Director’s Notes, by Portland Ten Founder & Director, Carolynn Duncan

18 months ago, on February 9, 2009, I wrote a blog post that launched the Portland Ten– an early stage incubation project– into the world. Our goal has been to get 10 Portland startups to $1MM in revenue within 18 months.

Today, upon hitting the milestone of having made it through this first 18 months, we’re now starting to reflect on the experience. We are mid-marathon with three weeks left in our 5th cycle, Summer 2010, but before I have a chance to forget or pass by this special day, I wanted to share some background on why we started the Portland Ten, and an overview of events that have happened in the year and a half since.

How It Started: My Obsession With The "Science" of Startup Failure

Early in my career, after working at several small businesses and startups that tanked, I became fascinated with the "science" of startup businesses, particularly from the lean startup point of view. Given the 50-90% failure rate of startups who fail to make it beyond the first year, I wanted to really understand how founders can spend the least amount of time/resources to determine whether a business idea will create value or not.

I was obsessed with identifying what an entrepreneur can do to minimize preventable failure and build a viable company, and spent the next several years involved with a number of startup/seed incubation projects– Provo Labs, Eastern Idaho Entrepreneurial Center, Hundred Dollar Business, FundingUniverse, and EPIC Ventures.

Portland’s Chicken & Egg Dilemma: Funding or Founders First?

In 2007/2008, I was working for a venture capital firm, and was contracted to look for early stage companies in Portland that would be fundable. To be frank, we had little success finding the quantity & quality of companies that made it viable to place investment dollars in Portland. Along the way, in meeting with dozens of entrepreneurs, investors, and other members of the Portland/Oregon tech startup community, a chicken-and-egg lack of funding versus lack of great startups sentiment was almost universally agreed on.

However, startups felt like investors should step up first, and investors felt that startups should step up first. The problem with that dilemma is that investors can’t and won’t lower their investment criteria and place dollars into companies that are unviable; and entrepreneurs who do not move forward due to a perceived lack of capital, are not able to generate the traction and market validation necessary to attract angel or venture capital funding.

Making The First Move

Complacency has never been my thing; and in late 2008, having recently moved to Portland from Seattle, I had some free time on my hands and wanted to get to work on a major project. Portland’s startup dilemma provided terrific context and a compelling reason to build something where I could apply things I’d been learning and observing for years.

So after some initial planning and feedback from friends & advisors, the project started, and we set out trying to find 10 entrepreneurs who would commit to the $1MM goal, and would be willing to participate in the program. Here’s the story of what has unfolded:

Cycle 1: Winter 2009

2/9/09 Portland Ten officially launches, housed at NedSpace, with advisors Mark Grimes, Josh Friedman, and Robert Eickmann.

2/11/09 SiliconFlorist.com does a write up on Portland Ten.

2/11/09 Portland Ten gets flamed with criticism on Hacker News and SiliconFlorist.

3/8/09 Founders John Metta, Ken Beare, Dave Miller, and Ben Parzybok join the first 12 week cycle of Portland Ten.

4/3/09 Portland Ten goes to lunch with Vidoop cofounders Scott Blomquist and Luke Sontag.

5/22/09 Our first 12-week cycle ends with an open house at Willamette University.

Cycle 2: Summer 2009

5/23/09 First staff member Nick Cottle joins P10 as a Venture Analyst.

6/18/09 Founders Eileen Quenin, Steve Woodward, Alan Wizemann, and Don Hollerich join the Summer 2009 Portland Ten. 

6/18/09 Launch Startup Checkups, Workouts programs.

7/2/09 Write up on P10 by Oregon Business Magazine’s Robin Doussard.

7/28/09 Kristin Wolff joins P10 as an advisor.

8/15/09 P10 goes to lunch with Jive cofounders Bill Lynch and Matt Tucker.

8/27/09 P10 co-hosts Lunch 2.0 with FundingUniverse, NedSpace.

Cycle 3: Fall 2009

9/2/09 Launch of Six Week Sprint program.

9/14/09 Two P10 Summer 2009 alumni launch products.

9/24/09 Launch of Founders’ Coffee program.

10/03/09 Jenica Cogdill joins P10 as a consultant.

10/7/09 P10 Summer 2009 alum, ShopIgniter, selected as one of 5 tech companies in Oregon to present at Venture Northwest.

12/7/09 P10 holds our First Annual Christmas Party

Cycle 4: Winter 2010

1/11/10 P10 announces new partnerships with Willamette University, secures $35,000 in grant funding from Portland Development Commission, Sponsors Davis, Wright, Tremaine, Olsen Group, Perkins and Company, Stephenson Group, Amy Winkelman Consulting, Profit Guide, and Cocoon Design, and launches a Scholarship Fund for participating entrepreneurs.

1/12/10 P10 quoted in Read Write Start.

1/20/10 Jennie Kalberer joins P10 as a Six Week Sprint program facilitator.

1/25/10 Founders Chris Degiere, John Roberts, August Gilges, and Kurt Sussman begin the Portland Ten program.

1/25/10 Launch Skill Development, Scholarship Fund, and Sponsor programs.

3/1/10 P10 written up by Portland Business Journal.

3/3/10 P10 Summer 2009 alum ShopIgniter secures $3MM in venture capital from Madrona Ventures.

3/4/10 P10 quoted in Entrepreneur.com.

3/25/10 Portland Ten launches Spring Founders’ Guide.

4/16/10 Portland Ten’s First Staff Annual Fondue Party.

