Omar Shah

co-founder and CEO of Colabs

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Omar Shah is the co-founder and CEO of Colabs, a coworking space platform in Pakistan. He was born in Lahore, studied development economics at SOAS, and worked at Abraaj Capital for almost six years. He has said Colabs manages 10 locations and 5,000 seats, mainly in Lahore and Karachi.

Early life and background

Shah was born in Lahore and went to school there. He was born into an old family with a close connection to Pakistan. [1]

Education

At age 18, Shah went to university in London. He studied development economics at SOAS. [1]

Career in finance

After graduating, Shah went into investment banking. He started his career in mergers and acquisitions and then did equity trading for a year. He then moved into private equity. In total, he spent seven to eight years in finance after university. [1]

Abraaj Capital

Shah worked at Abraaj Capital early in his career, for almost six years. He has said Abraaj managed about $6 billion when he joined, and that it was managing almost 16 billion around 2018, before its collapse. He said the firm operated across 18 countries and owned about 180 companies. [1]

Shah was one of the last few employees at Abraaj. He worked through its liquidation for the last seven months, and in 2018 he was in London working on it. He was extremely unhappy during this work. [1]

Burnout and resignation

Shah went to a place in the middle of the Austrian Alps. Since 2018 he has gone to the same place every year for 10 days or two weeks for a full digital detox. He said a woman there told him he was at 4.7 out of 5 for critical burnout. He went back to London, quit his job, and got on a plane with no plan. He said he did not want that life because it had no purpose. [1]

Colabs

Shah began Colabs' business plan in 2017 or 2018. He was inspired by large spaces such as Station F and WeWork, and asked why Pakistan lacked one. He said the largest coworking space in Pakistan had 100 seats in 2019. [1]

Colabs' first building, its flagship, was Pakistan's oldest tower factory, made in 1958. Shah's twin brother, who had worked with the family and in real estate, proposed building a state-of-the-art campus. The first location was 27,000 square feet and held about 350 people. [1]

Colabs was built to serve everyone from freelancers to enterprises. One of its three pillars is flexible workspaces, including coworking, offices and enterprise solutions. Shah said the company also offers recruiting, payroll and back-office support to clients, and that its edge is an in-house 360-degree enterprise solution. He said most international companies do not want to handle buildings, contractors and IT themselves. [1]

Shah said Colabs works with about 300 companies. He said enterprise accounts for 40 to 45% of clients, and freelancers make up below 10%. He said some US clients pay Colabs more than $200 or $300 per seat, and that 50 to 60% of its clients are international companies. He also said the company dedicates a full floor to large teams that need one, and that a US company that raised $30 million, whose team grew from 50 to 250 people, is fully managed by Colabs. [1]

Shah said Colabs' bread and butter is its initiatives, focused on partnerships and on the events held there. He said its success over the last four or five years comes from community, not space. He said Colabs has about 350 staff, about 150 of them in its HQ team. [1]

Funding and finances

Shah said Colabs broke even six months after it launched in 2019. He said its operating burn over six years was under $1 million of the $5 million raised. He said flexible workspaces can generate free cash flow at 25 to 35% profit margins, and that Karachi sites operate at about 1.5 to 2 times the revenue of Lahore sites. [1]

Expansion into Saudi Arabia

Shah said Colabs plans to open its first Riyadh location by the end of the year. He said the company has raised money for its Saudi rollout and is still in that process, and that the first Saudi building is being designed. He said Colabs is entering Saudi Arabia with a local partner, a large Saudi family. He said a lot of his team has moved to Saudi Arabia in the last two or three years. [1]

Shah calls the Saudi co-working market very nascent. He said an international player in Saudi charges $1,500 or more a month, and that at an average of $1,000 per seat one can comfortably make about a 30% margin. He said Class A real estate in Saudi Arabia has about 95% occupancy, and that four to five Saudi locations would bring double-digit million-dollar revenue. He said his capex might be four to five times that of Pakistan, but if his revenue is ten times, his margin is 30%. [1]

Shah said the core of what Colabs wants to do now is go big in the region. He said he moved toward Saudi Arabia because Pakistan's growth has a limit. [1]

Views

Shah said Pakistan will grow more slowly than before after the challenges of the last 12 to 18 months. He said Pakistan's economy is driven by local consumption, and that the issue is spending power, not the number of users. He said people who paid between 25,000 and 35,000 per seat four or five years ago cannot afford more today. He also said the minimum wage was 17,000 five years ago and is set to reach 44,000, and that when he is expanding, it becomes very difficult to make a return. [1]

On business, Shah said investors look for how a company can grow 10 or 20 times, not for net profit. He said growing companies must stay strict about their core principles. He said one option for a loan is to give land to a bank at 14 to 15%, and otherwise there is no option. He said his ambition was to build a billion-dollar company. He sometimes gives Gen Z people The Hard Thing About Hard Things, a book by Ben Horowitz. [1]

Timeline

2017 or 2018
Began Colabs' business plan.[1]
2018
Was in London working on the Abraaj liquidation.[1]
2019
Colabs launched and broke even after six months.[1]
2022
Colabs raised 3 million.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2025-09-29 If you're mega ambitious, stay home and build Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Omar Shah?

