The Friction Gap
Wednesday, May 13, 2026, 12:00 PM PDT – 12:45 PM PDT
Metro Region Innovation Hub · 2130 SW 5th Ave, Portland, OR 97201, USA, Portland, OR
Hosted by Portland Startup Week
The Friction GapWhy Good Values Aren't Enough (And What AI Can Do About It)We've spent decades making it effortless to buy. One click. Same-day delivery. Infinite scroll. The experience of acquiring something new is seamless, fast, and honestly kind of delightful. What hasn't kept pace is everything that comes after: knowing what we have, finding it, sharing it, feeling settled in it. That's the friction gap.When AI builds on top of existing systems, it can widen that gap. More personalization, more recommendations, more frictionless consumption… the problem compounds.But what if we flipped…