Portland Software Businesses: Small, Furry Mammals?
May 02 2009
Kevin Tate, a buddy of mine, had an awesome analogy featured on the front page of the Oregonian today in the article “Tech entrepreneurs defy recession” by Mike Rogoway. Here’s the excerpt from the article with Kevin’s quote that really got me thinking from a different mindset:
“Portland fosters the creation of small, furry mammals rather than dinosaurs — the really big things,” said Kevin Tate, 35, CEO of StepChange Group, a social media advertising and marketing specialist in the Pearl District. The “dinosaur” model of big corporate campuses and regimented software development (think Microsoft — or even Google) is going by the wayside, Tate said, in favor of more informal and collaborative arrangements. Portland’s current high-tech foment positions the state well to capitalize when the recession ends, provided its technology entrepreneurs have the appetite to take it on. “What happens when things start coming back?” Tate asked. “Will the small, furry mammals evolve?”
Nearly 9 years ago, 7 mainly tech start-up entrepreneurs co-founded a group called Starve Ups. We all survived the dot com implosion, but were influenced by really wanting to scale our companies for growth. Some Starve Ups companies have grown a little faster than others, but many contain a desire to do something world-changing with our companies through software, social good, amazing company culture or all of the above. I really like Kevin’s quote because it is accurate and represents a strong contingent in Portland’s software community, but I think we need to be honest with ourselves that our dream is to do something bigger and be more like a lion than a forgettable Chihuahua. So, how do we get there? Lack of capital is usually at the top of the list, but our biggest limitation is our mindset. Let’s grow game-changing, sustainable software businesses in Portland and tout Portland’s livability and balance as a BONUS, not a detriment to growth.
Comment below with your ideas of a more representative furry mammal for Portland.
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May 2nd, 2009 at 8:45 pm
I love Kevin’s analogy. Very clever, and very accurate.
I believe that 95% is financing related. I was part of two California startups. We were able to move much faster because we had capital.
Portland companies tend to go the professional services/agency route for this reason.
I’d love to see us break through. The talent and desire is certainly abundant here.
May 2nd, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Amen Ryan. I am sick of hearing about how Portland is all about Mom-and-Pop, hobby businesses. There is a lot of talent in Portland, both technical and executive talent. And investment is flowing to people who have passion and energy. I don’t want to be a dinosaur (those are, er, kind of extinct) nor a small furry mammal: life is too short to just get by.
May 2nd, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Apparently there was a thing called a Volaticotherium antiquus (“ancient gliding beast”) that could fly before birds.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061218094135.htm
Portland is this thing. For sure.
May 4th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Hi Ryan – thanks a bunch for the nod.
I’m glad the analogy resonated… being adaptable and fast-moving is definitely something we think a lot about at SCG. When I first saw the quote in the paper, I was worried that the “adapting” part might be over-shadowed by the “small and furry” part… but it seems like it came across.
The superstitious part of me now wonders if I’ve angered the Internet Gods by comparing Google to a “dinosaur”… keep an eye out for any tornados/earthquakes/kraken-attacks on the other side of the park.