Portland Oregon startups, tech, news, events, jobs, and community
Portland startup and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Founders tend to be an optimistic bunch. But optimism can only get you so far. And if you’re looking to pursue venture capital as a means of financing your startup, that optimism is going to take some lumps as you pitch, refine, pitch, refine… Lather rinse repeat. So it’s always nice when that pitch feedback comes with some added perks. Like pizza and beer.
Throughout the multiple decades I’m spent in the startup world, the idea of starting your own company has moved from obscurity to a cornerstone of popular culture — and modern day entertainment. But there is one thing — for those in the thick of it — that hasn’t changed: starting a company is incredibly difficult. And emotionally draining. But that’s not something that’s often part of the pop culture conversation.
You’ve heard me bemoan it any number of times. Ask someone what the Portland startup community is like and you’ll get any number of adjectives. But you won’t really get any numbers or metrics. We’ve just never seemed to capture that terribly well. But PDX Startups may help change that.
Remember how I said that one of the issues with creating a self-sustaining ecosystem in Portland was the irregularity of liquidity events? Well, I don’t want to get my hopes up, but… we just started the third month in a row with a liquidity event. This time, it’s Janrain getting acquired by Akamai.
It’s nothing new to announce that you’re looking for a new gig. And maybe it’s just happenstance. Or maybe it’s just the new year. But I’ve had a couple of tweets in my stream lately featuring talented folks who are looking for a new job. Likes and retweets will only go so far — and knowing how critical finding good talent is — I thought I’d share a few of them here. (And if there are others I should include, please let me know.)
Speaking of interns… the Emerging Leaders Internship offers a compelling opportunity to source talented interns for your organization. That’s why Business for a Better Portland is encouraging local companies to participate in the program again this year. But you have to hurry because applications close soon.
For all the optimism about the beginning of the new year, there’s also a fair amount of realism. And some well informed pessimism. Most notably, for the latter, surrounding the economic correction that we’ve all been anxiously awaiting as we watched the longest running bubble in startup history continue to gently waft along.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. But I keep saying it because I believe it. You can learn far more from stories of failure than you can from stories of success. And nowhere is that more true than the wonderful world of startups. That’s why I’m really happy to hear that FailPDX is back with a new rendition of Fail Talks.
In my opinion, one of the most promising threads in the Portland startup community as of late has been the whole conversation about financing startups. Because not every startup is right for an equity based investment from venture capital. And even if they are, VC brings with it some pressures that can be less than positive for many companies and founders.
While the Portland startup community does its best to be incredibly collaborative and welcoming, we’re not always so good with communicating how best to engage with the community. And that can be a tad bit frustrating for folks who are looking to help — and even more frustrating for those who are looking for help.
