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All posts by Rick Turoczy

More than mildly obsessed with the Portland startup community. Founder and editor at Silicon Florist. Cofounder and general manager at PIE. Follow me on Twitter: @turoczy

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Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for March 19, 2008

Rick Turoczy on March 18, 2008

Sometimes, a link says more than I could ever say. Here are some fragrant little buds I’ve found recently, courtesy of ma.gnolia.

6 Tips for Hiring Top Talent at Startups

Good advice for startups from CenterNetworks, “Hiring at startups is hard. You’re swamped, running in a ton of different directions and don’t necessarily have a big budget set aside for recruiting. But hiring top talent at startups is essential. You can’t afford to hire anything but A-players.”

PDX Web Designers

Just stumbled upon this collection of Portland area Web designers.

Pacific Northwest Sees Increase In Web 2.0 Investments

Dow Jones VentureSource said today that Pacific Northwest, Web 2.0 venture investments grew to $140M and 13 deals in 2007, up from 6 deals and $35M in investments, as overall Web 2.0 investments in the U.S. grew to $1.34B.

Startup Weekend 2.0: New Format

Andrew Hyde writes “So now we launch the marketing term Startup Weekend 2.0 for our weekend. Startup Weekend is an amazing event for building community, finding cofounders and finding a challenge for yourself. Looking back over the past weekends there is a huge opportunity to build on our strengths by changing around the format.” Portland Startup Weekend is May 23-25, 2008.

OEN Swapmeet on March 27, 2008

Drop by the OEN SwapMeet on March 27th at the Someday Lounge. This is a program was created specifically for people looking to connect with entrepreneurs, early-stage companies, and the people who help them both grow. As the Oregon economy continues to develop, there will be more and more opportunity to work with, work for, or start new companies in growing industries. SwapMeet is a great way to get connected to the people making it all happen.

stevenf.com: Tweaking Coda Books

Steven Frank writes “It’s not even 4 months since the last update, but I know the wait is killing some of you regardless. Please try to resist asking me for a release date. We have always tried to ship by quality, not by calendar. A buggy release sooner doesn’t help anyone.”

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

Confidence in Web 2.0 isn’t waning, but confidence in the Valley may be

Rick Turoczy on March 18, 2008

There’s a great deal of Chicken Little reporting occurring today about how the Web 2.0 sky is falling. Why? Because apparently, according the Dow Jones, the investments in Web 2.0 technology in the Silicon Valley are down, year over year.

Silicon Valley remains the hotbed of Web 2.0 activity, but the hipness of start-ups with goofy names is starting to cool in the face of economic reality.

Not shocking news, I realize. But I think they buried the lead.

Even the venerable Wall Street Journal puts the news in the very last sentence of their piece:

“It’s clear that the real growth in the Web 2.0 sector is happening outside of the (San Francisco) Bay Area,” says Jessica Canning, director of global research for Dow Jones VentureSource.

And there’s the real story. That’s the real news. Not that the investments in the Valley are down, but rather, that the investments elsewhere are up. In some cases, way up.

In our own Pacific Northwest, for example, the number of Web 2.0 oriented deals more than doubled. And the amount of the investment? It’s up 400% from $35 million in 2006 to $140 million in 2007.

That’s about as opposite of “waning” as I can come up with.

And we’re not alone.

Investment amounts in New England doubled, Southern California nearly tripled, New York metro nearly tripled, Southeast doubled, Mountain more than quadrupled, and North Carolina, alone, tripled.

In fact, the only area besides the Valley that went down was Texas.

So has Web 2.0 peaked? I honestly don’t know.

From what I’ve seen, it’s going pretty strong here in the Silicon Forest. And it’s clearly picking up speed in other sectors.

Maybe the better question is: Has Silicon Valley peaked?

Platial goes mobile

Rick Turoczy on March 18, 2008

Portland-based Platial, the de facto leader in “social mapping,” has just announced a move that is sure to increase both their user base and their overall utitlity: Platial is going mobile.

Using services from mobile partner, Lightpole, Platial users will now be able to:

… take their maps to go with Lightpole’s new local aggregator for mobile. All Platial maps will now have a Lightpole icon which allows people to send their data to any java enabled phone. Most of Platial’s location-based content will be available with the download of Lightpole’s application meaning that even non-Platial members can access Platial content.

