- Teddy Liaw is a technology CEO who left San Francisco in 2021 and moved to the suburbs of Las Vegas.
- Liau was frustrated with crime in the Bay Area and wanted a vibrant, family-friendly city.
- Liaw said since moving, he’s made it his mission to introduce others to everything Las Vegas has to offer.
This essay is based on a conversation with Teddy Liau, 45, CEO of contact center solutions company NexRep. Frustrated by crime in the Bay Area, Liau moved from San Francisco to Summerlin, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas, in 2021. Vegas Tech SummitA multi-day technology conference promoting Las Vegas as a fast-growing technology center.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I loved the Bay Area – the culture, the food, the people, the intellect, and the beautiful views of the water surrounding our amazing city.
But COVID-19 has completely devastated the city. San Francisco is not the same. It is still recovering and not fully back to normal.
I lived there for about 15 years before moving to San Francisco, and I owned a condo at the top of a hill with a great view of the bay.
The Bay Area had a lot to offer, including a vibrant entrepreneurial and technology ecosystem that makes very smart people even smarter.
But during the pandemic, crime was rampant. I don’t like when people make it a homeless issue, because San Francisco has had homeless people before and they found ways to provide services. That’s how they looked at it during COVID. But it wasn’t a homeless issue. It was a safety issue.
At the end of 2020, my house was burglarized. I had some not great interactions with the police. That was the final straw.
I have two young children so I asked myself, “Is this a safe environment for my family?” Unfortunately the answer was no.
Everything was on the table
They were considering Los Angeles, Washington state and Texas.
In January 2021, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to take a trip to Las Vegas for a fact-finding trip. My eyes were opened to the charms of Las Vegas, including new homes, clean living, and ample play areas for children.
There was amazing food from every ethnicity, cuisine and culture.Las Vegas has entertainment, family life and suburban living, and is only 20 minutes away from all the social opportunities you could ever want.
It was a very easy decision.
Summerlin is a master-planned community located 20 minutes from all the action. You’re just a half mile from the park. It’s in the desert, but there’s lots of greenery.
Summerlin is designed for families with great school options from K-12, including some of the best private schools in the state.
Plus, I love to play golf and there are plenty of golf options.
For the same price as a four-bedroom condo in the Bay Area, we got a home with nearly 7,000 square feet and two pools. We wanted a home that our friends would want to visit.
Soon after I moved, I started inviting my friends over. Many of them were blown away by the allure of Las Vegas. I encouraged my friends to move too. Many of them I “brought” from California.
Everyone’s always worried about the 110 degree heat, but it’s only 35 minutes away at Mount Charleston, where it’s only 85 degrees. It’s a desert, but there’s a 35 minute drive to a place where you can go sledding in the winter.
Frankly, Las Vegas has exceeded expectations when it comes to quality of life.
Las Vegas is well on its way to becoming a vibrant tech ecosystem
There’s no better place to work than the Bay Area. The Bay Area offers so many unexpected opportunities. Back in the day, you could take an Uber carpool, sit down with the VP of a technology company, and have a great 20-minute conversation. Or you could overhear the executives sitting next to you at a restaurant. That was the spirit of San Francisco.
The magic of the Bay Area hasn’t quite made its way to Las Vegas yet, but it will eventually.
Since coming to Las Vegas, I have been meeting with public officials and was appointed to the former Governor’s Startup and Venture Council.
I then founded a non-profit called Vegas Tech Summit, which has already brought together successful entrepreneurs and technologists from across the country to experience what Las Vegas has to offer.
My goal is to get people to see that Las Vegas has the potential to have a thriving tech ecosystem, and we’re well on our way to making that happen. We’ve already seen a lot of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs move here.
What I miss most here is my existing group of friends — nothing replaces the friendships you’ve built over decades — but I’ve noticed a lot of new people moving here and everyone is trying to find good people and build a community.
That’s the spirit of Las Vegas.
