(The Center Square) – “Everybody is leaving.”
Washington AI startup entrepreneur Jesse Proudman said in a Thursday interview with The Center Square that he’s had enough, and he’s not alone.
The Venice.ai founder and CTO said he’s looking at potentially Texas, Nashville or Florida as options to relocate, with the recently passed income tax being the final blow from a state he says has “increasingly villainized” business success and entrepreneurial spirit.
“I don’t really want to move, but I sort of had the realization that there were two paths. Either I just quietly packed up and left, like everybody else is doing, or I became vocal,” said Proudman.
He said the recent passage of the income tax, on top of all the other taxes and regulations on business, has pushed him to the point where he felt compelled to not only make plans to move, but speak out about it.
The so-called “millionaire’s tax” is set to go into effect in 2029, but a signature drive is underway to put an initiative on the November ballot for voters to weigh in on the issue.
The constitutionality of the law is also being contested in the courts.
As the legal process unfolds, Proudman is speaking out.
“There are a number of other folks, but not a large population willing to stick their neck out or have the conversation. And I felt like somebody needed to start. So here, here I am,” he said.
Proudman said the startup climate in Seattle was “vibrant and exciting” when he got started nearly three decades ago, but that has changed.
“You know you get entrepreneurs excited about entrepreneurship when there are entrepreneurs around. And so, over the last 28 years, I’ve done my best to be part of the Seattle ecosystem and kind of pay it back to other entrepreneurs,” Proudman said.
He said during COVID is when it felt like entrepreneurs and their contributions became villainized.
“The tech community in Seattle, whether it’s high tech, aerospace, or just technology companies in general, sort of the backbone of much of the economic growth of the state….they became the target,” Proudman said.
“This millionaire’s tax, really, I mean, it is the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
He said he isn’t the only one looking to relocate.
“I mean, everybody’s leaving. And that’s been the most surprising thing to me as I began speaking out, was the flood of private communication that I’m receiving from folks who have either left or are actively considering departing.”
He shared about being at a recent dinner with several couples where the conversation turned to the income tax.
“The event ended up being the announcement that the couple hosting had sold their house and they’re on their way out. And then everybody else, who was there, was sort of having the same realization…..whether folks have either found places to move or just beginning to think about it.”
While many of those being most vocal about objections to the income tax are Republican lawmakers or conservative advocates, a prominent Democrat recently spoke out about the increasing tax burden on business and Olympia’s insatiable appetite for growing the budget.
“I left office with a budget of $33 billion,” said former Democratic Washington Governor Christine Gregoire at the Association of Washington Business (AWB) Spring Summit last week in Vancouver.
“And the budget today is $80 billion. I think that’s a little bit too much of a growth,” she said.
Gregoire served as Washington’s governor from 2005-2013.
“And yet, how we find ourselves at the end of every legislative session now, is in the hole and projected to be in the hole. I would suggest to you; we don’t really have an income problem. We have a spending problem,” said Gregoire as the room erupted in applause.
“And we’re answering it by stacking one more tax, one more rule, one more regulation, and the one thing that the business community doesn’t need is that lack of predictability,” she added.
“That’s not healthy for our business community at all.”
Gregoire is currently CEO of Challenge Seattle, a private-sector initiative focused on regional competitiveness, workforce development, and housing.
Proudman said what backers of the income tax need to understand is that the population they are targeting with the “millionaires’ tax” can pick up and leave.
“The population is incredibly mobile and doesn’t want to be living in a place where they feel villainized and targeted.”
Many other business owners have recently announced plans to relocate or say they are looking into it.
As reported by The Center Square, an April 2026 AWB survey indicated that 24% of employers are looking to move their business out of Washington.
