Portland, Oregon, startup news - Silicon Florist

Nineteen stories this week and not one of them wanted to be the headline — which is honestly kind of great. Palo Alto Networks bought a company called Embrace that may or may not count as a Portland startup depending on how you squint (its president and VP of engineering are right here, so I'm counting it), two local apps picked up Apple Design Awards, and then things just kept coming — a plant-poison checker named after somebody's cat, an app that scores your Spotify for yacht-rock content, a whole association of small companies trying to out-organize Big Tech. No anchor, just volume — and I'm genuinely energized by that.LINKS:Apple Design Awards 2026 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/20/two-portland-apps-recognized-by-apple-design-awards-2026/Apple Design Awards — https://developer.apple.com/design/awards/World Reborn (Apple Game of the Day) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/medford-made-world-reborn-lands-apple-game-of-the-day-honors/Wicked Saints Studio — https://www.wickedsaints.studio/Palo Alto Networks acquires Embrace — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/palo-alto-networks-acquires-embrace/Embrace — https://embrace.io/Lewis & Clark $1M Google grant — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/your-next-cybersecurity-hire-could-come-from-lewis-clark-thanks-to-a-1m-google-grant/Lewis & Clark announcement — https://www.lclark.edu/live/news/58507-lc-lands-1-million-in-google-funding-for-cybersecurityBoulder Care $1.8M grant — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/20/boulder-care-lands-1-8m-grant-to-further-opioid-addiction-efforts/Paige Hendrix Buckner joins the Check Writers Room — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/all-raise-ceo-paige-hendrix-buckner-joins-the-check-writers-room/Little Tech may be for you — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/tired-of-big-tech-holding-all-of-the-power-little-tech-may-be-for-you/Little Tech Association — https://www.little.tech/LinkedIn Cities on the Rise — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/linkedin-highlights-both-portlands-among-cities-on-the-rise/Quilld (branding/rebranding) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/branding-is-hard-rebranding-is-even-worse-quilld-is-here-to-help/Quilld — https://quilld.ai/Rami (plants + pets) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/21/helping-houseplants-and-housepets-cohabitate-rami/Rami — https://getrami.app/Is it yacht rock? — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/21/looking-to-answer-the-age-old-question-is-that-yacht-rock-playing-theres-an-app-for-that/Is It Yacht Rock? app — https://madegglabs.com/apps/is-it-yacht-rock/Lemonvite (ad-free invites) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/tired-of-ads-cluttering-your-invites-look-at-lemonvite/Lemonvite — https://www.lemonvite.com/Fan the Flame (Portland Fire app) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/portland-fire-fan-youll-want-this-app-burning-a-hole-in-your-pocket/Fan the Flame — https://fantheflame.app/funnr (kids' schedules) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/managing-your-kids-social-schedule-just-got-funnr/Chain React 2026 visitor guide — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/24/attending-chain-react-2026-in-portland-heres-a-visitor-guide-to-help-you-make-the-most-of-your-stay/Y Combinator F26 apps (close July 27) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/24/reminder-y-combinator-applications-for-f26-close-july-27-2026/Y Combinator apply — https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/Pitch Latino Portland (apps due July 30) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/reminder-pitch-latino-portland-applications-are-due-in-a-week/Pitch Latino — https://www.latinofounder.com/pitchlatinoDevOps Days Portland (Sept 8–10, code SILICONFLORIST) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/21/need-a-little-more-devops-in-your-life-go-to-devops-days-portland-with-a-discount/DevOps Days Portland — https://devopsdays.org/events/2026-portland-or/welcome/

