Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
The People Tracking America’s AI Data Centers
We start this week with Matthew’s story about an organization tracking the location of AI data centers around the U.S. and elsewhere in the world.
Honey Mama’s rolls out in Costco and Albertsons – Portland Business Journal
It’s a big move for the company that will see two new versions of its bars — a Thin Mint bar, licensed from the Girl Scouts, and a Peanut Chocolate Chip Protein bar — appearing in all Costcos in the store’s Pacific Northwest, Southeast and Los Angeles regions, CEO Jared Schwartz said.
Portland Software maker Kivo raises $5 million, hiring – Portland Business Journal
Portland software maker Kivo raised $5.1 million from investors that will help the company leverage momentum built in 2025 and fuel hiring.
January Updates: New Year, New Climate Curiosities
We won’t be hosting an event this January. But we’ll be back next month with a new gathering (learn more below), and an exciting lineup of 2026 events is already taking shape.
The Boring Businesses That Will Dominate the AI Era
This infrastructure breaks down into five archetypes. I’ll show you how to recognize which one fits your business, where there are opportunities to build outsize businesses, and how to build a competitive advantage before this window closes. If your edge is a model or a coat of user interface like an app or chatbot, it isn’t a moat. What endures is infrastructure AI must flow through, but cannot replace.
‘A 9-gigawatt problem’: Northwest’s soaring energy demand, supply constraints, could spark new power crisis – oregonlive.com
Data centers, lured by billions of dollars in local tax breaks, turned everything upside down. While consumer and commercial power demand has remained relatively constant for more than a decade, big tech companies have sent electricity consumption soaring from one side of the state to the other.
The subtle peer pressure of working in public – Vibe: Overwhelmingly Positive
I’m really good at starting projects. Like, really good. If starting projects were an Olympic sport I’d probably be pretty competitive. Finishing projects, though? Not so much.
Global AI computing capacity is doubling every 7 months | Epoch AI
Total available computing capacity from AI chips across all major designers has grown by approximately 3.3x per year since 2022, enabling larger-scale model development and consumer adoption. NVIDIA AI chips currently account for over 60% of total compute, with Google and Amazon making up much of the remainder.
The Coming AI Compute Crunch – Martin Alderson
There has been so much written about the “unsustainable” AI capex recently. Thinking through this recently it occurred to me this is potentially the wrong way to think about it, and it’s actually more likely from my research we’re going to experience a very significant crunch on compute in the coming years.
Elevate Capital Announces $1.6M Invested in Oregon Startups Through State-Backed Venture Program
The investments reflect Elevate’s ongoing commitment to backing high-potential founders, expanding access to early-stage capital, and supporting long-term economic growth across Oregon. The capital was deployed through Oregon’s Venture Direct program, supported by the federal State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).
TIME Is Looking For the Top Incubators and Accelerators of 2026 | TIME
To help gather accurate data, stakeholders and organizations that contribute to or support the startup ecosystem, and providers of incubator and accelerator programs as well as those able to evaluate their services, are invited to participate in a survey that will inform the list. Participation is free.
Claude Code’s Autonomous Sessions, Anthropic’s Agent Evals Guide, Cursor’s 47% Token Reduction & much more
No splashy model announcements this week, and that’s actually interesting. Instead, we’re seeing practitioners put December’s releases to work: hour-long autonomous coding sessions with Claude Code, practical agent-building guides, and real adoption stories from engineering leaders. You’ll also find new agent frameworks, MCP integration patterns, and a thoughtful look at where different software markets are actually heading. Let’s dig in.
Sales problems vs. product-market fit problems
I consider there to be two layers of problems: (1) Product-market fit problems and (2) sales problems. We need to understand both, or else we wind up in a never-ending doom loop of shipping “fixes” that don’t work.
The AI revolution is here. Will the economy survive the transition?
The man who predicted the 2008 crash, Anthropic’s co-founder, and a leading AI podcaster jump into a Google doc to debate the future of AI—and, possibly, our lives
Reflecting on 14 months of indie hacking – Building 7 projects and learning hard lessons | David Mohl
TL;DR: 14 months ago, I quit my job to build indie products. Built 7 projects, currently at ~$45 MRR total across all projects, 900+ active users. Most projects failed financially, but learned valuable lessons about building for broad audiences over niche tools.
Don’t fall into the anti-AI hype – <antirez>
I would not respect myself and my intelligence if my idea of software and society would impair my vision: facts are facts, and AI is going to change programming forever.