Portland, Oregon, startup news - Silicon Florist

Rick Turoczy
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Oct 5, 2024 • 9min

BONUS: New Portland Office of Small Business makes first hire

Portland recently stood up a new Office of Small Business through Prosper Portland, but they didn't have anyone to run it. Until now. The inaugural leader of the Portland Office of Small Business has now been revealed. So I recorded a bonus episode to cover the news. It's Mitch Daugherty, cofounder of Built Oregon. PORTLAND OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS LINKS - Mitch Daugherty https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchdaugherty/ - Mitch's post announcing the role https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mitchdaugherty_built-oregon-founder-tapped-to-lead-portland-activity-7248109181902200832-lTZz - Portland Business Journal on the new leader of the Portland Office of Small Business https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/stories/news/2024/10/04/built-oregon-mitch-daugherty-office-small-business.html - Built Oregon https://builtoregon.com PORTLAND OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS 00:00 Portland Office of Small Business: Special episode 00:51 Portland Oregon is small business 02:23 Why Portland Oregon needs an Office of Small Business 03:37 Prosper Portland launches Portland Office of Small Business 04:45 Mitch Daugherty has been hired to lead the Portland Office of Small Business 06:55 Why this loss for Built Oregon is a win for Portland 08:15 More on Built Oregon ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #portland #oregon #smallbusiness
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Oct 4, 2024 • 27min

Week ending Oct 4, 2024 - Portland startup news

What a week in Portland Oregon startup news. One company secured more than $100 million in PE. Another secured $9.2M in VC. And there's still a ton of other Portland startup news to cover. As well as a secret story that I can't yet reveal. PORTLAND STARTUP LINKS Icon $9.2M https://www.axios.com/pro/fintech-dea... PayRange PE deal https://payrange.com/news/ridgeview-p... Portland Business Journal on PayRange https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/... Pitch Latino Portland 2024 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pitch-la... TODOS Media    / @todosmedia   Haasan Hates Portland ‪@JumptownTV‬ Bend Venture Conference https://bendvc.com UpStart Collective https://upstartcollective.org PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS 00:00 Crazy week in Portland startup news 01:19 ‪@iconsavingsplan375‬ raises $9.2M in venture capital 04:18 ‪@PayRange‬ lands a 9 figure Private Equity investment 08:02 Pitch Latino Bend and Pitch Latino Portland 11:50 Portland Water 12:41 ‪@watchtodos‬ 16:24 Bend Venture Conference 19:29 First Friday and Hacklandia 22:20 Big news for small business in Portland is coming Friday afternoon 24:45 Thank you so much for hanging out with me 🫶 ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (   • An introvert's guide to networking | ...  ). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com#portland #startup #entrepreneur
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Sep 27, 2024 • 22min

Week ending Sep 27, 2024 - Portland startup news

Portland startup news for this week includes a Portland startup apparently raising $70 million, Portland Retro Gaming Expo, Rose City Techies, Latino Founders Pitch Latino Bend 2024, The Oregon Beer Trail, and Built Festival 2024. PORTLAND STARTUP LINKS - Portland Retro Gaming Expo https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/ - Rose City Techies https://www.meetup.com/rose-city-techies/ - Lumiro https://lumiro.app - Mebot https://mebot.ai - My Fit Check https://myfitcheck.ai - Pitch Latino Bend 2024 https://latinofounder.com - The Oregon Beer Trail https://www.theoregonbeertrail.com/ - Bult Festival 2024 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/built-festival-2024-tickets-1009971801847 PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS 00:00 Portland startup news 00:30 Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2024 03:00 A Portland startup raised $70 million…? 07:07 Rose City Techies 13:11 Pitch Latino Bend 2024 15:24 The Oregon Beer Trail 17:54 Built Oregon Festival 2024 ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #startup #entrepreneur #portland
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Sep 20, 2024 • 25min

Week ending Sep 20, 2024 - Portland startup news

Portland startup news for the week ending September 20, 2024. Here's the Portland startup stuff I was tracking this week. Portland startup news includes a Portland startup community gathering on September 20 at 4PM at the Rogue Eastside Brewery to meet with WordCamp US 2024 attendees, coffee meetups, Oregon Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Accelerator drones has its first demo day, Portland Alternative Investment Association (PAIA), 4K4Community fun run, Rose City Techies, and more… PORTLAND STARTUP LINKS - Portland startup community gathering https://calagator.org/events/1250481309 - WordCamp US https://us.wordcamp.org/ - UpStart Collective 2nd birthday https://calagator.org/events/1250481280 - Kathryn Latham on the PAIA  / workwithkl_5-takeaways-for-oregon-founders...   - 4K4Community https://www.4k4community.com/ - Rose City Techies https://www.meetup.com/rose-city-tech...
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Sep 13, 2024 • 34min

Week ending Sep 13, 2024 - Portland startup news

Episode 50! This week in Portland startup news finds us with the best startup events in Portland plus WordCamp US 2024. Plus lots of Portland startup goodness. PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS 00:00 Portland startup news intro 00:48 Bend Venture Conference Growth Stage startups 05:45 Portland startup and tech events in September https://siliconflorist.com/2024/09/12/a-random-smattering-of-tech-events-just-exploded-across-the-september-calendar/ 19:55  @WordPress  WordCamp US 2024 https://us.wordcamp.org/ 22:00 4K4Community Fun Run https://www.4k4community.com/ 24:57 CoCore compute resources for #ai 29:55 Built Festival 2024 https://www.builtoregon.com/built-festival ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #entrepreneur #portland
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Sep 6, 2024 • 19min

