Week ending Feb 20, 2026 - Portland startup news

Hackathons are back in the Portland tech community — and they’re coming back with an AI-shaped vengeance. On February 28, you’ve got two legit options: the OpenClaw Global Unhackathon with AI Tinkers Portland (a no-prizes, heads-down “ship code” session built around OpenClaw/Clawbot energy), and a Claude Code hackathon hosted by AJ Green + the AI Collective with Anthropic in the mix. Plus: Scott Hanselman’s delightfully retro Tiny Tool Town is giving big GeoCities/webring vibes for all your vibe-coded creations, and Brittany Alec drops a brutally honest, necessary post about the emotional tension developers are feeling in the AI era. And in “secrets,” I talk founder pitches, a Eugene fireside chat, and why I’m getting back to basics: writing the blog, promoting what you’re building, and letting the other half-assed “maybe I should run everything” ideas take a seat.

TIMESTAMPS

• 0:00 Hackathons are back (why this matters in Portland)
• 1:15 OpenClaw Global “Unhackathon” (AI Tinkers Portland)
• 3:05 The Clawbot → “Moltbot” → OpenClaw naming drama recap
• 5:05 What the OpenClaw event actually is (heads-down shipping, no demos/prizes)
• 9:05 Claude Code Hackathon (Anthropic / AI Collective w/ AJ Green)
• 12:40 Scott Hanselman’s Tiny Tool Town (showcase of vibe-coded tiny tools)
• 14:50 Developer Brittany Ellich's honest post on AI + dev anxiety
• 16:10 Secrets

LINKS

OpenClaw Global Unhackathon (AI Tinkerers Portland) https://www.meetup.com/ai-tinkerers-portland-or/

Claude Code Meetup Portlandhttps://luma.com/u55aqt1t

Tiny Tool Townhttps://www.tinytooltown.com/

Hanselminutes https://hanselminutes.com/

Vibes DIYhttps://vibes.diy/

Brittany Ellich’s post you highlighted about the dev emotional tension in the AI era https://brittanyellich.com/living-in-the-inflection-point

Overcommitted Podcast https://overcommitted.dev/

FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT 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