Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
Statement by President and Mrs. Obama on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11 | by Barack Obama | Sep, 2026 | Medium
If you were young in 2001, or weren’t even born yet, it can be hard to imagine what 9/11 felt like. The shock of that beautiful, cloudless morning. The heartbreak of the families whose loved ones were taken with such swiftness and cruelty. The realization that the forces of malevolence and violence were closer, and the future less certain, than we knew.
Jeff Fielkow and the startup that’s building the US packaging EPR system – Resource Recycling
As of 2026, seven states, the first two being Oregon and Maine in 2021 and 2022, respectively, have passed packaging EPR laws, and PROs like CAA exist to help producers navigate and comply with them.
(2012) Portland Seed Fund III: This time, it’s digital
Portland Seed Fund, the local startup accelerator funded by a combination of private and public funds, has announced their next class of startups, a group of eight companies seeking to take their startups to the next level.
Detecting and countering misuse of AI: September 2026
This report covers activity we disrupted between December 2025 and August 2026 across seven harm areas: cyber operations, influence operations, surveillance, scams and fraud, biological misuse, conventional weapons development, and distillation. Claude Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus models were used. None of the misuse cases involved the use of Claude Fable or Mythos-class models, with the exception of one illicit distillation case.
Governor Newsom signs the strongest child safety chatbot and social media laws in the nation | Governor of California
What you need to know: Governor Newsom signed new legislation strengthening California’s nation-leading protections for children online, including the nation’s strongest chatbot safety bill and new bans on addictive features for kids on social media.
YC’s Garry Tan Would ‘Do Nothing’ About AI Distillation
Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan said he would do nothing about AI model distillation and wants regulators to balance open-weight and frontier models. The remarks came days after three US agencies named six Chinese firms in a distillation advisory.
You use Claude or ChatGPT every single day. And still, every session starts from scratch.
That’s the ceiling. Your memory resets, you type the same instructions again, and you’ve got this nagging feeling that everyone else figured out something you can’t quite see. That gap isn’t a skill you’re missing. It’s a system you don’t have, and I built one. I spent close to 2,000 hours on the operating system that runs my whole business, and over six live classes I hand the whole thing to you.
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The SaaSpocalypse was more like a RenaiSaaS
But the SaaSpocalypse was in many ways a confusing signal. SaaS equity prices have since returned to roughly pre-SaaSpocalypse levels (see below). While market valuations are by definition a prospective measure, they should in part be informed by recent actual performance. Plus, there’s the concern of whether the SaaSpocalypse shock itself affected SaaS revenues—for example, by making hiring or new funding rounds more difficult for these companies.
An Ode to Counter-Positioning
Counter-positioning is here for a good time, not a long time. Which is part of what makes it so fun. It’s the trickster power. Counter-positioning buys you time against the incumbent — which is positioned in some way against which you can counter-position — but it doesn’t necessarily protect you against another startup. You need other moats for that.
What VCs Are Looking For Now: $25B+ Exits. The New “Decacorn” | SaaStrAI
The word “unicorn” was coined in 2013 to describe something rare. There are now more than 1,300 of them. $25B is the number partners are running in their heads when they take your Series A meeting.
YC S26’s top decile: The 24 companies RuntimeWire would call first after Demo Day
We reviewed the pitches, investor materials, public traction, founder histories and what companies have actually put into production. These are the 24 meetings we would take first.
What VCs won’t say – Portland stop
Raising capital is about more than your deck or your traction. It’s about how you show up in the room. In this 5-hour, hands-on experience, Clarence Bethea shares the lessons founders rarely hear about fundraising. From understanding how investors think and evaluate you, to mastering your pitch, communication, confidence, and the psychology of the room.
Why everyone in Milwaukie suddenly seems to be joining the Elks – Here is Oregon – hereisoregon.com
The Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge is now the third-fastest-growing lodge in the nation. Membership has ballooned to more than 2,540 and continues to climb.
From Idea to Impact Workshop: Making AI Work for Your Business Today
AI is no longer just a tool for the tech world or early-stage startups. From small businesses to legacy organizations, companies across every industry are discovering how AI can streamline operations, strengthen customer relationships, and unlock new opportunities for growth. Whether you are running a local business or scaling a growing company, AI has practical, accessible applications that can give you a real edge.
ID verification giant IDScan confirms data breach with more than 150 million driver’s licenses stolen | TechCrunch
Krebs reported that he was alerted to a website on the dark web that allowed anyone to search the driver’s license information of over 150 million people living in the United States and Canada, including accessing their photos. Krebs verified the authenticity of the data by examining his own record. The database also contained high-profile individuals, including the U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and a security researcher who also verified his data for Krebs’ report.
Economic Gardening in Rural Oregon – by Brad Attig
Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees are the primary engine of job stability in rural America, accounting for more than 56 percent of employment in non-metropolitan regions, a proportion significantly higher than in urban centers. The post-pandemic recovery accelerated some rural net migration. Between July 2023 and June 2024, non-metro counties gained over 134,000 residents, driven entirely by people choosing to move in.
Happy Hour with Tech Professionals, Thu, Sep 17, 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.
Silicon Forest Tech Connect by ProFocus Technology Tickets, Tuesday, September 15 • 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM | Eventbrite
Join us for the 4th Annual Silicon Forest Tech Connect, an evening bringing together business and technology professionals from across the Portland region. Whether you’re leading a team, driving strategy, or solving hard problems at the intersection of business and tech, this is your chance to connect with the people shaping our region’s technology community.