Funny how it works — the same week the Silicon Forest lands federal funding worth up to $160 million, the stuff that actually holds a community together is getting quietly built at street level. A machinist in Gresham shipping an AI tool for the shop floor, Latino Founders taking out a 15,000-square-foot building downtown for the entrepreneurs who chose to stay, a Pendleton drone accelerator opening a pipeline clear across the Pacific to Korea. The headline number is great — but honestly, it's the ground game that's got me fired up this week.LINKSOregon FAST wins NSF Innovation Engine award — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/16/its-a-semiconductor-fast-oregon-consortium-wins-nsf-innovation-engine-award/Oregon State University (announcement) — https://news.oregonstate.edu/news/oregon-team-nearly-100-partners-awarded-nsf-regional-innovation-engine-award-set-receive-160By a machinist for machinists: Swarf — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/15/by-a-machinist-for-machinists-ai-enabled-cnc/Swarf — https://swarf.app/landing/Latino Founders preps a new home: Founders Hub — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/16/latino-founders-preps-a-new-home-founders-hub-center-for-innovation-and-entrepreneurship/Latino Founders — https://www.latinofounder.com/Oregon UAS Accelerator partners with Korea Investment Accelerator — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/16/oregon-uas-accelerator-partners-with-korea-investment-accelerator/Oregon UAS Accelerator (apply by Jul 19) — https://hub.oregonuas.org/applyBend Venture Conference 2026 opens applications — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/14/bend-venture-conference-2026-opens-applications-for-startups/Bend Venture Conference — https://www.bendvc.com/Chain React 2026: Putting yourself out there — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/15/chain-react-2026-putting-yourself-out-there/

This week in Oregon startup news, Agility Robotics is headed toward a SPAC IPO w — could be one of the biggest Oregon IPOs this year. Speaking of IPOs… with SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic all going public the Bay Area is getting less and less affordable. And I also spent way too many hours with the 2026 Oregon Prosperity Council Report so you don't have to — 452 pages.LINKS:A startup founder's guide to the 2026 Oregon Prosperity Council Report — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/10/a-startup-founders-guide-to-the-2026-oregon-prosperity-council-report-or-what-a-452-page-report-actually-means-for-people-considering-building-companies-here/Oregon Prosperity Council — https://www.oregon.gov/gov/policies/pages/prosperity-council.aspxGeothermal startup Quaise Energy raises $144M based on Oregon efforts — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/07/geothermal-startup-quaise-energy-raises-144m-based-on-oregon-efforts/Quaise Energy — https://startupfortune.com/quaise-energy-raises-144-million-to-drill-for-superhot-geothermal-power/Bay Area brain drain could result in Portland brain gain — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/09/bay-area-brain-drain-could-result-in-portland-brain-gain-emphasis-on-could/The New York Times — https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/technology/san-francisco-home-sales-openai-anthropic-ipo.htmlTechCrunch sits down with Agility CEO — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/06/techcrunch-sits-down-with-agility-ceo/Agility Robotics (TechCrunch) — https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/05/this-humanoid-robotics-company-is-going-public-but-its-ceo-isnt-promising-a-robot-in-your-home-anytime-soon/Bend's Platformr raises more money to ease AWS adoption — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/08/bends-platformr-raises-more-money-to-ease-aws-adoption-and-maintenance/Platformr — https://platformr.cloudDroplet can help — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/07/wish-your-mac-and-iphone-had-a-more-collaborative-relationship-droplet-can-help/Droplet — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/droplet-launch-sidekick/id6754230465Figma schmigma: Scamp simplifies the design handoff — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/08/figma-schmigma-scamp-simplifies-the-design-handoff-between-designers-and-developers/Scamp — https://www.scampdesign.app/Terrified of totally tokenmaxxing…? TokenJam — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/08/terrified-of-totally-tokenmaxxing-tokenjam-helps-you-understand-and-manage-token-spend/TokenJam — https://tokenjam.dev/Chatting with Conello about company culture — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/08/chatting-with-conello-about-company-culture/Chain React comes to Portland — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/10/chain-react-the-us-react-native-conference-will-be-in-portland-at-the-end-of-july/Chain React — https://chainreactconf.com/REMINDER: Oregon UAS Accelerator applications due July 19 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/08/reminder-oregon-uas-accelerator-applications-are-due-july-19-2026/Oregon UAS Accelerator — https://hub.oregonuas.org/applyFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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.

