Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
With the layoffs, Tan aims to “streamline management and rebuild an engineering-driven culture,” according to Bloomberg. The company had around 108,900 employees at the end of last year after it announced 15,000 job cuts in August 2024.
As a longtime leader at the intersection of policy and innovation, Williams shapes strategies to keep Washington at the forefront of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity, and semiconductors. “We’re trying to keep the ecosystem here as robust as possible,” Williams said in an interview with GeekWire.
With new U.S. taxes on imports taking effect, as well as future tariffs causing uncertainty for Oregon businesses, Business Oregon is collecting input from Oregon businesses small and large, as well as adapting existing programs and services to respond to new business needs. Imported goods are critical for Oregon manufacturers and the Oregon workforce they employ to craft products in the state. The agency heard from Oregon businesses yesterday when Governor Kotek held a roundtable discussion to learn more about the specific impact of tariffs on Oregon.
Startup Cafe… is a space for workshops, networking, and conversation! This is the great opportunity for founders and startup partners to connect, learn, and level up. Free coffee and donuts throughout the event!
The message was clear Tuesday morning when Portland’s highest profile leaders in sports and government gathered to break ground on the new practice facility for the Portland Thorns and WNBA team: Oregon is the premier state for female athletes.
After a leak last week, Bluesky officially announced Monday the arrival of its verification system, which is designed to ensure that notable people are who they say they are on the social network. While similar in some respects to the system that Twitter had once used before pivoting to paid verification under Elon Musk, Bluesky’s verification builds on the company’s decentralized ethos by giving other entities the authority to verify users independently.
Mass layoffs could have severe consequences in Oregon, Intel’s largest operating hub. The company employs 20,000 workers in Washington County, more than any other business in the state. Semiconductors are Oregon’s most valuable product and its major export.
It’s been a hot target. Cursor is one of the most popular AI-powered coding tools, and its revenue has been growing astronomically — doubling on average every two months, according to another source. Anysphere’s current average annual recurring revenue is about $300 million, according to the two sources.
The shoe giant turned to Flex, an American manufacturer that had helped Apple set up a complex factory in Texas to make Mac Pros. The goal: Make tens of millions of Nike sneakers at a new high-tech manufacturing site in Guadalajara, Mexico, by 2023.
It is wonderful to see the growing number of people working on digital commons, inventing and improving technologies to the benefit of all humanity. 42 of such projects have been selected for funding in the October call of the NGI Zero Commons Fund. In terms of applications, it was the largest call round in NGI Zero’s life time. And we’d like to take this space to thank all applicants for their contributions to an internet for people rather than for profit.
Plug and Play is off and running with the inaugural batch of startups selected for an accelerator program based out of the innovation group’s new Seattle location.
Join Community Broadband PDX for a virtual meetup on May 6, 2025 from 7pm to 8pm. We’ll go over our post-election campaign strategy to encourage investment in a publicly owned broadband network, talk about our block area fiber network testbed project in cooperation with Personal Telco, and catch you up on our mutual aid work around digital privacy and safety.
You’ve built a viable solution to a real-world problem, convinced investors to invest in your venture, and started to grow your customer base. Just 7.4% of startups reach Series A — so you’ve already beaten the odds. Surely the most challenging part is behind you. But scaling brings new challenges — often tougher than those you’ve already faced. In fact, growth and scaling rank among the top three concerns for startups, with 38% of founders citing it as a challenge.
PDX Startup Week (May 12-16) is just a few weeks away and already my schedule is packed! As of right now there are over 20 events and I’m sure more will be added. It’s going to be a great week to celebrate innovation around town.
IN HEAVEN is our tribute to David Lynch (1946-2025), a curated collection of his films beamed back on the big screen where they belong. One of the most innovative and visionary filmmakers in the history of film, Lynch’s work will continue to inspire and enrapture audiences for years to come, but there’s nothing quite like seeing his inimitable films in a dark theater with a packed crowd. Don’t miss this opportunity to see ERASERHEAD, MULHOLLAND DRIVE and THE STRAIGHT STORY on 35mm film, and digital restorations of THE ELEPHANT MAN, WILD AT HEART, INLAND EMPIRE, BLUE VELVET and LOST HIGHWAY.
A lot of people talk about founder burnout. But I rarely hear anyone talk about founder boreout, i.e. feeling unhappy or even a little distressed by your work because of chronic understimulation.
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