Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
Oregon falls to 39th in CNBC ranking of top states for business – Portland Business Journal
Oregon fell to 39th place in CNBC’s 2025 rankings of America’s Top States for Business, which assess states’ economies, cost of doing business and livability. It’s a new low for Oregon, which ranked 28th last year and 17th in 2017. The plummet did not come as a shock to at least one economic development leader.
Sam Altman Is Up, Tim Cook Is Down: Big Tech’s Trump Scorecard – WSJ
Tech companies have been some of the most aggressive in trying to appeal to President Trump, whose policies stand to shake up antitrust, trade and other areas important to the industry. Executives and companies donated millions of dollars to Trump and have announced billions of dollars in new investments. Here is a look at how Big Tech is doing nearly six months into the Trump administration.
Oregon’s Jeff Merkley will seek a 4th term in US Senate, ending speculation – OPB
“For years, I’ve worked to lift up the voices of ordinary Americans and take on the powerful interests that rig our system,” Merkley said in a statement. “Now, with Donald Trump and his MAGA cronies working overtime to destroy the checks and balances of our ‘We the People government’ and shred programs families rely on, we’re in the fight of our lives, and I’m not backing down.”
The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Fintech Attracts Biggest Rounds While AI Holds Strong
This week was a productive period for fintech funding, with two companies in the space — iCapital and Bilt Rewards — pulling in the largest rounds. In addition, we also saw sizable financings for companies in a range of other industries, including micromobility, drug discovery and green steel.
Wrapped up the PDX Digital Corps experiment this week – Ron Bronson
I cannot say enough good things about how many people raised their hands to get involved. Most of our projects operated around 8-week sprints, though one was shorter and another one will take a bit longer and will be transferred to our friends at Code PDX, where the PDXDC team will continue to work on it from there.
Budgeting for AI in Your Startup by @ttunguz
There are three factors to consider. First, the average salary for a software engineer in Silicon Valley. Second is the total cost of AI used by that engineer. Cursor is now at $200 per month for their Ultra Plan & reviews of Devin suggest $500 per month. Third, the number of agents an engineer can manage.
AI coding tools may not speed up every developer, study shows | TechCrunch
A new study published Thursday by the non-profit AI research group METR calls into question the extent to which today’s AI coding tools enhance productivity for experienced developers.
Zig Day
Hello everyone, I’m pleased to announce our first Zig Day, less than one month away. We have 40 subscribers on the mailing list and we have booked a beautiful room in the Multinomah County Library (Central).
Intel now expected to lay off over 2,000 Oregon employees
According to a WARN notice released on Friday, the semiconductor manufacturing corporation is going to lay off 2,392 employees at these four Intel locations in the Portland area on Tuesday, July 15.
Aaron Levie on AI’s Enterprise Adoption | a16z Podcast
In this episode, a16z General Partner Martin Casado sits down with Box cofounder and CEO Aaron Levie to talk about how AI is changing not just software, but the structure and speed of work itself.
From First PR To Lifelong Impact: Helping People Thrive in Open Source | Fast Wonder
I spend a lot of time thinking about the sustainability of open source projects and the role that contributor sustainability plays in overall project sustainability. This involves more than just attracting contributors, but in ensuring they stay, grow, and thrive within our open source projects, and that can be a lot easier if we think outside of our traditional boxes and get creative about recruiting and retaining contributors.
More Oregon startup news