Catch up on the biggest Oregon startup news of 2026 news with a breakdown of the top 10 startup stories defining the year so far. Get the essential details you need to stay informed on the major headlines without the filler. Whether you have been following the news closely or just need a quick catch-up, this summary breaks down the key developments affecting current events today. It is designed for anyone looking to understand the broader context behind the noise.By reviewing these top 10 stories, you will gain a clearer picture of the 2026 trends that are influencing our daily lives. We filter out the speculation to focus on the facts that actually matter, making it easier to track the progress of the year.Subscribe for weekly current events summaries and comment below with which of these 2026 news recap stories you want me to cover in more detail next.CHAPTERS00:00 Oregon startup news00:51 Startup Story 1005:50 Startup Story 9 11:15 Startup Story 813:46 Startup Story 717:10 Startup Story 621:19 Startup Story 525:00 Startup Story 430:50 Startup Story 334:34 Startup Story 250:35 Startup Story 159:27 SecretsFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

This week in Portland startup news, we start with the top 10 Silicon Florist posts from H1 2026 — the list readers built by clicking, not me — and the story it tells is worth pausing over: QSBS grabbed the top two slots, Dwayne Johnson's community read landed at number three, and Panthalassa's quiet $140 million Series B slotted in at four. From there, a midyear refresh of the "how to Portland startup community" primer — the front door for anyone who's been circling the edges and hasn't quite found their way in yet. CHAPTERS:00:00 Portland startup news02:05 Small Business resources07:10 Top 10 Oregon startup stories so far18:35 How to Portland startup community22:15 SecretsLINKS:Top 10 Silicon Florist posts, H1 2026 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/01/top-10-silicon-florist-posts-for-the-first-half-of-2026/How to Portland startup community (midyear) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/02/refresher-how-to-portland-startup-community-midyear-2026-quickstart-edition/Portland Startups Slack — https://pdxslack.com/Bricks Need Mortar × Portland Office of Small Business AI Shop Talk — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/29/run-a-small-business-curious-about-ai-bricks-need-mortar-can-help/The AI Conversation — register (Jul 16) — https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-ai-conversation-thats-been-missing-for-small-business-tickets-1991933655184Our Place — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/01/helping-you-find-your-people-and-community-with-our-place/Our Place app — https://www.ourplace.community/LocalFirst PDX — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/01/portland-loves-local-small-business-localfirst-pdx-makes-them-easier-to-find/LocalFirst PDX site — https://localfirstpdx.com/FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

Two weeks straight, we've lost the people who showed us this was even possible — first Josh Baer, and now Om Malik, the guy who made writing about tech a real job. The models keep leaving, and I don't have a clean way to say what that feels like. So this week is a tribute first — and then, because Om would've wanted us to keep going, a hometown robot company walking onto the public markets at $2.5 billion.We start where it hurts: a tribute to Om Malik — GigaOm, True Ventures, the patron saint of thoughtful tech blogging — and why, if you write about any of this, you owe him one. From there we pivot to the kind of news Om loved: Agility Robotics, the OSU spinout building bipedal humanoids, going public via SPAC at a $2.5B pre-money and roughly $620M in proceeds, with Digit logging 65,000+ hours for the likes of Toyota and GXO. I tease the Prosperity Council report — Gov. Kotek's council dropped its final 10 recommendations early, the startup community had a seat at the table, and one rec hits close to home (full breakdown Monday). Plus quick hits on Astrid Scholz and Juan Barraza's TEDxMtHood talk — and in Secrets, some honest reflection on how much more I should be doing for this community, after catching up with Mitch Daugherty, Charles Voloshin, Shay Carrillo, and Skip Newberry.CHAPTERS:00:00 Oregon startup news02:10 Remembering Om Malik06:10 Oregon Prosperity Council report08:15 Agility Robotics IPO12:40 SecretsLINKS:Agility Robotics goes public — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/24/agility-robotics-plans-to-go-public-via-spac-at-a-2-5-billion-valuation/Agility Robotics — https://www.agilityrobotics.com/Amy Jermain sits down with Astrid Scholz — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/23/amy-jermain-sits-down-with-astrid-scholz-to-talk-growth-hacking/TEDxMtHood: Juan Barraza — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/24/tedxmthood-juan-barraza/Remembering Om Malik — https://om.co/Portland Startup Slack — https://pdxslack.comFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

