Missing Portlandia…? Fred and Carrie are having a watch party as a podcast
Startup and tech events for this week
Another week chock full of events for you to attend. If you’re looking to get more connected to people in the Portland startup and/or tech community — and maybe learning a thing or two in the process — here’s a random smattering of events from which to choose. As always, please keep an eye on Calagator and the Portland Startup Events calendar for the latest and greatest.
Read MoreOregon startup news for the week ending July 10, 2026
A startup founder’s guide to the 2026 Oregon Prosperity Council Report or What a 452 page report actually means for people considering building companies here
[Editor: Starting this one with a caveat. I don’t write long pieces here very often anymore. And usually, it tends to be when something is stuck in my craw. And I feel the need to rant. But this one is more metered. I figured if Governor Tina Kotek’s Oregon Prosperity Council was going to take the time and energy to compose a 452 page report on what Oregon needs, I would give it the space it needed. And I’d read all 452 pages. So you didn’t have to. This is my take. It’s not perfect. But hopefully, it provides some insights into the document, some highlights, and some questions. I’m literally just posting this to serve as an artifact for future reference. Rather than some glowing insight.]
Read MoreRyan Williams joins Podnews Weekly Review
Silicon Florist links arrangement for July 10, 2026
Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
AI 2040: Plan A
In this scenario, humanity delays the development of superintelligence until 2040, makes all AI research public, allows dozens of companies globally to catch up to the frontier, and intentionally enters a regime of mutually assured compute destruction.
Read MoreChain React, the US React Native conference, will be in Portland at the end of July
I remember seeing something about this a while back, but the actual event snuck up on me. So sorry for the tardy reminder. But better late than never, I am right…? Ahem. Chain React, the 6th edition of the conference focused on React Native, will be held in Portland, July 29–31, 2026.
Read MoreSilicon Florist links arrangement for July 9, 2026
Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
VC investment in Oregon is down in 2026 so far – Portland Business Journal
For the second quarter, investors pumped $225 million into Oregon startups across 21 deals, according to the report. That compares to the second quarter of last year when $652.6 million was invested in Oregon startups across 40 deals.
Read MoreBay Area brain drain could result in Portland brain gain (emphasis on “could”)
[Editor: I’ve had a bunch of conversations about this. Time to write it down. Especially given the article in The New York Times I just caught.] In previous startup eras around here, anytime that the Bay Area returns to “epicenter” status of a technology era — or any other gold rush for that matter — the rising prices often cause creative intelligent folks to start looking for other more affordable places to call home. The past couple of times, Portland has been among those choices. I’m not sure it’s well positioned to be among those choices this time around. But it definitely could be.
Read MoreTerrified of totally tokenmaxxing…? TokenJam helps you understand and manage token spend
At some point, all good things come to an end. And in my estimation, this whole “burn billions of tokens for pennies to fix typos” era is well on its way to winding down. I mean, burning cash is fine for startups. But for public companies…? Not so much. So when OpenAI and Anthropic make it to the street, you can expect that tokens are going to get a tad more expensive. To get ready for that impending upending, you might want to look at TokenJam.
Read More