Month: September 2026

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

How Graze Social’s Devin Gaffney wants to build a better internet

Right now, the algorithms that command our attention were built by a handful of now-gargantuan companies, under their terms of use. Graze Social is Gaffney’s attempt to offer an alternative, to help regulate platforms into what he calls “common carrier status.” Gaffney draws a parallel to a utilities company: While a power company may send a specialist to work on your local power lines, their influence stops at the access point. “The specialists do not get to say what lamp you can use, right?” Gaffney says. “[But] we conflate all of that as the same role in the attention economy. We don’t have to do that. It’s just an arbitrary architectural decision that we have been frog-boiled into believing is immutable for the last 20 years.”

Fun fact: I started my startup journey in digital healthcare. So I’ll always have a soft spot for healthcare startups. Because the entire US system is a mess. That’s why I was happy to hear that Dr. Andy Barnett — a Portland ER doc who has spent years as a medical malpractice expert witness — has a new startup designed to solve a piece of the entire mess. Meet Experitas.

You know me. I absolutely love people starting new things. But a close second…? People sharing the actual impact of the things that they started. Because showing progress and challenges helps all of us. Both from an informational front as well as an inspirational front. That’s why I’m glad to see the Portland Office of Small Business reporting on its first year of impact.

If I’ve echoed it once, I’ve echoed it a million times: “Oregon is the Silicon Valley of consumer products.” Food and beverage. Footwear. Apparel. Knives. The list goes on and on. And if you’re one of the people building a CPG company — or you just want to spend a day around all of the amazing folks who are — Built Oregon‘s annual festival is a sure fire way of running into your peers and heroes in one room. Built Festival is back for another year.

Hiring…? You can always prove how witty, intelligent, insightful, and community oriented your company is by posting those job openings to the Silicon Florist job board. It’s been quietly doing its thing for years now. So if you’re hiring, or hoping to get hired, it’s honestly worth a few minutes of your time to check out.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Accelerator Program | Oregon AI Accelerator

An 11-week intensive hybrid program designed to give 12–15 high-conviction AI startups the traction, mentorship, and regional ecosystem leverage to scale.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

My feed, My Way | Prime Minister of Australia

Social media platforms will be required to send a notification to new and existing users offering them a choice over their default feed. Users can choose to opt in to having their default feed include personalised content recommended by the algorithm. Alternatively, users can opt out of personally recommended content in their default feed and see the friends and creators they choose to follow. This will give Australians greater choice over their platforms and what they see.

Labor Day may have shortened the week. But it hasn’t reduced the number of events happening in the startup and tech community this week. Here’s a smattering of events that may pique your interest.