Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
Tech Workers Are Condemning ICE Even as Their CEOs Stay Quiet | WIRED
The killing of George Floyd in 2020 prompted a wave of statements from tech companies and CEOs. Today, pushback against ICE is largely coming from employees, not executives.
Dario Amodei — The Adolescence of Technology
With all that said, I think the best starting place for talking about AI’s risks is the same place I started from in talking about its benefits: by being precise about what level of AI we are talking about.
My AI Had Already Fixed the Code Before I Saw It
It felt like cheating, but it wasn’t—it was compounding. Every time we fix something, the system learns. Every time we review something, the system learns. Every time we fail in an avoidable way, the system learns. That’s how we build Cora, Every’s AI-enabled email assistant, now: Create systems that create systems, then get out of the way.
Why Starting With a Foie Gras Ban Guarantees the Wrong Debate
Where you start a difficult conversation often matters as much or more than where you hope to end it. Start in the wrong place and you don’t just make progress harder, you guarantee you will probably have the wrong conversation altogether.
Sambal maker Sibeiho lands second Kiva loan - Portland Business Journal
Ong raised her second loan through nonprofit microlender Kiva this month, with $15,000 from 182 contributors. This is the second Kiva loan Ong has completed after raising $8,000 in 2022. These loans, along with support from food-focused federal and private grants, as well as her own funds, have built the company.
Portland ranks among top US metros for high-growth startups
A report by the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center spotlights the region’s inclusive, capital-efficient entrepreneurship, and how to translate that to future success.
Startup Happy Hour - Kicking off 2026, Tue, Feb 10, 2026, 5:00 PM | Meetup
This event is for the builders, investors, and startup enthusiasts all over Central Oregon. We have 2 great pitches planned - come learn about, support, and provide feedback to some great new companies coming out of our area!
Washington proposal to tax startup exits sparks backlash from Seattle tech leaders – GeekWire
That means a startup founder or early employee who takes stock instead of a bigger salary would owe tax to the state when they ultimately sell the shares, which typically happens at acquisition or IPO. Investors who back early-stage startups would face the same tax.
A New Chapter for Angel Oregon: Welcome to AOCPG!
This change expands the program beyond food and beverage to welcome founders building across the full CPG spectrum – while staying rooted in the same investment readiness, mentorship, and community support that Angel Oregon is known for.
ConductorOne Expands Security Leadership, Appoints William Bengtson as Chief Information Security Officer
ConductorOne, the identity platform for humans and agents, today announced the appointment of Will Bengtson as Chief Information Security Officer. A deeply technical and widely respected security leader, Bengtson brings more than two decades of experience securing cloud platforms, identity systems, and developer infrastructure at global scale. In this role, he will lead ConductorOne’s security strategy and ensure the platform delivers enterprise-grade security and trust as identity becomes the control plane for the agentic enterprise
Will You Quit?
Startups are hard. Being a founder is hard. The journey is a series of big advances and enormous setbacks and getting at how founders are considering that journey out of the gate is essential and, to me, the most important thing to understand in due diligence.
This Startup Is Bringing Nvidia’s AI Tech Into the Operating Room
Outpatient surgery startup Oath Surgical just teamed up with Nvidia to bring AI directly to its operating rooms. The partnership will help Oath, which operates outpatient surgery centers in Portland, Oregon, unlock better insights through real-time analysis of surgical video and audio. It will also power the company’s OathOS clinical intelligence platform with agentic AI, according to an announcement.