware infrastructure vendors.
‘Little Tech’ sets its sights on Washington – POLITICO
Venture capital firms are bringing San Francisco’s startup culture to Washington as they try to tip the regulatory scales away from giants in the sector. They’re finding some strange bedfellows in the process.
General Catalyst Takes The Lead Over Y Combinator In Backing $5M+ Fintech Deals
Notably, the quarter also marked the busiest one for General Catalyst since 2021 in terms of investing in rounds of $5 million or above. The firm’s next-busiest fintech investing quarter in rounds of that size was the fourth quarter of 2025, when it participated in 10 raises of $5 million or above.
Jimothy the raccoon survived against the odds, a testament to sophisticated brains and devoted mothers
As a neuroscientist who studies raccoon and rats, I see the viral story of Jimothy the raccoon as a compelling tale of an animal overcoming disability and surviving in the wild.
The AI Productivity Paradox – Silicon Valley Product Group : Silicon Valley Product Group
For those of us that have been studying this problem of accelerating output without the corresponding improvement in outcomes since long before AI, this has not been a surprise.
The Founder Market Fit – by Paul Veradittakit
In prior cycles, talent was spread thin across a hundred speculative narratives, and most of it was chasing price. The interesting problems have consolidated into two verticals, AI and fintech, and the caliber of founders choosing blockchain to solve them is higher than anything I have seen across four cycles.
Happy Hour with Tech Professionals, Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 5:30 PM | Meetup
Whether you’re deep in the tech world or just tech-curious, if you’re in Bend and want real conversations with interesting people, you belong here. Bring a friend, bring a coworker, or come solo and leave with new connections. No presentations, no sales pitches. Just good people and good conversation.
