.

Tag: Oregon

Digital Trends hires new CFO

Rick Turoczy on September 4, 2008

Digital TrendsDigital Trends is one of my favorite “sleepers” around the Portland area. Whenever I mention their name and the fact that they’re here in the Silicon Forest, I’m usually met with a “Really? That’s a Portland company?”

Kind of like Survey Monkey and—to a lesser extent—COLOURlovers. (Yes, those are both Portland companies, too.)

I mean, I rarely if ever hear anyone around here talk about Digital Trends—apart from an occasional mention on the Techvibes’ Portland Start-up Index (they’re ). And unfortunately, I never happen to run into any of their employees at any of the local tech events.

So, why should you care?

Only because Digital Trends happens to rack up about 40,000,000 visitors readers (3-4 million unique visitors to the site). Per month.

That’s right. 40 million visitors readers each month.

And that, my friend, is not to be taken lightly.

Another sign that they’re not to be taken lightly? Even though they’re pretty small, Digital Trends has just hired a new CFO, Nathan Bell.

No, not that Nathan Bell. That’s Nathan P. Bell.

In fact, I think this Nathan Bell is actually related to the CEO, Ian Bell. Or it’s just a random coincidence that they’re both named Bell—and that there are two Gauls in the company, too. (I’m not ruling anything out at this point, given that whole Nathan Bell thing. Maybe it’s Intrigo‘s Nathan who’s related to Ian?)

I’m sorry. Where was I? Gauls. Bells. Oh yes.

So Nathan Bell has been named the new CFO:

“Nathan brings years of financial experience to the table, and will help to shape the future path of the company as it continues to evolve and grow its awareness amongst technology readers,” said Ian Bell, Chairman and CEO, Digital Trends. “We’re pleased to welcome him to the Digital Trends team.”

And I’m hoping that we see more and more of Digital Trends around the Portland scene.

Digital Trends is the first stop for everyday readers, working professionals and gadget enthusiasts alike looking to make sense of how gadgets, games, home theater components and other tech-related products fit into their everyday lives. For more information, visit Digital Trends.

REMINDER: Portland tech types at Inverge Thursday and Friday

Rick Turoczy on September 3, 2008

InvergePortland’s Inverge conference starts on Thursday, and a few of our favorite Portland tech types are taking the stage. If you’ve got time to attend, I highly suggest catching:

Not registered for Inverge? No worries. Passes will be available at the door. A Full Conference Pass will run you $495 or you can get a day pass for, well, roughly half that at $249.

For more information, visit Inverge.

Vidoop Oregon Trail: You have (not) died of dysentery

Rick Turoczy on September 3, 2008

Oregon Trail You have died of dysenteryIt’s common knowledge that we are afforded the luxury of our relatively cushy existence here in Oregon thanks to the efforts of pioneers. Pioneers who spent many an arduous day sitting on uncomfortable wagon seats as they headed toward their new home.

Last I heard, that whole “pioneer” thing isn’t a requirement to be a resident of the state anymore. Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately for our amusement—no one told the soon-to-be officially Portland-based Vidoop.

Because they’re recreating the Oregon Trail with a trip from Tulsa to Portland. That’s right. The entire Tulsa crew is packing into a convoy and heading north to their new home.

28 people. 4 RVs. 7 U-Hauls. 42 people. 4 RVs. 5 U-Hauls, 2 trailers, 2 cars, 8 pets, and 1 blueberry bush. 5 days to get across the country.

And you get to watch all the hijinx with the Vidoop Oregon Trail blog! It’s like our own little Real World Road Rules episode.

And while there’s not much there now, bear in mind that the trip just started. There’s no telling what kind of hilarity will ensue after these guys have been on the road for a few days.

Here’s hoping they never buy more meat than they can haul back to their wagons, no one is attacked by rabid squirrels, and last but certainly not least, no one succumbs to dysentery.

Vidoop is expecting to land in Portland by Sunday. Until then, stay tuned to the Vidoop Oregon Trail.

