Kent Yoshimura moved his multimillion-dollar business from Los Angeles to Las Vegas a few years ago and said he has few regrets about leaving California.

Yoshimura, one of the co-founders of NeuroGum, which produces caffeinated gum for memory and focus, said access to local politicians and hiking in Red Rock Canyon are just some of the benefits he’s noticed.

“The labor laws are a lot simpler here, the affordability of housing, transportation,” he said at the third annual Vegas Tech Summit, held Thursday in a private home at the affluent Summit Club in Summerlin, where tech entrepreneurs and others discussed the issue. the region’s business landscape. “I live in Summerlin and it’s 20 miles to my office and it takes 20 minutes… when I was downtown (Los Angeles) to Koreatown where my office was, it was only 8 miles away and it took me 45 minutes.”

Yoshimura said part of the appeal of Las Vegas is a lot like the products he sells – extra energy and focus – something he couldn’t get in California due to a number of factors that dictated his personal and professional life. He has also set up a warehouse and office near the Strip and moved some of his staff to the valley.

“When you don’t have to think about those redundant things so much, life becomes much easier and you can maintain a higher level of focus,” he said. “And I probably see more people in Vegas now than in LA because everyone wants to come visit.”

Yoshimura’s story is just one of a growing number of California tech millionaires and billionaires who are leaving the Golden State for the Silver State. California has made up about a third of Nevada’s new residents for decades, and Los Angeles notably tops Redfin’s immigration surveys for residents who have consistently moved to Las Vegas since the pandemic began.

California leaves

Nearly 158,000 people moved to Nevada from California between 2020 and 2023, representing 43 percent of all new residents in the Silver State over the past four years, according to Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles driver’s license returns.

A number of high-profile business leaders have already made the leap from California to Las Vegas, including billionaire Andrew Cherng, co-founder of Panda Express, and David Chao, co-founder and general partner at DCM, a billion-dollar venture capital firm.

NexRep founder Teddy Liaw, who moved to Southern Nevada a few years ago after becoming “disenchanted” with the San Francisco Bay Area, said much of what he pitches to California tech entrepreneurs, millionaires, billionaires and CEOs comes down to on two words with a hyphen: ‘pro-business’. Liaw is the founder of the tech summit sponsored by Howard Hughes Holdings, Summerlin’s master plan developer.

Nevada has a number of tax incentives for businesses, including no taxes on corporate income or corporate stock, no franchise taxes, no personal income, estate or gift taxes, and no unit and estate taxes.

Liaw said he is not concerned about Las Vegas becoming California 2.0 and taking over the Golden State’s left-wing political scene, which many say is stifling the business community.

“There’s a reason they’re leaving California in the first place: the politics and the regulatory environment,” he said. “They see the appeal here in terms of access and quality of life and the opportunities we have here. Ultimately, California has lost population, this is a big deal because it is the first time in history that California has lost congressional seats due to population decline.”

Las Vegas is not without its problems and the valley is in the midst of a growing housing crisis. Residential real estate prices are about to reach record highs and the average price of a home has skyrocketed in recent years. Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine said they are acutely aware of the affordability issues facing many valley residents and are working to ensure Southern Nevada does not become unaffordable for the average citizen, just like California is become.

“We’re spending a lot of time right now talking about housing, affordable housing, attainable housing, housing for all,” he said. “Housing instability is economic instability. If we don’t have a working housing market it makes it harder for people to start a business, it makes it harder for kids to do well in school, nothing is easy when we have a housing problem.”

Liaw said the migration trend of entrepreneurs from Los Angeles to Las Vegas is similar to that of people leaving New York for Miami, another business-friendly region where the tech scene has blossomed in recent years.

Retired short track racer Apolo Ohno, who lives in Miami, was in Las Vegas for the technical summit and said the valley certainly has an enticing environment and appeal, noting that he has also noticed a shift in the landscape with regard to places like California.

Ohno is currently an entrepreneur and investor and the eight-time Olympic medalist said he could definitely imagine himself living here.

“Vegas has a special vibration right now,” he said.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at [email protected].