Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
The Oregon wildfires of 2020. Devastating is an understatement. Many communities were razed to the ground in a matter of moments. Others had structures survive but were without left without much needed infrastructure and utilities. One of those communities — Oregon’s McKenzie River Valley — came up with a creative way of rebuilding Internet access.
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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.
Looking to spend a little time with fellow startup types? Hoping to bring an idea to reality in a short timeframe? Well, there’s no better opportunity to get something going—or collaborate on an idea—than Startup Weekend. And, as luck would have it, there’s one happening this weekend, down in Eugene.
Whenever folks ask me for ways to test drive an idea or find cofounders, one of the programs that is always at the top of my list is Techstars Startup Weekend. Why? Because it’s a 54-hour sprint that gives you a ton of insights into what it takes to test an idea, recruit a team, and build a product—even if you’ve done it before. Your next opportunity to get that experience is Techstars Startup Weekend Eugene.
Many of us know Mozilla as the organization behind the Firefox browser, but they have a number of other projects in which they’re engaged. One of those other projects is the Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund which funds speedy connectivity in support of deserving projects. Like some projects in Eugene.
One of my favorite things about Portland’s original startup scalerator, Starve Ups, is their laser focus on helping founders successfully exit from their companies. Why? Well among other things, it’s the only way we’re going to generate enough wealth to create a truly self sustaining startup ecosystem. So following fast on the news of Starve Ups alum SpaceView’s acquisition, I’m happy to reveal that another Starve Ups alum—and RAIN Eugene alum—has exited, Manage My Co-op.
What if you could watch every single TriMet vehicle at the same time? Seeing the migratory patterns of vehicles as they traverse around town. Well, thanks to Eugene’s Moonshadow and their DB4IoT, you can. But you don’t have to watch in real time. They’ve captured 24 hour of activity and have compressed it to three minutes. Read More
Since its inaugural gathering at the Portland Digital eXperience (the first instantiation of what would later become TechfestNW), the Portland TechCrawl has continued to be the largest gathering of startup and tech folks in the city, every year. This year—with the numbers of attendees currently well north of 1,000—promises to be no different. Read More
Not a day goes by that Oregon doesn’t bemoan its perceived inability to grow the type of talent that builds billion dollar companies. But fact of the matter is we do create that kind of talent. Retention is more of the issue. And sometimes, even if we lose the founders, their impact is still felt locally. Cases in point, AppNexus and WeWork. Whose founders met in high school. In Eugene. Read More
When I first started this blog—way back in the dark ages of this current generation of Portland startups—it seemed that time and time again the prevailing wisdom was “move to the Valley.” And that left a bit of a mark on me. So I can’t help but be lifted every time someone provides a counter argument to that thinking, especially when it has an eye toward the future. Like this TechCrunch piece by Eugene’s Pat McCarthy. Read More