Internet Astronauts launches

Rick Turoczy on September 3, 2008

I can’t say that Portland, Oregon, immediately jumps to mind when someone utters the word “astronaut.”

But if Darius Monsef—the creator of COLOURlovers, an incredibly popular community site centered on the discussion of (you guessed it) color—has his way, Portland will soon be known as the home of Internet Astronauts, his latest venture.

Internet Astronauts

Apart from a strangely compelling name, what is Internet Astronauts?

Internet Astronauts is a resource for bootstrapping startups and internet entrepreneurs who are ready to ignite their rockets and launch. The blog is the central resource in our initial launch of the IA site, but soon profiles, community tools and more resources will be added.

Yes, but why astronauts?

I use the astronaut theme because it implies the risk and dedication it takes to get a startup off the ground. It can take tons of hard work, early days and late nights… and laying it all on the line. Also, Astronauts are not in their careers only because it pays well… the high-risk isn’t worth the money. They do it because they love it. I’d like to think think I’m in this business for the chance to go somewhere new, more than the chance to make a lot of money. (Although that is a great possible benefit of being an internet entrepreneur.)

If you’ve had the chance to read the guest posts that Darius has written for Silicon Florist—“Community: The Secret Sauce of a Successful Internet Startup” and “Here’s the Deadliest Catch: Hiring an Agency to Build Your Startup“—you’re already familiar with his voice and some of his opinions.

He’s definitely a force with which to be reckoned.

And that’s why I recommend you take a few moments to swing by Internet Astronauts. Or just go ahead a dive right in by subscribing to the Internet Astronauts feed.

I’m looking forward to hearing Darius’ voice, opinions, and passion as he chimes in on the startup scene.

Portland Start-up Index for September 2008: Did Vidoop get lost on the Oregon Trail?

Rick Turoczy on September 2, 2008

Didn’t we just have a Techvibes Portland Start-up Index a few weeks ago? Yes, we did. But Techvibes has decided to change the publication date, so we’ll be getting these at the beginning of the month.

Techvibes has changed a few other things, too.

And while the listings might be a little more cryptic now—and unfortunately lacking in indicators in regards to movement this time around—this effort continues to provide a interesting way to assess and discuss the local startup scene.

The biggest mover on this edition of the index? Pheedo rocketing up 33 slots to crack the top 20.

Strangest part of the new list? Vidoop has completely dropped off the index during the week that they’re relocating the entire company to Portland. NetworthIQ (acquired by Strands), MyOpenID (JanRain‘s OpenID relying party), and Workplace2go also disappeared from the list.

Portland Start-up Index for September 2008

  1. AboutUs
  2. MetaFilter
  3. Kongregate
  4. Discogs
  5. Digital Trends
  6. COLOURlovers
  7. Frappr!
  8. Jive Software
  9. SplashCast
  10. Platial
  11. Clicky
  12. Pheedo
  13. Earth Class Mail
  14. Sandy
  15. Gone Raw
  16. eROI
  17. Stikkit
  18. Attensa
  19. Active Reload
  20. Walker Tracker
  21. Grabb.it
  22. GadgetTrak
  23. iovation
  24. UrbanDrinks
  25. KnitMap
  26. Pibb
  27. ChoiceA
  28. Art Face Off
  29. LUNARR
  30. WeoGeo
  31. Iterasi
  32. FreeRange
  33. fmyi
  34. GoLife Mobile
  35. Rocketbook
  36. Picktastic
  37. Kryptiq
  38. Jama Software
  39. MomHub
  40. GreenRenter
  41. Goboz
  42. Lightfleet
  43. Imindi
  44. Cendix
  45. Vocal Nation
  46. Box Populi
  47. GoSeeTell
  48. Collaborative Software Initiative
  49. YourList
  50. Techchex
  51. Avnera
  52. Kumquat
  53. IDP Solutions
  54. Worldwide Nest

As always, the official metrics can be found at Techvibes.

Interested in seeing your Portland-based company on this list? You now have an automated way to add it. And make sure to drop the Techvibes folks a note, too.

