Rick Turoczy

Rick is a gifted marketing and communications professional, with a mind for identifying the core message that threads a client's issue. Rick Turoczy (@turoczy) has been working in, on, and around startups in the Portland area for more than 25 years. As founder of Silicon Florist, he has blogged about the Portland startup scene for more than a decade, even though numerous people have begged him to stop.

In 2009, that side project led Rick to cofound PIE (the Portland Incubator Experiment), a startup accelerator formed in partnership with global advertising firm Wieden+Kennedy, creators of "Just Do It," the Old Spice Guy, and the new Colonel Sanders. Those efforts led to him starting TechFestNW; Oregon Story Board, a startup accelerator focused on the digital storytelling industry in Oregon; and Built Oregon, a nonprofit supporting consumer products companies from around the state. He is a longtime advisor to SXSW, a mentor and investor in Backstage Capital, a current scout for Clearco, and a former scout for Indie.vc.