For more information on this new feature, see Platial’s post. To try out Platial and Lightpole for yourself, visit Platial maps using a mobile phone.

Russell Shaw: A tribute to a Portland Blogger

Rick Turoczy on March 18, 2008

Alex Williams has offered that the Portland Metblog meetup, this Wednesday at the Green Dragon, would be the perfect place to toast former Metblogger Russell Shaw, whom we lost, last weekend:

Bloggers, everyone – come on out Wed. night to the Metblog party at the Green Dragon and raise a pint with me to good ol’ Russell Shaw. I’ll be there to remember my good friend and Metblog colleague who passed away last weekend. Let’s share a laugh and a story about the hardest working blogger in the business. Russ and I both blogged for Metblog so it will be good to see some friends and familiar faces. Hope to see you there.

To RSVP, please visit the Portland Metblog meetup on Upcoming.

Twitter: 7 Silicon Forest creations that will improve your experience

Rick Turoczy on March 17, 2008

Something dawned on me this weekend as I was watching the streams of Portland-based tweets stream across my screen. I think Portland may have more another “per capita” stat we can start quoting. I think it’s highly likely that Portland has more tweets per capita than any city in the US.

With all of these Twitter users and tweets flying by, it comes as no surprise that Portland and the Silicon Forest have created a number of cool side-project Twitter-related tools and views. I use a number of these tools every single day. And they’ve greatly improved the utility of Twitter—and the information it holds—for me. (Of course, as always, I also remain hopeful that some of these side projects have the potential to form—or at the very least inspire—full-fledged Silicon Forest startups.)

While I’ve covered most of these individually, I thought it might be wise to round them up for future reference. Both to highlight the work that is going on, and to hopefully, stimulate some more ideas for development.

In no particular order:

  • Pulse of PDX provides a view of Portland Twitter users and what they’re posting to Twitter. The best thing about Pulse of PDX? You don’t even have to be a Twitter user to use it, so it’s a great way to dip your toe in the proverbial Twitter water. Of course, once you use it, you may want to become a Twitter user.
  • Twitterwhere let’s you find all the Twitter users in a particular geographic region. Want to find all of the Twitter folks in Corvallis? What about Vancouver? Portland? And since the service provides a feed, it’s another “try before you buy” Twitter tool. Add the feed to your feed reader if you’re still debating whether to sign up for Twitter or not.
  • Tweetpeek allows you to create quick widgets and pages using the followers of a particular entity. Think Pulse of PDX for whatever you want. Create a Twitter entity, follow the folks you would like to include, and run it through Tweetpeek. Easy.
  • Ever wish you could see Twitter conversations in a threaded, rather than linear, format? Well, then Twitterthreads may be for you, my friend. Simply log into Twitterthreads with your Twitter credentials, and you’ll be able to see your
  • Heavy Twitter users will find times when they simply don’t see all the replies that were meant for them. And that’s where Portland’s Twitter Reply Sniffer comes into play. Use the tool to search for your Twitter name and you’ll see all the replies from all the folks who are interested in conversing with you.
  • I don’t use public transit as much as I would like, but when I do, NextTrimet has been a welcomed addition to my Twitter toolset. Simply follow NextTrimet (and wait for it to follow you back), then send your stop number in a direct message to NextTrimet and it will let you know when the next ride will be arriving.
  • Sandy isn’t a Twitter tool per se. But I have to tell you, since I discovered Sandy’s Twitter account, I’ve been working with her more and more. Like anyone else on Twitter, she’s cordial, intelligent, and helpful. And she’s helping me keep track of more and more things.

Wow. Portland and the Silicon Forest are definitely a Twitter.

Those are just a few of the cool tools built on and around Twitter that I’ve been lucky enough to find. I, for one, can’t wait to find more hometown-built tools that make Twitter even more valuable.

Have you built a cool Twitter app or found one that I haven’t listed? Please, by all means, let me know.

