The Long Con with Rick Turoczy

Community organizing is about more than events; it is how you treat people. Learn why professional networking drives work.

Mitch Daugherty joins me to break down the nuance of building a sustainable founder community. We discuss the shift from transactional interactions to genuine connection, exploring how your approach to people directly influences the opportunities that come your way.

Whether you are focused on startup relationships or broader career development, this conversation highlights the importance of reframing how you interact with your peers. We look at the practical side of maintaining a network that supports your long-term goals without relying on hollow tactics.

Subscribe for weekly insights on the Portland startup ecosystem, and let me know in the comments how you prioritize your network.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Introduction: Why relationships precede the work

01:43 - Meet Mitch Daugherty: From agency life to Built Oregon & City of Portland

04:30 - It’s not "community"—it’s how you treat individual people

06:10 - How to stay in touch without being transactional

07:55 - Why 10 deep relationships beat 50,000 shallow followers

11:15 - Removing the single point of failure: Building peer networks

12:45 - Bringing empathy into government: Managing Portland's Office of Small Business

16:33 - Air traffic control: Helping businesses navigate city bureaus

18:27 - Unintended impacts: Connecting Gary Bracelin & early sparks

20:00 - Finding your "emergency beer club": Peer support for founders

22:03 - Collaboration over competition: What makes Oregon unique

24:20 - Breaking industry silos: Crossing apparel, tech & food founders

27:10 - Advice for founders: Going outside your comfort zone to find peers

32:20 - Advice for community builders: Making it about others, not yourself

35:40 - Staying positive through adversity & finding joy in the work

38:45 - Celebrating local exits: Overcoming the "garage band" sellout stigma

41:38 - How to support Portland businesses: Being a tourist in your own town

Find Mitch at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchdaugherty/

FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…

- https://patreon.com/turoczy

- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy

- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social

- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/

- https://pdxslack.com

ABOUT 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

An adult getting an autism diagnosis or ADHD diagnosis? How about both ADHD and autism? That's what happened to Cami Kaos. Learn more about her experience living under her new diagnosis, identifying and accepting autism and ADHD in her life, and how being autistic and ADHD has affected her life and projects, like  @mildlyinterestingpeople  FIND CAMI KAOS ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://camikaos.com- https://linkedin.com/in/camikaos- https://bsky.app/profile/camikaos.bsky.socialCami Kaos is a community builder, chaos wrangler, and unapologetic advocate who’s spent more than a decade shaping inclusive, human-centered spaces across tech, startups, and open source. With a strategist’s brain, a storyteller’s soul, and a snarky sidecar of dark humor, she builds community with care, clarity, and just enough sarcasm to keep things interesting.Diagnosed with Autism and ADHD well into adulthood, Cami speaks openly about neurodivergence, burnout, and the beautifully wired minds that often get overlooked in fast-paced environments. Whether guiding events, mentoring founders, or calling out toxic systems, her work centers humanity—and does it with both grace and grit.At Automattic, she helped lead global WordPress community initiatives. Through her work with Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE), she’s mentored startup leaders, wrangled hyper-local events, and co-created the podcast Mildly Interesting People to spotlight the humans behind the hustle. Her voice has echoed from keynote stages to Slack threads, always landing with honesty, empathy, and the occasional well-placed f-bomb.When she’s not building community or advocating for systemic change, she’s quietly hand-knotting malas from semi-precious stones and recycled materials, each one crafted during meditation. It’s her way of reclaiming stillness and transforming chaos into calm—one bead at a time.Cami has called Portland home for more than 25 years—long enough to have seen it through multiple evolutions, and to still love it fiercely for its damp weirdness and creative fire. She shares moments of life, work, and wonder (plus the occasional well-framed skeleton) on Instagram as @camikaos.Living in the liminal with grit, wit, and gluten-free snacks, Cami helps people find connection in the chaos—and maybe even a little peace.FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- 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#autism #adhd

Join me for a long conversation with Stephen Green, founder of Pitch Black. We discuss Stephen's history, his motivations for supporting founders, and his views on the Portland startup community. FIND STEPHEN GREEN ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://pitchblack.org- https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-green-6968b119/- https://instagram.com/pdxstephengSTEPHEN GREEN AND RICK TUROCZY CONVERSE ABOUT…00:00 What are we going to talk about…?05:30 Making your hobby into a business12:20 Stephen Green's history in Portland, Oregon22:15 Being an athlete41:35 How to be a founder 46:20 Stop start continue for Portland58:40 Buy localFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Portland startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ- 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

Juan Barraza of Latino Founders sits down for The Long Con podcast w/ Rick Turoczy. We cover community building, Portland nice, the value of physical space, valuing people's time, and a whole bunch of amazing people in the Portland startup community who have influenced his work. JUAN BARRAZA LINKS- https://latinofounders.com- https://instagram.com/latino_founders- https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrazajuan/SOME TOPICS JUAN AND RICK DISCUSS00:00 What does Juan want to talk about…?03:30 Juan's origin story11:15 Inventing Invent Oregon 16:35 Startup Weekend Latino27:30 Benefits of having startup founders in physical space40:00 Supporting the next generation of community organizers51:30 Valuing people's timeFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- 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#podcast #startup #entrepreneur #latino

Behind the scenes first production meeting for The Long Con with Rick Turoczy. We're behind the scenes testing equipment and thinking through the format for The Long Con with executive producer Cami Kaos.

00:00 Introducing Cami Kaos, executive producer

01:10 A ⁨@mildlyinterestingpeople⁩ reboot…?

11:08 The underlying premise of The Long Con

18:45 Editing vs Proofing

26:15 Constructive criticism from the executive producer

30:00 A different angle

37:30 Who is the right guest?

FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…

• https://patreon.com/turoczy
• https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy
• 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

ABOUT 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#behindthescenes #conversation #production

Join Rick Turoczy for a series of longer, more meaningful conversations with folks he's encountered during his 30 years of work in the startup community.

While the relationships may have formed around startups, these conversations can go potentially anywhere.