Portland Oregon startups, tech, news, events, jobs, and community
Portland startup and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
If you’re like me, you know a lot of folks who work from home. They might be working for a company that favors remote workers, like Automattic. Or maybe they’re working solo on their own business. Or it could be that they’re part of a startup team that is saving capital by avoiding rent.
If you’ve spent any time on this blog, you’ve no doubt heard me bemoan — or maybe even wax poetic — about the fact that it’s very rare for Portland or the region to have a a succession of exits or liquidity events. They generally happen as one offs. Or blips. But with recent activity for Cozy and Radar followed quickly by news of Mirador and Dakine, I’ll be darned if I’m not getting a wee bit optimistic about breaking that curse.
I knew it was happening, but I didn’t realize that it was coming together this quickly. So my sincere apologies for the tardy reminder. But better late than never. CyborgCamp — one of the defining events of the Portland startup community nearly a decade ago — is back. And it’s taking place November 3, 2018.
Getting on stage can be scary. Telling people about your startup can be scary. So it only stands to reason that applying to do both of those things would have a scary due date. Like tomorrow. That’s when you have to have your Pitch Oregon application done.
One of the consistent Portland themes I always mention is the concept of “accidental entrepreneurship.” By that I mean, the innumerable creative folks in town who were inspired to build something to solve a problem they had simply for the sake of solving it. And then someone or someones said, “Hey, I’d pay for that.” And suddenly, they’re a startup.
For all of the hype around tech and tech startups, we seem to be sorely lacking in events that celebrate all of the amazing consumer products that call Oregon home. That was the motivation behind last year’s Built Up Festival. And it seems to have gone pretty well. So well, in fact, that it’s happening again, September 28-October 5, 2018.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: OTRADI has built the best incubator in the city, the Oregon Bioscience Incubator. Likely the best incubator in the state. Potentially in the northwest. And incubators are hard. Really hard. (That’s part of the reason PIE chose to morph into an accelerator.) So when there comes a chance to celebrate their accomplishments? I’m all over it.
Over the years, any number of Portland startups have taken the stage for TechCrunch Disrupts. CPUsage, Glider, and Vault, among others. (And oddly enough, two of those three got acquired.) So when TechCrunch comes knocking, looking for more Oregon startups, I’m always happy to help spread the word.
Digital healthcare has long been one of Portland’s strongest areas of startup success and support. But like so many awesome Portland things, it’s also a tightly knit community for which it can be difficult to figure out where to start. That’s why OTRADI Oregon Bioscience Incubator started a regular happy hour. So that making those connections could be easier.
Whenever folks ask me about getting a company started, I always recommend Startup Weekend as an option. In my experience, there’s no better venue for getting a crash course in startup stuff over an accelerated timeframe. Plus you meet potential cofounders and team members. It’s just a great set up. And now, leave it to Oregon to make it even better.
