Why this Seattle tech CEO pulled his firm out of downtown, and isn’t returning anytime quickly

Scott Moore, CEO of Ad Lightning, on the third floor balcony outside his former Seattle office following a gunfight in downtown Seattle in January 2020. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

“Unless there is a credible, permanent solution to downtown crime and homelessness, I think Seattle will struggle to lure tech companies back. … Seattle leaders need to send a clear signal that they want businesses to return to downtown. “

So was Scott Moore, CEO of Seattle startup Ad Lightning, in GeekWire’s coverage this week of a new effort by a coalition of downtown corporate leaders and nonprofits to revamp the city’s approach to homelessness. Seattle is becoming “uncompetitive,” said Moore, compared to the communities on the East Side.

On this episode of the GeekWire podcast, the former executive of Microsoft, Yahoo and Cheezburger meets with Mike Lewis and John Cook of GeekWire to further discuss his experience. He explains why Ad Lightning canceled his downtown Seattle lease last year and has no plans to return to Seattle when his employees go back to work in person.

In related news this week, Amazon said most U.S. office workers will be back in the office by early fall, including its headquarters north of downtown Seattle. At the same time, Amazon is increasing its presence in nearby Bellevue, Washington, and plans to employ 25,000 people there.

A Seattle resident for more than 30 years and a current city council member in the eastside town of Clyde Hill, Moore said on the show that he wasn’t lightly making the decision to leave downtown Seattle, and he’s not happy about it.

“But what I’ve seen most of all over the past five to ten years is an attitude in Seattle that I would call anti-business and anti-job of sorts, and it has certainly accelerated in recent years,” he said. “And it’s unfortunate.”

Seattle leaders need to send a clear signal that they want businesses to come back downtown.

Moore cited Seattle’s head tax proposal as an example of the anti-business environment. The tax on the city’s top-selling businesses dedicated to tackling homelessness was lifted soon after it was passed in 2018, against opposition from Amazon and others.

In addition, Moore referred to infrastructure problems, traffic congestion and the homeless crisis. But crime is the bigger issue, he said, citing the example of the shooting that took place outside his window in the Gibraltar Building in downtown Seattle in January 2020.

“Right now, I think the ledger is biased against Seattle, mostly because of the crime,” said Moore. “I have a lot of employees who don’t feel safe in the city center. And then there are the transit problems. … And if you compare those factors to the Eastside, Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, and even Renton will do well. All of these areas basically compete with downtown Seattle. And I think they will benefit from the problems in Seattle. “

The Seattle government, he said, “needs to send a very clear signal that it wants tech jobs in the city.”

Listen to the full podcast above, which also includes a discussion of the startup funding market, the NFT craze, and trends in media startups. Subscribe to GeekWire on any podcast app.

Podcast edited and produced by Curt Milton. Music by Daniel LK Caldwell.