I almost didn't record this week. We lost Josh Baer — Capital Factory's founder, the godfather of the Austin startup community, and honestly one of the few people who showed the rest of us this work could actually be done, and done right. Then we turn the corner toward the Portland dream that refuses to die: Devin Gaffney's CoCore, an "Airbnb for compute" rebuilt on AT Proto — the same rails as Bluesky — picking up a thread CPUsage chased here back in 2011. From there we get to Quickish, where you drop a folder of HTML and get a live URL in seconds — I used it myself to park a countdown clock to Silicon Florist's 20th birthday. And we close on CodeTV, Jason Lengstorf's coder reality show pitting two human dev teams against an AI on the same prompt. Plus secrets.CHAPTERS:00:00 Portland startup news00:30 Joshua Baer, the godfather of the Austin startup community04:45 CoCore09:30 Quickish17:20 ⁨@codetv-dev⁩ SecretsLINKS:Remembering Joshua Baer — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/17/remembering-joshua-baer-the-godfather-of-austin-texas-startups/Joshua Baer (RuntimeWire) — https://runtimewire.com/article/joshua-baer-capital-factory-founder-dies-laredo-plane-crashAnother swing at collaborative compute (CoCore) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/18/another-swing-at-collaborative-compute-comes-in-the-form-of-cocore-on-at-proto/CoCore — https://console.cocore.dev/Need a new single page site…? Quickish — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/18/need-a-new-single-page-site-lets-get-that-done-quickish/Quickish — https://quickish.website/CodeTV pits software developers against AI — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/19/codetv-pits-software-developers-against-ai/CodeTV / Jason Lengstorf — https://jason.energyPortland Startup Slack — https://pdxslack.comFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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

The week starts with Dwayne Johnson's "The Red Pill" — the most honest structural diagnosis of Oregon's innovation economy I've read in years, from someone who's been inside the system for two decades, not outside it. Oregon fell from #7 to #41 in CNBC's Top States for Business across the Brown era; Oregon got second in semiconductor productivity and 0.002% of federal CHIPS R&D funds. His phrase: "Oregon runs on cliques, not networks." Then Friday, Engine's Innovation Flywheel report lands — four dimensions for a healthy innovation ecosystem, three of which Portland already has covered, and one — Center of Gravity — that's the exact tripwire Dwayne was pointing at. Plus Expensify ships an MCP server that lets your AI agent talk directly to your expense data, Missing Middle Housing Fund's Nate Wildfire joins the Housing Voices podcast, and Portland moves up five spots to #17 in the Financial Times ranking of best U.S. cities for foreign business — Boston at the top, Seattle slipping.CHAPTERS:00:00 Portland startup news04:15 Dwayne Johnson on Portland's archipelago 08:20 Engine's Innovation Flywheel14:10 Financial Times ranks Oregon #1716:17 SecretsLINKS:Long-time innovation ecosystem builder Dwayne Johnson — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/08/long-time-innovation-ecosystem-builder-dwayne-johnson-shares-insights-on-oregon-economic-woes/Dwayne Johnson on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/drfortune/Your AI agent can now talk to your expense data with the new Expensify MCP — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/08/your-ai-agent-can-now-talk-to-your-expense-data-with-the-new-expensify-mcp/Expensify MCP — https://expensify.com/mcpPortland's Missing Middle Housing Fund joins Housing Voices — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/08/portlands-missing-middle-housing-fund-joins-housing-voices/Missing Middle Housing Fund — https://www.missingmiddlehousing.fund/Portland moves up five spots in Financial Times "best US places for foreign businesses" — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/09/portland-moves-up-five-spots-in-financial-times-best-us-places-for-foreign-businesses/FT-Nikkei ranking — https://www.ft.com/content/3fb85af1-d581-4f43-b962-a1d79160cdecUsing Engine's "Innovation Flywheel" to benefit the Portland startup community — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/12/using-engines-innovation-flywheel-to-benefit-the-portland-startup-community/The Foundations of an Innovation Flywheel (Engine) — https://www.engine.is/news/category/the-foundations-of-an-innovation-flywheelApply to lead the Portland Metro Region Innovation Hub https://jobs.hrc.pdx.edu/postings/49951FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczyABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