Morph Labs transforms into a Portland company

Rick Turoczy on September 2, 2008

Morph LabsIt’s no secret that Portland continues to attract talent. But, lately, we’re seeing both the city and the Silicon Forest as a whole, attract companies, too.

Vidoop is in the midst of a road trip that will relocate the entire company here to the Rose City. WeoGeo is in the process of becoming a Portland company. And, now—as Dawn Foster revealed during Strange Love Live—I’m happy to report that Morph Labs now calls Portland their US headquarters.

And like recent transplants Intrigo, Morph Labs has already jumped in with both feet by sponsoring the last Legion of Tech Happy Hour.

So, what does Morph Labs do?

Well according to CEO David Abramowski:

Our product is really a combined service. It brings together people, process and technology to provide an on-demand solution for hosting and running web applications. We take away all of the “muck” of dealing with servers, operating systems, backups, monitoring and provide it at a very low cost subscription rate. We have a free developers account and our paid service starts at $1/day.

The Morph service relies on Amazon Web Services—both EC2 and S3—and currently supports Ruby on Rails, Java web applications and Grails applications. PHP and Python support are planned for later this year.

The company—originally founded in the Philippines—has 35 employees, eight of whom reside in the US. But they’re looking to grow. And no doubt, that’s part of the appeal of Portland.

I’m looking forward to running into the Morph folks soon. If you beat me to it, please welcome them to town.

Morph Labs is the leading provider of Platform as a Service (PaaS) that virtualizes the application environment through the use of open source technologies to simplify the deployment, delivery, and management of Web based applications. They use virtual infrastructures including Amazon Web Services to provide a truly elastic environment for Web applications that can be instantly provisioned and seamlessly scaled. For more information, visit Morph Labs.

Silicon Forest Forum revs up the geek cred with Tesla founder, social media slot

Rick Turoczy on August 27, 2008

Silicon Forest ForumNow in its seventh year, the Silicon Forest Forum has been one of the premiere local gatherings for venture capitalists and technology entrepreneurs to discuss the technologies that are driving development and businesses in the Silicon Forest.

And while the event has always had a “technology” bent, its focus on traditional high-tech pursuits left its perceived “geek cred” a bit lacking, at best.

But this year, they’re clearly working to erase that deficit.

First, they’re bringing in the CTO and Co-founder of Tesla Motors, Marc Tarpenning, to keynote the event. And I would have a hard time arguing that any other automotive company carries as much geek and green credibility as Tesla. (No word as to whether the Tesla Roadster will be making an appearance.)

Second, they’ve put social media on the docket with a panel entitled “Bloggers, Digital Media…..and the Business of Creating Content.” The panel features Harry McCracken, the former editor of PC World who now runs Technologizer, a blog that gives McCracken the freedom to exercise his journalistic muscle on technology topics of his choosing; Leander Kaheny, the news editor at Wired.com; and maybe—just maybe—some local flavor.

The Silicon Forest Forum will be held at the Intel Jones Farm Campus in Hillsboro on Friday, September 12. General registration is $125. Members of the SAO can register for $95. For more information, visit the Silicon Forest Forum or RSVP on Upcoming.

(Hat tip Sean Sullivan)

Sarah Lacy swings by Portland

Rick Turoczy on August 25, 2008

After a long weekend at Gnomedex and a—no doubt—“conversation crammed” late-night ride to Portland on the Iterasi Magic Bus, Sarah Lacy took time out of her travels to spend some time chatting with Portland folks at the Green Dragon, last night.

A number of folks got into some pretty in-depth conversations with Sarah. And from what I could hear, those chats made the trip well-worth Sarah’s time.

Sarah Lacy (@sarahcuda) on the Portland tweet up

The Portland stop on her junket was part of her User Generated Book Tour to promote Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good. And I’m proud to say that Portland was one of 13 cities that made the cut. Thanks, in no small part, to folks writing in and asking Sarah to stop by.

So thank you to all of the folks who wrote in and to all of you who took time out of your weekend to swing by and meet Sarah.

