Portland Oregon startups, tech, news, events, jobs, and community
Portland startup and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
I’ve really grown quite fond of this tradition that Stephen Green started. Where once a day, throughout the month of February, Stephen has taken the opportunity to highlight one black Portland business for Black History Month. And this year, it got even better. Because Built Oregon joined in. And because we got an extra day.
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You know how we love our weeks here in Portland. Sneaker Week. Design Week. Burger Week. Startup Week. Week week weekity week. Sometimes, these weeks try to pretend they’re not actually weeks by not putting “week” in their name. But don’t be fooled. They’re weeks. And if you’re into consumer products — like food, beverage, apparel, and beauty — well then have I got the week for you. Built Festival is back and bigger than ever.
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Here in Oregon, we’ve got more than our fair share of amazing consumer product companies. I mean there’s Benchmade, Columbia, Deschutes, Keen, LaCrosse, Nike, Resers, and Tillamook, just to name a few. And there have been exits from companies like 10 Barrel, Brazi Bites, Dakine, Hydroflask, Pacific Foods, Schmidt Naturals, and Stumptown that rival any tech exit. So why in the world don’t isn’t there an accelerator program to connect all of this knowledge and experience with the next generation of consumer products companies?
Being in the startup acceleration and mentoring business, I do love me some status reports and updates. Even if that startup happens to be an accelerator itself. And that’s why I was happy to see this latest update from Mitch Daugherty on the Built Oregon consumer product accelerator project.
While startup accelerators have become part of the parlance of early stage technology companies, the format may not be as familiar to other industries. That’s why Built Oregon is holding a question and answer session about their new startup accelerator for interested applicants and potential future applicants who are building consumer products in Oregon.
I love when folks take the time to highlight awesome Oregon companies. But sometimes, it’s hard to keep up. That’s why I’m taking the opportunity to capture Built Oregon’s Women History Month tweets so that you don’t miss out on these amazing entrepreneurs.
Accelerators are nothing new. They’ve become a quintessential part of many startup ecosystems. But more often than not, they’re rather one note. Because the vast majority of those accelerators are only accelerating one thing: tech. But there’s more to startups than just tech. Especially around here. That’s why Built Oregon is rethinking the accelerator model to support consumer products companies.
Taking inspiration from Stephen Green’s annual Black History Month celebration of black businesses in Portland, Built Oregon will be featuring women led consumer product companies from around the state during the month of March, Women’s History Month. If you’re interested in meeting some new companies and awesome founders, you should tune in.
While the Portland startup community does its best to be incredibly collaborative and welcoming, we’re not always so good with communicating how best to engage with the community. And that can be a tad bit frustrating for folks who are looking to help — and even more frustrating for those who are looking for help.
Granted, Portland shops local year round. But there’s no more important time to put your hard earned dollars into the local economy than the holiday season. Because so many products and retailers rely on holiday traffic. Luckily, Portland also makes that easier. With things like My People’s Market and Little Boxes.
