Portland Oregon Startup and Tech News
Well get those entrepreneurial juices flowing, my friend. Because it’s getting near Startup Weekend time again. That’s right. Startup Weekend Portland is being held November 12 through the 14th at NedSpace Old Town.
So there you are. You’ve got a killer startup idea but you’re having a hard time finding someone to help build it. Or maybe you’ve got no ideas but you’re itching to build something. Maybe you just want to help someone realize his or her dream.
Well get those entrepreneurial juices flowing, my friend. Because it’s getting near Startup Weekend time again. That’s right. Startup Weekend Portland is being held November 12th through the 14th at NedSpace Old Town. Read More
A number of us have recently had the opportunity to sit down with Amanda Hess. Amanda is working on a chapter for a larger piece on the Portland entrepreneurial scene, ranging from bikes to beer to restaurants to tech.
During the interviews, she’s been asking folks to describe the Portland tech scene in their own words. When she posed the question to me, I started to stutter through a fumbling response, when I suddenly realized I could do something better.
“Why don’t we ask the community?” I said. Read More
Hang in there, you entrepreneurial type you. You’re making progress. I know it. You know it. And now, other folks are starting to take notice. Like The Oregonian.
In a recent article entitled “Oregon’s high-tech better off now than in dot-com bust” business and tech reporter Mike Rogoway—one of the mainstream media folks in Portland who clearly “gets it”—had the following to offer about the under the radar startup scene: Read More
Okay okay. I’ll admit, it may look like I’m crying wolf.
But I got a call late last night that we had some more breathing room to fill out the Startup Now Oregon form.
You know the one. The one that will convince the Treasurer for the State of Oregon that we have a ton of viable startups in the area—startups that deserve access to state managed funds.
While we’ve had a bunch of people take a moment to fill out the form—more than 60 at last count—we’d still like to see some more.
What’s more important is that I still don’t see your idea on there. Yes, you. Procrastinator. You know who you are. Don’t make me call you out.
Even if you don’t want, need, or like the idea of the money, it’s still important to make your voice heard. Why? So that the powers that be in Oregon understand what we’ve got going here. Because it’s something special. And it deserves their support.
Remember, geeky or not. Codified or not. Oregon-based or willing to become Oregon-based. Come one, come all.
I’m not putting any deadlines on this, but I’ll likely be pulling the form down within the next few days.
Don’t make me beg—or continue to whine. It’s not pretty. Fill out the form.
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Welcome to the “How many questions can I ask in one headline?” edition of Silicon Florist.
Just a reminder that the submission form for “Startup Now” will close today at 11:59 PM.
How about you take a few seconds to provide some details about one, two, or 12 of your current side projects? Take a moment to reflect on what you could do with $250,000 in the next year, to help bring your product or idea to fruition.
Don’t think you’re worthy? Not interested in getting funding? I’d still encourage you to take a few moments to respond. Really, what could it hurt?
The point is this: rising water floats all boats. And our state treasurer needs convincing that we have a viable entrepreneurial environment filled with viable startups just waiting to take form. What’s more, if these folks can pull off putting together a $100 million fund for Oregon startups, it’s going to help all of us.
Come to think of it, I don’t even care if you live in Oregon right now. If you’d be willing to relocate to Oregon to start your business, you’re more than welcome to fill out the form, as well.
I’m looking forward to seeing you get some money to bring that idea to fruition. And if we can all work together to help the state understand the, um, state of our startup scene, it just might happen.
More than 50 startups—in addition to those who presented at the event—have provided details on how they would reinvest $250,000 in funding in Oregon over the next year. Why haven’t you?
How would you use that money? Complete the Startup Now form.
Mugasha—the DJ-set splitting startup founded during Portland Startup Weekend—has been selected to participate in the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at SXSW. They are the only Northwest company to make the cut.
SXSW is a big stage for the young company. With the event’s mix of music and technology, it’s sure to give Mugasha access to some noted movers and shakers who will no doubt appreciate the service and its capabilities.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Mugasha has stepped into the limelight. (Akshay Dodeja of Mugasha took the chance to speak with Robert Scoble, last year, and I got the chance to profile them on ReadWriteWeb.) But SXSW marks Mugasha’s first chance to demo their private beta to a large group of people outside the immediate Portland tech scene:
Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator is the newest addition to the SXSW Interactive schedule of activities. Scheduled Monday, March 16 at the Downtown Austin Hilton, the event spotlights some of the web’s most exciting new innovations, enabling the entrepreneurial visionaries behind these new products to demo their creations in front of a live audience of industry professionals and technology trend-setters.
It’s great to see Mugasha—and by association, Portland—getting this sort of recognition.
Even if you’re not going to SXSW, you should give Mugasha a spin—especially if you like electronica. What’s Mugasha do? Basically, it parses DJ set podcasts—usually one long multi-hour track with no song info—into separate song tracks, allowing user to play the songs they want to play and actually know which tunes they’re playing.
For more information or to get an invite to the private beta, visit Mugasha.
