There’s a major push to lure big tech companies and investors to Las Vegas.
The Vegas Tech Summit, put together by local entrepreneur Teddy Liaw, founder of NexRep, gathered about 50 invited guests comprised of CEOs, company founders and captains of the industry for a multiday event highlighting what the Las Vegas Valley has to offer.
Liaw moved to Las Vegas from the Bay Area a few years ago after becoming frustrated with the business environment in Northern California.
His goal is to to lure other tech companies to the area by showing those who have visited Las Vegas previously but never made it beyond the Strip that the city is more than just a stretch of road with resorts on it. Long term, he hopes to transform Las Vegas into a tech mecca
“There’s no reason why we can’t be as competitive in the tech world as Nashville, or Park City or Salt Lake City,” Liaw said Thursday. “I’m not saying we’re going to be the next Silicon Valley. That would be silly. But there’s no reason why we can’t be a place where people congregate, they don’t come and leave, they come and stay. Real business is happening, a real tech scene is happening and the culture. That means job creation, that means wealth creation, that means diversification for the Las Vegas economy.”
Tax benefits touted
The summit began with a private event held at Allegiant Stadium Wednesday night and will include stops in Downtown Summerlin, Red Rock Canyon and a $25 million Blue Heron home located in Henderson.
On Thursday, invited guests gathered at the home of former Wynn executive Marc Schorr in the exclusive The Summit community in Summerlin. Various speakers educated attendees on the area’s offerings and the business-friendly nature of the state and local governments.
State Treasurer Zach Conine was among those who addressed the guests, breaking down the business opportunities in the state and pointing out multiple times the lower taxes paid in Nevada as compared to California. He noted gatherings such as the Tech Summit are ideal situations to pitch the benefits the state and Southern Nevada have to offer.
“We have been at both a state and local level trying for a long time to diversify the economy of Southern Nevada,” Conine said. “The reason that this event is so exciting to us is because we’re talking to founders and owners and presidents of companies that are already established. We know when we can bring them here, one, or two, or five or 10 of them they not only bring their workforce, they bring their ideas. Having those ideas germinate here in Nevada is priceless. As they continue to grow and mature they’ll continue to hire more people and spin off great ideas.”
Notable summit attendees included Kevin Lin, co-founder of Twitch; Stanley Tang, co-founder of DoorDash; David Yeom, CEO of Evite; Nan Wang, founder of Sleeper; and eight-time Olympic speed skating medalist Apollo Ohno.
Place to live, work and play
Seth Schorr, Marc’s son and CEO of Fifth Street Gaming, took part in the session and highlighted the convergence of tech and the gaming sector. He also pitched the area as an ideal place to live, work and play in a place with a growing tech community.
“Las Vegas, the image, is a double-edged sword,” Schorr said. “We are undoubtedly the entertainment capital of the world. But to some outside of Las Vegas, they think we’re a one-trick pony. They don’t know about the university system that we have here, the incubators, the tech businesses that exist. That’s what we need to change, to make sure there’s awareness. That will help outside capital and outside businesses to come and scale what we started to do over the last few years.”
Yeom, who has been with Evite since 2020, said Southern Nevada is definitely intriguing as a potential hub for multiple reasons. He said the Tech Summit helped open his eyes to some things he didn’t know before about the area, while strengthening other aspects that he was already aware of.
“I was actually taken aback about how vibrant it (business and tech community) is here and it continues to grow,” Yeom said. “You need that, it takes a village and it’s good to know that we’re in great company because there are so many good companies. The other thing is just how robust the talent pool is. Hearing from the state treasurer about the amount of engineering talent that UNLV and other great institutions are producing is a really great thing.”
Yeom stopped short of saying he was ready to move Evite’s operations from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, but it is definitely on his mind now.
“Something like that (relocating) you obviously need to spend a lot of time on, but I came away impressed with the overall community that’s in place here,” Yeom said
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.
