In the latest episode of our Crazy Smart Asia podcast, the Malaysian entrepreneur shares how he became interested in becoming a “dealmaker” and what motivates him
Businesses and individuals demand more flexible and collaborative workspaces to replace the traditional office model. Co-working spaces have emerged due to this shift. Common Ground, co-founded by Erman Akinci in 2017, is one of the biggest players in this space in Malaysia, with 14 office locations throughout the country. The company also has a presence in Thailand and the Philippines.
In 2022, Common Ground merged with two regional co-working brands to form The Flexi Group. The joint entity plans to list on Nasdaq this year.
Akinci is also the co-founder and managing partner of Emissary Capital, a boutique investment firm based in Kuala Lumpur.
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In the latest episode of our podcast Crazy Smart Asia, he talks about how he found his way forward as an entrepreneur and the lessons he picked up along the way.
Here are a few excerpts from the conversation. Click the audio player below to listen to the full episode or subscribe via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
The moment that set everything in motion
“I had a high school math teacher who told me I wasn’t smart enough to do math. When somebody tells me that I can’t do something, that motivates me to do better to prove him wrong. In the end, I went on to study engineering and had a minor in math.”
Business ‘gut’ versus business studies
“You need to be able to experience running a business to start to build your own opinions. If all you have is conceptual or academic knowledge as an investor, you will not be able to have a gut feeling for things in the same way if you have practical experience.”
Read more: This entrepreneur is making annual reports less boring
The secret to longevity
“You have to stick to one rule that I call the 40, 20, 10, 5. You have to be able to do 40 sit-ups, 20 pushups, 10 pull-ups and run 1km in 5 minutes. If you stick to this benchmark your entire life, you will be fit and live longer. I’m on a mission to have people understand that they need to get their heart checked at least twice in their life.”
Lessons learned in IPO
“When you’re running your own company without the support of a parent company, you’d be surprised at how far you’ll go to make things happen. You start to think more decisively and push the boundaries of problem-solving because you know there is no other option.”
Cultivating a culture of “The Dark Room”
“The dark room approach is our secret sauce. As the name implies, it is a process of bumping into enough things along the way until you can form a clear picture of the room you are in. This is how we approach deal-making, as we only move forward with the next step once we have full clarity of the deal at hand.”
Listen to the episode and subscribe using your preferred podcast platform on our Crazy Smart Asia podcast page.