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

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

Is Oregon a “Small Business State”?

When we compare Oregon to other states, we see that our share of employment in small businesses (32.1%) is higher than the national average (27.2%). However, it’s not particularly high compared to some of our neighbors. For example, California’s share of jobs in small businesses is roughly the same as Oregon. Idaho’s share is slightly higher at 35.9%. But Montana is the true small business king in the west with over 44% of jobs in small businesses. In fact, of all western states, Montana is the only state where the share of jobs in small businesses is higher than the share of jobs in larger businesses (500+ employees).

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

Y Combinator F25: The Full Batch – by Ollie Forsyth

YC’s newest batch has more AI-native startups than any other batch in history — 52% literally include AI in their company description…

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

Build the thing you wish to see in the world

For most of my career, I’ve been confusing building products with building businesses—and that confusion kept me from pursuing a lot of ideas. Two weeks off helped me realize that not everything needs to be a startup, and some of the best things we build are the ones we build just because we want them to exist.

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

Gov. Kotek unveils Oregon Prosperity Roadmap, new officer role – Portland Business Journal

The strategy is anchored in three goals: to retain and grow Oregon businesses, to spur job creation and to accelerate economic growth. Kotek said it will be advanced through a series of administrative actions and legislation during the 2026 short session. Other than creation of the CPO position, the plan did not mention any anticipated state funding investment.

Last reminder. If you’ve already submitted your application to the Oregon UAS Accelerator, then you can stop reading now. But, if you still have “Apply to the drone accelerator” on your to do list. You need to get on that. And if you’re building anything even remotely related to the drone space, this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss.

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

Local tech scenes have changed – by Alex Danco – a16z

The single most important question for whether local startup scenes are viable or not is, “How much career risk does A-list talent take on by staying here rather than going to SF?”

I don’t always provide discounts. But when I do, I try to provide discounts at a time when they make sense. You know, like Cyber Monday. When folks are supposed to get online deals on things and stuff. And so, if you’ve been looking for deals, here are another couple of deals to throw on the pile.