Plus a quietly extraordinary week of Portland startup news on top of that. Hydrolix is named Portland's fastest-growing company at 2,721% two-year revenue growth — with nearly flat headcount. Tellagence drops LLM variability from 22–28% down to 1–2.5% with a freshly-published arXiv paper. Prophetic lands M/I Homes, its second national homebuilder after DR Horton. The Portland Metro Region Innovation Hub is searching for yet another executive director. Enduring Planet closes a $12 million climate fund. And the usual secrets.CHAPTERS:00:00 Oregon startup news01:30 ⁨@RecklessBen⁩ Bricks & Minifigs04:50 Portland Metro Region I˜nnovation Hub10:45 Prophetic13:30 Hydrolix16:15 SecretsLINKS:Portland Business Journal names Hydrolix the fastest growing startup in the region — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/05/portland-business-journal-names-hydrolix-the-fastest-growing-startup-in-the-region/Hydrolix on PBJ — https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2026/06/05/hydrolix-portland-fastest-growing-companies.htmlTellagence drops LLM variability from 22–28% to 1–2.5% — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/04/tellagence-drops-llm-variability-from-22-28-to-1-2-5/Tellagence — https://www.tellagence.ai/Portland startup Prophetic lands another national homebuilder: M/I Homes — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/04/portland-startup-prophetic-lands-another-national-homebuilder-m-i-homes/Prophetic — https://www.propheticsoftware.ai/Portland Metro Region Innovation Hub loses another executive director — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/02/portland-metro-region-innovation-hub-loses-another-executive-director/Portland Metro Region Innovation Hub — http://www.portlandmetrohub.org/Enduring Planet closes $12M climate focused fund — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/03/enduring-planet-closes-12m-climate-focused-fund/The Oregon angle on the Reckless Ben v Bricks & Minifigs drama — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/04/the-oregon-angle-on-the-reckless-ben-v-bricks-minifigs-drama-thats-overtaking-geeky-social-media/FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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.https://siliconflorist.com#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

Short week, light coverage, and I'm recording this from Bend, Oregon, ahead of tonight's fireside. This one's about Oregon quietly building an autonomy beat — drones in Pendleton, robotic farms in Portland — plus a new objective answer to whether the LLMs are recommending your dev tool, and a small-business front door that actually delivered.CHAPTERS:00:00 Live from Bend, it's Oregon startup news03:25 Oregon UAS Accelerator04:35 LLM Rank06:45 Office of Small Business08:25 SecretsLINKS:Founder Mental Health — https://www.foundermental.health/The Oregon UAS Accelerator is currently unpersoned. Let's fix that shall we…? — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/27/the-oregon-uas-accelerator-is-currently-unpersoned-lets-fix-that-shall-we/Oregon UAS Accelerator — https://oregonuas.org/blogs/news/applications-for-fall-2026-cohort-offering-12-week-hybrid-program-and-structured-testing-pathwaysCurious about which LLMs recommend which dev tools…? So was EveryDeveloper — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/27/curious-about-which-llms-recommend-which-dev-tools-so-was-everydeveloper/LLM Rank — https://llmrank.fyi/Portland Office of Small Business celebrates first year of operation — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/26/portland-office-of-small-business-celebrates-first-year-of-operation/Portland Office of Small Business — https://pdxofficeofsmallbusiness.com/Local startup Canopii featured in GeekWire — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/26/local-startup-canopii-featured-in-geekwire/Canopii — https://www.canopii.us/FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