Cycle 5: Summer 2010

5/19/10 P10 announces Portland Startup Challenge and adds incentive partners OEN, BackSpace, The Green MicroGym, NedSpace, CorePower Yoga, and Seven Planet.

6/3/10 Mayor Sam Adams calls out Portland Ten at the Open Source Bridge conference, for connecting the best minds in Portland, to which the audience applauds.

6/7/10 Founders Kevin Pile, Brad Windecker, and Kerry Finsand join the Portland Ten program.

6/16/10 Gerald Baugh from Portland Development Commission, and Diane Fraiman, Voyager Capital, join Portland Ten as advisors.

6/16/10 Madeline White joins Portland Ten as our office manager.

7/1/10 Portland Ten produces Summer Founders’ Guide, adds  new Sponsors Voyager Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Herd, Freed, Hartz, laPLANette, Cybertary, White & Lee, and Wealth Strategies NW.

7/23/10 Portland Ten First Annual Staff Pinata Party.

8/9/10 Portland Ten celebrates 18 months since launching, with the Summer 2010 cycle wrapping up on August 27, 2010.

Now What?

As we approach our October 2010 deadline, to get 10 companies to $1MM, and in celebrating the first 18 months of this marathon, we are taking some time to reflect on this goal:

• Where we, and Portland, are at in comparison with where we started
• What outcomes have been produced, quantitatively and qualitatively
• What work continues to need to be done within the Portland startup community, to reach that target

In this process, and in the coming weeks, we will be sharing information and lessons learned, as well as collecting data from the 30 Portland entrepreneurs who have participated in the Portland Ten and Six Week Sprint, the hundreds of companies we interviewed in 5 application cycles, as well as the dozens and hundreds of community members in Portland and the greater Northwest region, who have been a part of our first 18 months.

One thing is for sure: Portland Ten is no longer an idea, and it has grown beyond myself. This truly has been a team effort, and I’d like to thank each and every individual and organization who stepped up to the plate to support the idea and the Portland startup community:

Advisors & Mentors: Mark Grimes, Rob Wiltbank, Kristin Wolff, Gerald Baugh, Diane Fraiman, Linda Weston, John Sechrest, Josh Friedman, Rob Eickmann.

Support Staff: Jim McConnell, Al Nodarse, Bill Pierzknik, Cocoon Design, Amy Winkelman, Pam Abrahamsson, the 245 Group.

Partners: Willamette University, Portland Development Commission, OEN, Startup Weekend,  NedSpace, FundingUniverse, Mercy Corps NW, BackSpace, The Green MicroGym, CorePower Yoga, and Seven Planet.

Sponsors: Davis, Wright, Tremaine, Olsen Group, Perkins and Company, Stephenson Group, Amy Winkelman Consulting, Profit Guide, Voyager Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Herd, Freed, Hartz, laPLANette, Cybertary, White & Lee, and Wealth Strategies NW.

P10 Fan Club: there are so many, many others who contributed time, expertise, support, and participation during the first 18 months of Portland Ten– Jive Software, iterasi, Small Society, Yahoo!, Aisle7, Legion of Tech, Corvallis Benton Chamber Coalition, Jenica Cogdill, CubeSpace, Kevin Woo, Katherine Gray, Kate Walling, Brent & Lorelle VanFossen, Nancy King, Zuhair Gafur, Abraham Hyatt, SiliconFlorist.com, Mike Rogoway, Mayor Sam Adams, Skip Newberry, Dave Howell, Eileen Quenin, Ben Foote, David Molina, Cynthia Salbato, Elia Freedman, Daniel Soule, our Founders’ Coffee and Twitter community, and dozens of others– your contributions have greatly affected P10 and our work in the community.

Of course, the biggest thanks and kudos goes to my staff, and all 30 of the Portland Ten and Six Week Sprint participants who entered the programs, graduated, and have plugged away at their businesses for the last 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 months.

P10 Founders: Ken Beare, Dave Miller, Ben Parzybok, John Metta, Alan Wizemann, Steve Woodward, Don Hollerich, Kurt Sussman, Chris Degiere, August Gilges, John Roberts, Kevin Pile, Brad Windecker, Kerry Finsand.

Six Week Sprint Founders: Mandi Ellefson, Jennie Kalberer, Bill Burcham, Paul Bingman, Kate Walling, David Price, August Gilges, Beverly Fields, Cynthia Chimienti, Shannon Brown, Sean Larkin, Collin Ferguson, Sean Patrick, Jason Johnson.

You guys are the true startup rockstars of Portland and the real reason we do this work in the first place– thanks for stepping up and inspiring us to run the startup race with you; it’s been a complete privilege and we look forward to your continued progress & success in months & years to come.

P10 Staff: Nick Cottle, Jennie Kalberer, Madeline White. We have operated this entire 18 month project with less than the equivalent of 2 full-time employees, which is a complete miracle!

To my staff– you’ve been invaluable in your dedication to this project, your passion for working with startups, your support for each other and myself through good times and otherwise, your endurance and high commitment to doing excellent work on thin budgets, tight deadlines, and most importantly, your enthusiasm for being part of the Portland Ten team. Thank you each, sincerely.

Get Involved!

We continue to believe in the potential for Portland’s startup community to push beyond the glass ceiling and generate economic value and interesting, financially viable ventures, now and ongoing in the future.

If you’d like to get involved, or have any comments, questions, or suggestions about the Portland Ten and our programs, please feel free to contact us at cduncan@portlandten.com, or drop by Founders’ Coffee, Tuesday mornings 9 am at Backspace, 115 NW 5th Ave.