To learn. To experiment. To experience. 

Budding UNLV entrepreneurs shouted out these reasons — and more — for pursuing their own startup ideas during the first event of a monthly series designed to connect students with successful technology entrepreneurs and ignite new business ideas.

“I’m glad that none of [you] said money,” said Teddy Liaw, keynote speaker and CEO of NexRep. “It's not about money. The biggest reason why we should be entrepreneurs is because we're here to solve a problem.”

The Technology Entrepreneurship Evening: Unlock the Potential (TEE-UP) event is hosted by the UNLV College of Engineering and the UNLV Lee Business School to help students learn practical tips from experienced entrepreneurs and gain personalized guidance for their own startup ideas. 

“Our students have brilliant ideas,” said UNLV Engineering Dean Rama Venkat.  “But sometimes, the risks involved with starting a business from the ground up prevent our students from pursuing entrepreneurship. We want to help remove those barriers and inspire students to see what’s possible.”

Featuring a keynote address, fireside chat with a Q&A, and networking, the event was inspired through Venkat’s conversations with entrepreneurs like Liaw at the Vegas Tech Summit (VTS) — an invitation-only event centered on demonstrating the potential of Las Vegas as a burgeoning center for tech industries.

“As the tech industry has exploded in growth in recent years, so, too, has our student and faculty potential at UNLV Engineering,” said Venkat. “Our students are trained to solve problems, and that’s the essence of entrepreneurship. The new TEE-UP program and our ongoing pursuit of industry and community partnerships will provide the scaffolding our students need to explore their ideas and to do so right here in Las Vegas."

Liaw, longtime entrepreneur and co-founder of VTS, shared that he’s all-in on the Las Vegas tech startup scene and believes that Las Vegas, and UNLV in particular, is full of people who have the “it” factor — one of five things on his list of qualities that make an entrepreneur more likely to be successful.

“I think a lot of people that go to UNLV have the ‘it,’” Liaw said. “There's something about this city that has demonstrated to me that there's a lot of ‘its’ all over the place. There's a lot of scrappy people, there's a lot of people with some fire, there's a lot of people with some stories, there's a lot of people that are first-time college attendees, or people that came from immigrant families, or people that really came from nothing and have built something out of nothing.”

Before the evening was over, Liaw took out a $100 bill and said he would give it to the first brave volunteer at the standing-room only event who would share their idea for a business or a startup.

That volunteer with Giada Alonso, an interprofessional nutrition sciences major, who has her eye on dental school.

“Pursuing dentistry comes with entrepreneurship built right in because I want to open my own practice,” Alonso said, adding that she wants to explore unique ways to incorporate technology into her practice to keep patients coming back.

“Being a dentist is overall about helping people.”

The series will continue on March 12 and feature Kenneth Lin, entrepreneur and former CEO of Credit Karma, as keynote speaker. The final spring event will be held on Thursday, April 9 — featuring local entrepreneur and UNLV alumnus Piotr Tomasik, ‘09 BS Computer Science — with plans to keep the momentum going with more monthly events in Fall 2026.