Venture Northwest will be "edgier" this fall – Nov. 4 in Portland, Oregon

Voyager Capital partner Diane Fraiman, who’s chairing the annual Venture Northwest http://venturenw.org/ conference in November, tells me she wants to splash some cold water on Oregon’s slumbering entrepreneurial economy.

In addition to presentations by regional startups looking for venture backing, Fraiman says she’s putting together three panels for Venture Northwest charged with taking a frank look at what’s needed to improve Oregon’s startup scene.

"I absolutely do not want this to be a discussion of what we do right," Fraiman says. "I want it to be edgier."

Oregon has historically lagged its neighbors in many entrepreneurial metrics, not to mention many economic metrics. The state attracts venture capital at about half the rate of the nation as a whole, for example, and hasn’t had an IPO since 2004.

Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian

Full Story: http://blog.oregonlive.com/siliconforest/2010/06/venture_northwest_will_be_edgi.html