Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Portland startup Reclaim.ai is all about helping you do a better job of managing your time — and retaining your sanity. And the latest step forward for the company ensures that their offering is even easier to access. Directly from within Google Calendar. And it’s free. Forever.
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Local venture capital firm Black Founders Matter is encouraging their entire industry to be more intentional about engaging BIPOC women through both investments and employment. And they’ve launched an effort called the 25 by 25 VC Diversity Pledge to formalize it.
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It happens. Web traffic dips. Through no fault of your own. But that doesn’t change the fact that you committed to those KPIs. And now, there seems to be no way to ensure you’re going to secure that bonus. Fear not, Webmaster. Portland startup International Persuasion Machines is here to help you reach your quota.
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Blame it on the “Great Resignation” or whatever you will. We’ve seen a ton of turnover recently in the world of local foundations — which provide critical financial support for Portland’s nonprofit community. But now we’re also seeing similar behavior in the ranks of the nonprofits themselves. And that could cause yet another ripple in what’s already turning out to be a rocky environment for a Portland startup community struggling to recover from the effects of a multiyear pandemic amidst an economic downturn.
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As the US government continues to spin up efforts to help aid recovery from a global pandemic, they’re focusing on more than just financial support. One effort by the US Economic Development Administration includes reestablishing the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship (NACIE), which had been on hiatus since 2018. And a familiar face is part of the board on this reboot: David Kenney of VertueLab.
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[Editor: Trigger warning.] If you’re having a difficult time discussing the most recent horrific event in the US with your children, the Portland startup that is working to help parents have those important conversations with their children has released a free title to help guide that conversation. Visit A Kids Company About to download your free copy of A Kids Book About School Shootings.
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One of the most active early stage investors in Oregon has a whole new fund to continue doing that work. Cascade Seed Fund has announced the close of Fund II, a $10 million fund focused on investing in software and consumer product brands in the Pacific Northwest.
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If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: I still like demo days. Maybe not as their initial incarnation for fundraising. That doesn’t really seem to work. But as a celebration of companies being built and a graduation ceremony for an accelerator program? Absolutely. That’s why I’m looking forward to watching a trio of Portland-area startups on stage at the Washington Maritime Blue Innovation Accelerator demo day, this week.
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Not sure if you’ve noticed it, but we’re experiencing a wave of turnovers in the nonprofit world. There’s a bunch of new leadership at major foundations around town. And a number of other well-established organizations seeking new leadership. And the tech and startup-oriented nonprofit world is no different. PDXWIT and Zebras Unite are both on the search for new directors to lead their nonprofit organizations into the next chapter.
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If “RIP Good Times” doesn’t ring a bell, it’s probably because we’ve been on a decade-plus upswing since Sequoia Capital shared that presentation with portfolio companies — and the then relatively nascent SaaS and Cloud world — as the mortgage crisis began to wreak havoc on the economy. Now, similarly timed guidance has been released by (aptly) Y Combinator, the startup accelerator and investor that has risen to Sequoia-esque prominence during this era of startup activity.
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