Jeremy Ko

Category: Business

  • Before You Buy a Fitness Franchise

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    Jeremy
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    One of the most convincing things a franchise salesperson can tell you is that the existing franchisees are doing well. You might even know one of them. They opened a gym several years ago, recovered their investment, and now own a second outlet. The brand keeps expanding. You train there yourself. It feels like a…

  • Podcast with The Usual Place, The Straits Times

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    Jeremy
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    I was on The Usual Place podcast with Natasha and Debby Lim from Dentons Rodyk to talk about the recent True Fitness and True Yoga closures. We spoke about why the fitness industry has become increasingly difficult for large-format gyms, what it actually costs to run a gym, why businesses like selling prepaid packages, and…

  • No Sheet Music — Part 1

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    Jeremy
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    There is a moment in every skill-based pursuit where you know exactly where you stand. The first time you attempt a muscle up, you hang from the bar and nothing happens. But the progression is visible from the start — negatives, then an ugly kip, then a clean rep. At every stage, you know what…

  • Twenty Years, Twenty Millimetres

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    Jeremy
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    Twenty years ago, I was in polytechnic spending a great deal of time climbing. During the pandemic, Movement First built climbing walls in people’s homes. In March 2026, a wall we built opened to the public at Temasek Shophouse. Written this way, it sounds as though I had planned the whole progression. I had not.…

  • When You Are Young, Hard Work Is Your Capital. Later, Judgment Must Become Your Leverage.

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    Jeremy
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    In polytechnic, I could play Dota until 10 p.m., suddenly remember an assignment was due, and work until four or five in the morning. Sleep for an hour, leave home at six, reach school by eight, and keep functioning until mid-afternoon before crashing. Sometimes I went close to 30 hours without proper sleep. I was…

  • Good Entrepreneurs Kill Ideas

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    Jeremy
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    People sometimes look at our group of businesses and assume that we just keep executing based on instinct, and somehow most of the things we touch work. Movement First. Javy Sports. Fit Bloc. Arkkies. Apex. The gyms. The sports supplies. The metal fabrication. The different pieces somehow look quite neat after the fact, as if…

  • Say You Were Lucky

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    Jeremy
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    I bought an office workstation in July last year and only set it up recently, which is slightly ridiculous but also quite typical of how business purchases sometimes happen. You buy something because it is needed, or will be needed soon, or because a window opens where you can settle the problem before it becomes…

  • The Ironies of Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur

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    Jeremy
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    I was at the Läderach counter with my son recently, buying chocolate at S$22 for 100 grams. He watched me pay, and I found myself explaining — half to him, half to myself — that this is what work is for. Not to hoard money endlessly, but to be able to enjoy something indulgent once…

  • The Client Who Threatened to Burn My Warehouse

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    Jeremy
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    The friend whose first order started my trading business also introduced me to the client who would one day threaten to burn my warehouse down. I’m still grateful to him. I was in my early twenties when a friend — a coach I’d met through mutual circles — placed a small order with me. Equipment…

  • Compounding Does Not Only Belong to Finance

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    Jeremy
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    When people speak about compounding, they almost always mean money. They mean savings, investments, interest, and the quiet arithmetic of letting capital sit still long enough to multiply itself. That is one form of compounding, and an important one. But it is not the only form, and I suspect it is not even the most…