Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Coming out of the last downturn, OSCON was a regular fixture in Portland. Leading many to consider Portland — plus its locals like Linus Torvalds and Ward Cunningham — as a bastion of the open-source community. It’s been noticeably quiet over the last few years on that front. So it’s really nice to see the Free and Open Source Software Yearly (FOSSY) conference selecting Portland for its 2023 event.
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No single one of us is as smart as a bunch of us. That was my thinking when I originally threw together this cheat sheet on Github to help document resources in the Portland startup community. The idea was that it would make it easier for folks to understand what was happening in Portland, what organizations supported startup activity, and potentially serve as a way to finally capture and quantify the actual startup activity around these parts — that allowed everyone to contribute.
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If you were part of the Portland startup or open source community a decade ago—or if you were a startup type who visited Portland during that time period—you probably had the chance to attend Beer and Blog once or twice. If you weren’t around Portland then, you’ve no doubt heard me wax nostalgic dozens of times about the event, a weekly happy hour that served as the point of connection for our fledgling community.
Ten years ago, the current Portland startup community was just starting to coalesce. And it’s no secret that many of the connections, gatherings, and events that made that possible were very much due to a substantially larger and more well connected tech community—the open source community—whose activity served as the foundation for the growing community of tech entrepreneurs.
Even though there’s less focus on it than previous years, Portland is—and remains—the de facto hub of open source activity. It’s just something in our blood. So it only stands to reason that—as more things become open—Portland would be a great spot for those open pursuits to congregate. Take for example Open Hardware Summit. Read More
I really enjoy highlighting projects other folks are creating. Really really. Conversely, I always hate highlighting my own projects. That’s not why I started this blog. This is always weird. Still, I wanted to let folks know that PIE—the ongoing experiment between the Portland startup community and Wieden+Kennedy that I helped cofound and continue to run—is changing what it’s doing. And that may impact you. Read More
As we work to create a more welcoming and diverse startup and tech scene, it’s important to recognize that there are any number of individuals who have already spent untold hours on this effort over the years. Making inroads without a great deal of support. Laying the foundational groundwork that will enable a more diverse community. And championing the effort tirelessly. Read More
Portland is known for rethinking banks. From startups like Simple to bigger banks and credit unions that are trying to do things differently. And of course we’re into open source. We’re the de facto hub of open source. Duh. But we’re also quite enamored of the cryptocurrency stuff. So it makes sense that we’d also be the home of rethinking banking and crytocurrency with an open source flare. Read More
Sure sure. Elon Musk is rethinking space travel. But what’s he going to wear up there? Maybe he could sport a little Portland fashion? Because you know, we do win Project Runway and we do have someone who has figured out a do-it-yourself space suit here. Read More
It’s that time of year again. Portland’s homegrown, volunteer-run open source conference—Open Source Bridge—is almost here. Now in it’s sixth year, the conference continues its by developer, for developers focus, bringing some amazing speakers to town and highlighting some of the incredible talent we have here in our own backyard. Read More