Portland Start-up Index for March 2008: AboutUs retains top spot

Rick Turoczy on March 15, 2008

It’s the 15th of the month again. And that means its time to update the Techvibes Portland Start-up Index. While there was neither much movement this month—the top 4 remain in the same positions as last month, with AboutUs retaining the spot—nor, apparently, any new sites added to the index, I do find it interesting that two of the most newsworthy companies in the area, Jive and SplashCast, have actually dropped down the list one and two spots, respectively.

Given that the list changes month to month, here’s the ranking, for historical reference. To see the metrics and movement, please visit Techvibes. And, as always, I offer this with the “fruit salad” caveat: This is a very apples and oranges comparison, in terms of companies and products. The other caveat that bears mentioning is that widget- and mobile-based tools often report far lower Alexa and Compete numbers than Web-based services.

So, here’s the list:

  1. AboutUs
  2. Discogs
  3. Kongregate
  4. MyOpenID
  5. Earth Class Mail
  6. Sandy
  7. Splashcast
  8. Jive Software
  9. eROI
  10. Gone Raw
  11. Stikkit
  12. NetworthIQ
  13. Walker Tracker
  14. Attensa
  15. Grabbit
  16. Pibb
  17. GadgetTrak
  18. Active Reload
  19. Iterasi
  20. Art Face Off
  21. Iovation
  22. Rocketbook
  23. Lunarr
  24. ChoiceA
  25. UrbanDrinks
  26. WeoGeo
  27. FreeRange
  28. GoLife Mobile
  29. KnitMap
  30. Goboz
  31. VocalNation.net
  32. MomHub
  33. Lightfleet
  34. Cendix
  35. Pheedo
  36. fmyi
  37. Picktastic
  38. Imindi
  39. Workplace2go
  40. Kryptiq
  41. Techchex
  42. Jama Software
  43. Avnera
  44. GoSeeTell
  45. Lumeno.us
  46. Box Populi
  47. Worldwide Nest
  48. Kumquat
  49. IDP Solutions
  50. YourList

The Portland Start-up Index is compiled by Techvibes using an average of Alexa and Compete rankings. It is updated on a monthly basis.

Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for March 15, 2008

Rick Turoczy on March 14, 2008

Sometimes, a link says more than I could ever say. Here are some fragrant little buds I’ve found recently, courtesy of ma.gnolia.

ExpressionEngine 2.0: Fully CodeIgnited!

Derek Allard writes “This is great news if you’re an ExpressionEngine user, a CodeIgniter user, or both. As an ExpressionEngine developer you will have a greatly expanded community of talented developers working with you, and for you. I said during my talk, ‘The nerds are excited, and you should be excited that the nerds are excited.’ As a dyed in the wool nerd, I stand by this!”

Yahoo Pipes: Track Twitter Replies with RSS Part Deux at Fast Wonder Blog

Dawn Foster writes “My issue with the original reply sniffer is that it was based on TerraMinds.com, which was down all day yesterday, so I decided to modify it to use a similar service, TweetScan. Here is the link to the new and improved Twitter Reply Sniffer pipe.”

May 10th Drupal Camp Location locked in

The official date and location for PDXDrupalCamp has been announced: May 10 at the Portland State Business Accelerator (PSBA).

View all my bookmarks on Ma.gnolia

Editorial: I could use your advice

Rick Turoczy on March 14, 2008

First of all, I wanted to thank you. For your readership and your support. And, for your continuing to pursue your side projects, your part-time projects, and your full-on entrepreneurial pursuits.

And especially for being brave enough to read a post called “I could use your advice.”

This one is a tough one for me. And I’ll apologize in advance for my rambling explanation. But here we go…

It’s no secret that I started Silicon Florist on a whim. Because I saw a gap in the news coverage. Because I saw incredibly exciting things happening in Portland that didn’t seem to garner coverage—either by local pubs or by the juggernauts of the tech industry.

In short, I’ve been humbled by the response to the blog. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your continuing to read it.

I started Silicon Florist because I thought it was a good idea. But I like to think I have a lot of good ideas. It was a side project. A passion project.

But as Silicon Florist continues to grow, it begins to slide into the “part-time gig” column. And I’m happy to see it do that, because I can confidently say that my passion for Silicon Florist and the potential it holds only continues to grow.