There are a couple of things that have come up recently that I wanted to share with you. I think they’re good, but I’m always open to your opinions.
First and foremost, thank you. Truly. Thank you.
I had any number of Portland blogging and Twitter folks—Betsy Richter, Dawn Foster, Todd Kenefsky, and Paul Bingman, to name a few—questioning what was going on with the Oregon Startup Blog.
Thank you for watching out for me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.
But it’s all good.
Many months ago, I spoke with the folks who run a bunch of regional startup blogs. And they were thinking about expanding their reach to create a national network of startup blogs.
As you well know, the whole reason I started writing Silicon Florist was to raise the visibility of all of the cool stuff you’ve been doing in Portland and the Silicon Forest. And I thought that this new offering would be a great opportunity to get more national exposure for the cool companies here in our neck of the woods.
So I threw my hat in the ring.
Recently, Oregon Startup Blog started syndicating Silicon Florist content and broadcasting it through Twitter. And while the implementation still has a few flaws, rest assured that we’re working through the kinks.
And it’s all on the up and up.
Hopefully, this will provide another venue to highlight all of the cool stuff you folks are accomplishing.
If you’re writing about startups in the Silicon Forest and would like to be added to the mix, I’d be more than happy to put you in contact with the folks running the show.
And again, thanks to all of you who pinged me with “Did you know about this?” I can’t tell you how much that meant to me.
It’s no secret that I’ve joked about ReadWriteWeb—one of the leading blogs in the world—being a “Portland blog.”
And with good reason.
I mean, while ReadWriteWeb’s founder, Richard MacManus, lives in New Zealand, there are two primary contributors—Marshall Kirkpatrick and Frederic Lardinois—here in the Rose City.
And that gave us more ReadWriteWeb contributors per capita than any city in the world.
Well—as luck would have it—they’ve just added one more writer from the Silicon Forest. So we now have a commanding lead.
This all happened fairly suddenly. And I must admit that I’m both humbled and honored to be asked to write for an accomplished publication like ReadWriteWeb.
I’ll do my best to do you proud, Portland.
And rest assured, I’ll continue doing my best to cover all of the cool stuff happening here in the Silicon Forest. And highlighting all of the amazing things that you’re doing.
Look at it this way: You haven’t lost a blogger, you’ve gained another blog.
And again, thank you ever so much, to all of the Portland folks who have already swung by RWW to comment.
I’m looking forward to see where this goes.
Techvibes has added some new features to their startup indices in time for the release of the Portland Start-up Index for October 2008.
So who are the movers and shakers this month?
Iterasi is the big climber, moving up 12 slots to crack the top 20. Earth Class Mail and Free Range were the only others to make positive progress, moving up one slot a piece.
But boy-oh-boy are there some people dropping down the list. Grabb.it, Pibb, and Rocketbook all slid 13 spots each to lead the pack. And a ton of other folks fell close to 10 spots. It was veritable race to the bottom of the list.
So, here’s how the rankings stand this month:
As always, to see the details on who moved where and what the actual metrics are, visit the Techvibes Portland Start-up Index.
Whew! We’re drawing near to the finish on an event-filled week. And now, From Side Project to Startup will be leading us into the weekend.
What’s the focus? Selena Deckelmann gives us the lowdown:
If you were at Barcamp Portland, you may have stopped by for the My Other Thing session. (if you weren’t there you can listen to this recording of a great, freewheeling discussion) The session led by Rick Turoczy and Banana Lee Fishbones. After the group separated, people talked about wanting more – more discussions, more connections… maybe even – a conference! Inspired by that session, From Side Project to Startup was born.
Things kick off around 5:30 PM at CubeSpace, with a welcome reception.
Here’s the full agenda:
Friday Evening – September 12, 2008
5:30-6:30 – Reception/Networking
6:30-7:00 – Welcome and setting the stage
7:00-9:00 – Creative Entrepreneurship: Conception to Actualization – Bridget Benton of Eyes Aflame
7:00-9:00 – Unconference SessionsSaturday – September 13, 2008
9:00-10:00 – Coffee, Bagels and Schmoozing
10:00-10:15 – Welcome
10:30-12:00 – What to Do Before You Quit Your Day Job – Mark Paul
10:30-12:00 – Unconference Sessions
12:00-1:30 – Lunch
1:30-3:00 – One Page Startup Marketing Plan – Peter Korchnak of Semiosis Communications
1:30-3:00 – Unconference Sessions
3:00-3:30 – Snack Break
3:30-5:00 – What Kind of Funding are You Eligible For? – Carolynn Duncan
5:00-5:15 – Wrap Up
5:15-??? – After Party
As you can see, the format is fairly open. With lots of time to jump in and out. So, even if you can’t make it to the whole thing, I’m hoping you’ll take the chance to swing by and participate. That is, if the subject matter interests you.
And something tells me that it does.
The event is brought to you by Legion of Tech, an Oregon nonprofit dedicated to helping grow and nurture the local Portland technology community through educational, not-for-profit, community-run events.
For more information on the event, visit From Side Project to Startup. To RSVP, visit Upcoming.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
