Silicon Florist

So much of the tech startup news is awash with stories of venture capital funding — and all of the drama that comes with it. But what if you’re building a solid SaaS business by bootstrapping it…? You know, like investing your own blood, sweat, and tears and then (gasp) generating revenue and stuff. Where do you go then? One answer is MicroConf. And if you’re interested in experiencing it, you don’t have to go far. It’s coming to Portland in September.

Raising money is one thing. Raising more money from the folks who have already invested in your company is quite another. And a clear sign that you’re building something meaningful. That’s why it was nice to see that Portland startup Source has closed an $8.5 million Series A, featuring investors that were already on the cap table.

Even with the improved weather, in-person events still seem to be struggling to come back. But there are a few bright spots here and there that give me hope. One of those events in Magnet, a different kind of networking event.

New Relic has had a significant presence in the Portland tech community for years. And was among the tech companies to make it out of the gates with an IPO during more positive macroeconomic times. Now, New Relic is going back to being a private entity, with Francisco Partners and TPG paying $6.5 billion for the company.

It’s always amazing how time flies. Especially when you’re procrastinating. And if you’ve been avoiding completing your Latino Founders Accelerator application, the time for procrastination has passed. The applications are due July 31, 2023.

If you’ve taken the opportunity to muck around with generative AI products, you know that you can sometimes get some valuable and interesting responses. But you also know that it may take you a series of prompts and refinements to make that happen. That’s where Prompts comes in — to help you save your hard work as a template.

As the community continues to recover from the stress of the last few years and works to reconnect and rebuild the bonds of community, the opportunity to gather outdoors to meet folks can be a welcome — and less stressful — means of re-establishing those connections or making new ones. This week, BBQ in the Park hopes to do just that.

Portland loves its coffee. And pretty often, founders love coffee too. So it only makes sense to combine that love of coffee for an event. That’s founder.coffee, a morning gathering of product-focused founders that’s a great way to connect with the Portland startup community. But you know what makes it better? That’s right. Free coffee.

The time is 2019. PIE, the early-stage startup accelerator, is celebrating 10 years of helping promising founders who are building amazing companies in Portland — and sometimes elsewhere. They hold their demo day at the Aladin Theater to a packed crowd. And that’s the last time that PIE held an in-person event. Until now. PIE Demo Day 2023 will be an in-person event. With a twist.

Connecting with other founders in the Portland startup community can be more challenging than it should be. That’s why I’m always a fan of events that do the work to bring startup founders together to connect with one another. And there’s no more active founder-focused group post-pandemic than founder.coffee (formerly known as Coffee w/ Co-Founders). And their next meetup happens next week at Deadstock Coffee.