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

Write some software, give it away for free

If you think of software development as a hobby like painting or playing an instrument or getting exercise in the woods, then it starts to make a lot more sense why someone would wish to take a loss on it. The real gain isn’t always money; it’s experience, discovery, new perspectives, and sometimes personal goals.

Turns out, when I said Portland Startup Week had “a whole bunch of AI stuff in a variety of flavors” and then didn’t list any of it that — surprise — people actually wanted a list of AI events that are happening next week. Fair. Happy to oblige.

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

AI best practices: If at first you don’t succeed, prompt, prompt again – GeekWire

What follows is practical advice on how to use AI as a power tool rather than a slot machine. For a simple request, it’s overkill, but if you’re serious about prompting, read on.

Our friends at Latino Founders just opened applications for its Next Wave Startup Lab — Climate Edition — a 3-day crash-course-style workshop running May 29–31, 2026, in Portland. Applications are rolling, but they close the same day the workshop kicks off.

I have a habit of forgetting things. Especially big things. The kind of things that you’d think should be hard to forget. Like nine-figure funding rounds. But that, kids, is why I write things down. So when Panthalassa raised $140 million today, it got me thinking — how does that actually stack up against the largest rounds I’ve covered on Silicon Florist over the years…?

I have a habit of asking around about startups in town. Who should I be tracking…? Who is the most underrated startup…? What’s going to be the most impactful startup…? And time and time again — over the past few months — one startup has consistently come up: Panthalassa. Now, we have more context as to why. They just raised $140 million.