Omar Shah is the co-founder and CEO of Colabs, a coworking space platform in Pakistan. He was born in Lahore and studied development economics at SOAS. He worked at Abraaj Capital for almost six years.[1]

What does Omar Shah do?

Omar Shah is the co-founder and CEO of Colabs. He has said Colabs manages 10 locations and 5,000 seats, mainly in Lahore and Karachi.[1]

Where did Omar Shah study?

Omar Shah went to university in London at age 18. He studied development economics at SOAS.[1]

Where is Omar Shah from?

Omar Shah was born in Lahore and went to school there. He was born into an old family with a close connection to Pakistan.[1]

What company did Omar Shah found?

Omar Shah is a co-founder of Colabs, a coworking space platform in Pakistan. He began its business plan in 2017 or 2018. Its first building, its flagship, was Pakistan's oldest tower factory, made in 1958.[1]

What is Omar Shah known for?

Omar Shah is known as the co-founder and CEO of Colabs. Earlier he worked at Abraaj Capital for almost six years, and he was one of the last few employees there.[1]

What did Omar Shah do at Abraaj?

Omar Shah worked at Abraaj Capital early in his career, for almost six years. He worked through the Abraaj liquidation for the last seven months. In 2018 he was in London working on it.[1]

Is Omar Shah expanding Colabs into Saudi Arabia?

Omar Shah has said Colabs plans to open its first Riyadh location by the end of the year. He said the company is entering Saudi Arabia with a local partner, a large Saudi family, and that the first Saudi building is being designed.[1]

