Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Last week, business media and social were abuzz with conversation about the declaration from the Business Roundtable that corporations, rather than continuing to champion increasing shareholder value above all else, should perhaps consider creating “an economy that serves all Americans.”
When it comes to doing the work around diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Portland startup community has a lot of work to do. A lot. Even so, there are any number of folks in the community stepping up and committing to do that work. But no matter the intent, it’s highly likely that we will all come face-to-face with a number of challenges — some conscious, some unconscious — in doing the work. Primarily in the form of biases.
You know how it is. Sometimes the week just gets away from you. And those things you were meaning to do just simply don’t get done. And nowhere is that more often true than with writing on the internet. You always mean to. But sometimes you don’t.
When I first started this blog—way back in the dark ages of this current generation of Portland startups—it seemed that time and time again the prevailing wisdom was “move to the Valley.” And that left a bit of a mark on me. So I can’t help but be lifted every time someone provides a counter argument to that thinking, especially when it has an eye toward the future. Like this TechCrunch piece by Eugene’s Pat McCarthy. Read More
[Editor: The following is an opinion from the Technology Association of Oregon. Full disclosure, I am on the board of the TAO.]
This Wednesday, the Portland City Council will consider new proposals to enforce short-term rental regulations. It is critical that Commissioners take the time to carefully weigh and address legitimate individual privacy interests involved with the City’s desire to expand its enforcement authority. Read More
Conan O’Brien was recently told that his show was going to follow Jay Leno at 12:05. His response? “No, it’s not.” And in those actions are valuable lessons for startups and entrepreneurs everywhere.
[HTML1]Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days… What’s that? Oh. No, nothing against that. I mean, it’s a nice rock. I like that one part over there. I wasn’t being serious. It’s just a turn of phrase, you know?
Ahem. Anyway.
Conan O’Brien, the host of The Tonight Show—a dynasty of late night television—was recently told that his show was going to be bumped back to follow Jay Leno at 12:05. His response? “No, it’s not.” Read More
[HTML2][Editor: The following is a guest post by Mike Berkley, who served as the CEO of Portland-based SplashCast until its recent demise. Mike and I have had any number of conversations about the startup scene here in town. And I asked him if we wouldn’t mind putting his thoughts into a post. The first post—of hopefully many—follows.]
Since putting SplashCast to rest a few months ago, I’ve finally had time to reconnect with the entrepreneur community here in Portland, as well as in the Bay Area and NYC. I’ve packed my days full of coffee, apricot scones, phone calls, and meetings… lots of meetings. I’ve talked to dozens of entrepreneurs and investors.
Two themes have surfaced in this process. Read More
It seems there’s a bit of contention and kerfuffle about a recent Entrepreneur piece on the most “startup friendly cities in the US.” Why? Because Portland—and a number of other “not seen as startup hub” towns—made it to the list while traditional metropolitan juggernauts—like Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle—were left by the wayside.
I didn’t think much of it when I mentioned the Entrepreneur article—Portland is one of the best entrepreneurial cities—the other day.
But a post by John Cook on the TechFlash blog got me doing some heavy thinking about the list—and Portland in general. Read More
I have long taken an outward-looking view and advocated that Portland could become a hub for health IT at the intersection of industry, academia, and its health care systems.
[Editor: Health Information Technology has always had a interesting spot in the Portland startup scene. And I say that, most likely, because I’ve been part of it from time to time. But I’m probably not the best person to write about it. Enter Bill Hersh, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology (DMICE) in the School of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. Here’s his perspective on HIT, its role, and its potential for the Portland tech scene.]
I appreciate the opportunity to contribute a piece to this blog about a topic of great interest to myself and many others, which is health information technology, also called health IT or HIT. Read More
For every Oregon company that has had success attracting capital for their pursuits—Jive and AboutUs come to mind—there are hundreds who struggle with where to begin and how to engage the Angel or VC community.
It’s a difficult issue. And no one seems to put his or her finger exactly on the problems or how to solve them. Some say buck up and play the game. Others say the game needs to change. People talk about staying in Portland and figuring out how to bootstrap. People talk about leaving Portland in order to get funding.
Start talking to entrepreneurs and side project startups in Portland—or throughout the Silicon Forest in Oregon—and the conversation will inevitably turn to one topic: venture capital or the lack thereof.
For every Oregon company that has had success attracting capital for their pursuits—Jive and AboutUs come to mind—there are hundreds who struggle with where to begin and how to engage the Angel or VC community.
It’s a difficult issue. And no one seems to put his or her finger exactly on the problems or how to solve them. Some say “buck up and play the game.” Others say “the game needs to change.” People talk about staying in Portland and figuring out how to bootstrap. People talk about leaving Portland in order to get funding.
What’s the answer? Read More