Inside this week in Oregon startup news, a Bend EV dirt bike company gets acquired, a stealthy Portland-area startup lands a seat in Seattle's Maritime Blue incubator (water as a financial product), three small startups making interesting moves around AI, home ownership, and your voice, and a vibe-coded tick map that arrived in my life the week before I head to Bend, Oregon. Plus the usual secrets.CHAPTERS:00:00 Portland startup news02:00 Quick startup stories04:25 Dust Moto acquired07:00 Bend event + TickCheck12:42 Kreneon and Maritime Blue15:15 SecretsLINKS:Tired of AI content that doesn't sound like you — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/20/tired-of-ai-content-that-doesnt-sound-like-you-meet-sona-can-help-you-talk-it-out/Meet Sona — https://meetsona.ai/Is your planning keeping up with AI — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/20/youre-building-a-lot-of-stuff-and-building-quickly-with-ai-is-your-planning-keeping-up/Alder — https://getalder.com/Take the guesswork out of home ownership with VillaFact — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/22/take-the-guesswork-out-of-home-ownership-with-villafact/VillaFact — https://villafact.com/Bend EV dirt bike startup Dust Moto acquired — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/19/bend-ev-dirt-bike-startup-dust-moto-acquired/Dust Moto — https://www.dustmoto.com/LiveWire acquires Dust Moto — https://investor.livewire.com/news-events-1/news/news-details/2026/LiveWire-Group-Inc--Acquires-Dust-Moto/default.aspxBend Startup Central fireside — https://www.meetup.com/bend-startup-central/events/314776361/TickCheck — https://tickcheck.usStealthy Portland-area startup selected for Maritime Blue — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/21/stealthy-portland-area-startup-selected-for-maritime-blue-ventures-seattle-incubator/Kreneon — https://www.kreneon.io/Maritime Blue Seattle Incubator — https://maritimeblue.org/seattle-incubator/FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

Portland Startup Week 2026 wraps with a quiet news week and a loud everything-else week. Oregon showcased innovation — and got some tough love on the workforce side. A robotic greenhouse out of Portland punched its ticket to the global Startup World Cup finale. And 19 AI startups took the stage at Big Pink for the inaugural Oregon AI Accelerator demo day — which the organizers say is the first of at least ten.Inside this one: Agility's Jonathan Hurst delivers some hard truths about Oregon talent at the Oregon Innovation Showcase. Diane Fraiman of Voyager Capital reminds us we have done this before and can do it again. Canopii — David Ashton's autonomous robotic greenhouse — wins the inaugural Startup World Cup Portland Regional and heads to San Francisco in November to compete for $1 million. And the Oregon AI Accelerator runs its inaugural demo day to a packed room at Big Pink.CHAPTERS:00:00 Portland startup news01:45 Oregon Innovation Showcase04:20 Startup World Cup Regional06:30 Oregon AI Accelerator Demo Day09:15 SecretsLINKS:Portland Business Journal — https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2026/05/14/oregon-innovation-showcase-agility-robotics.htmlCanopii harvests a win at the Startup World Cup Portland Regional — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/14/canopii-harvests-a-win-at-the-startup-world-cup-portland-regional/Canopii — https://canopii.usStartup World Cup — https://www.startupworldcup.io/Chatting with Oregon AI Accelerator startup DockChron — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/13/chatting-with-oregon-ai-accelerator-startup-dockchron/TAO's Oregon Tech Awards 2026 winners — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/14/taos-oregon-tech-awards-2026-winners/TAO — https://techoregon.orgFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

