Feed the startups: Getting capital for Portland companies

The big VC cities:

• San Francisco/Silicon Valley
• Boston
• Denver

The problems in Portland:

• Not many success stories
• Few VC-funded businesses, few VCs
• Culture of free
• Side businesses

What we need is $250k in funding, not $2-5 million.

Angel rounds:

• Getting smaller (dollar-wise) in Portland
• Less convertible debt, more traditional (valuation-based) investments
• Angel timeline: 60 days - 6 months, lots of due diligence
• Angels in Portland/NW

State Investments:

• Oregon Investment Fund
• Oregon Growth Account

Human capital in Portland:

• Young, over-educated, unemployed

Ways of getting investment:

• Convertible notes
• Traditional
• Royalty note

Things you can do (especially side project to startup):

• Get business help! Portland Ten, OTBC's TechVenture, find out whether your idea is viable
• Go pitch your side project, or listen to others pitch