Week ending Jun 12, 2026 - Oregon startup news
The week starts with Dwayne Johnson's "The Red Pill" — the most honest structural diagnosis of Oregon's innovation economy I've read in years, from someone who's been inside the system for two decades, not outside it. Oregon fell from #7 to #41 in CNBC's Top States for Business across the Brown era; Oregon got second in semiconductor productivity and 0.002% of federal CHIPS R&D funds. His phrase: "Oregon runs on cliques, not networks." Then Friday, Engine's Innovation Flywheel report lands — four dimensions for a healthy innovation ecosystem, three of which Portland already has covered, and one — Center of Gravity — that's the exact tripwire Dwayne was pointing at. Plus Expensify ships an MCP server that lets your AI agent talk directly to your expense data, Missing Middle Housing Fund's Nate Wildfire joins the Housing Voices podcast, and Portland moves up five spots to #17 in the Financial Times ranking of best U.S. cities for foreign business — Boston at the top, Seattle slipping.CHAPTERS:00:00 Portland startup news04:15 Dwayne Johnson on Portland's archipelago 08:20 Engine's Innovation Flywheel14:10 Financial Times ranks Oregon #1716:17 SecretsLINKS:Long-time innovation ecosystem builder Dwayne Johnson — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/08/long-time-innovation-ecosystem-builder-dwayne-johnson-shares-insights-on-oregon-economic-woes/Dwayne Johnson on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/drfortune/Your AI agent can now talk to your expense data with the new Expensify MCP — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/08/your-ai-agent-can-now-talk-to-your-expense-data-with-the-new-expensify-mcp/Expensify MCP — https://expensify.com/mcpPortland's Missing Middle Housing Fund joins Housing Voices — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/08/portlands-missing-middle-housing-fund-joins-housing-voices/Missing Middle Housing Fund — https://www.missingmiddlehousing.fund/Portland moves up five spots in Financial Times "best US places for foreign businesses" — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/09/portland-moves-up-five-spots-in-financial-times-best-us-places-for-foreign-businesses/FT-Nikkei ranking — https://www.ft.com/content/3fb85af1-d581-4f43-b962-a1d79160cdecUsing Engine's "Innovation Flywheel" to benefit the Portland startup community — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/12/using-engines-innovation-flywheel-to-benefit-the-portland-startup-community/The Foundations of an Innovation Flywheel (Engine) — https://www.engine.is/news/category/the-foundations-of-an-innovation-flywheelApply to lead the Portland Metro Region Innovation Hub https://jobs.hrc.pdx.edu/postings/49951FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczyABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet.ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ----------Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird.https://siliconflorist.com#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur
