EP 143 - Paul Salnikow - Founder of The Executive Centre - Why Isn't Anybody Offering a Hotel for Companies?

Paul Salnikow, the Chairman and CEO of The Executive Centre joined the Asia Tech Podcast to discuss flexible work and what started as a niche product has grown into the centerpiece of not only the future of work but how we work today.

Some of the topics that Paul covered included:

• Why he decided to attend Sophia University in Tokyo and the impact it had on his career
• Working for a Japanese real estate company and getting sent to London to help open the office there
• How the real estate market microstructure in London sparked the idea of a 'hotel for companies'
• Moving to Hong Kong and setting up the office there
• The founding of The Executive Centre after the Japanese real estate company decided to pull back from its foreign businesses
• The evolution of The Executive Centre and the role that technology played
• How the clientele has changed over time
• The launch of the iPhone and the impact on office space usage
• WeWork became the largest tenant in London and Manhattan!
• The demise of WeWork, the hubris of its founders and investors, and why it ultimately failed
• The future of work and flexible working spaces

Other titles we considered for this episode:

1. The Desks Shrank
2. Your Entire Office Existence Is In Your Telephone
3. I Had to Make Hong Kong Work or I Had to Pack My Bags
4. Technology Has Been the Most Important Driver of the Emergence of Flexible Office Space