[jordanlev]

You say you want to see Portland's scene improve, but I might suggest what you are really asking for is Portland's scene to change. I am a web developer here in Portland (been here for 10 years, love it). I do freelancing and don't run a startup, so obviously we're in different situations, but in my opinion what makes Portland Portland is its ease of living -- cheap rent, good cheap food, low traffic, mild climate, and most importantly: an utter lack of ambition. I grew up in the NYC area, and the difference is striking (it's subtle, but very pervasive) -- people just don't really care that much about achieving extraordinary things. And I don't mean this in a bad way at all -- I don't think there's anything intrinsically good or bad about being super ambitious, it's just a choice that we all make for our own goals and personalities. So it makes a lot of sense to me that Portland doesn't have a startup culture anything like S.V. -- and I feel that if it did, it would cease to be Portland.

BTW, this is coming from a place of respectful discussion and sharing of opinions -- I work downtown, if you ever want to meet up for coffee and discuss more, that would be fun (contact info in my profile).

[dariusmonsef]

I definitely want a part of Portland's scene to change... Not the entire scene. I too love Portland for "cheap rent, good cheap food, low traffic, mild climate..." But I'm ambitious and have friends are as well. I realize that this isn't the main attitude (and I'm agreeing that being one way or the other isn't good / bad.) that Portland has. What I want is a better community for those in the web startup scene to be better supported to try and change the world.

Always happy to discuss. I'm in Portland every month or so. And I love coffee.