If you would like to submit a session/event for PDX Startup Week 2025, please submit here: https://forms.gle/a8j3oxNdTtWh5JZt7

Demolicious, a monthly pitch event for early-stage startups, is thrilled to announce the first end-of-the-year Champion of Champions pitch event. Held where it all started at the famed McMenamins Mission Theater, 11 past monthly Demolicious winners will compete to become 2024 Demolicious Champion and take home the coveted championship belt!

This event is free and open to the public, but sign up asap because we expect it to be a complete sell out. A waitlist will be created once RSVPs become full.

How Demolicious works:

Team will have 5 minutes to pitch. The audience will vote. Results of the vote will be awarded the championship belt. Pretty simple right!?! Can't wait to see you there.

This is a special Vantechy!

We are announcing a special Partnership with the Applied A.I. Association out of Silicon Valley! https://aaiaglobal.com/events/event-one-c2ta6

Meet Brian Hamilton, the President of the Oregon and SW WA chapter of this powerful organization!

If you are working with AI this organization is going to be essential to get the latest information from the leading minds involved in all facets of AI.

Our Vantechy group has been an event designed for engineers, programmers, and all-around tech enthusiasts. Our goal is to bring together individuals who spend their days immersed in technology, from pixels to code, and provide a space to connect with like-minded professionals.

We understand the importance of sharing experiences and learning from others in the field. Whether you work in Data, UX, AI, or any other tech domain, VanTechy offers a unique opportunity to network, share stories, and gain new insights.

Come and enjoy a casual drink and some food while mingling with fellow tech professionals, enthusiasts, and investors in the Vancouver, WA area. We look forward to seeing you!

Back by popular demand! Do you have an idea for a startup and you're looking for founders who can get as excited about your idea as you are?

Or -- are you looking for an early stage startup to join - even if the compensation up front is sweat equity instead of salary?

Then SpeedDating for Startups is for you.

Post your Idea If you have an idea for a startup and are looking for cofounders post some information about what it is (even if you need to be vague) so people looking for a startup can find you. To post your idea on the OTBC wiki, go to otbc.org/blog. (If you don't want to reveal anything about the idea online, at least consider talking about what skill sets you'd like to add to the team so readers will know whether or not there might be a fit.)

Post your Skill Set Are you looking for a startup to join? You can post your skill set on the OTBC wiki (so startups can find you) at otbc.org/blog.

What: Speed dating for startups When: Saturday, June 27, 1pm to 3pm Where: OTBC Cost: Free ($3 suggested donation to help cover costs) We'll provide beverages and munchies

This is a joint TiE Oregon - OTBC (Oregon Technology Business Center)event. If you have an idea for a company and you're looking for others to join your team, this is the event for you. You have the opportunity to make a 1-minute pitch presenting your idea and the skill-sets you are looking for in a team member. Attend this workshop if you are looking to add people to your team, or even if you simply want to network with other entrepreneurs and listen to pitches of new ideas.

If you plan to attend and have an idea for a pitch, please email us a tag line describing your idea so organizers can keep an account of the pitches that will be made.

Cost: Suggested $5 contribution to cover pizza and beverage

Whether deliberately or accidentally, corporate culture starts developing the day you form your partnership, and blossoms as the company grows. Emphasis on a healthy corporate culture and assuring "fit" with each hire can lead to unprecedented success with happier, more productive employees...and customers.

Sara Davey-Schmidt will lead the discussion at the brown-bag lunch event. For the past 15 years, Sara has worked with many, many clients to help them identify talent who are not only qualified for the positions in their organization, but are--more importantly--a cultural fit with the company's core values and approach to business. In this brown bag session, Sara will provide some tools to articulate your own values and strengths in order to determine the Business Partner who is right for you. The benefits: Your partnership will thrive, a healthy corporate culture will develop deliberately, and your business will evolve into an entity authentic to you and your Business Partner.

When: Thursday, Feb. 24 from noon to 1pm Where: OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton, OR (Directions) Cost: Free (bring lunch!)

Applications due for FounderDating's Portland chapter. This is the second round of applications, so if you were rejected last time, feel free to re-apply.

FounderDating (FD) is an invite-only, online network for entrepreneurs to connect with cofounders. What makes them different?

High Quality - members are carefully screened for quality and readiness (no recruiters, etc.) Applications and members’ identities are confidential, but a few of the folks who are part of the network are former founders or early employees from: stackmob, snapfish, Zynga, Loggly and Gilt just to name a few.

Balanced - 50% engineering & 50% non-engineering

Reach-- FD’s online network allows you to connect with people in your city and beyond to share ideas and begin building something you’re passionate about.

No Idea Necessary - FD is about the people, so you don’t need to have an idea, just be ready to work on a serious side project

We're restarting an old OTBC tradition - Founders Friday. Starting Friday, May 3, join us every Friday for munchies, beverages, and the company of other startup founders.

Decompress from the week, get help/input on the week's challenges, and meet other founders and coaches.

When: Fridays, 3pm-5pm, starting May 3, 2013

Where: OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Place, Beaverton, OR

Cost: suggested donation of $5 to help cover costs

Al Vermeulen the former Chief Technology Officer of Amazon.com and Rogue Wave Software will be the guest speaker at Portland Startup Founder 101, July 23rd from 12:00 – 1:30, at the Willamette University Center in Portland’s pearl district. This event is sponsored by Founder Institute and open to all aspiring entrepreneurs. Lunch will be provided. Space is limited so please RSVP through Meetup.

Al Vermeulen was previously the Chief Technology officer of Amazon.com, where he is still active today, and was involved with the development of Amazon's cloud based systems including AWS and S3. Prior to Amazon he was CTO of Rogue Wave Software which had a successful public offering on NASDAQ in 1996. Al also co-wrote the book "The Elements of Java Style" and helped pioneer C++.

In addition, Robert Wiltbank, PhD. will be helping guide the discussion. Dr. Wiltbank is the author of Catalyst: How You Can Become an Extraordinary Growth Leader, and Effectual Entrepreneurship a textbook used in over 140 universities to teach hands on entrepreneurship. Dr. Wiltbank is an Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Willamette University MBA and a Partner with Montlake Capital, a Seattle based venture capital fund.

We look forward to seeing you at the Portland Startup Founder 101 event on July 23rd!

Pitching your startup ideas effectively is a crucial skill that will help you acquire financing, customers, partners, and top talent. In just three hours, the Startup Pitch Bootcamp will help you improve your pitching skills and recruit potential co-founders. This intensive, collaborative workshop begins with talks by leading startup Founders designed to help you understand the key ingredients of a successful pitch. Then, you can apply that learning and pitch to both experts and peers to receive constructive feedback in a relaxed setting. Join us for a fun evening!

The Founder Institute is the world's largest early-stage accelerator. Join us for a informational event where you can meet the local Directors, ask questions, and learn how you can launch a startup with the Founder Institute's help.

You have an idea for a startup, but don't know what to do next? In just three hours, the Startup Ideation Bootcamp will help you improve your idea, come up with new ideas, determine the next steps, and even recruit potential co-founders. This intensive, collaborative workshop begins with talks by leading startup Founders designed to teach you the components of good and bad startup ideas. For example, is your market big enough, is there organic growth potential, and a clear path to profitability? Then, attendees can share their ideas with both experts and peers to receive constructive feedback. Join us for a fun evening!

The Founder Institute is the world's largest early-stage accelerator. Join us for a informational event where you can meet the local Directors, ask questions, and learn how you can launch a startup with the Founder Institute's help.

By Popular demand Founder Institute Portland is happy to present a workshop dedicated to early-stage fundraising.

Mike Buckley, Head of Finance and Strategy at Nike Digital, and previously Managing Director of Intel Capital, will join us to talk about how they’re working with Startups, and share his insights into early-stage fundraising and growth.

Afterward the local FI directors, Wade Brooks and Andrew Beldin, will facilitate a workshop on early stage fundraising 101 -- great tips, big pitfalls to avoid, pitching skills, building a killer pitch deck, etc. Wade and Andrew are both experienced startup fundraisers and investors.

If you have an idea for a startup that could use some refinement, then join us for the Startup Ideation Bootcamp. In just three hours, this intensive workshop will help you improve your idea, come up with new ideas and even recruit potential co-founders. What are the components of a great idea? How do you know if you are working in an attractive market? How do you validate that your idea is great?

YESpdx is a new social club for young entrepreneurs, technical and non-technical alike. Attend one of our monthly “Third Thursday” events to network, drink free beer, eat free food and hear from entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders. Shenanigans begin 5:30. Join us in December as we mix it up a little bit with an informal "Mix & Mingle" event at Valentine's. Event sponsors include OEN and NedSpace.

FEBRUARY 24th EVENT

Hi All - very excited to announce our February event. Vanessa Van Edwards will treat us with a private workshop on body language, especially targeted to women entrepreneurs. Can't wait! See you all there!

Body Language for Female Entrepreneurs

How can body language increase your presence, power and charisma? Vanessa Van Edwards has a special presentation for Female Founders Forum on how female entrepreneurs can use nonverbal to:

• Get an edge in negotiations
• Rock their elevator pitch
• Master networking events
• Pitch investors

Vanessa will use the latest research on nonverbal communication to teach women how to increase their success with people in the business world.

Speaker Bio:

Vanessa Van Edwards (Science Of People) Vanessa is a published author and behavioral investigator. Her specialties are human lie detection and body language. She is a Huffington Post columnist and regularly appears on CNN, Forbes, Business Week and the Wall Street Journal to talk about her research. Vanessa is a published Penguin author and regularly gives keynotes and appears in the media. She teaches a popular online class on Body Language for Entrepreneurs about the use of nonverbal communication to increase influence as a business owner. She helps entrepreneurs use body language to pitch investors, fundraise, get in the media, negotiate, increase sales and do effective customer validation.

PIE, an early stage startup accelerator, is accepting applications for its fourth class. They are due by 11:59PM PT on April 30, 2014.

PIE has been helping early stage startups in Portland for five years. Alums include Urban Airship, Simple, Athletepath, Cloudability, Little Bird, Lytics, Stand In, Switchboard, and Orchestrate, among many others. We tend to work best with platforms and enabling technologies, but we encourage all types of tech startups to apply.

Applications may be submitted through the PIE site or via http://angel.co/piepdx/apply

Questions? [email protected]

AUGUST 4th EVENT

Hi All -

Are you all ready for summer? Our August event is a summer cocktail party with several opportunities to connect, get to know each other more and catch up. In short, networking at its best.

Success in business depends on the quality and quantity of our relationships. We are most of the time so busy running our businesses, that we don't focus enough energy on the critical aspect of building rapport. With the Women Founders Forum, we intend to create a place to share ideas, learn and grow our businesses. It's a place for building trusted professional relationships to further our business and professional development

VENUE: AJ of AJC Photography (www.ajc-photography.com) has kindly offered her outdoor gallery space for our event. The address is 333 NW 9th St., but we'll have the doors open on the 10th avenue side. We'll be in the downstairs gallery space. It's in the same courtyard as Isabel Restaurant and Imelda's shoes, between NW Everett and Flanders. When you arrive you can buzz the concierge to be let in, or just come around to the 10th Avenue side where we'll have the gallery doors open. Event starts at 6pm with networking and goes on until later in the night... We'll conclude the evening with more networking until 9pm.

Don't forget to register at: https://pdxwomenfoundersforum.eventbrite.com

Startup Happy Hour is a get-together for Portland's startup community, taking place every other Wednesday at a rotating brewpub.

This is a purely social event — no nametags, no presentations, just hanging out with awesome people in a friendly, casual setting.

Startup Happy Hour brings together the Portland startup community, taking place at local brewpubs and startup headquarters.

RSVP here!

Who Should Join
Anyone who is actively involved with startups is welcome to attend: founders, developers, designers, investors, community managers, marketers, media professionals, and more.

Why should I join?
There are lots reasons to drop by Startup Happy Hour: • Interact with friendly, like-minded peers • Build your network with others in Portland's startup ecosystem • Share your ideas and projects with people who get what you're doing

What should I expect?
Startup Happy Hour is a purely social event, designed to build community and camaraderie in the startup ecosystem.

Don't expect nametags, pitches, or long presentations — instead, look forward to hanging out with awesome, like-minded people.

Startup Coffee Hour! reinvents the Startup Accelerator as a two-hour flash mob at a coffee shop.

The accelerator is like a tavern in an RPG: you can wander around the room and explore freely; you can walk up to anyone and talk to them; you can reacquaint with past companions and team members; you can sit at a table and share a laugh with elders, artisans, and heroes; you can form adventuring parties that may last a lifetime — and that's just the first 15 minutes. Learn more.

It's become a tradition. Watch PIE Demo Day 2014 from the comfort of your own laptop or mobile device.

PIE Demo Day is sold out. As is the simulcast at the eBay Community Lounge. But you can still get your fill of startup goodness by tuning into the PIE Demo Day livestream.

All of the content. None of the hassle.

http://new.livestream.com/accounts/10263183/events/3497048/

Is Silicon Forest the new Madison Avenue? Find out at Startup Happy Hour, featuring a new twist — or if you prefer, an olive.

You're invited to our Classy Cocktail Edition, taking place at Barlow, Portland's signature cocktail lounge.

From 8 to 10 PM, enjoy an artisinal libation or two, shared in the exquisite company of the Portland Startup Scene.

Dress to impress.

Portland Startup Week is happening from Feb. 2-6th. It's a week full of amazing panels, talks, and events. Coffee w/ Co-Founders X (can't believe this is the 10th one!) will bookend the week with a great informal morning get together of the area's most incredible Entrepreneurs.

Come by, have some coffee, bring lots of business cards, and be ready to meet Portland's next big idea!

 

Portland Startup Week is happening from Feb. 2-6th. It's a week full of amazing panels, talks, and events. Coffee w/ Co-Founders X (can't believe this is the 10th one!) will bookend the week with a great informal morning get together of the area's most incredible Entrepreneurs.

Come by, have some coffee, bring lots of business cards, and be ready to meet Portland's next big idea!

Invite your startup friends. Invite the other Founders you know and come and detox with some great cocktails and conversations. Its a booming startup town that hides behind the veil of anonymity. Put down the laptop, drop the iPhone and meet other passionate founders.

We meet every two weeks but we jump to different locations to spread the love. Make sure you register so you know when and where we will be.

http://www.meetup.com/Startup-VanCo/

Invite your startup friends. Invite the other Founders you know and come and detox with some great cocktails and conversations. Its a booming startup town that hides behind the veil of anonymity. Put down the laptop, drop the iPhone and meet other passionate founders.

We meet every two weeks but we jump to different locations to spread the love. Make sure you register so you know when and where we will be.

http://www.meetup.com/Startup-VanCo/

A week chock full of interesting startup events designed to get Portland's founders and entrepreneurs chatting and collaborating.

For more details, visit http://portlandstartupweek2016a.sched.org/

Want to try coworking? DeskHub Portland will be opening its doors to offer free coworking space for the entire week of Portland Startup Week 2016!

Grab some coffee. Drink it black. Coffee is for closers. Find a fellow startup founder who is drinking coffee. Introduce yourself. Know they are a fellow startup founder because they're there at 8:30am in the morning and ready to tackle the week and get shit done.

Startups are hard. You don't have to do it alone. Let's challenge the assumptions of what it means to be a startup founder, a person of color and build a diverse startup ecosystem here in Portland. Redefining diversity to be more inclusive (even including white males, go figure). Come for coffee. Meet other founders. Then get to work. Hosted by Yu Te, founder of MacPCX (and Startup Weekend Organizer) [email protected] or 971-998-9511

VanTechy is the social starting point for the Vancouver Tech scene.

The beginning of a startup is about people and ideas. VanTechy, is our local meeting point for meeting each other in a relaxed, casual format. Our goals include:

-Welcoming new people to the growing Vancouver tech community. -Sharing and discovering local events, opportunities, connections. -Growing our skills and learning new things. -Sharing our experience by mentoring new members.

For beginners, VanTechy is where you should start. For veterans, VanTechy is a place to share and mentor others.

As Portland's longest running women's weekly startup group approaches our one year anniversary, there is a lot to celebrate. Let's start with you.

Please visit us during Portland Startup Week on Wednesday February 3rd at 7:30am and meet fellow women's startup founders who are working heads down on growing their company and building their product/service in a meaningful way.

The Weekly Founders Roundtable is comprised of Portland women founder who are focused on growing their startup and very focused on revenue, sales and marketing. We are a peer-to-peer support group of amazing women, building incredible things, who want to change the world....and understand that big sales and hockey stick like revenue growth is the way to achieve this. We don't talk, we do. We don't pontificate, we focus on milestones. We don't hyper focus on ideas, we focus on revenue. We make things happen. Our combined group of 10 women founded startups will have collective sales in excess of one million dollars this year.

Please come join us this Wednesday between 7:30am-8:30am and grab a cup of coffee on us. We'd love to hear about the company you've founded and where you're at.

See you here

Lin Carson, founder XFounders, and CEO BAKERpedia

Invite your startup friends. Invite the other Founders you know and come and detox with some great cocktails and conversations. Its a booming startup town that hides behind the veil of anonymity. Put down the laptop, drop the iPhone and meet other passionate founders.

We meet every two weeks but we jump to different locations to spread the love. Make sure you register so you know when and where we will be.

http://www.meetup.com/Startup-VanCo/

Join us on Wednesday, December 6th when Founder and CEO of Ruby Receptionist, Jill Nelson participates in our monthly series, Confessions of an Entrepreneur.

Since founding the company in 2003, Jill has led Ruby to double-digit revenue growth every year, and last year sold the majority share of Ruby for $38.8 million to Updata Partners out of Washington D.C. Today, Ruby’s 340+ employees provide live receptionist service to 6,000 small businesses throughout North America. Jill’s unique vision of charming, professional receptionists enabled by leading-edge technology has built Ruby into a platform by which small businesses can deliver exceptional customer experiences over the phone and grow their companies.

Confessions of an Entrepreneur is a series that allows entrepreneurs to hear the highs and lows of what it takes to build a successful company – unfiltered and off the record!

This is always a fun and valuable event, so be sure to invite your friends and team members.

For 24 years, Gerry has served as a Managing Director with OVP Venture Partners, the most experienced venture capital firm in the Pacific Northwest. OVP is in its 33rd year, having raised its seventh fund (OVP VII) at $250 million. OVP has over $750 million of capital under management and focuses on early-stage companies in information technology, clean tech, and digital biology. Since its founding in 1983, the partnership has backed over 125 startups – and seen over 50 liquidity events including 25 IPOs with more than 30 others being acquired by public companies.