After talking with literally hundreds of people (with whom I would have never had contact without this blog), I can see a number of other “gaps” that could be filled. That could improve our startup community here in the Silicon Forest. That could help other folks—kids, business people, venture capitalists—get more involved in the tech industry, here. That could move help Portland and its surrounding areas take a rightful place on the technology map, again.

And that’s something I desperately want to do.

But. (There’s always a “but,” isn’t there?)

There are only so many hours in the day. And I would very much like to dedicate some of those hours before midnight to Silicon Florist pursuits. And to the greater good.

But in order to do that, I have to reduce the number of consulting hours to which I commit. And we all know what that means, don’t we?

Oh.

Well, it means, I need to find another way to replace that cash that’s currently underwriting all of the Silicon Florist efforts. So that I can spend more than side-project time on Silicon Florist. And, quite honestly, to keep this burgeoning dream alive that maybe—just maybe—Silicon Florist has the potential to be a full-time gig.

So, finally, we come to my question:

What should I do?

I have some baggage about even considering this whole thing. But, someone far wiser than I told me, “The first time you covered a topic because you felt you had to cover it, rather than because you wanted to cover it, Silicon Florist stopped being your blog.” And that message has been echoed by others.

So, I feel I have logical justification. But, it’s that selfsame logical defense that also tells me that this blog belongs to you, too. So, I need some more feedback. I need to ask those of you in the silent majority who haven’t had the chance to say your piece.

I’ve been thinking about this a great deal. And I see a number of potential options for getting Silicon Florist out of my basement and on its way to paying some of its own bills. But I’m also open to your feedback.

Here are some ideas I had:

  • Do nothing different from today. Keep the coverage at the same—or lower—level. Keep on keeping on, and look for other passion projects to which I can dedicate my time.
  • Introduce the OPB-esque idea of “Sustaining sponsors,” be that individuals or corporations, who provide funding to underwrite Silicon Florist projects.
  • Pursue good old fashioned Web advertising. Rest assured, I’m not talking about anything gaudy, whack-a-mole-ish, or mortgage-financing-ish. I have to look at the site, too. And ideally, it should be advertising that actually helps Silicon Forest startups and other readers. Shocking concept, I realize.
  • Come up with a more creative solution for solving the problem with which I find myself faced.
  • Or, your idea may be the right thing to do. So feel free to share your ideas in the “Other” area or via comments.

Suffice it to say, that my most important concern is that, you, as a reader do not feel put upon or alienated as a result of my pursuing this direction. Because if this blog fails to keep you interested or if you’re going to be offended, I’d rather suck it up and do nothing.

Wow. That was a lead-up if I’ve ever composed one. If you’re still awake… without further ado, is my appeal for your feedback. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. (Poll not showing? Please access the Silicon Florist poll here.)

And, as always, please feel free to use the comments to expound upon your answers.

Thank you. Sincerely. I really appreciate your advice.

http://s3.polldaddy.com/p/418827.js

Calagator code sprint on March 15

Rick Turoczy on March 14, 2008

I was going to write a post about the next Calagator code sprint which is going to be held tomorrow, March 15, from 10 AM until 5 PM at CubeSpace. But I’ll be darned if Igal Koshevoy’s note didn’t put that write up to shame.

So, I’m just going to quote liberally from that note.

What’s Calagator?

Calagator is an all-volunteer, open-source project to develop a calendar aggregation system for the Portland technical community. We’re making lots of progress, so please join us in the effort.

Where does the code sprint take place?

We’ll doing another code sprint to work on the project this Saturday, 10am to 6pm at CubeSpace. We usually meet in the FlexSpace (also the place where the Ruby Brigade meetings usually are), but the friendly front desk staff will tell you where to go if you’re not sure.

I’m not much of a “coder,” is there anything I can do to help?

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if you haven’t attended a code sprint before. Experience with Ruby on Rails and agile development is helpful, but you’re welcome to come even if you’re new to these because this is a great way to learn. You do not have to come to the entire event, so swing by if you have time.

I’m standing here at CubeSpace and you guys are nowhere to be found.

If you drop in and we’re not there, you’ll probably find us eating lunch at the “Side Door” bar/restaurant a few blocks away.

Visit the PDX Tech Calendar Google Group to RSVP for the Calagator code sprint.

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