Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
If I have one big complaint about the Oregon startup world, it’s that practically everything is anecdotal. Not a lot of documentation or centralized resources to be found. There are definitely resources out there. But they tend to be more the exception than the rule.
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Near the beginning of the shelter in place order — what seems like years ago at this point — one of the first virtual events in which I had the honor of participating was the Skoll World Forum, an annual global gathering that had pivoted into a virtual event. During our panel, I had the opportunity to learn from startup ecosystem builders around the world. Here are some of the insights on how startup communities were dealing with COVID-19 at the time.
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Sometimes, it takes an outside perspective to help you better understand your world. Earlier this year, Portland had the opportunity to host the Startup Champions Network, a group of startup ecosystem builders who mentor one another on what’s working in their respective communities. And as much as it was a pleasure to introduce folks to what was happening in Portland, getting feedback and insights from a variety of viewpoints was the true reward of putting the event together.
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Going into the long weekend, I thought you could use some longer form stuff to read. And clearly, I’m never going to find the time to write it. So I’m going to give you someone else’s content. Like Willamette Week which just published a cover story on the current state of Oregon startups and the infrastructure that seeks to support them.
One of the things I love most about the Portland startup community is how collaborative, supportive, and engaged the entire community is. Rather than a single person or group carrying the load, it’s all of us. But not every community has the same dynamic. Sometimes it’s an individual or handful of folks who shoulder the bulk of the effort. But no matter what the dynamic, a bunch of folks from other startup communities are visiting us in Portland, this week.
If you’ve spent any time mucking around in startup ecosystems, you’ve no doubt come across the concept of an “innovation district.” The idea, briefly, is to artificially create a dense core of people, institutions, and companies that fosters innovation. Sort of like Portland’s urban growth boundary. But for innovation.
The past couple of years, I’ve been lucky enough to get invited to the Kauffman Foundation’s ESHIP Summit. A chance to gather and learn from folks who help entrepreneurs, participate in economic development, and generally try to make the whole world of startups more accessible to both founders and the mentors that they need.
For all of the hype around tech and tech startups, we seem to be sorely lacking in events that celebrate all of the amazing consumer products that call Oregon home. That was the motivation behind last year’s Built Up Festival. And it seems to have gone pretty well. So well, in fact, that it’s happening again, September 28-October 5, 2018.
If there’s one startup town of which I’m consistently envious its… no not that one. It’s Boulder, Colorado. They’ve really done an amazing job of forming a community that supports and embraces the startup culture. Across the board.
And Brad Feld, Foundry Group, and TechStars have been a huge part of that. Read More