From 1981 to 1992, Gerry was co-founder of Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) where he served as President and Board member. He helped lead Mentor to over $400M in sales and $1B in market capitalization, ranking it as one of the largest and most profitable of all U.S. companies founded in the 1980s. The company remains the fastest growing public software company to $200 million (in constant dollars) in US history. At now over $1B in sales, Mentor continues to rank as the second largest software company in the Pacific Northwest, behind only Microsoft.

His service as a board member covers the range from enterprise software, network security, wireless communications and clean tech to biotechnology. He is the author of The Success Matrix – Winning in Business and in Life (Logos Press, March 2014), Take the Money and Run! An Insider’s Guide to Venture Capital (Smashwords and Lulu Press, 2011) and The Vision Trap (Harvard Business Review, March 1992), which continues to be widely used in business schools and corporate training sessions.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of CradlePoint, DataSphere, EnerG2, and Novomer.

In 2012, Gerry was appointed by Governor Kitzhaber to the Oregon Growth Board where he serves as co-chair. He previously served as School Board Chair of the Riverdale School District and also chaired the Riverdale School Foundation. He has served as Chair of the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI) Board of Trustees, and Chair of the State of Oregon Facilities Authority – a bonding agency for not-for-profits. In 2011, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network.

He holds a BA, Chemistry from Cornell University, and a MBA from Harvard.

TiE Oregon, TiE Seattle, TiE Vancouver BC and TiE Rockies are coming together to host the first-ever TiECon Northwest in Portland Oregon on January 25-26th. This 1.5 day conference will bring together entrepreneurs and investors and will highlight three disruptive technology sectors – Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Healthcare, and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality/Mixed Reality.

The possibilities seem huge and there is tremendous hype, full of great buzzwords and slogans but for investors and entrepreneurs, key questions still exist regarding these technologies:

What is the value? How can such value be unlocked? Is now the right time? What are the specific approaches, applications and markets that these technologies can be utilized in? What do these sectors need in order to continue to grow? Join us at TiECon Northwest as we bring together experts in these sectors for interactive panel discussions, keynotes, and opportunities to network with entrepreneurs and investors throughout the northwest.

PITCH NORTHWEST The conference will end with a pitch competition, Pitch Northwest!

Pitch Competition Criteria Pitch Northwest is available to pre-series A companies from all industries. The company must be headquartered in Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, or British Columbia. You must have a minimal viable product, must have customer validation and are looking for funding to scale.

Prizes

The over-all winner will receive a check for $3,000 --- we are still fundraising so this purse is very likely to increase! The people's choice winner will receive a check for $1,000 - again, we are still fundraising so this purse is very likely to increase! THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT APPLICATIONS IS FRIDAY DECEMBER 30TH

Application details can be found at www.tieconnorthwest.org

The Woman Led Unconference will sell out again, don't be left out because it's sold out.

Also, early bird tickets are just $25, but go to $40 effective March 1st.

WOMAN LED, INC. A 501 (c) (3) Organization is hosting Portland’s second women’s Unconference revolving around the theme of Women Entrepreneurship.

• Saturday March 11th, 9:00am-4:00pm
• Attendance is limited to the first 50 people, sorry
• Early bird ticket pricing is $25
• Ticket prices $40 effective Wednesday March 1st

What is Woman Led?

Our mission is to empower a community of women led companies to build profitable and sustainable businesses that will positively impact the economy. Our vision is to be a national organization that provides professional services to women who Dare, Dream and Do. We will become the most trusted community that supports women business owners in the United States. We will create a business world where women entrepreneurs have equitable opportunity, support and success.


For more info, find us at: http://womanled.org/

Why an Unconference?

Women in Portland are boldly pursuing their entrepreneurial dream. Yet they stall before they achieve scale. One in eight (12.5%) female owned businesses have successfully scaled. This is 2 times lower than male owned businesses. We have uncovered three key barriers to women achieving their entrepreneurial aspirations – Identifying Resources, Lack of Mentorship, and Less Funding / Sexist Culture. The women’s unconference will provide resources and networking to help overcome these barriers. The Facilitator Megan O'Leary the Director of Member Services from OEN is going to facilitate the whole unconference event. A great experienced facilitator makes the event, so prepare yourself for a wonderful time.

What will our Unconference look like:

9:00am-9.30am Coffee & networking 9.30-10am Keynote speaker 10:00-11:00am Overview and group agenda setting 11:00-11:45am Session 1 
 11:45am-12:30pm Session 2 
 12:30pm-1:30pm Lunch

1:30pm-2:15pm Session 4 
 2:15pm-3:30pm Session 5 
 3:30pm-4:00pm Closing & Keynote

Lunch is included. So, what exactly is an ‘Unconference?’ Think of this as an open conference that is driven by its participants. Unlike traditional conferences, an unconference allows for flexibility, open discussion, and debate, all fueled by its attendees. Innovative conversations with some of the brightest people, important purposes and tasks discussed without any formal agenda, and unplanned dialogue led by ultimately what peaks your interest most.

Come to build a collaborative network, establish partnerships, and be in a close community of people that value the same or similar topics of discussion. The sessions will be broken up into 30-minute discussions and spaces are reserved for gatherings that happen throughout the day.

Who should attend? Whether you’re a CEO, a startup founder, stay-at-home mom with a new idea, allies, or simply just have interest in the topic of women entrepreneurs, we welcome you to join us. This event is open to all genders to attend and participate.

All NedSpace events have a Code of Conduct which all participants, members, partners, visitors, vendors, guests must abide by.

Special keynote guests Sara Batterby CEO & President of Hifi Farms & Jill Nelson, Founder & CEO, Ruby Receptionists

Seriously, get your ticket today before it sells out

https://www.meetup.com/Startup-Your-Startup/events/237370564/

Free money, got your attention, huh?

SBIR Round Table: Free Money for Your Innovative Technologies Do you have an innovative tech idea but no money for research and development (R&D)?

You might be surprised to learn that the Federal government spends $2.5 billion annually in the forms of grants and contracts for small businesses to work with agencies on projects from the Department of Defense all the way down to the Environmental Protection Administration.

This program, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), is intended to encourage domestic small businesses to engage in high-growth R&D.

Join us for a panel session, where local entrepreneurs will highlight tips, pitfalls and how the SBIR program helped their business. Space is limited, so please register to reserve your spot.

What you can expect?

Meet and learn from local entrepreneurs who have successfully secured non-dilutive Federal funding that afforded them the opportunity to engage in high growth research and development.

Meet with local resource partners who can help you apply for SBIR grants and capitalize on the opportunities that the SBIR program can afford your business.

Date: Wednesday, April 19 Time: 5:30- 7:00 pm Place: NedSpace 707 SW Washington St., #1100 Portland, OR 97205

Partial Panel List

SweetSense Inc. Evan Thomas, CEO SweetSense is doing a fabulous job helping global aid organizations bring infrastructure to the developing world.

eWindSolutions Katie Schaefer, cofounder & Director of Strategic Partnerships Understands and played an important role in the SBIR process.

Imagars LLC (tentative) Baldur Steingrimsson, President New American entrepreneur from Iceland – developing a tool that can help designers identify design oversights early in the process and better collaborate among design team members.

All NedSpace events have a Code of Conduct which all participants, members, partners, visitors, vendors, guests must abide by.

RSVP, tix are limited: https://www.meetup.com/Startup-Your-Startup/events/238679561/

Announcing the inaugural event in Portland!

Founders LIVE Portland is an unforgettable happy hour competition where up to five handpicked startups take the hot seat, with only 99 seconds to pitch their company and describe their value proposition in front of an eager audience. After the pitches and audience Q&A, the crowd will vote on a winner who will not only receive recognition from the crowd but also the opportunity to talk more about their product or service. So bring your friends and coworkers, grab some food and drink, get to know your local entrepreneurs and vote for what you think will be the next big thing... built in Portland.

About Founders LIVE:

Founders LIVE (founderslive.com) is a community and media channel created to inspire, educate and entertain entrepreneurs around the world. The Founders LIVE experience includes unique and unforgettable 99-second pitch competitions sweeping into cities across the nation, which have the potential to create local startup celebrities and burst open additional pockets of creativity and entrepreneurial activity. Additionally, an online network delivers curated articles, videos, livestreamed expert talks and AMA’s, posts and private messaging to members that together develop world-class entrepreneurs.

Details:

Date: May. 19th, 2017

Time: 5:00pm - 8:00pm

Location: CENTRL Office Pearl

Cost: $10

Provided: Great food, beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages

Attendance to Founders LIVE Portland is free for Founders LIVE Members

Agenda:

5pm: Drinks, food, and networking

6pm: Demos start

7pm: Networking

8pm: Afterparty

Join us as we gather to reboot our Startup PDX community!

We're taking this community from a former place of just beerhall networking...to becoming a hub for Startup Professionals and Startup Entrepreneurs to level-up...together! 

Our vision is to support the Portland Startup ecosystem, by being a place for Inspiration, Knowledge, and Networking. We're already lining up some amazing talks and meetups for the next few months.

Come to this first casual kickoff event! Learn more about the vision of this community. Get some FREE beer...and network with other Startup Professionals. Much thanks to Centrl Office for being our new community sponsor, providing our venue and beer!! RSVP soon as there's limited space for this event. 

And, in the spirit of Startup Happy Hour, we'll always be continuing the after party for people wanting to connect even deeper at 10 Barrel starting around 7:45pm.

Make sure to find me and say hello. Short blurb about me: I'm currently a co-founder of both a venture backed startup and a bootstrapped startup. I'd love to hear what you're working on! 

Also, find me if you want to get involved in helping with this community!

Pat Cheung

Learn, Network, Startup In just 54 hours, you will experience the highs, lows, fun, and pressure that make up life at a startup. As you learn how to create a real company, you'll meet the very best mentors, investors, co-founders, and sponsors who are ready to help you get started. Your community is here to help you — find an event today!

Join us as 2 seasoned sales experts share the latest trends and tips around outbound sales strategies. Attendees will walk away with a simple, practical framework for knowing how to build your first outbound campaign, when and how to scale your team, and to outsource your outbound altogether.

If revenue is important to your business...you'll want to check out these two talks.

As always, come network with fellow startup professionals. Free beer and bevs. Let's level-up together!

Agenda:

6:00pm - Drinks and Networking

7:00pm - Speakers

Alex Boyd - How to start scaling outbound sales, as a founder

Alex was Director of Sales at inDinero, a high-growth accounting SaaS startup based here in Portland. He is now the founder of RevenueZen, a Sales Development consultancy, where he develops and executes outbound sales campaigns alongside leaders at early stage technology companies. His favorite food is coffee.  

Chris Ortolano - How to qualify with confidence: Account Profiles, Buyer Personas, and Customer Outcomes. 

Chris is currently GM of Knowledge Group, a Division of Cience - a managed services company. Chris helps inside sales reps go from ramp to rockstar using knowledge management, continuous training, and execution analysis. Chris has also developed an online inside sales academy for DiscoverOrg, and served as a Conversation Systems Analyst for ExecVision.io. Chris also contributes to Outbound Engage, events focused on Growth, Sales, and Knowledge here in Portland. His favorite sales cycle is a bicycle.

Join us for a panel discussion with two of the prominent seed/angel funds in town: Portland Seed Fund and Oregon Angel Fund. 

In this discussion, we'll dive into the nuts and bolts of early-stage funding landscape in Portland, what exactly investors are looking for in a startup, and how to navigate through the local funding process. If you're interested in raising money for your startup...come hear this panel discussion to gain a better understanding of getting funded. 

Agenda:

6:30pm - Drinks and Networking

7:00pm - Panel on Early Stage Startup Funding

Jon Maroney - Partner | Oregon Angel Fund

Jim Huston - Co-Managing Director | Portland Seed Fund

--

Sponsor Thanks!

CENTRL Office - Best Coworking Space in Town

Immersive technology like augmented and virtual reality is creating a rapidly growing new industry. A report from Tech Trends’ Editor-in-chief, Alice Bonsaio cites this fast growing sector estimated to be $162B by 2020! Far beyond gaming and entertainment, there is potential for this technology to disrupt everything from healthcare and architecture to changing the way we maintain global supply chain. Join us for an engaging evening of conversation with early startup founders and those that support them, as we explore the experience of being on the ground floor of this new immersive reality.

The evening will start with a presentation from Russell Ladson, the Founder of Drop, a ViveX company. Russell will then be joined by two to three other local startup founders in the immersive tech space. We will have a candid conversation about their experiences as founders in the new field, the current state of this technology and where it is headed, along with Q&A from the audience. It will be an insightful and engaging panel.

It's been a while since we've met, but we're using Portland Startup Week as an excuse to resurrect this incredible meetup.

About Coffee w/ Co-Founders: As a business owner you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. Coffee w/ Co-Founders is a way to network with other Entrepreneurs to allow free flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of Coffee w/ Co-Founders as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!

Your idea in 54 hours

Do you have an idea you'd like to pursue or a problem you'd like to solve but don't know where to start or who to start with?

Techstars Startup Weekend is the place to look for a team, create a prototype of your idea, validate your business idea, and receive feedback from experienced entrepreneurs, all in one weekend.

What do you need to bring?

Lots of energy! You'll pitch your own idea or listen to others, then vote on the most interesting ideas and form teams with diverse skill sets. You can come with friends, but you’ll get the full experience if you participate in separate teams. Remember, it’s all about the team.

Your idea should be something you have not previously worked on. The idea you pitch and the problem you set out to solve can span social, educational, financial, environmental, or other issues. Over the course of the weekend, you'll be challenged to create a prototype of your MVP, or minimum viable product, that fits the needs of your target customer. You'll get feedback, iterate, and likely pivot your approach entirely! Important: You cannot have worked previously on your idea.

Techstars Startup Weekend is a full weekend-long experience. Your ticket includes: 7 full (and delicious) meals over the course of the weekend Benefits and discounts from our global partners One-on-one time with amazing mentors A new network of developers, designers, and entrepreneurs eager, like you, to change the world. All the internet and coffee you can consume.

Watch the video below to see what you can expect, and if you’re feeling inspired click on the “Buy Ticket” button now! https://vimeo.com/28872840

Still have questions, feel free to reach us at “[email protected]”.

Pitch Club is an ongoing monthly series where entrepreneurs can practice their pitch and receive feedback from their peers and TiE Oregon Charter Members including TiE Angels.

Tom Kingsley, TiE Oregon Charter Member moderated the event and creates a dynamic and safe environment for you to receive feedback on your pitch - sales pitch, concept pitch, or investor pitch!

Participants are given the opportunity to role-play being an investor to other entrepreneurs giving them a better understanding of what the investors are looking for.

Startup Founders of Tech Startups Only

We're startup founders building tech products to solve problems in the world. 

We come together from different backgrounds and industries and it's this diversity that makes group members valuable to one another. Some of us code. Others do marketing. Some of us think we'll be fundraising forever... No matter, we've got overlapping challenges and experiences to share with each other for what to do (and just as importantly what not to do).

So, if you're looking to get smarter and move faster with your business, join us. We meet the 4th Tuesday of the month at 4pm Eastern / 1pm Pacific. 

Reach out if you have questions. 

Whitney

PS - If you're interested but not yet in the group, it's easy to join. RSVP for this event and I'll follow-up. We want to ensure the group remains as promised... a group of Startup Founders in Tech

For people working in startups or around the startup scene, Startup Coffee Hour is a 1-hour agendaless and speakerless event where you’ll meet new people and have the opportunity to talk about what you care about.

We're running this event over Meetaway -- the format is back-to-back 1on1 conversations over video call where you'll have the ability to choose who you meet. It's an efficient way to digest a thought with other entrepreneurs and get back to your day.

RSVP and we'll send you a link to join.

For February we are excited to be having our next meetup at Uncorked Studios. This beautiful space will serve as the backdrop as we learn from fellow founders about their businesses.

About Coffee w/ Co-Founders: As a business owner you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. Coffee w/ Co-Founders is a way to network with other Entrepreneurs to allow free flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of Coffee w/ Co-Founders as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!

This event is exclusively for technology startup founders. Founders, this is a risk-free way for you to get feedback on your investor pitch and stack the odds in your favor. If you want to raise funding for your venture, then this event is for you.

We're running this event over Meetaway -- the format is back-to-back 1on1 conversations over video call where you'll have the ability to pitch and get feedback from a number of other founders. It's efficient and a great way to get targeted feedback in a low-stakes setting.

RSVP and we'll send you a link to join.

The event is at Feb 19, 5-6pm Pacific.

Startup Founders of Tech Startups Only

We're startup founders building tech to solve problems in the world. We meet the 4th Tuesday of the month at 1pm Pacific to collaborate on our pressing challenges. The format is 1on1 conversations over video where you'll have the ability to choose who you meet. It's designed to be easy to join, get value, and get back to work.

The event is limited to tech startup founders in tech who are beyond idea stage. Reach out if you have questions.

Whitney

PS - If you're interested but not yet in the group, it's easy to join. RSVP for this event and I'll follow-up. We want to ensure the group remains as promised... a group of Startup Founders in Tech.

Pitch Club is an ongoing monthly series where entrepreneurs can practice their pitch and receive feedback from their peers and TiE Oregon Charter Members including TiE Angels.

Robin Jones, TiE Oregon Charter Member will be the event Emcee, join her as she creates a dynamic and safe environment for you to receive feedback on your pitch - sales pitch, concept pitch, or investor pitch!

Participants are given the opportunity to role-play being an investor to other entrepreneurs giving them a better understanding of what the investors are looking for.

This event is exclusively for entrepreneurs who are working in EdTech. If you're an EdTech entrepreneur and want to collaborate with other EdTech entrepreneurs, then this event is for you so RSVP today!

We're bringing together EdTech entrepreneurs from across the country to share insights, contacts, and industry trends. I'm running the event online, over Meetaway, so you'll be able to choose who you meet and then you'll meet them over a series of 1:1 video calls. After each conversation, Meetaway will automatically rotate to the next one.

If you want to connect with other EdTech entrepreneurs, then RSVP today!

This event is exclusively for entrepreneurs who are working in HealthTech. If you're a HealthTech entrepreneur and want to collaborate with other HealthTech entrepreneurs, then this event is for you so RSVP today!

