Happy hours. They’re a thing. For real. And not so long ago, there was a community happy hour that grew into a really, really big thing. And an important and formative thing. But it didn’t start that way.
Read MoreTag: Beer
Revisiting an event that laid the groundwork for the Portland startup community today
Community doesn’t just happen. Ecosystems aren’t just built. In fact, some might say that building community is artificial. It takes effort. And consistency. And communication. And collaboration.
Read MoreIt’s like Portland startups Slack IRL: Sip and Slack
Back in the early days of this generation of the Portland startup community, we used to have a weekly happy hour every Friday. Its origins stemmed from a small group of folks providing peer support for their self hosted WordPress installations in local watering holes. So it was called “Beer and Blog.”
Read MoreREMINDER: Portland Seed Fund “Pitch for a Beer” is tonight
Sorry, this one kinda snuck up on me. Portland Seed Fund regularly takes the opportunity to invite a bunch of startups to come hang out and practice their pitches to the PSF partners. This time, it’s taking place at the Portland State Business Accelerator.
It’s no Beer and Blog but it is an opportunity to meet a chunk of the Portland startup community
There was a time, not so long ago, when the Portland startup community used to gather on a regular basis at a happy hour called Beer and Blog. It was a time to catch up with friends. A time to make new connections. A place to send folks when they were looking to get better connected to the community. And it’s how many folks who are still involved in the Portland startup community met one another, originally.
Reminiscent of Jama Software: Orchestra Software bootstraps for a decade before taking $14 million investment
When I caught the news about Orchestra Software’s equity round, I was immediately reminded of Jama Software. Both companies were bootstrapped early on. They both took on investment after a number of years in business. And the amount of the funding was roughly the same amount.
Think you’re ready to pitch investors? Hold my beer, says Portland Seed Fund
Founders tend to be an optimistic bunch. But optimism can only get you so far. And if you’re looking to pursue venture capital as a means of financing your startup, that optimism is going to take some lumps as you pitch, refine, pitch, refine… Lather rinse repeat. So it’s always nice when that pitch feedback comes with some added perks. Like pizza and beer.
A nostalgic Beer and Blog: It’s like a high school reunion but for Portland startup and open source types
If you were part of the Portland startup or open source community a decade ago—or if you were a startup type who visited Portland during that time period—you probably had the chance to attend Beer and Blog once or twice. If you weren’t around Portland then, you’ve no doubt heard me wax nostalgic dozens of times about the event, a weekly happy hour that served as the point of connection for our fledgling community.
Interested in meeting folks from Portland Startups Slack face to face? That’s why there’s Sip and Slack
In what now seems like ancient history, the Portland startup community used to have a gathering called Beer and Blog. Back when the community was smaller. And when people actually used to blog more regularly. Back then, it was the way to meet folks from our online community, offline.
From events to signature craft brews, there’s a whole bunch mo’ Mozilla and Firefox around Portland, lately
While Mozilla has been part of the Portland tech community for more than a decade, they didn’t officially open an office here—their first US office outside of Silicon Valley—until five years ago. But with ever growing concerns about privacy and security on the Web, Mozilla has recently started making a lot more noise about their presence in the Rose City—and their Firefox Web browser.