In this edition of Open for Business, Colony’s Co-Founder and CEO Timothy Tiah takes us through lessons learnt, challenges faced, and journey ahead in the ever-evolving landscape of coworking. Among other things, we explore how Timothy was “duped” into this business, his concern with the financial engineering that goes on with the EBITDA profitability of some businesses, the strategy of building a premium co-working offering through Colony and a low-cost, no-frills option through Jerry Coworking Space, his preferred exit strategy, and much more.



Co-founded by husband & wife duo, Timothy Tiah & Audrey Ooi, Colony is a more luxurious take on the  co-working space concept and was launched late July 2017. The idea was to transform the work experience with beautiful serviced office spaces and world-class amenities, taking inspiration from Silicon Valley offices.



They started with a team of 15 people and had 2 branches initially, and within a year raised US$5 million with Cornerstone Partners (acquiring a stake at US$15m-US$20m valuation). Today they have 6 main co-working spaces, multiple event spaces, and in 2021, introduced Jerry Coworking Space -  a cheaper, fully-automated, no frills option.

In this edition of Open for Business, Colony’s Co-Founder and CEO Timothy Tiah takes us through lessons learnt, challenges faced, and journey ahead in the ever-evolving landscape of coworking. Among other things, we explore how Timothy was “duped” into this business, his concern with the financial engineering that goes on with the EBITDA profitability of some businesses, the strategy of building a premium co-working offering through Colony and a low-cost, no-frills option through Jerry Coworking Space, his preferred exit strategy, and much more.Co-founded by husband &amp; wife duo, Timothy Tiah &amp; Audrey Ooi, Colony is a more luxurious take on the co-working space concept and was launched late July 2017. The idea was to transform the work experience with beautiful serviced office spaces and world-class amenities, taking inspiration from Silicon Valley offices.They started with a team of 15 people and had 2 branches initially, and within a year raised US$5 million with Cornerstone Partners (acquiring a stake at US$15m-US$20m valuation). Today they have 6 main co-working spaces, multiple event spaces, and in 2021, introduced Jerry Coworking Space - a cheaper, fully-automated, no frills option.

The flagship entrepreneurship show on BFM, featuring personal business stories from early stage start-ups, all the way to billionaire octogenarians in Malaysia and abroad. Notable guests include Martin Cooper (father of the mobile phone), Julian Assange (founder of WikiLeaks), Ralph Henry Baer (father of video games), Tony Buzan (Mindmap Guru), Isaac Tigrett (Hard Rock Cafe founder), Robert Kiyosaki (Financial Guru), Nick Vujicic (motivational speaker) and more. Tap into this valuable resource of shared experiences for the SME industry, which also touches on news, issues and trends affecting the business community and beyond.

Open For Business

Discover fresh concepts, tackle obstacles, and unleash growth - Open For Business is the dynamic show where BFM engages with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and industry trailblazers, igniting inspiration, sparking success, and exploring new business models.

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