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

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

Menlo Turns 50 and Announces $3B in Fresh Capital to Go ALL IN on AI | Menlo Ventures

Fifty years ago, Menlo made its first bet on a future that had not yet arrived. In 1976, venture capital was still more craft than industry, but that didn’t stop our founding partner, H. DuBose Montgomery, a 27-year-old electrical engineer fresh from Bell Labs, from opening a new firm on Sand Hill Road. He had a simple belief: The most impactful companies often start building long before the market knows how to value them.

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

AI models that can take down governments and business months away, rare Five Eyes statement warns | AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian

The surprising public intervention by signals agencies for Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada comes after the Trump administration earlier this month decided to block “foreign nationals” from using a much-hyped AI model built by tech company Anthropic, called Fable.

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

Celebrating Juneteenth and Black Music Month

At 1803 Fund, we believe culture is infrastructure. Music, storytelling, and gathering are essential for how our community remembers who we are and imagines what comes next. As we celebrate and share more about this month of culture, we offer a gift: a playlist of music that grounds our team in power and purpose.

It’s one of those days where Silicon Florist posts are reaffirming my faith in Portland. And in Portland’s effervescent humanity and empathy. (Ha! Like that’s not every single day…?) Especially when it comes to making the web and technology more accessible. And along those lines, here’s a Portland dream that just will not quit: you’ve got a computer sitting there, mostly idle, quietly burning electricity — and somewhere across town or the globe someone needs exactly that compute and can’t get it without renting it from some hyperscaling giant. So what if you could just lend it to them…? Like SETI@home of the days of yore…?

I always love Portland ideas that take that whole original ethos of the World Wide Web to make it more accessible. AS IT WAS INTENDED. Like Neocities recreating Geocities. Or any number of other quaint and cozy and engaging tools that Portland folks have build over the years. And now, there’s another one to add to the list: Quickish.

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

I’m not the entrepreneurial sort… – CamiKaos

I’m a bad entrepreneur. It doesn’t even hurt my feelings to say so. Most people are. Most people don’t want to be an entrepreneur.

As always, it pains me to share this kind of thing. Especially if you’re hearing it from me first. (And if that’s the case, I deeply apologize to be sharing this awful news.) But in the interest of ensuring that folks are aware… I’m incredibly sad to report the passing of Joshua Baer, often recognized as the “godfather” of the Austin, Texas, startup community and a consistent example — both inspirational and aspirational — for those of us who do startup community work.