I’ve had the opportunity and pleasure of covering Puppet since Reductive Labs relocated to Portland in 2009. It’s been among the most interesting journeys of a company in the Portland startup community. And it’s been great to be part of that journey of observation. And even collaboration, as PIE, the organization I run, had the opportunity to work with Puppet, 2019-2020. But as with many journeys, they come to an end. As this begins to, today. Puppet is on the path to being acquired by Perforce.
Read MoreTag: luke kanies
Dearest founders, please take care of your mental health
If you’re a founder, you know. For all of the veneer and hype, it’s incredibly draining to be the founder of a startup — or any company for that matter. It’s lonely. It’s grueling. It’s emotionally and mentally challenging. And it’s nearly impossible to manage everything you have to do.
Read MoreFarewell, Clickety
As much as I hate to see startups shut down, I always appreciate when it’s for the right reasons. And while I’ll miss using Clickety — which enabled and empowered me to organize and make sense of the massive pile of dots I’ve collected and connected over the years — I’m heartened that the end of the company is the best course of action for the folks involved.
Read MoreThoughts on community and Clickety
One of my favorite things about working with early stage startups is getting the opportunity to use the earliest versions of their products — and then getting to watch those product morph and iterate over time. So when Puppet founder Luke Kanies offered me the opportunity to be an early user of Clickety — his newest startup pursuit — I jumped at the chance. Especially because Clickety had the potential to solve some very specific pain points and knowledge gaps for me.
Read MorePuppet founder Luke Kanies reveals more about his next venture, Clickety
It’s always nice to see successful Portland founders moving from being one-time entrepreneurs to serial entrepreneurs. And so I’ve been watching with interest as Luke Kanies, the founder of Portland’s Puppet, chase his next pursuit, Clickety.
Read MoreTravel back to the earliest days of Puppet with founder Luke Kanies
Origin stories. They tend to be the thing of myth. Glossed over and hazy. Usurped by unnecessarily hyperbolic embellishment. All to accentuate the drama. But leave it to Luke Kanies, founder of the company that would eventually become Portland’s Puppet, to take a different direction. To share a borderline gonzo origin story.
Read MorePortland cloud monitoring startup Sensu adds Puppet founder Luke Kanies to board
In the world of equity financing and startups, it’s not rare to see folks adding new board members when they announce funding rounds. Because it’s usually VCs who have invested who are getting those seats. So when Portland startup Sensu announced a new round of funding and new board members, it was a pleasant surprise to see that one of them was an independent, Luke Kanies, founder of Puppet.
A Portland founder’s perspective on venture capital and its effects on companies
In the startup world, there are some prevailing assumptions about venture capital and building companies. But just because those assumptions are prevailing doesn’t mean they’re correct. That’s why I always like resources that help demystify the world of venture capital and its impact on companies. Like Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson.
Moving beyond venture capital: Portland’s Luke Kanies proposes we rethink the financing of software startups
Not so long ago, banks were a viable means of financing business. But as the terms of that financing became more inaccessible and onerous, we saw new models arise. One of those models was venture capital. Now—thanks in part to efforts like the Zebra movement—the VC model is beginning to show its own imperfections, inadequacies, and inaccessibility. So it only makes sense that folks would start thinking about new models for financing. One of those folks is Portland’s Luke Kanies, founder and former CEO of Puppet.
Time to Cozy up for some good founder stories. Plus a few bad ones. And maybe an ugly one or two.
More often than not, startup stories fail to be tales of overnight success. Quite the contrary. Founders have any number of trials and tribulations, tests, and failures. So founders recounting their journeys are often tales of perseverance and survival. But those stories need to be shared. That’s why Portland startup Cozy is providing a stage for that to happen. With Conversations at Cozy. Read More