Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
If you’re looking for a new podcast or simply want to get some insights from a two-time Portland founder, you might want to check out the Zebracast from Zebras Unite. In this episode, they chat with Jelani Memory, founder and CEO of Portland startup A Kids Book About.
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“Risk averse. Conservative.… Out of touch.” They’re all complaints I’ve heard from Portland startup founders when describing the earliest stages of raising capital around these parts. But I always assumed that Seattle — with its extensive tech presence of major headquarters and massive regional offices — was a better environment. Apparently, it’s not. Those quoted comments are Seattle startup founders describing their Angel investment community.
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Subscription boxes started simply enough. Clothes. Recipes. Cosmetics. Then they started to get more complex. Like getting contacts through Portland startup Sightbox. Now, the founder of that service — which exited to Johnson & Johnson — has his, ahem, sights set on a whole new type of subscription service: medical tests. Meet Portland startup Reperio Health.
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So many folks get into building a company with the idea that they’re going to raise venture capital. As if that was the only way to finance a company. And as if they actually understand what raising equity based financing even entails. [Narrator: It isn’t. And they don’t.]
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If you don’t recognize the names in that headline, you should. Stephanie Ghoston Paul is a former Portland resident now living in Atlanta who worked closely with the Portland startup community. And Paige Hendrix Buckner is a current Portland resident who has been a serial founder and mentor here in town. And so when these two amazing women for whom I have the utmost respect got the chance to chat on Stephanie’s podcast, Take Nothing When I Die, it was a must listen for me. And I thought you might want to listen, as well.
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Among the names of 150 Black tech leaders imploring technology companies and startups to take a stand against systemic racism — through a newly launched effort called Black Tech for Black Lives — a couple of names immediately stood out. That’s because they were Portland founders Stephen Green, founder of PitchBlack, and Lindsey Murphy, founder of The Fab Lab.
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Naithan Jones of Andreesen Horowitz is starting a new research project that’s going to be of interest to most — if not all — founders around these parts. He’s calling it “The Hidden Founders Project.” And it’s an effort to highlight amazing entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley.
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Early stage startups can always use more support. And founders can always use more resources for mentorship and capital. That’s why I was so excited to hear about the launch Supermaker and Color, two efforts from Jaime Schmidt and Chris Cantino. Here’s a recent video sharing more on what they’re building and how they’re looking to support early stage founders — including details on the Entrepreneurial Dream Project.
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As the pandemic and lockdown linger on, so does the opportunity for online interviews with interesting folks. And Willamette Week has been doing a great job of chatting with a cross-section of people — including folks for the Portland startup community.
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Sometimes, the best way to navigate the future is to learn from the past. Because we’ve been through downturns before. Maybe not to this extent. But at least in some semblance. So learnings from a startup in the dotcom days — both boom and bust — and the mortgage crisis could provide some interesting insights for startups to survive the current pandemic — and what to expect when the market starts to correct.
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