We're bringing together HealthTech entrepreneurs from across the country to share insights, contacts, and industry trends. I'm running the event online, over Meetaway, so you'll be able to choose who you meet and then you'll meet them over a series of 1:1 video calls. After each conversation, Meetaway will automatically rotate to the next one.

If you want to connect with other HealthTech entrepreneurs, then RSVP today!

Please join us on March 20th as we recognize Nat Parker, Co-founder of GlobeSherpa (purchased by moovel North America).

Starting in 2013, Nat received ongoing mentorship and early investment from the TiE Oregon Angels. Along with his team, Nat grew his company and returned that investment! And…just a few years later, sold the company to moovel North America. We are thrilled to celebrate Nat’s success and the support he now gives to the entrepreneur community.

In addition, we will take a look back and celebrate accomplishments made in 2018 which include:

– $1.75 Million invested in 14 Companies! — And that is just through November. We will likely have another investment before the end of the year! – 1 exit – RFPIO! – Five TiE XL Boot Camps — with approximately 65 participants – Team Melaknow from Oregon’s TYE Program took 1st place at the TYE Global Competition in Washington DC – TiE Oregon Angels was voted the best angel program out of all TiE Chapters – ….and our member engagement continues to grow with the additional programming we added this year including Industry Exploration, Evolve Your Startup, Investor Training, and more!

When: Wednesday, March 20th Time: 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM / 5:30 PM Networking Reception / 6:15 PM Dinner and Program / 8:30 PM Musical Entertainment Where: The Lofts at 8th Ave, 2010 SE 8th Ave, Portland, OR Cost: TiE Member Table of 10 = $1,000 | Non-Member Table of 10 = $1,250 | TiE Member Single Ticket = $100 | Non-Member Single Ticket = $125

Presenting Sponsor:

Elevate Capital

Let's kick off the week with a beer, good conversations, and networking. Portland Startup Week attendees are welcome to a chill and relaxing meetup to interact with local ecosystem leaders and advocates.

Where: Tilt - Eastside 22 NE 2nd Ave. Suite 100 Portland, Or. 97232

****LIMITED SPACE****

We're in the NW side of town this month as part of Portland Startup Week. Breken is a great place to relax, grab a cup of coffee, or get some of their yummy food.

About Coffee w/ Co-Founders: As a business owner you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. Coffee w/ Co-Founders is a way to network with other Entrepreneurs to allow free flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of Coffee w/ Co-Founders as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!

Pitch Club is an ongoing monthly series where entrepreneurs can practice their pitch and receive feedback from their peers and TiE Oregon Charter Members including TiE Angels.

A TiE Oregon Charter Member moderated event that creates a dynamic and safe environment for you to receive feedback on your pitch - sales pitch, concept pitch, or investor pitch!

Participants are given the opportunity to role-play being an investor to other entrepreneurs giving them a better understanding of what the investors are looking for.

Access PDX is open to all genders of founders and future founders.

The Female Founders Alliance Access Series is designed to help founders move their business forward by fostering meaningful connections with the people and organizations that are most difficult to access for underrepresented founders. Access PDX addresses the top three things women and non-binary founders need the most: access to investors, partners and media.

Through a combination of panels, 1:1 VIP coaching, founder AMAs, and facilitated networking, our guest speakers and coaches will meaningfully support founders in their area of business expertise. Founders will leave with new connections and newfound wisdom in an area of their business.

Confirmed VIPs include Seattle and Portland angel investors, representatives from Voyager Capital, Oregon Venture Fund, Seven Peaks Ventures, Portland Seed Fund, Trilogy Equity Partners, FoundersPad and more to be announced.

Founders of Tech Startups Only

We come together from different backgrounds and industries and it's this diversity that makes group members valuable. We collaborate and share tips on what’s worked and just as important… what hasn’t worked to grow our startups.

RSVP for this event and I'll follow-up. We’re a no-sales group and I work to keep the group as promised -- a group of Tech Startup Founders.

We meet the 4th Tuesday of the month at 4pm Eastern / 1pm Pacific.

Whitney

Pitch Club is an ongoing monthly series where entrepreneurs can practice their pitch and receive feedback from their peers and TiE Oregon Charter Members including TiE Angels.

Tom Kingsley, TiE Oregon Charter Member moderated the event and creates a dynamic and safe environment for you to receive feedback on your pitch - sales pitch, concept pitch, or investor pitch!

Participants are given the opportunity to role-play being an investor to other entrepreneurs giving them a better understanding of what the investors are looking for.

Pitch Club is an ongoing monthly series where entrepreneurs can practice their pitch and receive feedback from their peers and TiE Oregon Charter Members including TiE Angels.

Tom Kingsley, TiE Oregon Charter Member moderated the event and creates a dynamic and safe environment for you to receive feedback on your pitch - sales pitch, concept pitch, or investor pitch!

Participants are given the opportunity to role-play being an investor to other entrepreneurs giving them a better understanding of what the investors are looking for.

Founders of Tech Startups Only

We come together from different backgrounds and industries and it's this diversity that makes group members valuable. We collaborate and share tips on what’s worked and just as important… what hasn’t worked to grow our startups.

RSVP for this event and I'll follow-up. We’re a no-sales group and I work to keep the group as promised -- a group of Tech Startup Founders.

We meet the 4th Tuesday of the month at 1-2pm Pacific.

Paige Hendrix Buckner knows a lot about starting and growing a company. Not only has she been helping founders through her efforts at Founders Gym, but she has also been running ClientJoy which is a boutique birch box service with an Oregon focus. This month we'll sit down to talk about her incredible story and learn about some of the challenges she has faced along the way.

About Coffee w/ Co-Founders: As a business owner you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. Coffee w/ Co-Founders is a way to network with other Entrepreneurs to allow free flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of Coffee w/ Co-Founders as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!

https://www.meetup.com/Portland-Coffee-w-Co-Founders/events/262422869/

(We realize that not every potential PIE or PIE Shop company can make it to events during the day. So we'll be holding a pre-work morning session to get your questions answered. And yes, there will be coffee.)

Thinking about applying to PIE or PIE Shop? Have questions about the program? Curious as to what an accelerator even does? Wondering if the format is right for you? Cool. Let's talk about that. All of that.

Please join PIE at the home of PIE alum — and PIE Shop partner — Uncorked Studios for a question and answer session to get more information on our programs and the benefits for early stage startups.

Questions about the differences between the two programs causing you to second guess whether you should even show up? Well, let's get that one answered first. Yes. The answer is yes. If you're a founder of an early stage startup, you should show up.

And in terms of the differences? PIE is an accelerator designed to support startups building digital products. PIE Shop is an incubator/accelerator designed to support startups manufacturing physical products.

We're looking forward to seeing you, bright and early

Already ready to apply? Here's a cheat sheet that will help you prepare your application: https://bit.ly/PIE2019cheatsheet

Thinking about applying to PIE or PIE Shop? Have questions about the program? Curious as to what an accelerator even does? Wondering if the format is right for you? Cool. Let's talk about that. All of that.

Please join PIE at Autodesk for a question and answer session to get more information on our programs and the benefits for early stage startups.

Questions about the differences between the two programs causing you to second guess whether you should even show up? Well, let's get that one answered first. Yes. The answer is yes. If you're a founder of an early stage startup, you should show up.

And in terms of the differences? PIE is an accelerator designed to support startups building digital products. PIE Shop is an incubator/accelerator designed to support startups manufacturing physical products.

We're looking forward to seeing you.

Already ready to apply? Here's a cheat sheet that will help you prepare your application: https://bit.ly/PIE2019cheatsheet

(We realize that not everyone can make evening events. So our friends at WeWork Labs have graciously offered to host a lunch hour Q&A *with lunch*🙏)

Thinking about applying to PIE or PIE Shop? Have questions about the program? Curious as to what an accelerator even does? Wondering if the format is right for you? Cool. Let's talk about that. All of that.

Please join PIE at WeWork Labs for a question and answer session to get more information on our programs and the benefits for early stage startups.

Questions about the differences between the two programs causing you to second guess whether you should even show up? Well, let's get that one answered first. Yes. The answer is yes. If you're a founder of an early stage startup, you should show up.

And in terms of the differences? PIE is an accelerator designed to support startups building digital products. PIE Shop is an incubator/accelerator designed to support startups manufacturing physical products.

We're looking forward to seeing you.

Already ready to apply? Here's a cheat sheet that will help you prepare your application: https://bit.ly/PIE2019cheatsheet

(We realize that not every potential PIE or PIE Shop company can make it to Portland to ask their questions, face to face. But we still want you to have the opportunity to get those questions answered. So we'll be holding a virtual session to help get that done.)

Thinking about applying to PIE or PIE Shop? Have questions about the program? Curious as to what an accelerator even does? Wondering if the format is right for you? Cool. Let's talk about that. All of that.

Please join PIE online for a question and answer session to get more information on our programs and the benefits for early stage startups.

Questions about the differences between the two programs causing you to second guess whether you should even show up? Well, let's get that one answered first. Yes. The answer is yes. If you're a founder of an early stage startup, you should show up.

And in terms of the differences? PIE is an accelerator designed to support startups building digital products. PIE Shop is an incubator/accelerator designed to support startups manufacturing physical products.

We're looking forward to seeing you on the interwebs.

Already ready to apply? Here's a cheat sheet that will help you prepare your application: https://bit.ly/PIE2019cheatsheet

(Meeting details will be shared with folks who RSVP.)

Hard to believe, but it's been a decade of experimentation around how established organizations — like corporations, government, and educational institutions — can better collaborate with the Portland startup community for mutual benefit.

That's right. PIE is turning 10 years old in August 2019. So it seemed like a good time for a party. And our generous sponsors Autodesk (https://autodesk.com/) and SKB (https://skbcos.com/) volunteered to help us make it happen.

Join PIE, PIE Shop, our alums, our mentors, and the entire Portland startup community to celebrate this milestone. As part of the celebration, we'll be happy to feed you and provide you with a beverage or two. And there will likely be some PIE giveaways, as well.

NOTE: This is a family friendly event, so feel free to bring the kids.

at PIE, we love founders and founding teams. The passion, creativity, and grit that drive people to pursue their vision is a constant source of intrigue — and inspiration. And it’s a pursuit we want to encourage. And facilitate.

We believe that you should be building your company. And we want you to do that.

That said, after 10 years of doing this work, we recognize that one of the most challenging things about building a business is finding access to the people and resources that can help support you at the earliest stages. Before you’re popular. Before you’re a household name. Before you can afford an office. Before investors are lining up to fund you.

That’s why we’re here. To support you. Please apply: https://piepdx.com/apply

NOTE THE NEW TIME FOR THIS MONTH'S MEETUP!

This month we will be sitting down with Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler. A third generation Oregonian, he has been working hard to ensure the Portland ecosystem is robust, inclusive, and thoughtful. Having spent time as the state's Treasurer he has seen first hand the impact that startups can have on the local ecosystem and has been a tireless advocate for the community.

Schedule: 9am: Doors open/Networking 9:30am: Sit down with Mayor Ted Wheeler 10:30am: End

::::Space is limited:::::

About Coffee w/ Co-Founders: As a business owner you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. Coffee w/ Co-Founders is a way to network with other Entrepreneurs to allow free flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of Coffee w/ Co-Founders as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!

WeWork Labs is opening their doors for the PDXWIT community for a day of open co-working. If you are a founder or looking to start your own business you are welcome to spend the day learning more about the resources available to help you grow your business.

WeWork Labs is The We Company’s global platform for early-stage startups and forward-thinking enterprise companies. We empower inventive humans and organizations to impact the present and influence the future.

Fundraising for your early stage startup is difficult. It's made even more difficult with the recent trend of smaller pre-revenue funding in the region. This month we will sit down with some area panelist to discuss funding trends, funding alternatives, and what can be done to get early stage companies better access to capital that can help take their companies to the next level.

This will be a "leave your feelings at the door" conversation. We will touch on what is really to blame for the lack of early stage funding access. Whether that means looking at local and regional funding resources that seemed to have dried up, to whether founders have companies that are investible.

Panelists: Josh Carter - Manager, WeWork Labs (Moderator) Nicole Schmidt - CEO/Co-Founder @ krowdsourced Geoff Harris - Partner @ Flying Fish VC Ross Barbieri - Angel Investor/EiR @ Portland State's Business Accelerator

About Coffee w/ Co-Founders: As a business owner you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. Coffee w/ Co-Founders is a way to network with other Entrepreneurs to allow free flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of Coffee w/ Co-Founders as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!

Time for friends, food and drinks as we remain cautiously optimistic that we'll get an extended summer and the rain will hold off...

Look for the tall brunette wearing glasses that blink. I might also be wearing my Minnie Mouse ears, depending on how I am feeling that day...

Join your community in a new type of conference that builds momentum and opportunity around entrepreneurship, led by entrepreneurs and hosted in the entrepreneurial spaces you love. Startup Week is a reflection of your hard work and your community's unique entrepreneurial identity.

For this event we will celebrate the upcoming Portland Startup Week happening April 6-10, 2020 by kicking off and opening up submissions to the general public. We will have speakers, showcase some of the local startups, and you'll get a chance to network with other founders in the community.

Failure is a part of the founder journey. It could be something as small as missing a sales number or as big as a massive business breakup. However you fail it ends up taking a toll on you as a human.

Join us this month as we lead an open discussion and share our stories of failure.

Schedule: 10am: Doors open/Networking 10:30am: Discussion 11:30am: End

::::Space is limited:::::

About Coffee w/ Co-Founders: As a business owner you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. Coffee w/ Co-Founders is a way to network with other Entrepreneurs to allow free flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of Coffee w/ Co-Founders as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!

We are holding our second meeting of the Founders Resiliency group on Friday November 22nd at WeWork Labs 12-1:30pm. There are many forums that speak to the blocking and tackling of creating and leading business. The intent of this group is to offer an environment where the emotional aspects of the entrepreneur's journey can be shared and supported. In this supportive and confidential space, founders can speak their truth, get support and develop resiliency in the face of uncertainty and challenge.

All are welcome at any stage. Bring your own lunch.

For November, the group is reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, so if you plan on attending, please pick up or borrow a copy so you can discuss.

WeWork Labs is a global platform to help early stage founders grow and scale their startups. The non-equity based program provides founders with access to mentors, investors, and resources.

WeWork Labs Portland is opening its doors for the day to allow you to meet the founders and spend the day getting work done from the incredible Custom House.

There is no RSVP link. Just show up and work.

Hi All!

We are holding our monthly meeting of the PDX Founders Resiliency group on Friday December 13th at WeWork Labs 12-1:30pm.

There are many forums that speak to the blocking and tackling of creating and leading business. The intent of this group is to offer an environment where the emotional aspects of the entrepreneur’s journey can be shared and supported. In this supportive and confidential space, founders can speak their truth, get support and develop resiliency in the face of uncertainty and challenge.

All are welcome at any stage. Free, but bring your own lunch.

WeWork Labs Custom House 220 NW 8th Ave, PDX.

Join Zebras from around the world for an online Webinar exploring ways that the crowd can help finance Zebra companies and activities. While we'll touch on traditional crowdfunding, we're eager to share and explore newer "crowdinvesting" models that focus on financing through equity or debt.

Topics include:

• Pros and cons of crowdinvesting options
• TechSoup sharing experiences from the nonprofit world
• For profit Participant Assistive Products sharing insights on its Wefunder campaign
• How and why Zebras Unite is partnering with platforms like Wefunder for the benefit of the Zebra community

Speakers:

• Portland entrepreneur Astrid Scholz, Zebras Unite
• Dara Westling, TechSoup
• Keoke King, Participant

Please RSVP to join us on December 16, 2019, at 10:00AM Pacific Standard Time (-08:00 GMT)

Join us: https://zoom.us/j/213620080

Jaime Schmidt started her body care product business in 2010 primarily as a hobby. But it didn’t take long for this ‘maker’ to grow her business from hobby to enterprise. After catching on at local farmers’ markets and co-ops, her natural deodorants earned coveted shelf space at national retailers, and before long, Schmidt was being courted by global companies looking to capitalize on the trends in natural body care that she helped define. Today, Schmidt’s Naturals is a subsidiary of Unilever.

Schedule: 10am: Doors open/Networking 10:30am: Fireside chat w/ Jaime Schmidt 11:30am: End

::::Space is limited:::::

About Coffee w/ Co-Founders: As a business owner you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. Coffee w/ Co-Founders is a way to network with other Entrepreneurs to allow free flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of Coffee w/ Co-Founders as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!

Join messaging strategist, Emma O’Brien, for a session that breaks down the most important elements of effective product messaging.

ABOUT THIS EVENT Do you want to tell a simpler story about your app, platform or other tech product? Are you a technical person who struggles to make your product capabilities easy for people to understand? Do you wish your website told a more compelling story?

Learn how to communicate the awesomeness of your product with new clarity.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN In this talk, you’ll learn the basics of effective product messaging, including: What you need -- and don’t need -- to include in your story. How to make your product’s value clear and compelling. The ultimate shortcut to messaging that resonates with customers. You’ll leave with a clear framework to start building your own product messaging.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? his talk is for founders and marketers of tech (or tech-enabled) products who want to improve their messaging strategy for marketing and sales activities. Especially if your current story feels over-complicated, too technical, or a little “meh.”

WHO'S TEACHING? This workshop will be led by Emma O’Brien, founder of Punchy, a messaging consultancy that helps tech companies sell their value and own their truth. Emma helps founders and product marketers extract the most compelling aspects of their products and articulate them in a clear, concise way that resonates with their audiences. Learn more at www.punchy.co

HOW MUCH? Just $10, but free to WeWork members (ask you location reps for the code)

RSVP on Eventbrite http://bit.ly/351GyZv

In January of 2019, WeWork launched a program in Portland called WeWork Labs meant to help early stage companies grow through a global platform meant to connect founders with resources, mentors, investors within a community focused space. Since then, the program has helped over 60 founders learn more about how to grow and scale their business.

Join us as we celebrate this milestone and showcase what makes Portland founders so special!

WeWork Labs is The We Company's global platform for early-stage start-ups and forward-thinking enterprise companies. We empower inventive humans and organizations to shape the present and influence the future.

Portland WeWork Labs Manager, Josh Carter, will be holding open office hours to help local startup founders understand more about what they can be doing to operate more effective and efficiently.

