Portland startup, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
When folks are building new things, they have a tendency to build them from their own perspective. And with that, comes the danger of building something that is inaccessible for part — if not all — of the target market they’re looking to serve. That’s why it’s never too early to think about accessibility, so that products are available to and usable by the broadest user base possible.
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It’s practically inevitable. During a downturn, startups are often forced to freeze hiring and reduce headcount. It happens time and time again. And it’s a grim situation for anyone who has to live through it. But from a purely objective viewpoint, having a better understanding of the actual metrics can be an important part of understanding and projecting the potential for recovery from a downturn. So I’m sharing this layoff tracker so folks can keep an eye on it.
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There are any number of venture capital firms outside of Oregon that regularly invest in the Portland startup community. One of those firms — which also boasts a few Portland exits — is Madrona Venture Group out of Seattle. Since they’ve already exhibited a willingness to invest in Portland, I thought it might be valuable for Portland startups to have a better understanding of Madrona’s investment themes for 2020.
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Six weeks. In the world of startups, that might as well be an eternity. But, in reality, it will be here sooner than you think. And so, in many ways, PIE Demo Day 2020 is practically here. So if you’re even remotely interested in seeing some of the newest startups in Portland, it’s probably best that you grab a ticket soon. Like right now.
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Okay okay okay. Maybe I’m still a bit sore that Techstars passed Portland up to make Seattle its Northwest presence. (Admittedly, they made the right decision.) Or maybe it’s the fact that we were only home to a Techstars for a brief shining three months thanks to the inaugural “powered by” program.
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In its latest collection, Supermaker focuses on mental and behavioral health for founders, remote workers, and freelancers.
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While I spend the vast majority of my time heads down focused inwardly on the Portland startup community, I do realize that, from time to time, it makes sense to pick my head up and see what’s going on elsewhere. That’s why I was happy to see the First Round State of Startups 2019 making the, ahem, rounds.
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Earlier this week, Puppet announced that they would be serving as the workspace for more than two dozen early stage Portland startups. For some, this might seem like a surprising move. But in actuality, it’s core to the culture of the company. And has been a hallmark of its existence, ever since Reductive Labs relocated to Portland.
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It’s still difficult to talk about. Even with the growing conversation around the stresses of being a startup founder. There’s still a stigma. About talking about founder struggles. Or revealing things that have been historically categorized as a weakness. But I sincerely hope that being more open about founder behavioral and mental health is better for all of us. And that’s why I wanted to share these three pieces that wound up crossing my desk at roughly the same time.
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Back in the early days of this generation of the Portland startup community, we used to have a weekly happy hour every Friday. Its origins stemmed from a small group of folks providing peer support for their self hosted WordPress installations in local watering holes. So it was called “Beer and Blog.”
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