Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Switchboard, a Portland company founded by Mara Zepeda — and one that powers the Portland Startups Switchboard — has announced the completion of a successful merger with a similarly minded business out of Chicago, Hearken. The combined entity will retain the Hearken name.
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When folks are talking about startup activity, there are generally a few topics that jump to the fore: starting companies, funding companies, and liquidity events, the euphemism for that point in time when founders, investors, and ideally employees generate wealth from their efforts. But what if that last event — that exit — could also benefit the folks who find the most value in what that company was providing? That’s the concept with Exit to Community.
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You know how sometimes things on the Internet just blow up in the most positive of ways? And every so often, a Portland person gets inextricably tied to the ongoings in a way that not only furthers the conversations, but genuinely reflects the amazing caliber of founders that we have in our midst? Well that’s what happened late last week with a tweetstorm from David Heinemeier Hansson, the creator of Ruby on Rails and cofounder of Basecamp (nee 37signals) about the Apple Card credit selection algorithm. And Portland founder Mara Zepeda wound up as part of the conversation.
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Last week, business media and social were abuzz with conversation about the declaration from the Business Roundtable that corporations, rather than continuing to champion increasing shareholder value above all else, should perhaps consider creating “an economy that serves all Americans.”
I still smile every time I see a startup covered by local media. So you can only imagine my downright giddiness when I woke up to a New York Times article on Zebras Unite, a growing international startup movement cofounded by Portland entrepreneurs Astrid Scholz and Mara Zepeda.
I know I can be a bit of a broken record, what with my rosy outlook on the Portland startup community and all. So I always like to reference others who recognize the awesome people we have in our midst. Like when the folks behind the Zebra movement are recognized among the 30 women engaged in world changing efforts.
Every once in a while, there is a moment. Where something strikes a chord. When it taps into an unspoken need. Crystallizes a not-yet-codified opinion. Becomes a rallying cry. And rarely—but magnificently—sometimes that moment gains momentum of its own. And becomes a movement.
If you’ve ever had the misfortune of being stuck in a room where I’m on a panel talking about Portland as a city and community, you’ve probably heard me mention Portland’s “ridiculous decisions.” And bemoaning the fact that we don’t seem to be making those decisions as often—or as boldly—as we did in the past.
It’s a well known adage that Portland was built upon an ancient unicorn burial ground. So it should come as no surprise that a member of the Portland startup community would be proposing we bury the latest incarnation of that mythical beast—the so-called unicorn startup, a company with a valuation of at least $1 billion—as well. What could be better, you ask? How about Zebras? Read More
Used to be, back in the day, folks would blog. And sometimes, I’d take a snippet of those amazing blog posts and try to raise the volume a little bit. By posting on my own blog. But that doesn’t happen as much these days. Or when it does, it tends to happen on platforms that have their own volume mechanisms. But Portland founder Mara Zepeda just wrote something that I wanted to make sure that you saw. And so I’m trying to raise the volume a bit. Like we used to. Read More