To sign up for one of five 30 minute sessions, please check here: https://doodle.com/meetme/qc/h2CGjJXjCm

Quick, what’s the difference between an incubator and an accelerator? How can each one help you? And how are they different from a co-working space? Our panel of experts will break it all down for you. They’ll discuss how to pick the right program based on your start-up stage, how to “win” the application, and more.

You’ll learn

• Key differences between an incubator, an accelerator, and a co-working space
• What support you should expect from each
• How to capitalize on what they offer to build your business

UPDATE: No in-person event this year. Online only. More details: https://medium.com/portland-incubator-experiment/pie-demo-day-2020-moves-to-online-only-32cf0a8da8b9

At PIE (https://piepdx.com/), we're hard at work, prepping a couple of new batches of startups — through both PIE and PIE Shop — who are eager to tell their stories. So we want to make sure that you're there to hear those stories.

We will be holding the next PIE Demo Day on Thursday, March 19, 2020 as an online event only. This change is due to concerns over COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus and ensuring the health and safety of the Portland startup community.

Join cofounder and general manager of PIE, Rick Turoczy, for an "ask me anything" session on the Portland startup community. He's looking forward to answering your questions about startups, startup accelerators, and Portland, in general.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/piepdx-turoczy-ama-20200407

Kasey is a startup growth strategist, community builder, event organizer, and people connecter. She is founder of A Better Jones a demand generation marketing agency that helps startups accelerate growth, sales teams fill pipeline, and leaders expand their influence as industry thought leaders. And co-founder and co-host of The Other Side of Sales, a podcast, Bravado community, and resource on a mission to make B2B sales culture more inclusive by celebrating the stories of underrepresented sales professionals.

Her latest endeavor is Our Galaxy, a community, resource, and coaching platform designed to diversify thought leadership, by helping founders, leaders, and business pros on the rise build authentic personal brands and expand their industry influence.

Stephen Green is a an economist, speaker, startup advisor and “recovering” venture capitalist. By day he is the director of operations for Pensole, the world’s only footwear design and development school based in Portland, Oregon. He has spent his career helping founders start, grow and prosper. His tireless advocacy for Black & Latinx founders has landed him on stages across the country speaking about the power of entrepreneurship.

One of his projects “PitchBlack” is a national pitch event that connects ecosystems with talented black founders in cities across the country. Since 2015, competitors in the Portland event have gone on to raise over $32MM for their ideas.

He is a husband to a brilliant wife and father to 3 wonderful children. Spreadsheets are his super power and sneakers are his kryptonite.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/piepdx-stephen-green-ama-20200413

Cami lives, works, and parents in the rainy city of Portland, Oregon. She’s had a love of WordPress and WordCamps since the last century, when she happened to stumble upon the first WordCamp Portland.

Since 2013, she has worked at Automattic, as a community organizer for the WordPress open source project. In that role, she gets to work with WordCamps and their organizers from around the world, every day. She continues to write on an irregular basis at camikaos.com where she explores concepts from the plight of modern parents to mental health to marveling at the seemingly mundane.

Cami is active on a number of social platforms but can be most readily found as @camikaos on Twitter.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/piepdx-cami-kaos-community-management-20200414/

The photography world has been upended a few times in the last couple of decades and with all professional photography on hiatus for the time being, we'll find out if this leads to another major change. What hasn't changed is that every business, from startup to corporation, needs to have images of their people, products, venues, and other resources. These photos end up on websites, social media, in print, at those things called conferences that we used to do, and elsewhere. Folks are going to notice the difference between an organization that has solid consistent imagery versus an outfit where you can tell that their visual brand was an afterthought.

What does photography and visual branding look like for a startup or other organization in 2020 and beyond? When should you hire a pro and when should you do it yourself? If you can afford the same gear as a pro, what else are they bringing to the table that you don't have? Should you invest in photography proactively, or react as you have a need for pictures? Let's talk about visual media and photography.

Join us for a mentor Q&A with Aaron Hockley of Hockley Photography and TechPhotoGuy.com. Aaron is a professional photographer with a background in the tech world; he's photographed quite a few Portland tech startups and organizations over the past 12 years. The Professional Photographers of America has recognized him as a Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman, which means that he knows a thing or two (maybe even three!) about making and using effective images.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/piepdx-aaron-hockley-visuals-photography-20200415

We all rely on the bonds of our community in order for our businesses to thrive. We seek intros to VCs, backchannels to clients, advice from our peers and mentors. In normal times, these bonds heavily rely on in-person interactions — coffees, lunches, beers, and 1:1's.

Reading body language is a critical component to reinforcement of those bonds. In our most vulnerable moments, we want to ensure that the other party is present, listening, and empathizing. And beyond the 1:1 interactions, in social places like our coffee shops and coworking spaces, we create room for serendipity — that chance encounter that leads to something new and unexpected, whether it's a new business idea or a solution to an existing problem facing a member of our community.

During this pandemic, we've been stripped of the ability to interact as normal. Sure, we have all these video chat tools — but it's not a replacement of our in-person interactions, just a digital proxy. And while those proxies may suffice for our 1:1 meetings, they certainly aren't helping with serendipity.

So how do we form community in a time of crisis? How do we create space for chance? And how can we come together to listen, to engage, to be present, when many of us are already at our wits end staring at a video on a computer screen all day long?

Join us for a mentor Q&A with Marcelino Alvarez, Chief Product Officer at Fresh Consulting. He was formerly CEO of Uncorked Studios, which co-founded Safecast during the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and ensuing nuclear disaster. He'll share perspectives from then and now as he undertakes other efforts to maintain his community and pursue digital serendipity.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/piepdx-marcelino-alvarez-community-projects-20200416

Please join us for a Q&A session with PIE alum and mentor in residence Sylvia Salazar of Tono Latino, a media company that helps distill politics down to digestible chunks — with a special focus on informing Latinx and Spanish speaking communities.

Sylvia is a Colombian immigrant and a computer engineer turned political activist. Her passion is helping other people understand what is going on in the world of politics and encourage them to become more politically involved and vote. She is determined to change Latinx representation in politics and in media.

As her following has grown, Sylvia has experimented with a number of video formats and has a variety of creative ways to make short form video work. (You can experience her creativity firsthand on Instagram.) She's excited to share that expertise with you.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/sylvia-salazar-tono-latino-video/

*Ask Saul Anything Because He Knows Everything

Join PIE and long time PIE mentor Saul Colt for an AMA (but we recommend that you tap into his Word of Mouth marketing genius).

Saul is the Founder and Creative Director at The Idea Integration Co. In his career he has been named as one of the iMEDIA 25: Internet Marketing Leaders & Innovators as well as been called one of Canada’s best community builders/experiential marketers. NYT Best selling author and Internet Pioneer Chris Brogan once referred to Saul as “exactly who you want representing your company” and that message has been echoed by media properties ranging from Inc to Forbes Magazine.

Saul has had many career highlights including being selected as the first international employee of Zipcar and the person responsible for launching Zipcar into the Canadian marketplace. Was the first marketing person and a key part of the growth of FreshBooks.com (The #1 Cloud Accounting service for Small Business Owners) as well as leadership roles at Rogers Communications and the first Chief Evangelist of Xero.com.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Saul is also a Professional Speaker and Consultant specializing in Word of Mouth Marketing, Stunt Marketing, Social Media, Customer Experience, Community Building and Business Courage.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/saul-colt-ama-word-of-mouth-marketing/register

Everyone needs hobbies. And if you follow PIE mentor Nick Lambert on Instagram, you'll see that the pandemic has been a good time for him to reboot a few of them: music, cooking, ridiculous short films… we all deal with this stuff differently.

We're happy to have Nick take moment away from his more creative efforts to join us for an "Ask Me Anything" session. Being a former startup founder, startup accelerator manager, and professional musician — and currently Customer Success Manager at local VR/AR/XR startup The Wild — you've got a wide range of topics at our disposal.

So please register to attend and start adding — and upvoting — the questions we'll be asking.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/founder-nick-lambert-ama/

With the onset of quarantine and social distancing, many of us have been settling into a somewhat surreal semblance of remote work. It doesn't feel quite right. But we're doing our best to fake it. And because of that we're not really working from home.

PIE wants to help. That's why we've assembled a panel of PIE mentors: one who helps lead a successful remote only company, one who has worked as a remote employee for a decade while working alongside an online school student, and one who has assembled the most fervent community of remote workers on the planet — all while leading a remote company, himself.

Join these incredibly insightful PIE mentors for an open and honest discussion about how to be truly successful as a remote employee. And how to manage remote teams. And deal with all the life that happens when that life all happens in a single place.

Any question you've had about working from home, these folks are going to be able to answer.

Invited panelists

• Barrett Brooks, ConvertKit
• Cami Kaos, Automattic
• Darren Buckner, Workfrom

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/working-from-home-remote-work-panel

Please join us with a former founder who has seen the ups and downs of the economy for insights on what to suspect — and some guidance that may help you navigate this new normal.

Elia Freedman was founder and CEO of Infinity Softworks, which he started in 1997 as a senior in college, leveraging both his business training and programming ability. The company has helped more than 20 million professionals and students in real estate, financial services, math and science who use calculation every day to solve problems and generate proposals, both in the field and at their desk.

The company's primary app, PowerOne, has been in existence as apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, and Windows computers for more 20 years, Infinity Softworks re-launched PowerOne as a web and mobile service in 2018.

As a founder, Elia weathered both the dotcom bust and the mortgage crisis. Which is sure to inform a unique vantage on our current state of existence within a pandemic ravaged economy.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/founder-ama-elia-freedman-powerone

PIE is honored to be hosting Shelly Bell for a virtual Lunch & Learn. This is a rare opportunity to grab some time with one of the most impactful people in startups. So please come with questions.

Named as one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 100 Powerful Women in Business, Shelly Bell is a computer scientist, system disruptor and business strategist who moves ideas to profit while empowering people to live to build and foster better relationships. She connects entrepreneurs, investors, and corporations in order to diversify their talent pipeline, increase equity and grow their brands.

Shelly is among the nation's most sought-after transformational speakers in the DC Metro area with features in Forbes, Fast Company, The Washington Business Journal, NewsOne, Entrepreneur Mag, People of Color in Tech and on Politico Live.

Her organization, Black Girl Ventures (BGV) is a culturally converging ecosystem igniting economic security, civic engagement, and hyperlocal infrastructure at the intersection of STEM education and entrepreneurship for Black and Brown woman-identifying founders, funders, and veterans. Since 2016, BGV has funded 41 women, increased access to social capital for 168 program participants and launched their efforts in 10 cities. As a one of 8 Google Gurus across the nation and an Ecosystem Builder, she engages audiences from grassroots to government.

Through Shelly’s Return on Relationship (R.O.R) Method she is teaching intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, and wantrepreneurs how to hold the ladder for others and/or how to find the person they need to hold the ladder toward moving to the next level of success. She has trained over 5,000 entrepreneurs, held over 300 events for empowering leaders, managed multi-million dollar contracts, and helped to scale over 200 businesses.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/shelly-bell-black-girl-ventures-ama

Join PIE as we talk with Leah Noble Davidson, Chief Experience Officer at Because Human.

Leah has consulted within Portland’s startup tech industry for 10 years, working with larger teams from Jive and Puppet to startups like Torch and BeyondPulse.

Having newly ventured into the role of a founder, she’ll be asking questions from the perspective of a female design professional who can speak the language — but is only now really learning how to juggle the risks and rewards firsthand.

Finding answers is one thing. Knowing the questions to ask is entirely another. Leah — a professional asker of questions — will help us hone in on the right questions, provide the necessary reality checks, and share ideas about leveraging the startup community to find the help you need as your startup grows from a concept into being a real business.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/leah-noble-davidson-because-human-ama

We're excited to have the chance to sit down with Kate Ertmann for a question and answer session.

Her life's work has been focusing on building from scratch — or rebuilding and reorganizing — the operational infrastructure for sustainable businesses. That includes everything from the elements of a business plan, the importance of Mission and Purpose and Values, the how-to of defining Roles and Responsibilities, and when to hire and how to best structure that management org chart — as well as the finance that runs in parallel with all of that.

Her distinct rallying cry through all of that work is the necessity of embedding equity and inclusion in all processes, procedures, and culture of an organization, and as a guiding principle in all leaders with whom she works — especially when it is "hard" or if there are uncomfortable conversations to be had.

Kate constantly seeks to leverage her privilege and position: applying constant pressure to the systemic structure of 20th century practices so there can be systemic changes that will define 21st century practices.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/kate-ertmann-ama

We're honored to grab some time with the best startup journalist in Portland, if not the Northwest.

Please join us for a Q&A session with Malia Spencer, a Portland-based journalist who covers startups, venture capital, and technology for the Portland Business Journal.

Her career has ranged a variety of media, starting with traditional print journalism at daily newspapers. She began at a large metro then at a smaller daily paper on the California central coast. As the media landscape shifted, she finds herself with one foot still in traditional print and one firmly online.

At the Portland Business Journal we produce award-winning reporting in a weekly print edition as well as daily work online. I also edit out technology and entrepreneurs focused newsletter, TechFlash Portland.

Please RSVP and submit & upvote questions ahead of time: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/malia-spencer-portland-business-journal

Ensuring that new employees are properly onboarded can always be a challenge. And in our new all remote, all of the time world, it can be even more difficult. That's why we're excited to get the chance to catch up with PIE alum Kristen Gallagher.

Kristen is the founder and CEO of Edify. She brings over a decade of learning and development and business partnership experience to Edify and has architected and delivered onboarding programs for companies such as AWS Elemental, Puppet, OpenSky Alibaba, Cirium (FlightGlobal), Cloudability, and more. She is a frequent speaker and instructor for O’Reilly, DevOpsDays, and other conferences.

If you have questions about employee onboarding, she has answers. Please join us to get those questions answered.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/kristen-gallagher-edify-employee-onboarding-ama

Join cofounder and general manager of PIE, Rick Turoczy, for an "ask me anything" session on the Portland startup community. He's looking forward to answering your questions about startups, startup accelerators, and Portland, in general.

A little background on our guest…

Rick Turoczy has worked in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup ecosystem for more than 25 years. Throughout that time, he's worked for venture funded startups, founded failed companies, consulted, mentored, and worked to connect dots within and outside the community.

More than a dozen years ago, he started Silicon Florist, a blog designed to capture what he saw happening in the Portland startup community. That work led to the opportunity to start PIE, the Portland Incubator Experiment, an organization he continues to manage.

At its very most basic, PIE is an ongoing experiment designed to explore ways that established organizations — like corporations, governments, and educational institutions — can effectively collaborate with startup communities in mutually beneficial ways, thereby strengthening the entire ecosystem.

PIE currently exists as an early stage startup accelerator with three separate areas of focus: Software as a Service (in partnership with Puppet), manufactured products (in partnership with Autodesk), and traditional consumer products like food, beverage, and apparel (in partnership with Built Oregon).

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/portland-startup-community-ama-rick-turoczy-20200505

Join us for a conversation with Mitch Daugherty, cofounder and director of Built Oregon, an organization focused on championing the consumer product industry in Oregon.

The greatest joy Mitch has found is meeting with everyone in the statewide ecosystem. Listening to entrepreneurial challenges. Looking for opportunities to connect them to a resource that could help them get one step further down the road. Engaging in conversations about breaking down the silos and echo chambers.

He listened to stories and realized each one formed a piece of this tapestry that makes up Oregon.

As he looked back on his journey, he noticed the common theme in all his adventures and career choices has been the effort to bridge gaps through interaction and dialogue.

He cofounded Built Oregon as a way to build on a simple belief: that stories can raise awareness of companies and regions and help drive economic development.

Throughout that process, he's constantly reminded of what he has learned over his journey: Conversations matter. And the most important conversations take place with those outside of your sphere of influence, and with people who possess opposing views.

The value of a given dialogue hinges on conversations that are inclusive, honest and transparent.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/consumer-products-startup-ecosystem-mitch-daugherty-ama

As part of our celebration of Mental Health Month we'll be spending time with Anthony Ware who champions mental wealth.

Mental wealth is the collection of intentional thoughts, behaviors, and experiences—mental wealth deposits—someone uses to make a positive impact on their mental health. These deposits have a cumulative positive impact, especially during times when you’re challenged with mental illnesses and external events.

Mental wealth deposits include working with a therapist, spending time by large bodies of water to connect with nature, going on a vacation, or making time for friends and family.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/founder-mental-wealth-anthony-ware-AMA

Join PIE alum and longtime PIE mentor Mat Ellis, founder of Cloudability, for a conversation about his experience as a founder growing a startup from an idea to a successful exit, all of the lessons learned along the way, effectively engaging with and supporting the Portland startup community, and maybe just maybe, what's next.

According to The Oregonian, "Cloudability was among the most prominent of a generation of startups that emerged in Portland in the aftermath of the Great Recession. It helped clients such as BP, Sony and Siemens manage what they spent hosting their data in third-party data centers.

"Before its sale, Cloudability said it managed more than $9 billion in spending at Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud."

RSVP / Submit questions: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/founder-story-mat-ellis-cloudability

Please join PIE for a conversation with Juan Barraza from the Portland State University Center for Entrepreneurship, Invent Oregon (InventOR), and Pitch Latino.

At the PSU Center for Entrepreneurship, Juan works to propel students innovators to solve big problems that benefit our community. Through an exciting learning environment and program of events, students find the creative energy to expand their impact, explore new ideas, and bring their future into focus.

Invent Oregon is an exciting competition for college and university students with ideas for inventions to address today’s most pressing problems.

Inspired by PitchBlack, Pitch Latino is designed to give Latinx startup entrepreneurs a platform to connect with the regions growing startup ecosystem.

RSVP / Submit questions: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/juan-barraza-psu-center-entrepreneurship-inventor-pitch-latino

Join PIE for a conversation with Karthy Chandra, founder of Goalden Hour, for guidance on how to establish and maintain healthy habits and goals, even in the most challenging of times.

Goalden Hour is the first productivity app that connects the realms of task management, scheduling, and self-improvement to encourage you to make goals & habits an integral part of your planning process. We provide meaningful insight into the different areas of life and nudge you to reflect often, build better habits, and discover new ways to grow and improve. Our mission is to help people manage and master their lives.

Interested in learning more? Watch Karthy's presentation from PIE Demo Day 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RiIxNcC4HY

RSVP / Submit questions: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/karthy-chandra-goalden-hour-healthy-habits

Join us for a conversation with PIE alum and Techstars alum Julia Niiro, founder of MilkRun.

