Saad Riaz: How Kickstart Became Pakistan’s LARGEST Coworking Space | 473 | TBT

Join the Inner Circle, my weekly letter on AI, building, and being early to what's coming: https://muzamilhasan.com/inner-circle Read the thesis, the one idea behind everything I'm building: https://muzamilhasan.com/thesis My website: https://muzamilhasan.com Find out more about Endeavor: https://pakistan.endeavor.org In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we’re joined by Saad Riaz, Co-Founder of Kickstart Pakistan, the country’s one of the largest coworking network powering thousands of professionals and businesses every day. Saad opens up about how Kickstart survived Pakistan’s toughest economic years, scaled sustainably, and redefined what “workspace” really means. We explore: How Kickstart's coworking model actually makes money Why Kickstart doesn’t prefer to work with unstable startups Renting vs Coworking — Which gives better yields for landlords? Why employee retention is about value, not just salary Why experience design is everything for the next generation 🔔 Subscribe and turn on notifications to never miss an episode. #thoughtbehindthings #kickstart #muzamilhasan #pakistan #startup #tbtxendeavor Socials: TBT’s Instagram:   / thoughtbehindthings   TBT’s TikTok:   / tbtbymuzamil   TBT’s Facebook:   / thoughtbehindthings   TBT Clips:    / @tbtpodcastclips   Saad's LinkedIn:   / saad-riaz-   Endeavor's LinkedIn:   / endeavor-pakistan   Special thanks to Kickstart for providing us with the studio space. You can find out more about them at: https://kickstart.pk/ Listen on: Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3z1cE7F Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3cgIkf Google Podcasts:    / @tbtgo   Credits: Executive Producer: Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi Associate Producer: Saad Shehryar Publisher: Talha Shaikh Editor: Jawad Sajid Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 3:23 - Previous Conversation with Saad 4:07 - What Kickstart Is & What It Does 5:18 - Tackling Economic Downturns & the Coworking Model 16:06 - Yields: Renting vs Coworking as a Landlord 23:14 - Kickstart’s Franchise Model? 25:49 - Core Sectors & Target Markets 33:24 - Year-over-Year Growth 35:15 - Different Offerings for Different Users 44:49 - EBITDA & Business Profitability 46:20 - Managing Risk & Capital Safety 59:30 - Retaining Talent & Employee Value 1:10:45 - Future of Residential or Airbnb-Style Management 1:21:05 - Worker Hostels & Shared Living Concepts 1:27:06 - Gender Ratio, Careem Office & Daycare for Mothers 1:31:32 - Pakistan of 2050 1:34:46 - End & Closing Note Instagram:   / muzamilhasan   LinkedIn:   / muzamilhasan