Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
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.
Yes. $200 million. For a Portland startup. It’s really really easy to blanche at that number. I get it. It’s a big number. Especially for a homegrown Portland company in the software world. And were this earlier in the life of Silicon Florist, I could have easily focused on the number, cheered for a company raising that much, and moved along my merry little way.
One of Portland’s quietly successful startups, Cedexis, has been acquired by Citrix. I say “quiet” because, like many startups in town, the company kept a fairly low profile, all while providing behind the scenes business-to-business services for a wide variety of brand name customers around the world. And while they were relatively quiet locally, Citrix—who also invested in Cedexis—was well aware of them, as was the entire cloud industry.
While it’s still a rarity, it’s always interesting to see Portland companies acquiring other companies. Especially when they’re other companies in town. We’ve seen it before with Cloudability acquiring RipFog. And now, we’re seeing Jama make a similar move in acquiring Notion.
When folks are rattling off the names of Portland startups, Jama Software was a name that was often left off the list. While successful, foregoing institutional funding tended to leave them out of the spotlight they so richly deserved. Well, that changed today. As Jama announced $13 million in funding from Trinity Ventures and Madrona. Read More
In the past, one of the knocks against Portland’s startup scene has been a lack of seasoned executive talent. But that’s starting to change. Especially with Portland’s startup scene gaining more acclaim and making it easier for startups to find—or import—the talent they need. Read More
I’m really happy to see the response to the return of Portland Lunch 2.0. Lots of companies wanting to sponsor. Lots of people wanting to attend. Lots of Portland types getting to meet one another. Which all in all equals a whole lot of awesome. Read More
Okay. I know I usually save these job posts until the end of the week. But man oh man, Jama Software? You know, that Portland startup that builds collaboration tools to help companies build great products?
Well, if you don’t know about Jama, you should. They’re a local success story. And Jama just so happens to have seven open positions right now. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look. Read More
And I’m happy to report that, with the announcement of the finalists for the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Tom Holce Awards, there are a couple of Silicon Florist regulars—out of the 14 nominees—getting the recognition they so richly deserve.
[HTML3]Now, I know many of you continue to work and slave on your entrepreneurial pursuits because you’re driven to do so. Quite frankly, you can’t help it. You just have to do it. So, whether you’re recognized or not, you’re going to keep doing what you’re doing.
But still, isn’t it always nice to be recognized? Sure it is. And I’m happy to report that, with the announcement of the finalists for the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Tom Holce Awards, there are a couple of Silicon Florist regulars—out of the 14 nominees—getting the recognition they so richly deserve. Read More