See Julia's story about MilkRun at PIE Demo Day 2019 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbaIO9XltRg), her views on small local farms from TEDxPortland 2019, and the explosive growth MilkRun has seen due to the pandemic shared during Techstars Anywhere Demo Day 2020.

MilkRun works with farmers and producers in Oregon & Southern Washington to break down the access barriers to local food. The national average for how far food travels to get from the farm to your house is 1,500 miles. That’s wild! We’ve cut down our average to 35 miles and have designed a system that leapfrogs the industrialized food system. Less travel = less pollution. More access to food = fresher, healthier foods!

It’s not just about ditching the grocery store lines, it’s about keeping money in the community and supporting local producers. For farmers, we’re able to provide 6-7x what they’d make from a normal grocery store. It should be as easy (if not easier) to buy from local farmers as it is to order a cab or book a stay in someone’s house, right?

90% of the small farms in America right now are at risk of extinction. If mega-industrialized farming becomes our only option for food, we’ll have no more farmer’s markets, no more CSAs, no more farmers who are stewards to the land. Without radical new systems like MilkRun, the only options for food will be from huge corporations pushing profit over people, and we just don’t want to live in that kind of a world. We can do this, together!

RSVP / Submit questions: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/pie-founder-story-julia-niiro-milkrun

Join PIE for a conversation with McKenna Dempsey, cofounder and CEO of current PIE company Kamber.

At least 20 million teenagers are living with a mental health disorder in the United States and 70% of them aren’t getting the treatment they need. Kamber’s mission is to change that by providing easily accessible tools and resources that empower teens to prioritize their mental health and make space for self acceptance.

By creating a mobile app that provides exercises for difficult moments, coping techniques and education, teens will be equipped with the tools they need to begin managing their mental health and find ways to ground themselves.

For more, see McKenna's presentation from PIE Demo Day 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_vrmHAI4MQ).

RSVP / Submit questions: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/founder-story-mckenna-dempsey-kamber

Join PIE for a very special conversation with consummate ecosystem builder Anika Horn of Social Venturers.

Anika Horn is on a mission to support changemakers build purpose-driven careers, organizations and ecosystems without losing themselves

Rooted at the intersection of systems thinking, social impact and storytelling, she helps changemakers lead impact-driven careers and meaningful lives by equipping them with thought-provoking insights, field-tested resources and a strong peer community at Social Venturers. Through her advisory services, Anika works closely with selected purpose-driven entrepreneurs in the areas of strategy, communications, personal and professional growth. She leverages her global network to raise the profile of ecosystem building for social change as a contributing editor for Impact Boom (where she covers Europe and the U.S.) and Ecosystem Builder Hub (where she heads up the national campaign Unsung Ecosystem of Ecosystem Building) as well as co-lead of storytelling at the ESHIP Storytelling Initiative.

Previously, Anika co-founded Unreasonable Lab VA (Virginia’s first mini-accelerator for social entrepreneurs), CO.STARTERS VA (a startup program for idea-stage founders) and Rebelle Con (a boutique conference for entrepreneurial women). At the same time, she worked with high-growth startups at nationally ranked accelerator program Lighthouse Labs and spearheaded the B Corp movement in Virginia as the state’s official B Keeper.

Prior to her work in North America, Anika earned a Bachelor of European Studies and Masters of Sustainability Sciences in Germany, France and Australia where she spent a decade working in journalism, non-profits, government and the private sector.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/ecosystem-builder-anika-horn/register

Join PIE for a conversation with PIE alum Quincy Brown about how to create frameworks and strategies for equity within startups.

"As startups we have a chance to lead with equity as we develop our business plans, marketing, customer outreach, and the like," said Quincy. "From my perspective, equity includes including women, BIPOC, youth, elderly, and everyone undeserved by policies and programming."

Quincy is a young, native transportation planner from Portland. He began is transportation planning career volunteering at TriMet working directly with the HR department where he served as a volunteer translator and helped recruit Latinx employees.

Following his degree from Claremont McKenna College, Quincy engaged in post bac work at Berkeley in Sustainability and the Built Environment and City and Regional Planning. He won best research in Human Rights from the Mgrublian Center for Rights and was Claremont McKenna's first Mellon Mays undergraduate fellow, a fellowship for minority students interested in becoming PhD professors.

His research has consistently focused on creating sustainable and equitable planning and programming that support and involve people of color, people with disabilities, and low income residents. In all pursuits, Quincy is passionate about bringing equitable and sustainable practices to everyone regardless age, race, gender, sexuality, or belief.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/equity-framework-strategy-startup-quincy-brown/register

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Feel free to submit (and upvote) questions ahead of time on Crowdcast

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Running a startup is hard enough as it is, but with a worldwide pandemic, it became a lot more difficult. And it forced any number of founders and teams to consider pivoting their product and market to survive.

If you're working through similar thoughts with your startup, hearing from folks who have already turned that corner might be helpful. So we're inviting you to join us for a conversation about pivots with Alisia Ford, founder and CEO of PIE and XXcelerate alum Glory Skincare, and Jonathan Minori, founder and Chief Product Officer for PIE and Techstars alum Caravel.

We'll talk through their experiences, their recommendations for founders who are considering a pivot, and how to communicate your intentions and reasoning to your team.

And as always, we'll also spend most of the conversation answering your questions. So if you've got questions or concerns, please share them so that we can get you the information you need.

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the PIE Code of Conduct (http://www.piepdx.com/code-of-conduct)

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Feel free to submit (and upvote) questions ahead of time on Crowdcast

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Thinking about applying to PIE? Have questions about the program? Curious as to what an accelerator even does? Wondering if the format is right for you? Cool. Let's talk about that. All of that.

Please join PIE online for a question and answer session to get more information on our programs and the benefits for early stage startups.

Questions about the differences among the programs we offer causing you to second guess whether you should even show up? Well, let's get that one answered first. Yes. The answer is yes. If you're a founder of an early stage startup, you should show up.

And in terms of the differences? PIE is an accelerator designed to support startups building digital products. PIE Shop is an incubator/accelerator designed to support startups manufacturing physical products. PIE Consumer is focused on traditional consumer products like food, beverage, apparel, footwear, beauty, pet products… you get the gist.

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the PIE Code of Conduct (http://www.piepdx.com/code-of-conduct)

Join us as PIE mentor Stephen Green talks with Ian Hathaway, coauthor of The Startup Community Way: Evolving an entrepreneurial ecosystem, the follow up to Startup Communities: Building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in your city by Brad Feld.

If you have questions about startup communities — or what Portland could be doing to become a better startup community — you won't want to miss this conversation.

"The Startup Community Way is an explanatory guide for startup communities. Rooted in the theory of complex systems, this book establishes the systemic properties of entrepreneurial ecosystems and explains why their complex nature leads people to make predictable mistakes. As complex systems, value creation occurs in startup communities primarily through the interaction of the parts—the people, organizations, resources, and conditions involved—not the parts themselves. This continual process of bottom-up interactions unfolds naturally, producing value in novel and unexpected ways. Through these complex, emergent processes, the whole becomes greater and substantially different than what the parts alone could produce.

"Although we are living in a booming age for startups, we need to think about the future. When the boom times slow, what will happen to our startup communities, and how will we ensure that entrepreneurial success is still within reach for everyone? This book provides a framework for answering these questions, looking at startup communities as complex systems that—given the right resources and support—can help entrepreneurs succeed and benefit society as a whole.

"If you have been involved in any way in building a startup community or entrepreneurial ecosystem in your city, The Startup Community Way is key to helping you understand the next phase of your journey."

The book releases on July 28, 2020. Preorder your copy: https://amzn.to/2WKt4Qe

Please join PIE for a conversation with Steve Axthelm, Principal Software Engineer at Puppet, to discuss product accessibility and how that applies to startups and engineering teams.

During this session, we'll cover topics like

• Why you should care about accessibility
• The legal history of accessibility
• Accessibility standards like Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
• Composing a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
• Questions you should ask your developers about accessibility
• Where to find more information

… plus answering any questions you might have.

Please join PIE for a conversation with Steve Axthelm, Principal Software Engineer at Puppet, to discuss product accessibility and how that applies to startups and engineering teams.

During this session, we'll cover topics like

• Why you should care about accessibility
• The legal history of accessibility
• Accessibility standards like Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
• Composing a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
• Questions you should ask your developers about accessibility
• Where to find more information

… plus answering any questions you might have

RSVP https://www.crowdcast.io/e/accessibility-for-startups/

Thank you for your interest in PIE, an early stage startup accelerator focused on SaaS offerings; PIE Consumer, an accelerator focused on growth stage consumer products; and PIE Shop, an advanced manufacturing and prototyping incubator to support the next generation of product companies. These programs are each designed to connect participants with peers, mentors, investors, and other critical connections, all in an effort to build better founders and to encourage companies to go further and faster than they would be able to go on their own.

Selected startups will join us virtually to work with their peers, PIE alums, and the world-class PIE mentor network. We'll provide you with advice, connections, discounts, support, and other benefits.

Interested? Cool.

Most responses are optional. But more complete applications help us with our decision. All information submitted to PIE via this form will be considered completely confidential and will not be disclosed to anyone outside the PIE selection committee.

If you would prefer to upload a presentation or one pager instead, please visit https://piepdx.com/apply-deck

APPLICATIONS CLOSE Aug 9, 2020, 11:59PM PT

Need to think about your answers? We highly recommend that you begin formulating your responses using our cheat sheet https://piepdx.com/prep

Questions? Contact Marquita Jaramillo, Program Manager, PIE, at [email protected].

Want to stay in the loop? https://piepdx.com/newsletter

Remember in the good old days — like way back in 2019 — when we used to get together for events in person? Well, that's not an option these days. But that doesn't mean that we still can't get together for a good old fashioned Portland Lunch 2.0. Virtually.

If you've been looking for the opportunity to reconnect with your peers in the Portland startup community, you're thinking about starting something, or you're new to the area and looking to meet some folks amidst this pandemic weirdness, please join us for a virtual Portland Lunch 2.0.

No agenda. No talks. Just lunch with the community.

And while we'd love to buy lunch for you like we used to, this time, there is no such thing as a free lunch. You'll have to bring your own.

I (https://twitter.com/turoczy) have been looking for an excuse to user Twitter Spaces, the audio only Clubhouse competitor. And an idea dawned on my that was basically an audio version of Silicon Florist. What if I held a Spaces event where founders got to pitch their startup or startup concept to an audience?

We've had a number of amazing founders sign up to participate. Now, we need an audience to listen to their pitches. Won't you please join us?

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If you’ve got a startup to pitch at a future event — it doesn’t have to be tech — please sign up. We'll ask you to deliver a three minute pitch on your company. And then I may ask you a couple of follow up questions, but we won’t open it up to a full Q&A. So it should be a safe space. That means, even if you haven’t perfected your pitch, it’s a good environment to practice.

https://airtable.com/shrbhvH34pzlSPArH

Just because we're still socially distanced doesn't mean we can't connect.

There's no better time to reconnect with folks in the community with whom you've lost touch. And there's no better way to gather with a random smattering of your startup community peers than Portland Lunch 2.0.

No agenda. No talks. Just lunch with your community.

Just because we're still socially distanced doesn't mean we can't connect.

There's no better time to reconnect with folks in the community with whom you've lost touch. And there's no better way to gather with a random smattering of your startup community peers than Portland Lunch 2.0.

No agenda. No talks. Just lunch with your community.

Please join us online for an all virtual PIE Demo Day, all from the comfort of your Web browser.

You do not need to be an accredited investor to attend. And you don't need to be in Portland, Oregon. Everyone is welcome. It's a community event and all aspects of the virtual demo day are free and open to the public.

If you're interested in participating in PIE Demo Day, there are three ways for you to do so. Each starts at 3:14PM Pacific Time on June 28, 2021:

Follow PIE on Twitter (https://twitter.com/piepdx): Like last year, the PIE Twitter account will serve as the emcee for PIE Demo Day 2021. If you're interested in experiencing the event as we envisioned it, please make sure you're following our Twitter account as we take you through the run of show. Best of all, the event will be captured in a single thread so that you can reference — and share — it later.

Subscribe to PIE on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/portlandincubatorexperiment): Interested in more of a "choose your own adventure" format? You're in luck, because we'll be uploading all of the demo day presentations to our YouTube channel as a single playlist.

Join the virtual trade show (https://www.airmeet.com/e/4783cf50-cec2-11eb-9d24-03639ec00847): Not every founder will be presenting on PIE Demo Day, this year, but you'll still get the opportunity to meet them and hear more about the companies they're creating. Join us for a virtual trade show to hear more from this year's founders.

We look forward to seeing you at PIE Demo Day 2021.

Things are still slowly getting back to in person, so this month will be virtual, again.

There's no better time to reconnect with folks in the community with whom you've lost touch. And there's no better way to gather with a random smattering of your startup community peers than Portland Lunch 2.0.

No agenda. No talks. Just (virtual) lunch with your community.

StartOut is excited to present the 2nd Annual StartOut Equity Summit, a virtual event that will focus on ways for underrepresented entrepreneurs to thrive across geographies and industries regardless of their background.

The Summit is envisioned as an environment for dialogue and action where every participant is prepared to share insights, reflect on experiences, and be prepared to pose new questions and reframe old answers. This Summit aspires to be dynamic, exploratory, and honest. We work to understand lived experiences, while shifting the conversations forward towards actionable initiatives.

The Equality Summit's programming will begin at 11:00am EDT / 8:00am PDT and will end by 4:00pm EDT / 1:00pm PDT, with networking opportunities immediately following.

Agenda 11:00AM ET - 11:30AM ET..............Welcome

11:30AM ET....................................Keynote Speaker

12:00PM ET....................................Break

12:15PM ET - 1:00PM ET................Session Group 1

1:00PM ET 1:30PM ET....................Break/Lunch

1:30PM ET - 2:15PM ET..................Session Group 2

2:15PM ET......................................Break

2:30PM ET - 3:15PM ET..................Session Group 3

3:15PM ET......................................Closing Session

4:00PM ET......................................Networking

Tracks & Sessions We will have 3 Session Groups during the event. Each Session Group will consist of 4 Tracks broadcasting simultaneously. You can view Track descriptions below.

Founder- How To Track How to Navigate a Tech Startup as a Non-Technical Founder - Session Group 1

Starting any company is an uphill battle, but starting a tech company as a non-technical founder can feel insurmountable. How to find a developer? What are the right questions to ask? How do I navigate moving from a prototype, to an MVP to beta testing. In this conversation we'll hear from founders who answered these questions and how their company evolved along the way. Moderator: Jules Allen Speakers: Hillary Lin, Evita Grant, Arthur Woods

Ageism in Entrepreneurship (Sponsored by AARP) - Session Group 2

If you were to be asked what an entrepreneur looks like, most people would imagine a young 20 something year old ready to shake things up. In this session, we welcome you to join various founders that are showing that entrepreneurship isn't a "young person's game". They will share their experiences launching later in life and how their journey has been. Moderator: Nii-Quartelai Quartey Speakers: Chip Conley, Jeff Tidwell, Betty Wong

Raising Intimacy: How SexTech Companies Raised Venture Capital - Session Group 3

Sextech is estimated to become a $37 billion dollar industry by 2023. Despite this, it's a challenge to find investors that are open to attaching their name to a historically taboo topic. Hear from founders that have successfully raised investment for their startups, what pitfalls to avoid when pitching and what challenges they still face. Moderator: Adrianna Samaniego Speakers: Lora DiCarlo, Brianna Rader, Rebecca Alvarez Story

Access To Capital Track Pitching your Authentic Self to Investors (Sponsored by SAP.io) - Session Group 1

Pitching your startup is arguably one of the most important parts of your launch! In this session, learn about what investors look for in a pitch, how to present your business model at every stage and how to maintain your authentic self every step of the way. Moderator: Max Kahn Speakers: Kelly McDonald, AJ DeLeon, Alicia Castillo Holley, PhD

The Unusual Suspects: Alternative Avenues for Funding - Session Group 2

Venture Capital is often the primary method of funding that founders focus on but it's not the only one. There have been an increasing number of options for funding startups from grants, to revenue based investment and equity crowdfunding and each one has its own formula for success. In this session we'll hear from industry experts on how to find these opportunities and what qualifications a company needs to successfully secure the capital. Moderator: Jessica Chin-Foo Speakers: Liz Skalla, Cheryl Campos, Dr. Roshawnna Novellus

Beyond the Check: A Fireside Chat with Elizabeth Gore and Navid Shahrestani (Sponsored by JPMC) - Session Group 3

Investor and Founder relationships can be complex but once you find the right groove, they can be very rewarding and successful. Join Elizabeth and Navid as they share their journey "beyond the check". They will share initial impressions, lessons learned and how to maximize your relationship with your investor.

Investors Track Journey to Becoming an Angel Investor - Session Group 1

According to recent research, angel investing has seen about $3 billion invested each year since 2014. More and more people are taking the plunge and investing in a broad range of ventures. But when is the right time? How do you get started and how do you source deals? This session will cover everything you need to know to get started! Speakers: Silvia Mah, Pocket Sun, Lorine Pendleton

Diversify Your Fund: How to Create Inclusive Space for Founders - Session Group 2

As Venture Capital continues to grow, there is a responsibility to create diverse funds free from bias. In recent years we have seen efforts from some funds to be accountable and take actions with pledges and accelerator programs targeting diverse founders. Join these panelists as they share how they are investing in diversity. Speakers: Elizabeth McCluskey, Jasmine Edwards

The Blueprint for Growth for Diverse VC's - Session Group 3

Underrepresented fund managers are emerging all over the country and have invested in overlooked companies that have yielded positive returns. Expertise comes from experience but gaining that experience is often a barrier for first time fund managers or someone just starting out in Venture Capital. This session will focus on how to find the resources and people in your network to aid in your growth and development as a VC. Speakers: Vincent Diallo, Christine Tsai, Monique Woddard

Economy Track LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs/ Community are Reshaping the Economy/ Landscape - Session Group 1

LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs often have an outsized impact on the economy relative to the funding they receive. In this session we'll dive into the impact that these entrepreneurs have and make the case for more investment in LGBTQ+ led companies. Speakers: Dr. Vivienne Ming

The Corporate Social Investor: How Companies are Supporting Underserved Founders (Sponsored by Vistaprint) - Session Group 2

Startups can innovate and pivot on various market opportunities faster than larger more established companies but lack the same level of capital to accelerate their ideas. Corporate leaders have become increasingly focused on Social Responsibility and have responded by creating new models for investment and partnership. Hear from organizations that have supported emerging businesses and why it often has zero to do with their personal financial bottom line.

Emerging Trends and the Future of LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurship (Sponsored by AWS) - Session Group 3

The pandemic exposed various inequities, the lack of efficiency of some industries and in some cases, completely reshaped the way that industries do business. In a post-COVID world how do these industries need to pivot to meet the needs of their customers and what trends are on the horizon. Hear from LGBTQ+ founders on how they met the moment and what new challenges await them. Moderator: Nii-Quartelai Quartey

Join our expert panel for a conversation about investing in BIPOC Founder-led companies. We will examine motivations for investing and what factors you should consider. What investment opportunities exist and how you can get started. Most importantly, whether you plan to invest or not, we will discuss why it is so important to support BIPOC Founders.

Working together we can level the playing field.

Date: Wed, Nov 10 2021, 4:30-5:30pm PT

Panelists: Marceau Michel, Founder, Black Founders Matter Melanie Strong, Founding Partner, Next Ventures Nitin Rai, Managing Partner, Elevate Capital Kate Delhagen, Founder, Oregon Sports Angels

Facilitator: Andy Robbins, Founder, Oyster

Registration: Free

Thinking about applying to PIE (http://www.piepdx.com)? Have questions about the program? Curious as to what an accelerator even does? Wondering if the format is right for you? Cool. Let's talk about that. All of that.

Please join PIE for a question and answer session to get more information on our programs and the benefits for early stage startups.

Questions about the programs we offer causing you to second guess whether you should even show up? Well, let's get that one answered first. Yes. The answer is yes. If you're the founder of an early stage startup that has a product of some sort, you should show up. Whether you're building a SaaS product, a hardware product, or a typical consumer product, PIE has a program to support you along your journey.

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the PIE Code of Conduct: http://www.piepdx.com/code-of-conduct

There's no better time to reconnect with folks in the community with whom you've lost touch. And there's no better way to gather with a random smattering of your startup community peers than Portland Lunch 2.0. Even if it is virtually.

No agenda. No talks. Just (virtual) lunch with your community.

https://www.airmeet.com/e/d4677d80-787d-11ec-af4d-9fb5c954f03f

Sponsored by PIE (https://piepdx.com)

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the PIE Code of Conduct (http://www.piepdx.com/code-of-conduct)

Hosted by Rick Turoczy (@turoczy), cofounder and general manager of PIE, who has been working in, on, and around startup accelerators for more than a decade.

Join us for a Twitter Spaces gathering to get your questions answered, to share your experiences from startup accelerators, or to simply try out Twitter Spaces.

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1lDxLLePzOoxm

In its 6th year, Pitch Oregon is TiE Oregon’s marquee event, attracting hundreds of entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors each year. New this year, we are welcoming companies from around the Pacific Northwest to apply and applicants will compete for an equitable investment!

The PIE application period opens for product-based startups building software (SaaS), hardware, and/or consumer products.

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Feel free to submit (and upvote) questions ahead of time on Crowdcast

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By the time you attend this session, PIE applications will be open! Have questions about the program? Looking for some guidance on the application itself? Wondering if this mentoring format is right for you? Cool. Let's talk about that. All of that.

Please join PIE for a question and answer session on the application process, our programs, startup accelerators in general, and the potential benefits for early-stage startups.

If you're the founder of an early stage startup that has a product of some sort, you should show up. Whether you're building a SaaS product, a hardware product, or a typical consumer product, PIE has a program to support you along your journey.

PLEASE RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/pie-application-ama-20220215

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the PIE Code of Conduct (http://www.piepdx.com/code-of-conduct)

Hosted by Rick Turoczy (https://instagram.com/turoczy), cofounder and general manager of PIE, who has been working in, on, and around startup accelerators for more than a decade.

Join us for an Instagram Live gathering to get your questions answered, to share your experiences with startup accelerators, or to simply try out Instagram Live.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZkJDN0vv2a/

Join Laura Kubisiak for a Lunch & Learn on “Creating a Compelling Pitch Deck”. There will be plenty of time to ask questions throughout the presentation.

Hosted by Rick Turoczy (https://twitter.com/turoczy), cofounder and general manager of PIE, who has been working in, on, and around startup accelerators for more than a decade.

Join us for a gathering on the PIE Discord server to get your questions answered, to share your experiences with startup accelerators, or to simply try out Discord.

Hosted by Rick Turoczy, cofounder and general manager of PIE, an organization that has been working in, on, and around startup accelerators for more than a dozen years.

Join us for a LinkedIn Live gathering to get your questions answered, to share your experiences with startup accelerators, or to simply connect with other startups and programs in the accelerator community.

https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6895510681521676288/

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Please feel free to submit questions ahead of time at https://www.crowdcast.io/e/pie-2022-experiment

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There's a reason we call it the Portland Incubator Experiment.

In addition to our core efforts to assist founders who are building early-stage, product-based startups, PIE continually strives to rethink, reimagine, and experiment with new concepts each year that further creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and collaboration within the startup community.

This year is no different.

For 2022, we'll be taking on an experiment that reframes the role of the startup accelerator within the broader community. And explores ways that the impact of innovation can be more widespread, accessible, and beneficial beyond the startups and founders, themselves.

Sound interesting…? Please join PIE for a discussion about our latest experiment, some ideas for moving the experiment forward, and an opportunity for questions and critique of the concept itself.

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/pie-2022-experiment

There's no better time to reconnect with folks in the community with whom you've lost touch. And there's no better way to gather with a random smattering of your startup community peers than Portland Lunch 2.0. Even if it is virtually.

No agenda. No talks. Just (virtual) lunch with your community.

https://www.airmeet.com/e/b7e09bb0-8485-11ec-88b1-451fe11bc4f3

Sponsored by PIE (https://piepdx.com)

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the PIE Code of Conduct (http://www.piepdx.com/code-of-conduct)

Have a partially completed application that you can't seem to finalize? Could you use some motivation, accountability, and camaraderie to derail your procrastination? Have a few last-minute questions before you hit "submit"?

Join PIE staff, alums, community members, and other PIE hopefuls for a coworking session focused on getting your PIE application completed and submitted ahead of the deadline (March 14, 2022 at 11:59PM Pacific Time). https://piepdx.com/apply

Join us Sunday evening (Pacific Time) — the day before applications are due — in the PIE virtual cafe, powered by PIE alum Workfrom. Everyone will be on mute. Cameras are optional.

All applications for PIE are due before the stroke of midnight on Pi Day, March 14, 2022.

Join us for a free webinar on Thursday, March 31 from 1-2 PM to hear from an experienced Seed Fund Manager, Robert Pease of Cascade Seed Fund, an active Angel Investor Raul Krivoy, and entrepreneur Lauren Schneider who co-founded TrovaTrip and has raised funds to launch her company.

Learn what investors expect from you in the way of a business plan, financials, and market validation. Are there "tips" you can learn about successfully raising money to build your business? What does the current market look like for an entrepreneur to raise money?

Join Madrona Venture Group and Madrona Venture Labs for lunch during ETHPortland to talk with fellow founders and meet investors, including Maria Gilfoyle and Scott Jacobson. This lunch will be full of great conversation and learnings.

Last month MVL hosted an accelerator week called, Launchable, which brought together 20 Web3 early-stage companies. Companies heard from leaders in the field and got hands-on help building — with one company being awarded $100,000 in funding.

Join us for lunch on Friday between 12:00 and 1:30 p.m. PT.

After RSVPing through Eventbrite, click on Fairshare to join our PNW Web3 Discord community and be airdropped a Launchable NFT. In the Discord you can connect with like-minded Web3 builders and entrepreneurs. Everyone at the lunch will also receive a POAP.

Madrona Venture Group is the largest and most active venture firm focused on early-stage companies in the Pacific Northwest. We invest in a range of different technology companies, including Web3 companies leveraging blockchain technology. Whatever the investment stage, we roll up our sleeves and work with founders to build their companies. We partner with founders from Day One for the Long Run.

Madrona Venture Labs is Madrona Venture Group's incubation program. The lab partners with founders as co-builders, advisers, and their first investors. Founders develop new ideas and start building them in partnership with Madrona from Day One.

Join Accenture as we partner with Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE) for an exciting event for PNW Black Founders. Our event will be centered around a Q&A with panelists specialized in building your brand and strong teams.

Meet our panelists

• Deesha Dyer: An award-winning strategist, community organizer, and seasoned public speaker with an online community of 38,000 people. For nearly two decades, she has produced social impact campaigns across entertainment, politics, philanthropy, and business, specializing in causes that create tangible change. Her most recent endeavor is Hook & Fasten, a social impact firm that is dedicated to building partnerships between communities and companies around the world.
• Jason Clark: A Research Scientist by training, Jason pivoted his career 20 years ago to build a career in sales (“origination”). He’s been instrumental in helping small and large companies grow and commercialize new products and solutions across a diverse list of businesses likes Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), Huron, BD, and startups Outcome Health and Cedar. Jason brings a heavy focus and involvement with DE&I, as he is mixed blood Native American (Lenni-Lenape) and has worked for the Senate Committee On Indian Affairs in DC.
• Veronica Jones: With over 20 years of leadership experience, Veronica has a strong passion for building and leading teams, as well as mentoring and developing talent. As a result-oriented strategist, Veronica has a proven record of successfully enabling collaboration within cross-functional teams through the improvement of organizational processes and strategic development/implementation. Veronica has built the ability to advise and influence peers around her to help them successfully achieve their goals.
• Sage Salvo: Gil Perkins’ (dba Sage Salvo) start-up, Words Liive, is a futuristic education technology start-up, organized around a ‘Literacy Moonshot’ goal of getting 2/3 of the nation’s children grade literate by 2045. He’s raised and earned over a half million dollars for Words Liive to further develop their technology product The Opus, which is a new Platform as a Service (PaaS) technology which enables on-demand and real-time lesson development and so much more.

RSVP: https://www.airmeet.com/e/24497690-ac78-11ec-b214-57fc51231a15

Welcome All Founders and Tech Pros

• What we'll do You will drink coffee (and tea for those who are recovering caffeine addicts) and talk with other great founders and companies in our local area.

• What to bring Nada. Just a friendly demeanor and willingness to meet new great founders and talk about your project.

• Important to know This is REALLY not the place you want to come if you are looking for sales leads. This event is a place to meet and share your startup journey and talk about your project. While we appreciate all the members of our community, network marketing and sales reps will find many short unuseful conversations in this crowd. Thanks for understanding.

UpStart Collective, a new founder space in Portland to help foster connections through collaboration, is hosting a summer bash/Open House! The evening will be filled with conversation, fun, and music.

No need to RSVP, just show up to the space and have fun!

Surprise! We're back and going forward monthly!

For our first event, we thought we'd open up the floor. If you have something cool you've been working on and want to share, bring it or share some pictures with us. Let us know if you're planning on bringing anything to make sure we have enough space for it. We'll have approx 10 tables to set up on.

Our friends at Autodesk are graciously hosting us at their office. Come in to the front door on Ankeny, sign in at the front desk, and take the stairs to the second floor. If you need the elevator, ask security to let you up. There is bike parking inside the building on the second floor as well.

Agenda:

6:00 PM: Sharing and Networking 7:00 PM: Welcome, News, Recap on Makerforce by Shashi ~7:30 PM: Community Time 7:45 PM: Networking 8:30 PM: Clean it up!

Sign up today & walk with a startup founder, get some help for your startup, offer some help for theirs

RSVP now https://www.meetup.com/startup-your-startup/events/288227682/

Walk on

Mark

--

Give > Take, mark grimes 503-502-0185

@markgrimes

8,500 women entrepreneurs supported by 12/31/2022 Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has ~ Margaret Mead

PIE Demo Day 2022 will be held as a free virtual tradeshow, enabling community members to meet and visit with a variety of startups from PIE — while having the opportunity to meet other mentors, alums, investors, and supporters of the PIE community.

On October 12 at 3:14PM PDT, we highly encourage you to join these 26 startups from PIE, PIE for Our Neighbors, PIE Shop, and Slice of PIE at the PIE Demo Day virtual tradeshow:

• BabbleBuy, your small biz activities hub
• BuildingLens, building management that prioritizes occupant’s health and comfort
• Buildly, product management for distributed teams
• Ditto Pigeon, automated, programmable Instagram posts
• DTocs, a sustainable, earth-friendly choice for disposable tableware
• Hemingway Designs, (pre-launch) bringing recyclability to disposable insulin pens
• HotZot, your grandparents didn’t need herbicides to control weeds and neither do you
• How I Chow, eat the food you love and build the community you crave
• HUUB, a central hub for economic development and small business
• Kit Switch, modular interiors to create the homes we need with the buildings we have
• Kocchi, resilient off-grid communications
• Missing Middle Housing Fund, doubling Oregon’s housing production
• Momentum, your productivity coach app that goes everywhere you go
• NearHear, music discovery for local shows
• Prestavi, simple process automation for your entire team
• Radious, find a meeting space or private office right in your neighborhood
• ReDram Program, convenient kiosks to solve plastic pollution
• Re-Public, a dashboard for your personal dataverse 
• Shilling, screen time platform that helps improve financial habits
• Stumpworx, breathable, adjustable, lightweight, and comfortable prosthetic sockets
• Teaminal, an agile meeting tool for remote teams
• Thriving Design, versatile, sturdy DIY plant support systems in a snap
• Toast Wear, (pre-launch) rethinking the way we stay warm outdoors
• Tonsil Tech, kiss tonsil stones goodbye
• UrbanForm, automated zoning technology for better buildings, cities, and environments
• Width by Height (WxH), simplifying how you decorate your walls

(Additional companies from the various PIE programs may opt to participate in the tradeshow up until the day of the event.)

We look forward to seeing you at PIE Demo Day on October 12!

200 countries. 40,000 activities. Removing barriers and welcoming all.

This November, Global Entrepreneurship Network will celebrate 15 years of helping millions of people unleash their ideas to start and scale new businesses through Global Entrepreneurship Week.

The campaign began in 2008 with an emphasis on inspiring young people to make their mark and has quickly grown to become a comprehensive effort that engages entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, researchers, support organizations and others collaborating to advance economic growth and innovation in more than 180+ countries around the world.

Julie Harrelson, Managing Director of the Cascade Seed Fund

Julie has over 30 years of experience as an investor, founder, sales executive and consultant. She launched Cascade Seed Fund with Robert Pease in 2019 after being founder of the five predecessor Cascade Angels Funds. Cascade is the first seed fund in Oregon founded outside the Portland metro area. She has been a seed stage investor since 2013 and founded her first enterprise at age 8.

(A child prodigy indeed!)

Julie was previously a tech executive in multiple companies variously acquired by Earthlink, Time Warner and others. Following an exit from a telecommunications startup, Harrelson worked as a trusted advisor with regional entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 companies, as well as leaders of massive change efforts in healthcare, education and energy before launching Cascade.

A free, virtual networking opportunity for Black startup founders around the US, organized by Accenture and PIE (https://piepdx.com)

Join Accenture for an exciting networking event for tech founders. Connect with Black founders, investors, and Accenture industry experts from across North America.

Keynote speaker: Dr. Charlton McIlwain

Author of the recent book, Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, From the Afronet to Black Lives Matter, Dr. Charlton McIlwain is Vice Provost for Faculty Development & Engagement at New York University, and Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU Steinhardt. He works at the intersections of computing technology, race, inequality, and racial justice activism. He has served as an expert witness in landmark U.S. Federal Court cases on reverse redlining/racial targeting in mortgage lending, and recently testified before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services about the impacts of automation and artificial intelligence on the financial services sector. He writes regularly for outlets such as The Guardian, Slate's Future Tense, MIT Technology Review and other outlets about the intersection of race and technology. McIlwain is the founder of the Center for Critical Race & Digital Studies, is the President of the Board for Data & Society Research Institute, heads NYU’s Alliance for Public Interest Technology, and is NYU’s Designee to the Public Interest Technology University Network.

Founders attending this event will have the opportunity to...

• Meet Kathy Ross and Dujon Smith, leads of the Accenture Black Founders Development Program
• Hear about recent Accenture Ventures start-up investments and our FY23 goals
• Participate in peer-to-peer networking with founders and investors from across North America

Peer-to-Peer networking hosted on Mixtroz (https://www.mixtroz.com/).

Come be a part of this interactive discussion on the state of Portland startups, past, present and future

Kick off 2023, connect w/ fellow founders and when the event is done please feel free to stay for the day and cowork with a wide variety of entrepreneurs and such

Get your year off to a great start

RSVP https://www.meetup.com/startup-your-startup/events/290263269/

We are having a #social_beer get together on Thursday February 2nd, around 6:30pm at Migration Brewing (2828 NE Glisan St, Portland, OR 97232) - would love to see you there!

New to the city? Looking to network with other local entrepreneurs in the Technology space? Join Oregon Venture Fund at our upcoming coffee meetup and stay connected with the Portland entrepreneur tech community together with Oregon Venture Fund. This is your chance to network and meet.

Applications close January 30, 2023 https://form.jotform.com/230174892286160

This two-day event is designed to validate your business idea and gain insight on how to start a business. You will work with seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, and mentors to validate your idea and give you the tools to start your venture.

Who should attend? First-time BIPOC entrepreneurs that have an idea or an early version of a product which highly scalable. The product must have a technology component and be based on Portland, Oregon.

PDX founders have asked for quite some time now, please do a Meetup on the weekend, well...here we finally have it.

Tea and chocolate on a Sunday afternoon in Beaverton, now that sounds like magic in the making.

RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/startup-your-startup/events/291660500/

Coworking Bonus: 11:00am to 4:00pm - bring your laptop to work for the day

Once inside the building, access the 7th floor thru the North elevator

Let’s kick off Women’s History Month celebrating successful women-identifying founders in Portland. The discussion will be interactive and will span critical founder topics, such as sales, fundraising, culture building, exiting and much more. There will be time to connect with fellow founders and after the event, feel free to stay at Upstart for the day to co-work with other entrepreneurs.

RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/startup-your-startup/events/291207831/

Thinking about applying to PIE? Have questions about the program? Curious as to what a startup accelerator even does? Wondering if the format is right for you? Cool. Let's talk about that. All of that.

Please join PIE for a question and answer session to get more information on our program, startup accelerators in general, and the potential benefits for early-stage startups.

REGISTER: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/apply-to-pie-q-and-a-20230306

Please feel free to submit questions ahead of time. Even if you cannot attend the event.

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the PIE Code of Conduct

Thinking about applying to PIE? Have questions about the program? Curious as to what a startup accelerator even does? Wondering if the format is right for you? Cool. Let's talk about that. All of that.

Please join PIE for a question and answer session to get more information on our program, startup accelerators in general, and the potential benefits for early-stage startups.

REGISTER: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/apply-to-pie-q-and-a-20230313

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the PIE Code of Conduct

Charging $15 for a Walk & Talk, what's up?

Easy, it goes like this

I'll print out the attendee list and give to the barista $3 goes towards your coffee (or bev of your choice) $2 goes to tip the barista $1 goes toward bank fees, because banks do their bank thing $4.50 goes to Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) $4.50 goes to women entrepreneurs in developing countries

1/ We'll meet at The Clearing Cafe to get jagged on caffeine @ 9am 2/ You'll pair off w/ a founder you've never met before 3/ 9:30am we'll walk two by two for an hour, to the best of our ability, and you will help each other w/ a current existing problem you're facing

Last time we had about 25 founders show up, please tell a founder friend to sign up too, now, ASAP

RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/startup-your-startup/events/291332186/

RSVPs on Meetup.com will not reserve you a seat. Reserve your seat here: TICKETS (https://www.tickettomato.com/event/7800).

Join us for NewTech PDX quarterly on the 2nd Monday of the month. Portland has one of the most vibrant tech communities in the country, and the more we support our tech ecosystem, the more we'll all experience and create together!

Join us to learn about the cool and amazing technologies being developed by Portlanders. Event volunteers are welcome! Let us know if you'd like to volunteer.

Entry to the event is $10 online, or $20 at the door.

Agenda 5:30pm - Doors Open / Buffet / Drinks / Get to know your community 6:30pm - Program Begins!

Pres. #1: Steve Taylor of Penguin Air Pres. #2: John Connor of SparkBlox Pres. #3: Anthony Brasher of NeedPedia Pres. #4: Vince De Benedetto of Automated Dreams

Topics we'll cover:

🙋🏿‍♂️ Values and Culture-Alignment

🔦 Find Startup-specific Talent

👩🏻‍🏫 Recruiting 101

👷🏾‍♀️ Building a Hiring Process

🕵🏻‍♂️ Scoping Needs + Roles

Hiring is often the hardest things leaders need to do. And is also the most critical as people are the most important and differentiating part of our companies.

We often hear "we want that startup-gene", or "the intangibles" and have built this workshop towards building out an understanding and concrete language for identifying these target ideal candidate profiles, esp. leaning into the soft skill and value/impact/motivation alignment match. As we all know, the only thing we know for sure in these early hires is that their role will change over the coming months - so we need to be sure we're not over indexing towards hard skills that won't be as important later.

This workshop will be interactive as participants feel comfortable, and the goal is to learn from the facilitating team (at Hustle Hunters), each other, and especially ourselves during this session.

In terms of what to expect - There will be a mix of knowledge sharing and best practices from the facilitating team, small group discussions, and self-reflection work.

Who should attend?:

Anyone who is hiring and building out a critical team within a startup (or scale-up) where the stakes are high, and so often the only thing we "know" is that everything in their role will change over the coming months. So we need to make sure we're defining and hiring folks with a builders and owners mentality, that are values-aligned with our organizations. Even if you've hired before - we'll dig into your unique organization's values and needs to help create a repeatable framework and shared language for making consistently aligned hires that will become the foundation of your organization.

Who is leading this workshop?

Nikki Adamson (Founder, CEO of Hustle Hunters) will be facilitating this discussion, and bringing in her experience supporting dozens of founders as they go about their critical early stage hires. Hustle Hunters is a human-focused recruiting and consulting form that supports early stage startups in building out their foundational teams with an emphasis on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

www.hustlehunters.com

More FAQ at eventbrite landing page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hiring-early-stage-startup-teams-interactive-workshop-tickets-620150736547

Learn from those that went before you and get dialed in

Panelists: Jim Foote, First Ascent Biomedical (Techstars Boston 2021) Leah Weiss - Skylyte (Techstars Workforce Development 2022) Trang Ho - Masa Fresh (Techstars Social Impact 2021)

Moderator: Sarah Studer, Director of Platform - Techstars Seattle

Join us for NewTech PDX on the 2nd Monday of every month.

Portland has one of the most vibrant tech communities in the country, and the more we support our tech ecosystem, the more we'll all experience and create together! Join us to learn about the cool and amazing technologies being developed by Portlanders.

Event volunteers are welcome! Let us know if you'd like to volunteer.

Entry to the event is $10 online, or $20 at the door.

Agenda 5:30 pm - Doors Open / Buffet / Drinks / Get to know your community 6:30 pm - Program Begins!

ChatGPT Unconference

Why an Unconference? An unconference is a unique, participant-driven event that challenges the traditional conference model. Instead of a predetermined schedule and set speakers, attendees of an unconference collaborate to determine the agenda and lead discussions on topics that interest them. It fosters an environment of...

RSVP PDQ https://www.meetup.com/startupchatgpt/events/293029616/

In association w/ our great friends at Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN)

Peer to peer founder support is the real deal.

Be there.

Like some kind of weird founder based Noah's Ark, founders walking two by two excitedly chatting w/ a fellow founder.

1/ We'll meet at The Dragonfly Coffee House to get jagged on caffeine @ 9am 2/ You'll pair off w/ a founder you've never met before 3/ 9:30am we'll walk two by two for an hour, to the best of our ability, and you will help each other w/ a current existing problem you're facing

Last time we had about 25 founders show up, please tell a founder friend to sign up too, now, ASAP

Start at The Dragonfly Coffee House 2387 NW Thurman St, Portland, OR Walking 30 minutes up Thurman into the entrance of Forest Park 30 minutes in turn 180 degrees and you swap your walking partner for a new two by two Now head back to where we started It's like The Myth of Sisyphus, only we're walking instead of pushing a rock Founders thoughts from the past three Walk & Talks ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Lovely walkabout, thanks ~Christopher

This event was so fun and enriching to connect with other founders. Like Arnold, “I’ll be back” thank you! ~Shelly

Fantastic! Boffo! I laughed! I cried! I s#%t my pants! ~Michael

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day -Henry David Thoreau (this guy's startup is a hard to find cabin, be aware)

Free event RSVP ASAP: https://www.meetup.com/startup-your-startup/events/293322516/

If you want one of the greatest Lattes known to the world, stop by here and order the COCONUT CREAM HONEY LATTE!!!!!!!!!

Nirvana is poured into a glass and handed to you with sweet gracious smiles of you being a customer.

The team here not only know how to make a coffee, they're cool, relaxed and pleasing to watch maneuver while serving a perfect coffee.

It's a great place to stop by grab a coffee, relax while letting the time go by. I would say check them out as much as you can before the secret is out!

While roaming Portland I stumbled across Honey Latte Cafe. As a former barista I am quite picky about espresso drinks and let me say that the barista knocked it out of the park! ~Christina J on Yelp

I don't know what magic is infused in the Coconut cream honey latte but it is just that...magic. One of the best lattes I have had.

Please be sure to grab a cup of your favorite hot beverage and spend time getting to know this incredible community. We've been excited by the turnout every month and by hearing your stories. We can't wait to hear more. ~Melanie W on Yelp

Above 5-star reviews are from Yelp

Really love their local Portland writer/artist vending machine, very cool place

“What do you want?" "Just coffee. Black - like my soul.” ~Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

Hope to see you all there! Josh & Mark

As a business owner you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. founder.coffee is a way to network with other entrepreneurs to allow free-flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of founder.coffee as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!

As part of the 2023 National Congressional Startup Day, the UpStart Collective is proud to host Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) to talk about how the government can better connect with the innovation community.

This town hall style event will be open to the general public, but space is extremely limited. You will hear from local, state and other leaders and have an opportunity to ask questions.

About Senator Ron Wyden: Ron was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds the Senate seat once held by his mentor, the late Wayne Morse.

In the Senate, Ron is known for being a consensus builder in solving major challenges, his effectiveness in getting things done, and his innovative approach to addressing tough problems - particularly in the areas of health care, technology, and protecting the environment.

He is the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the leading Senate Democrat on the Joint Committee on Taxation. He also serves on the Committees on Intelligence, Budget, and Energy and Natural Resources.

Get ready for 2024! Please join PIE for a look into the year ahead, designed to help you get more engaged and connected with the Portland startup community.

• Ask questions about the Portland startup community
• Learn about online resources to connect with folks
• Save important dates for upcoming events
• Get insights on groups focused on helping you feel more you connected

Participate

• Submit and upvote questions ahead of time: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/portland-startups-2024
• Tune into the simulcast: https://www.youtube.com/live/UHYZO6ReDiA?si=35FIQ4DN0rkQdH2H

First Fridays at UpStart Collective are back. Join us at our 7th floor perch for a toast to the month ahead!

Join Portland-metro founders for a happy hour with views for days and inspiring conversations that will jump start your weekend.

Welcome All Founders and Tech Pros

• What we'll do You will drink coffee (and tea for those who are recovering caffeine addicts) and talk with other great founders and companies in our local area.

• What to bring Nada. Just a friendly demeanor and willingness to meet new great founders and talk about your project.

• Important to know This is REALLY not the place you want to come if you are looking for sales leads. This event is a place to meet and share your startup journey and talk about your project. While we appreciate all the members of our community, network marketing and sales reps will find many short unuseful conversations in this crowd. Thanks for understanding.

Founders and entrepreneurs possess a lot of the same characteristics like motivation, passion, curiosity and risk-taking that inspire them to start and run a new business. Yet, the pathways to entrepreneurship are wildly different and each faces a diverse set of challenges along the way.

For our first PubTalk of 2024, Oregon Entrepreneurs Network is excited to bring to the stage three winners from the OEN Entrepreneurship Awards to share their own origin stories, the resources, and people who have helped them along the way, what has worked for them, and where they plan on going next.

We welcome entrepreneurs at all stages to join us for this interactive conversation – whether to commiserate and show solidarity with your peers or to find out what it’s like launching and growing a business in our community.

Cost: $15 for OEN members; $25 for non-members

Mingle with your fellow biotech and digital health enthusiasts, help build community, and share your ideas on how to further accelerate the growth of these promising sectors in Portland. We will gather at OBI's brand new event space for our January 11 Accelerate Happy Hour.

These happy hours bring together creative and driven professionals who are passionate about promoting the growth of Portland's biotech, medical device, and digital health community. This is a great opportunity to network and build relationships with individuals working across these sectors in both academia and industry.

Want to introduce your startup or idea at one of our upcoming happy hours? We have speaking opportunities at each of our events. If you would like 2 minutes to speak about your startup or introduce yourself or your idea to the group, please contact us at [email protected].

Please note: photos will be taken at our events and may be used in future promotions.

Accelerate Happy Hour is a grassroots event organized by the Oregon Bioscience Incubator.

Join us for the AI Portland inaugural meetup, where we'll dive into how AI is superpowering our day-to-day work. Our first event will feature a dynamic roundtable discussion with sharing insights on using AI to supercharge everyday tasks. Discover ways to streamline your work, save time, and focus on what truly matters.

If you are interested in sharing the way AI has helped you in your job, please reach out to the organizers by email at [email protected] to get more information.

Due to weather, PSU has shut down their campus, and therefore we're moving the Cleantech Challenge pitch competition event from in-person to Zoom. We're still very excited to hear what the students have been cooking up, so please follow these steps to join:

RSVP to the Zoom invite by clicking through this link Assemble your favorite frosty weather snacks and drinks Sign on to the Zoom at 5:30 pm today Kick back, enjoy, and participate!

Apologies for the last-minute heads-up. The school's decision is out of our hands, but we're so grateful to Abigail and the rest of the PSU Center for Entrepreneurship team for coming up with a workaround that will keep the program moving and everyone else safe and cozy at home. See you soon!

Office Hours Application for January 22, 2024 at 2:30 pm PT in Portland, OR LEVEL UP YOUR FUNDRAISING/SALES

Get honest and direct feedback Time allocated for your questions, even in group sessions Coaching from someone who’s been in your shoes

Ok let's try this again. We're bringing back Demolicious, but this time we're doing this at the UpStart Collective as a monthly event.

How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here (https://forms.gle/sx81RaT6Nuqj9sWR7). Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.

You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.

The audience will be given a number to text and vote for their favorite one. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.

The belt is not for you to keep as you will have to come back and "defend" it. However, you will be allowed to put your startup sticker (if applicable) on the belt for all to see and to live on forever in infamy!

We will post the projects/companies that will be pitching a week prior to the event. Which means you have until then to fill out the form.

Who's ready to pitch!?!

This event has moved to January 25, 2024, due to the possibility of freezing rain.

Members of the Portland Startups Slack gather in person to do the same thing they do on the Portland Startups Slack. Only in real life.

No agenda. Just an opportunity for folks who regularly collaborate online to meet in person.

https://pdxslack.com

Join us for an interactive group session, to share, learn, and connect with other bootstrap founders around Portland!

At this event, we'll let 2 founders share in-depth something they're working on. So, if you're looking for some group feedback...or just want to showcase your project...come prepared to share! It'll be a great time for questions, discussion, and feedback.

Space is limited...so RSVP's are required!

Save time for an optional group lunch after the meetup!

Date: Friday, Jan 26 Time: 10a - 12p Location: Kiln Coworking Space 1120 SE Madison St Portland, OR 97214

If you are a Startup founder. If you are working in a Startup. If you are considering a Startup. If you know someone who is working at a Startup.

Then this group and event are for you!

The truth is Startups are hard! They are hard to build, they are hard to work at, they are hard to sell. There really isn't a part of it that's not hard. That said it's one of the most exciting and invigorating things you'll ever do. It also means you need to hang around others that are doing it also!

We Get It!

So... Come lift a glass to the life we live and the trials we suffer to create something great!

To be clear, this is an open invite to the Startup tribe. This group is inclusive and wants to pull in the broad range of people in our area building startups.

That DOES NOT mean service providers who simply wish to sell their services. RESPECTFULLY, DON'T COME IF THAT IS YOUR AGENDA.

First Fridays are back and Upstart wants to invite you to our 7th floor perch for a toast to the month ahead!

Join Portland-metro founders for a happy hour with views for days and inspiring conversations that will jump start your weekend.

Pitch Club is an event where entrepreneurs learn the criteria and methods used by real investors to evaluate their venture as a potential investment. This is done by recreating a typical investor meeting where a few companies pitch and receive feedback from TiE Oregon Charter Members. These meetings follow the same basic agenda of an investor meeting with three sections: the pitch, Q&A, and investor discussion & decision.

Who facilitates Pitch Club?

Pitch Club is organized by Kari Naone, TiE Oregon Executive Director and led by Tom Kingsley, a TiE Charter Member who is an investor and successful entrepreneur.

What to expect?

Please minimally prepare for a 5-minute pitch. If time permits each person could get up to 10 minutes so be prepared for that as well. This can include a slides/ppt that will be presented from your computer. Directly after pitching, Q&A and discussion will take place.

Those who attend pitch club will walk away with a better understanding of what investors look for in a pitch and how to answer the questions possible investor will ask. In addition, each presenter will receive a digital copy of their pitch and feedback from their peers and TiE Charter Members.

Interested in sponsoring Pitch Club - please contact [email protected].

Members of the Portland Startups Slack gather in person to do the same thing they do on the Portland Startups Slack. Only in real life.

No agenda. Just an opportunity for folks who regularly collaborate online to meet in person.

https://pdxslack.com

Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.

How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here: https://forms.gle/sx81RaT6Nuqj9sWR7. Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.

You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.

The audience will be given a number to text and vote for their favorite one. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.

The belt is not for you to keep as you will have to come back and "defend" it. However, you will be allowed to put your startup sticker (if applicable) on the belt for all to see and to live on forever in infamy!

We will post the projects/companies that will be pitching a week prior to the event. Which means you have until then to fill out the form.

Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!

NedSpace, Portland’s Oldest Co-working Space is celebrating its 15th year Anniversary!

We’re calling the Portland startup founder, biz owner, designer & freelancer community - come join us for lunch, connect with fellow entrepreneurs, and reminisce with past Nedspace members.

We’re also throwing a raffle for a boatload of great things for startup founders

• One-year NedSpace Coworking Flex membership ($2,100 value)
• 3 recording sessions in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio ($750 value)
• Startup books

"Let's do this. I have so much I need to do" ~Faris Mubarak, NedSpace owner

"Excited to see how Faris brings his own vision the 15 year old NedSpace Portland startup founder community" ~Mark Grimes, Startup Radio Network

Lunch generously sponsored by Morris & D’Angelo Podcast time sponsored by Startup Radio Network

Please RSVP for the event here: https://www.meetup.com/startup-your-startup/events/299017979/

First Fridays are back and Upstart wants to invite you to our 7th floor perch for a toast to the month ahead!

Join Portland-metro founders for a happy hour with views for days and inspiring conversations that will jump start your weekend.

This special event is open to entrepreneurs, founders, executives, merchants, artists, makers, doers, tech partners, and agency partners.

Come network with others in the Portland business community. Enjoy a variety of lunch snacks and beverages followed by an engaging presentation by Steve Napolitan that will show you how to grow your business faster, while gaining your ideal life.

Steve Napolitan is a bestselling author, award-winning marketer, and international speaker. He's helped his clients reach millions in additional revenue, while helping them design the life they want and live it now. (Bio and more information below)

Day: Tuesday, March 5, 2024 Time: 11:30a - 1:30p

Where: GRAYBOX / UpStart Collective 7th Floor of the Olympic Mills Commerce Center 107 SE Washington, St., 7th Floor, Portland, OR 97214

Light lunch snacks and beverages will be provided.

Please RSVP

Venue Sponsor: GRAYBOX & UpStart Collective Food & Beverage Sponsor: HistoricPrints.com Special Thank You to Steve Napolitan

Gives entrepreneurs a crash course in how to build a ClimateTech* Startup. 45Camp JumpStart provides a concentrated 3-day weekend with training, mentorship and connections to let you explore the idea of building a ClimateTech Startup. You’ll also see examples of VertueLab Entrepreneurs who are making it in ClimateTech. VertueLab is a ClimateTech non-profit that is focused on helping Pacific Northwest ClimateTech entrepreneurs achieve their goals.