This week's recap: Panthalassa's $140M Series B for ocean-energy-powered AI compute and where it lands on the all-time Portland funding leaderboard. Plus the finalized Portland Startup Week 2026 lineup (including the AI events I punted on last week), Latino Founders' Next Wave Startup Lab Climate Edition opening apps for May 29–31, three founder podcast conversations, plus Startup Grind PDX rebooting and Creative Mornings Portland's Kaitlin Carpenter on The Awkward Handshake — plus a gentle PSA on the Oregon Innovation Showcase site situation. And the secrets, of course.CHAPTERS:00:00 Oregon startup news06:00 Panthalassa $140M12:00 Where $140M ranks17:45 Portland Startup Week 202621:10 Latino Founders Next Wave Climate Edition23:40 SecretsLINKS:Oregon Innovation Showcase (working URL) — https://socialenterprisesinc.swoogo.com/2026SNL: Clown Penis dot fart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWIlScfHwOUPanthalassa $140M Series B — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/04/quietly-raising-one-of-the-largest-rounds-in-portland-startup-history-panthalassa-140m-series-b/Panthalassa — https://panthalassa.com/How $140M stacks up — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/04/how-does-panthalassas-140m-stack-up-here-are-the-largest-oregon-rounds-covered-on-silicon-florist/Portland Startup Week 2026 Preview — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/04/portland-startup-week-2026-preview/Portland Startup Week — https://www.portlandstartupweek.com/Latino Founders Next Wave Climate Edition — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/05/apply-to-latino-founders-next-wave-startup-lab-climate-edition/Latino Founders — https://www.latinofounder.comDevin Gaffney conversation — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/04/devin-gaffney-talks-about-social-media-anger-and-more/Doctor Notes / TAO conversation — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/05/oregon-ai-accelerator-company-doctor-notes-sits-down-with-technology-association-of-oregon/Canopii on robotic farming — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/07/canopii-talks-the-future-of-robotic-farming/Startup Grind PDX reboot — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/07/startup-grind-pdx-reboot/Kaitlin Carpenter on The Awkward Handshake — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/05/08/creative-mornings-portland-organizer-kaitlin-carpenter-on-the-awkward-handshake/

A week that felt like everywhere-all-at-once. Waymo finally confirmed it's coming to Portland — they're driving manually for now, but they're here. Portland Startup Week 2026 dropped its schedule with 50+ events already and counting. And All Raise — a national organization doing some of the most important work in venture — has its CEO right here in Portland, and she's just getting started.CHAPTERS:00:00 Portland startup news06:00 All Raise09:45 Waymo Is Coming to Portland15:20 Portland Startup Week 202623:00 Roxxem Wins TiE Oregon Westside Pitch25:10 SecretsLINKS:Waymo Is Coming to Portland — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/04/28/waymo-is-coming-to-portland/Waymo Portland blog post — https://waymo.com/blog/shorts/waymo-in-portland/Portland Startup Week 2026 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/04/30/portland-startup-week-2026-start-filling-up-your-calendar/Portland Startup Week — https://www.portlandstartupweek.com/Roxxem Wins Westside Pitch — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/04/28/roxxem-walks-away-with-the-tie-oregon-westside-pitch-2026-win/Roxxem — https://www.roxxem.com/Spork Bytes Spork Box — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/04/30/now-spork-bytes-offers-up-indie-meals-in-addition-to-family-style-catering-a-with-the-same-buy-local-ethos/Spork Bytes — https://www.sporkbytes.com/Seattle Flow Startup Day — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/04/29/reminder-seattle-flow-startup-day-2026-ticket-prices-increase-soon/Startup Day 2026 — https://startupday.seattleflow.org/Switchkraft Conversation — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/04/29/getting-creative-with-manufacturing-and-switchkraft/Switchkraft — https://switchkraft.zoneFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, 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#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur