Portland Oregon Startup and Tech News
We’ve all been there. An unintended awkward situation. At the most inopportune time. Maybe it’s emotionally awkward. Perhaps it’s physical. But it happens. And boy oh boy does everyone later wish we’d been able to avoid that situation altogether. Honing in on that feeling? Cool. Because that’s part of the motivation behind Portland startup AllGo.
It’s always nice to have startup friends from around the world swing by Portland. And it’s even nicer when Portland takes the opportunity to meet up with them. Which is what I would suggest that you do with the Happy Startup School crew who is stopping by Portland en route to Mt Hood.
As every startup knows, entering startups competitions can be a dubious concept. But when you manage to win, all that dubiousness tends to fade away. So one would figure that Portland startup Tali is feeling pretty good about entering the Clio Launch//Code competition. Which landed them the $100,000 prize from the legal billing software provider.
A panel of four judges chose Tali for its functionality and impact, innovation and user experience. The app allows lawyers to use voice commands to automatically keep track of billable time. Launched in 2017, Tali also works with Amazon Echo and other Alexa-enabled devices, as well as Cortana and Google Assistant.
For more, see “Voice-activated time-tracking assistant Tali wins $100k in Clio’s Launch//Code competition.”
I’m always impressed by the motivations of folks who are starting companies in Portland. Because more often than not, they’re driven by a desire to solve problems. Or to create better products. Or to contribute to the greater good. Now a new Portland startup—In-It—is seeking to give folks a platform to share what drives them and to gather more collective voices in support.
[Editor’s note: The following is a guest post from Duane Benson of Screaming Circuits.]
Oregon has a long history with electronics hardware design, going back to the early days of Tektronix and Intel. Those two technology pioneers begat hardware startup companies like Radisys, InFocus, Planar, and a host of others. But over the last two decades, the local tech startup scene has been much more about the Internet and software than it has been about chips and solder.
I get it. You’re busy. You’re building your company. And you meant to get those startup accelerator applications done last weekend. But time just got away from you. Well, you better carve out some time this weekend, or you’re going to miss out altogether.
Startups often like to test things. And then iterate. And test again. Before making a big leap. So it stands to reason that an organization that spends its time working with startups would take a similar tact. That’s why local startup accelerator PIE has been working with a handful of companies to beta test its new offering, PIE Shop.
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.
In case you missed it, yesterday was one of those rare Oprah-giving-everyone-a-car sort of days in the early stage startup world. You see, Y Combinator—the most successful startup accelerator in the world—had a glitch that caused them to send acceptance letters to applicants for their Startup School program. And it wasn’t just a handful of folks. Estimates are that it was around 15,000 applicants.
Portland has always been a good town for user groups, where folks gather on a monthly basis to discuss languages and frameworks that are of interest to them. But for all of those amazing gatherings, it’s always nice to see larger user groups taking place in town. Like Sensu Summit.