Ideas come from anywhere, and individuals with those ideas often don’t have the entrepreneurial awareness, tools, or guidance to get started in their exploration. Also, entrepreneurship is new in many communities and they need a jumpstart to gain the right knowledge and connections to move forward.

The best way to discover, learn, and explore entrepreneurship is through a hands-on approach and meeting others that are building technology and can explain by showing. JumpStart Weekends are designed to be a comfortable space to gather curious individuals and introduce them to tools and methods they can use to explore their ideas and get instant feedback and mentorship, all packaged over a weekend.

Although it's in our mission to address the impacts of climate change, entrepreneurship is for everyone. We want to increase access to entrepreneurship, and provide the tools and knowledge to everyone so that we are all part of the solution. So no prior knowledge of ClimateTech is required, all you need is an idea and the curiosity to know more and explore in a weekend of fun, we encourage you to apply!

North Bank Innovations is a local non-profit based in Southwest Washington, committed to building a local ecosystem that helps early-stage startups.

Each month we host a local founder to give a short presentation about their company. They will focus on how it all started, where they are today, and their plans for the future including the challenges they face to make their goals happen.

Following the presentation we will invite key founders, investors, and startup junkies familiar with some of the most successful startups in our region.

After the presentation, we'll leave plenty of time for audience Q&A and Networking.

If you are interested in presenting please direct message me here on meetup or fill out the short form at https://www.northbankinnovations.org/startup-conversations

Please note, that we encourage genuine networking, not hunting for sales or leads. If you are genuinely starting or working with a startup, this is the right crowd for you. Thanks for helping us keep it real.

It's another opportunity to meet the folks from the Portland Startups Slack in real life!

This month we are back at Taborspace. It's been nearly 5 years since we held a meetup in this space so we decided to come back.

We will do our best to provide some signage so people can identify the group more easily. We've heard you and know that it's a bit awkward to ask, "Are you here for the meetup!" when there's nothing to identify the group.

As always, be there thinking about ways you can help your fellow founders. No selling, no solicitations, just good conversations!

See you there! Josh & Mark

About founder.coffee: As a business owner, you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. founder.coffee is a way to network with other entrepreneurs to allow free-flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of founder.coffee as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!

What if the person who could further your career was already looking for you?

What if a room full of people knew exactly the insight you sought?

What if your knowledge could be someone else’s Eureka moment?

Welcome to Magnet. Where you can let your net...work.

Here's how it works. At the event, you write down on a sheet of paper something you need help with (aka "your ask") and tape it on the wall, for example:

I need a literary agent.

I need to chat with someone who has started a technology incubator.

I need to connect with someone at GOOD Magazine.

I need to hire a web developer capable of setting up a digital sales platform.

Does anyone have any contacts in Prague?

Does anyone know a good personal trainer?

Does anyone know how I can play a round at Augusta National Golf Club?

It can be anything!

Each sheet will have a unique number associated with it: (1, 2, 3, etc). You’ll have a name tag with that same number.

Everyone’s task will be to look at the board of opportunities and select at least 3 people you’d like to connect with, in whatever capacity.

How do you connect with them? You write your name and "sheet number" on a Post-It note and slap it on their sheet.

Every month the UpStart Collective opens up to the startup community at large to raise a glass, network, and feature one of the founders that make the space so special.

This month we are featuring local startup founder, Nick Lawson of Sqwad who will talk about their sports marketing platform, how they were able to land teams such as the Yankees, Cowboys, and more. He will also talk about how they plan to grow for 2024 and beyond.

Meet folks from the Portland Startups Slack IRL

UPDATE: April Demolicious will be at the new westside UpStart Collective location!

:::::::Applications for April are CLOSED! Please use the form below to apply to pitch in May:::::::::::

Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.

How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here. Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.

You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.

The audience will be given a number to text and vote for their favorite one. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.

The belt is not for you to keep as you will have to come back and "defend" it. However, you will be allowed to put your startup sticker (if applicable) on the belt for all to see and to live on forever in infamy!

We will post the projects/companies that will be pitching a week prior to the event. Which means you have until then to fill out the form.

Teams Pitching: Ecobadlandz (defending champ) Social Director Talent Llama Perfect Memory AI Fanwagn Flow Wingman Green Canary Software

Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!

Every month, UpStart Collective invites the community to join us for some drinks and networking with the founders of the space. Each month we feature a founder working on something incredible who are part of the UpStart Collective family. You will have the opportunity to learn more about what they are working on and ways you can be helpful. Come to hang out, have a drink, and enjoy the view from one of UpStart Collective's 7 balconies.

Doors open at 5pm.

UPDATE: MAY Demolicious will be at the new westside UpStart Collective location!

::::::: Applications for May are STILL OPEN! Please use the form below to apply to pitch.:::::::::::

Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.

How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here. Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.

You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.

The audience will be given a number to text and vote for their favorite one. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.

The belt is not for you to keep as you will have to come back and "defend" it. However, you will be allowed to put your startup sticker (if applicable) on the belt for all to see and to live on forever in infamy!

We will post the projects/companies that will be pitching a week prior to the event. Which means you have until then to fill out the form.

Teams Pitching: TBA

Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!

Venture funding has been a key catalyst to Oregon's economic growth and job creation. Elevate Capital is proud to be the leading diversity-focused Fund in the State, deploying over $20M to nearly 60 Oregon companies over the last eight years, with a particular focus on women, BIPOC, minority, LGBTQ+, and other historically underserved founders.

​On May 30, Elevate Oregon will bring together founders, experienced investors, community leaders, and elected officials to spotlight upcoming companies in our region and use our collective intelligence to improve the future of Oregon’s startup landscape.

You will hear from the region’s most promising diverse leaders, and there will be dynamic opportunities to explore emerging trends and co-create solutions to foster innovation in our community. Elevate Oregon intentionally creates space for aspiring, diverse founders, investors, and supporters passionate about contributing thought leadership to the local ecosystem.

Register Today - Seating Limited!

It's that time again! Time to raise a glass and celebrate the startup ecosystem and meet incredible founders. UpStart Collective is hosting First Friday, presented by Colliers at the eastside location. The event is free and open to the public. Drinks and light food will be provided.

Our June Presenter is: Ryan Moor

Ryan is an entrepreneur, connector, and builder helping people build things, well, things being most t-shirts. From his roots in punk rock diy screen printing he’s started and grown some of the biggest names in the decorated apparel industry today including starting Ryonet and ScreenPrinting.com in 2004 and also being a partner in ROQ.US, Allmade Apparel, and MADE Lab. Combined these companies do over 80 million dollars of revenue and touch every step of the t-shirt supply chain from fabrication development, manufacturing sustainable blank apparel, supplying screen printers with equipment and supplies, and creating thought leadership conferences to uplevel the industry. He’s passionate about helping people learn and grow and strives to make a positive impact and a better industry for the people and planet.

About North Bank Innovations North Bank Innovations is an organization based in Southwest Washington, committed to building a thriving ecosystem that helps early-stage startups.

About the Startup Conversations Event Each month we host a local founder who will give a short presentation about their company. They will focus on how it all got started, where they are today, and their plans for the future including the challenges they face to make their goals happen.

Following the presentation our host, Dave Barcos will dig into the founder's background, the company's story, and other observations. After the interview, we will have an audience Q&A session to help attendees ask direct questions of the presenter. It has proven to be a great format to catalyze the local founders and the startups in the region. You won't want to miss it.

Event Schedule: 9:30 AM - Coffee and Networking 10:00 AM - Presentations and Q&A 11:00 AM - Continued Networking 11:30 AM - Event Ends

For more details on other North Bank events check our event calendar at https://www.northbankinnovations.org/events

Please note, that we encourage genuine networking, not hunting for sales or leads. If you are genuinely starting or working with a startup, this is the right crowd for you. Thanks for helping us keep it real.

June Demolicious will be at the new westside UpStart Collective location!

:::::::Please use the form below to apply to pitch for JUNE:::::::::::

APPLY TO PITCH HERE: https://forms.gle/sx81RaT6Nuqj9sWR7

Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.

How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here. Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.

You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.

The audience will be given a number to text and vote for their favorite one. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.

The belt is not for you to keep as you will have to come back and "defend" it. However, you will be allowed to put your startup sticker (if applicable) on the belt for all to see and to live on forever in infamy!

We will post the projects/companies that will be pitching a week prior to the event. Which means you have until then to fill out the form.

Teams Pitching: TBA

Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!

Wefunder is coming to Portland as part of a cross-country train trip to meet mission-driven founders! Come meet us and learn about community rounds over a bit of pickleball :)

Wefunder is the industry leading platform for pre-IPO startup investment, sort of like a cross between Robinhood and GoFundMe. We’re on a mission to fix capitalism, boosting small business and small-scale investors by allowing anyone to invest as little as $100 in ideas they believe in. We work with all businesses – from craft breweries to curing cancer in dogs, and from a shipwreck treasure hunt to multiple companies now valued at over $500m.

Amina Moreau is a chronic entrepreneur with a penchant for big achievements, having built five successful companies, sold two of them, and led one of her teams to win five Emmy Awards.

Radious is her next big thing, an online platform that outfits residential properties (like houses and apartments) with workplace amenities, and offers them up for company workdays and team meetings — rented by the day. With Radious, companies get on-demand access to unique workspaces, right in employees’ neighborhoods.

When she’s not busy building Radious, you’ll find her grunting on the tennis court. Ranked #1 in the Pacific Northwest just recently, she continues to play at a high level and finds her sense of peace crushing it at 100 MPH.

About North Bank Innovations North Bank Innovations is an organization based in Southwest Washington, committed to building a thriving ecosystem that helps early-stage startups.

About the Startup Conversations Event Each month we host a local founder who will give a short presentation about their company. They will focus on how it all got started, where they are today, and their plans for the future including the challenges they face to make their goals happen.

Following the presentation our host, Dave Barcos will dig into the founder's background, the company's story, and other observations. After the interview, we will have an audience Q&A session to help attendees ask direct questions of the presenter. It has proven to be a great format to catalyze the local founders and the startups in the region. You won't want to miss it.

For more details on other North Bank events check our event calendar at https://www.northbankinnovations.org/events

Please note, that we encourage genuine networking, not hunting for sales or leads. If you are genuinely starting or working with a startup, this is the right crowd for you. Thanks for helping us keep it real.

July Demolicious will be at the westside UpStart Collective location!

::::::: Please use the form below to apply to pitch for JULY :::::::::::

Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.

How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here (https://forms.gle/sx81RaT6Nuqj9sWR7) (https://forms.gle/sx81RaT6Nuqj9sWR7). Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.

You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.

The audience will be given a number to text and vote for their favorite one. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.

The belt is not for you to keep as you will have to come back and "defend" it. However, you will be allowed to put your startup sticker (if applicable) on the belt for all to see and to live on forever in infamy!

We will post the projects/companies that will be pitching a week prior to the event. Which means you have until then to fill out the form.

Teams Pitching: Airbuild (C) Cobweb Goddess Mousse BodyFuel The Coffee Purist (moka pot) Project Revolution Sales Span Rising Wines Collective, Inc.

Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!

Join us for our monthly community gathering of founders at the UpStart Collective to connect, learn, network, and enjoy the incredible views from our westside balconies. UpStart Collective's First Friday is a monthly gathering of the founder community to better connect with other founders at the space over drinks and food.

This month we will be featuring UpStart Collective founder, Mirco Fiaschi who is a serial founder working to bring fresh local sustainable foods to the workplace through a low friction vending machine with technology meant to make it easy for patrons to buy the foods they want.

When you arrive at the UpStart Collective building at 107 SE Washington St, enter on the Stark St. side and enter #2505 at the keypad at the outside door. Once inside you can take the elevator up to the 7th floor.

Right to Start, the national nonprofit organization championing entrepreneurship as a civic priority will be spending a day in Portland, Oregon. Enjoy lunch, network with fellow entrepreneurs and leaders, and engage in impactful town hall discussions.

Date: August 7th, 2024

Location: Perkins Coie 1120 NW Couch St, 10th floor Portland, OR 97209

Agenda: 12-12:30 - Lunch Served 12:30-1:00 - Opening Remarks 1:00-1:30 - Town Hall, Small Biz x Policy 1:30-1:45 - Break 1:45-2:15 - Town Hall, Startups x Policy 2:15-2:30 - Closing Remarks

Each month we host a local founder who will give a short presentation about their company. They will focus on how it all got started, where they are today, and their plans for the future including the challenges they face to make their goals happen.

Following the presentation our host, Dave Barcos will dig into the founder's background, the company's story, and other observations. After the interview, we will have an audience Q&A session to help attendees ask direct questions of the presenter. It has proven to be a great format to catalyze the local founders and the startups in the region. You won't want to miss it.

For more details on other North Bank events check our event calendar at https://www.northbankinnovations.org/events

Please note, that we encourage genuine networking, not hunting for sales or leads. If you are genuinely starting or working with a startup, this is the right crowd for you. Thanks for helping us keep it real.

August Demolicious will be at the westside UpStart Collective location!

::::::: Please use the form below to apply to pitch for JULY/AUGUST :::::::::::

Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.

How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here. Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.

You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.

The audience will be given a number to text and vote for their favorite one. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.

The belt is not for you to keep as you will have to come back and "defend" it. However, you will be allowed to put your startup sticker (if applicable) on the belt for all to see and to live on forever in infamy!

We will post the projects/companies that will be pitching a week prior to the event. Which means you have until then to fill out the form.

Teams Pitching: TBD

Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!

What if the person who could further your career was already looking for you?

What if a room full of people knew exactly the insight you sought?

What if your knowledge could be someone else’s Eureka moment?

Welcome to Magnet. Where you can let your net...work.

Some of the feedback from previous Magnet events: "Genius."

"Amazing!"

"Brilliantly devised. 10/10."

"Where has this been my whole life?"

"Best Networking Event I've ever been to!"

Here's how it works. At the event, you write down on a sheet of paper something you need help with (aka "your ask") and tape it on the wall, for example:

I need a literary agent.

I need to chat with someone who has started a technology incubator.

I need to connect with someone at GOOD Magazine.

I need to hire a web developer capable of setting up a digital sales platform.

Does anyone have any contacts in Prague?

Does anyone know a good personal trainer?

Does anyone know how I can play a round at Augusta National Golf Club?

It can be anything!

Each sheet will have a unique number associated with it: (1, 2, 3, etc). You’ll have a name tag with that same number.

Everyone’s task will be to look at the board of opportunities and select at least 3 people you’d like to connect with, in whatever capacity.

How do you connect with them? You write your name and "sheet number" on a Post-It note and slap it on their sheet.

Our first StartupGrind event for PDX in a long time will focus on Early-stage startups, with discussion with founders who built successful products and bootstrapped through the pre-seed stage. Sponsored by UpStart Collective and First City Foundry

Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.

How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here: https://forms.gle/sx81RaT6Nuqj9sWR7. Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.

You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.

The audience will be given a number to text and vote for their favorite one. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.

The belt is not for you to keep as you will have to come back and "defend" it. However, you will be allowed to put your startup sticker (if applicable) on the belt for all to see and to live on forever in infamy!

We will post the projects/companies that will be pitching a week prior to the event. Which means you have until then to fill out the form.

Teams Pitching: TBD

Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!

GRAYBOX Summer Bash 2024

We’re back and better than ever! Join GRAYBOX and Upstart Collective for an unforgettable evening on our stunning 7th-story rooftop decks overlooking the beautiful Willamette River.

Come for the frosty beverages, stay for the great music, and enjoy the company of amazing people. An excellent evening to celebrate the end of summer and Upstart Collective’s 2nd birthday!!

Things to know

When: Open to the Public @ 4:30 PM - goes till 🤷 Where: Olympic Mills Rooftop in SE, with breathtaking views of the Willamette River. Open Invite: Everyone’s welcome! Feel free to spread the word and bring your friends.

Save the date because the first hacklandia happens this October at the old Portland State University Business Accelerator/new westside UpStart Collective location! You will have the opportunity to come to build an idea you have been thinking about or join a team that will be formed to create over 48 hours.

RSVP here: https://hacklandia.splashthat.com/

Space is limited to 150 RSVPs so don't wait. This event will fill up fast!

Details September Demolicious will be at the westside UpStart Collective location!

::::::: Please use the form below to apply to pitch for SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER :::::::::::

Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.

How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here. Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.

You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.

The audience will be given a number to text and vote for their favorite one. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.

The belt is not for you to keep as you will have to come back and "defend" it. However, you will be allowed to put your startup sticker (if applicable) on the belt for all to see and to live on forever in infamy!

We will post the projects/companies that will be pitching a week prior to the event. Which means you have until then to fill out the form.

Teams Pitching: TBD

Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!

Novembers' Guest is Andy Rosic of Uninvited

Andy is a product-focused founder and operator specializing in practical solutions, built with customers, driving meaningful profits. With a rich blend of experience across payments, loyalty, e-commerce, gaming, AI, and the film industry, he excels in targeted product simplification, building happy, engaged teams, growing sales, and always listening to customers, resulting in billions in revenue and substantial market growth.

He obsesses over customers, storytelling, and product-market fit to scale amazing companies. As a repeat founder, who's spent time in Fortune 25 enterprises, he has earned two and a half decades of expertise in driving business growth. With products in Apple stores, nearly every event, national supermarkets, and played or watched on every screen, there's a very good chance you've encountered his work.

About the Startup Conversations Event Each month we host a local founder who will give a short presentation about their company. They will focus on how it all got started, where they are today, and their plans for the future including the challenges they face to make their goals happen.

Following the presentation our host, Dave Barcos will dig into the founder's background, the company's story, and other observations. After the interview, we will have an audience Q&A session to help attendees ask direct questions of the presenter. It has proven to be a great format to catalyze the local founders and the startups in the region. You won't want to miss it.

For more details on other North Bank events check our event calendar at https://www.northbankinnovations.org/events

Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.

How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here. Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.

You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.

The audience will be given a number to text and vote for their favorite one. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.

The belt is not for you to keep as you will have to come back and "defend" it. However, you will be allowed to put your startup sticker (if applicable) on the belt for all to see and to live on forever in infamy!

We will post the projects/companies that will be pitching a week prior to the event. Which means you have until then to fill out the form.

Teams Pitching: Shotsy (Defending Champion) Denada Funnr Forcefield Fluency Deviceflow Benvision Goddess Mousse Prophetic

Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!