Portland Oregon startups, tech, news, events, jobs, and community

Portland Business Journal hosted Oregon gubernatorial candidates Governor Tina Kotek and state Senator Christine Drazan for what has been billed as the one and only discussion the two will have prior to the election. As always, I’d like to remind you that I am not a savvy political correspondent. Or even a hamfisted unsavvy political correspondent. I just regularly vomit words onto the Internet. I will, however, do my best to share an objective assessment of the event and the views that each candidate shared during the discussion from my usual myopic startup lens. Much like I did with my analysis of both Kotek’s and Drazan’s published plans for Oregon.

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

Knight Family commits $1B toward a college of engineering at UO | Office of the President

I share this news while also acknowledging that we are working through difficult budget conversations. This exceptional gift is designated for engineering and accelerating scientific impact. It does not resolve the work still in front of us to address our structural deficit over the coming years. But it does affirm the principles laid out for those conversations: that we would invest in the strengths that set our university apart, continue to highlight research leadership and excellence, and make the UO a destination of choice for more students.

You know me. I love me an affinity map. And when it comes with a crowdsourced calendar to boot…? Hoo boy. So imagine how happy I was when Malia Spencer covered The List PDX. Because it has both.

Yesterday, news broke that Phil and Penny Knight — the Nike fortune — had donated $1 billion to the University of Oregon to establish an engineering school. And that kind of news tends to get people talking. And writing. So I thought it might be helpful to round up a bunch of reputable news services that covered the whole thing. You know, for posterity.

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

Inclusion Is a Commitment We Intend to Keep – The Sports Bra®

The Sports Bra was created to support, promote, and empower girls and women in sports. As a place of inclusion and belonging, we want to provide a space for people who may not be comfortable in typical bar environments to enjoy sports. Our LGBTQ+ community members are enthusiastically welcome in our bar and restaurant.  To be completely clear, the “T” stands for Trans. We will always support and celebrate trans girls and trans women athletes, fans, and allies who love them.

It’s no secret that Oregon State University has long been the premier engineering school for our state. And recent investments from OSU alum and NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang have done a great deal to continue to solidify that position. But now, the University of Oregon has a billion new reasons to get into the engineering game. All thanks to a donation from Nike founder and U of O alum Phil Knight and his wife.

Way back when. Like two decades ago. When I started this blog. The last thing I had on my mind was covering politics. But a lot has changed since those seemingly simpler — albeit overly naive — times. And so now, that’s exactly where I find myself. Carefully considering and sharing my perspectives on politics, initiatives, and candidates with the hopes of providing you — my dearly beloved yet overly busy startup founders — with some CliffsNotes or SparkNotes or Google AI Summary level context for political issues that deserve your attention. Like the 2026 Oregon gubernatorial race.

When I started in startups — you know, last century — there was a constant refrain: “Collect the data. Just keep collecting data and eventually we’ll figure out a way to derive value from it.” That refrain hasn’t changed for 30+ years. But something else has. You see, these days, with AI, we can actually realize the value of that data much more rapidly. And that’s where a solution like Anomalo Analyst comes into play.

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

Unemployed Tech Worker Potluck, Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 4:00 PM | Meetup

Enjoy an end-of-summer potluck picnic with your fellow tech workers in Noble Woods Park. Bring something for yourself and something to share.

If you were anywhere near the Portland open source community at the turn of the century, you had heard of Selena Deckelmann. Back then, she was an active participant and contributor to the PostgreSQL and Python communities. Then she got more into community organizing with things like Open Source Bridge. So we’ve known about her awesomeness for a long time. Now, Time is catching on to what we already knew.