As I always say, I think it’s incredibly important for folks from outside of Portland and the Silicon Forest to meet the people who are doing cool things here. To get an understanding of what’s happening in our area. And to get them as excited about what we’re doing as we are.

I think we succeeded in doing that last night. And, I know Sarah really appreciated your being there, too.

But what if you couldn’t make it?

Buck up, little camper. Don’t be sad.

We’re already working—lobbying heavily, in fact—to get Sarah back to town soon.

And Sarah’s assistant, Olivia (who is from Portland), will be here in town for a few more days. So we’ll work on getting her out at some more of the Portland events.

Plus, Amber Case and Bram Pitoyo sat down to record a Hazelnut Tech Talk with Sarah, so you’ve got that going for you, too.

What’s that? Oh, the book?

Well, see here’s the thing. Sarah and Olivia had a few books and a couple of t-shirts and some stickers and stuff left. And they were going to have to check bags. And I knew that you would really like the book.

So, here’s what I did: I kinda bought them out.

And I was thinking of selling them on eBay—I mean, they’re signed and everything—but I like you more than eBay.

So I got this idea.

Join Friends of the Florist

You’ve been working hard and being good and whatnot. You deserve a little reward.

And then there’s me. I don’t really do anything and yet, every once in a while, I kind of stumble into some cool stuff. Like multiple copies of Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good, for example.

Seems like there’s some kind of disconnect here, doesn’t it?

I agree.

It struck me that, for all the nice things you do for me—like creating cool stuff for me to write about and showing up at cool events and being interesting—I’m not really pulling my weight.

So, I’ve started Friends of the Florist.

By joining Friends of the Florist, you’ll get the opportunity to receive random physical mailings from me from time to time. No spam. No ads. Just cool stuff—or at least stuff I think is cool—from people like you who are busting their proverbial humps to make cool things.

Well, and you’ll probably get some Silicon Florist stuff every once in a while, too.

You might get flowers. You might get a pony. Who knows?

First mailing? Four lucky winners will receive a signed copy of Sarah Lacy’s book, Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good.

Your obligation? I just need a physical address to which I can send the stuff. Well, and your trust that I’m not going to do anything nefarious with that information. (Which I won’t, Seeger.)

If the idea of getting some little rewards and nice things from Silicon Florist from time to time sounds like a good thing to you, simply sign up to be a Friend of the Florist.

New Iterasi release (now with Mac support) garners coverage and kudos from TechCrunch

Rick Turoczy on August 21, 2008

Iterasi, the currently Vancouver-based but soon to be Portland-based company that allows you to create your own personal Web archive, has released the latest version of its service. And some people are taking notice. [Full disclosure: Iterasi is a client of mine.]

https://www.iterasi.net/embedded/?sqrlitid=VCTZ2q3oBEm2VERKCHW9ig

Who? Well, there’s a little blog called TechCrunch that deems the new release—with the addition of a scheduling feature—“a must have research tool. ”

Michael Arrington writes:

Overall Iterasi is an excellent service, and the schedule feature makes it a must have research tool.

So what does the new Scheduler offer?

Use the iterasi Scheduler to automatically Notarize pages when you tell it to, without having to be there to push the button. Set up the Scheduler to Notarize a page every day, week or month at a time that you choose. Great for tracking blogs, reviews, retail sites, and just about anything you can think of. Use the Scheduler to build your own history of any website!

But the biggest news (in my opinion)? They now have native Mac support for Firefox 2 and 3!

No more switching over to my Windows machine to save pages. With the latest release, I can do it right from my Mac. Simple.

Now, granted, I’m a little biased since Iterasi is a client, but I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see another Silicon Forest based company—joining the ranks of Vidoop and others—getting recognition on such an international stage.

Good for Iterasi. And good for Portland.

For more information, visit Iterasi. Or to download the the browser-based tools, register for an account.

To view my saved pages, visit the Silicon Florist public Iterasi page.

1 … 36 37 38 39 40 … 56