Week ending Sep 6, 2024 - Portland startup news

LLM fine tuning, SXSW Pitch, and more in Portland startup news. Stay updated on the latest Portland startup news, including the LLM fine tuning and SXSW Pitch event. Don't miss out on the innovative #ai tech being showcased by local entrepreneurs. Topics include Devin Gaffney talking finetuning LLMs, SXSW Pitch applications due, Better Portland suggesting tasks for newly elected Portland officials, Evergreen Home helping homeowners, and Field Vision upping your sports betting prowess. PORTLAND STARTUP COMMUNITY 00:00 Portland startup community news 00:47 Fine tuning LLMs 04:29  @SXSW  Pitch 2025 07:42 Better Portland 13:40 Evergreen Home 16:08 Field Vision PORTLAND STARTUP LINKS - Swiss Miss on the heyday of blogging https://www.threads.net/@swissmiss/post/C_YA9YZxZnD - Finetuning LLMs http://devingaffney.com/how-much-data-is-enough-data-for-finetuning-an-llm/ - Better Portland https://mailchi.mp/wearebetterportland.com/09-04-24-shaping-portlands-future-a-collective-vision-for-business-growth - SXSW Pitch 2025 https://cart.sxsw.com/products/acceleratorapp - Evergreen Home https://apps.apple.com/us/app/evergreen-home/id6523435940 - Field Vision https://www.fieldvisionsports.com/ ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #portland #startup #entrepreneur
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Aug 30, 2024 • 24min

Week ending Aug 30, 2024 - Portland startup news

This week in Portland startup news, an electrifying $7 million grant,  @depotdev  $4.1M Seed, Pitch Latino Portland 2024, new  @kickstarter  campaign, startup question and answer, and more. PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS CHAPTERS 00:00  @ycombinator  Alum raises $4.1 million Seed 05:05 Photon Marine helps land $7 million grant 08:20 Pitch Latino Portland 2024 11:20 PitchBlack alum secures Kickstarter funding 15:33  @wholefoods  adds two Portland companies to its accelerator 19:35 Do you have startup questions…? We probably have answers PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS LINKS - Depot Seed Round https://venturebeat.com/programming-development/depot-raises-4-1m-to-help-developers-speed-up-software-builds-by-40x-or-more/ - Photon Marine grant https://www.portfridayharbor.org/press-release-port-electrification-grant-award/ - Pitch Latino Portland 2024 https://latinofounder.com - Pacmodo Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pacmodo/pacmodo-the-backpack-reimagined/ - Whole Foods Accelerator https://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/whole-foods-market-announces-participants-of-2024-local-and-emerging-accelerator-programs-early-growth-cohort/ - Startup questions (completely anonymous) https://sflo.me/q-and-a ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #portland #entrepreneur
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Aug 23, 2024 • 23min

Week ending Aug 23, 2024 - Portland startup news

This week, five big Portland startup news stories to cover: an acquisition, a new innovation hub leader, a new venture capital fund, a new app to help you control your social media use, and a new milestone for the Portland Startups Slack. PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS 00:00 Portland startup acquired by Dropbox 05:55 New leadership for the Portland Metro Region Innovation Hub 11:24 A new venture capital fund in Portland 16:12 An antidote to doomscrolling 19:20 A milestone for the Portland Startups Slack PORTLAND STARTUP LINKS - Dropbox acquires Reclaim.ai https://reclaim.ai/blog/dropbox-acquires-reclaim - Portland Metro Region Innovation Hub https://www.linkedin.com/company/portland-metro-region-innovation-hub/posts/?feedView=all - New VC fund https://medium.com/@josh_carter/founders-first-fund-lots-of-false-starts-9827339d6d3a - Dayo in the App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dayo-co/id6475719573 - Portland Startups Slack https://pdxslack.com ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #portland #entrepreneur
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Aug 16, 2024 • 14min

Week ending Aug 16, 2024 - Portland startup news

This week in Portland startup news, the new Portland airport (PDX) is open to the public and features a bunch of local vendors, the Portland Metro Regional Innovation Hub promises news next week, what was Portland Independent Chamber of Commerce and then Business for a Better Portland is now just Better Portland, Oregon Startup Center solicits applications for the Beaverton Startup Challenge, and AI Portland is host a science fair for artificial intelligence. PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS LINKS - New Portland airport - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5hPs1wt5Tc - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q14tGViZcJI - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvF6CYJ35zg - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od2yFHGROR8 - Travel Portland Near Me Now https://www.travelportland.com/plan/near-me-now-app/ - Better Portland https://wearebetterportland.com - Beaverton Startup Challenge https://oregonstartupcenter.org/startup-challenge-2025 - AI Portland Science Fair https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMsz1ddICMEwg_XsjbEMZpQc50bHkhl1XUPGVCcspyIpE3HA/viewform?pli=1 PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS 00:00 PDX new Portland airport 01:45 Travel Portland app helps you find awesome Portland stuff 03:33 TEASER: Portland Metro Regional Innovation hub 05:19 Better Portland 10:55 Oregon Startup Center Beaverton Startup Challenge 11:55 AI Portland science fair ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #startup #entrepreneur
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Aug 9, 2024 • 18min

Week ending Aug 9, 2024 - Portland startup news

This week in Portland startup news, Silicon Florist turns 17 years old, an innovative look at the Oregon Innovation Index 2024, BLUPRNT wants to help you with your marketing using AI, and Bend Venture Conference tickets are available. PORTLAND STARTUP LINKS - Silicon Florist is 17 https://siliconflorist.com/2024/08/07/wondering-when-the-whole-wiser-part-happens-silicon-florist-is-17-years-old/ - Oregon Innovation Index 2024 AI chatbot https://wiseox.ai/mascot/66ac14301d1c420027106b2b - Donella Meadows systems intervention framework https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/ - BLUPRNT https://visionandstory.com/ - Bend Venture Conference https://www.bendvc.com/ ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #entrepreneur #blogger

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