References

  1. If you're mega ambitious, stay home and build . Thought Behind Things , 2025-09-29.
Show the source passages (99 statements)
  1. Omar Shah is the Co-Founder and CEO of Colabs, a coworking space platform in Pakistan. the Co-Founder & CEO of COLABS, Pakistan’s leading coworking space platform with over $5M in funding
  2. Omar Shah worked at Abraaj Capital early in his career. From his early days at Abraaj Capital to building a workspace empire in Pakistan
  3. Omar Shah was born in Lahore. So, I was born in Lahore. Um, spent the first 18 years of my life in Lahore.
  4. He went to school in Lahore. Uh, Lahore mein school bhi Lahore mein hui.
  5. He was born into an old family with a close connection to Pakistan. I was born into a very old family, uh, jinko bahut Pakistan ka shauq, Pakistan se kya kahoon, I mean, closeness thi.
  6. He went to university in London at age 18. I think at age 18, went to university, um, in London.
  7. He studied development economics at SOAS. I actually studied development economics. Uh, I mean, obviously went to SOAS.
  8. After graduating he went into investment banking. But post graduation, I mean, ended up going into investment banking.
  9. He started his career in M&A and then did equity trading for a year. started my career doing M&A and then did equity trading after that for a year
  10. He then moved into private equity. Aur phir wahan se apni job shuru ki maine private equity mein.
  11. He spent seven to eight years in finance after university. So after university, spent the next 7-8 years doing that.
  12. He worked at Abraaj for almost six years. Abraaj for 6 years almost.
  13. He has said Abraaj managed about $6 billion when he joined. when I joined Abraaj, we were managing about 6 billion, um, dollars under management
  14. He has said Abraaj was managing almost 16 billion around 2018, before its collapse. 2018, right before Abraaj, the Abraaj crash and all of that, we were managing almost close to 16 billion
  15. He said Abraaj operated across 18 countries. spread across 18 cities as they call it 18 countries
  16. He has said Abraaj owned about 180 companies. about 180 companies which we owned through Abraaj
  17. He was one of the last few employees at Abraaj. for myself, I was actually one of the last few employees at Abraaj
  18. He worked through the Abraaj liquidation for the last seven months. I worked through the liquidation, um, morning, night, I would say the last 7 months
  19. In 2018 he was in London working on the Abraaj liquidation. I was summer of 18, I was in London working on the liquidation
  20. He was extremely unhappy working on the liquidation. I was extremely unhappy working 18 hours a day
  21. He went to a place in the middle of the Austrian Alps. I went to the space called the Viva Meyer, um, in the middle of the Austrian Alps
  22. Since 2018 he has gone to the same place every year for 10 days or two weeks for a full digital detox. since 2018, I've gone there every single year for 10 days or two weeks where I do a full digital detox
  23. He said a woman there told him he was at 4.7 out of 5 for critical burnout. she said you're at a 4.7 out of five for a for a critical burnout
  24. He went back to London, quit his job, and got on a plane with no plan. I remember going back to London, um, quit my job, uh, got on got on a plane, no plan whatsoever
  25. He said he did not want that life because it had no purpose. I mean, I don't want this life. There's no purpose, right?
  26. He began Colabs' business plan in 2017 or 2018. Humne Colabs ka basic jo business plan hai, woh banana maine shuru kar diya tha 2017-18 mein
  27. Colabs' first building, its flagship, was Pakistan's oldest tower factory, made in 1958. the first building which was our Colabs flagship, uh, was the Vortex Tower Factory, which was Pakistan's oldest tower factory made in 1958
  28. His twin brother, who had worked with the family and in real estate, proposed building a state-of-the-art campus. my twin brother, um, who has been working with the family and worked in real estate, he said ki ji yahan par hum banayenge ji ek state of the art campus
  29. He said the largest coworking space in Pakistan had 100 seats in 2019. 2019 mein the largest coworking space in Pakistan had 100 seats, which was typically one floor
  30. Colabs' first location was 27,000 square feet and held about 350 people. Our first location was 27,000 square feet. Uh, we we had put 350 people in that space.
  31. He was inspired by large spaces like Station F and WeWork, and asked why Pakistan lacked one. when I would go and I would visit a large, um, incubator, accelerator, like Station F in Paris, or yeah, WeWork, huge spaces, and I said ki Pakistan mein yeh kyun nahi hai
  32. Colabs was built to serve everyone from freelancers to enterprises. the idea was that you build a hub where you basically are hosting everyone from a freelancer to a startup, to the SME, to the enterprise
  33. One of Colabs' three pillars is flexible workspaces, including coworking, offices and enterprise solutions. We have three basic pillars in the platform where we have what we call our flexible workspaces, which is obviously your coworking, offices, enterprise solutions
  34. He said Colabs offers recruiting, payroll and back-office support to clients. we will help you recruit, process your payroll, run your back office, anything from accounting to sort of legal
  35. He said Colabs manages 10 locations and 5,000 seats, mainly in Lahore and Karachi. today we manage 10 locations across Pakistan, um, across primarily Lahore, Karachi. Uh, we manage 5,000 seats in these locations
  36. He said Colabs works with about 300 companies. this is spread across 300 companies
  37. Colabs' main campus is 150,000 square feet, which he calls the largest in the country. up to our main campus today, which is 150,000 square feet, which is the largest campus today in the country
  38. He said enterprise accounts for 40 to 45% of clients. enterprise accounts for almost 40% of our clients, anything from 40 to 45%
  39. He said freelancers make up below 10% of clients. freelancers would be below 10%
  40. He said some US clients pay Colabs more than $200 or $300 per seat. some of our US companies what they pay us today is I would say north of, I mean, $200 or $300 a seat
  41. He said a US company that raised $30 million, whose team grew from 50 to 250 people, is fully managed by Colabs. today we have Glow Insurance, a US company raised $30 million. Um, first team that came from 50 to when they grew to 250, fully managed by us
  42. He said Colabs dedicates a full floor to large teams that need one. Agar 250 bando ki team hai aur unko ek dedicated floor chahiye, hum woh pura floor dedicate karte hain unke liye
  43. He said Colabs' edge is its in-house 360-degree enterprise solution. that 360 solution is something that we have built a huge team in-house for and that's I think for us that is our edge
  44. He said most international companies do not want to handle buildings, contractors and IT themselves. most international companies do not want to deal with the headache of finding a building, then finding a contractor, then managing their IT
  45. He said Colabs' first partnership, a very large one, was with the Pakistan Air Force. humne apni pichle saal pehli partnership ki which is very large, which is with the Pakistan Air Force
  46. He described a 65,000 square foot space with over 1,000 seats inside the Old Lahore Airport. it is 65,000 square feet over 1,000 seats inside the Old Lahore Airport in between the Technology Park
  47. In partner locations, the partners fund the capex and Colabs earns a revenue share. all the capex has been invested by our partners with regards to ACs, bathrooms, flooring and we operate on a revenue share model
  48. He said landlords should eventually fund the capex, not Colabs. eventually I think that is the model where you stop investing the capex and you have sort of landlords invest the capex
  49. He said Colabs' revenue has grown about 100% a year over the last five years. in the last I would say five years, our revenue has increased 100% almost year on year
  50. He said Colabs plans to open its first Riyadh location by the end of the year. we are going into Saudi Arabia, uh opening our first location in Riyadh, inshallah by end of the year
  51. Colabs' holding company is based in Singapore. Our holding company is Singapore based
  52. He said Colabs uses a tri-party contract with its holding company for international clients. we do a tri-party contract I mean with sort of our holdco and through that we manage their office
  53. He said about 30% of Colabs' revenue is dollarized. aaj I would say 30% of our revenue is dollarized
  54. He said clients prefer dollar contracts with 5% yearly increases over rupee contracts with 10%. a lot of clients prefer a dollar contract with a 5%, I mean, increment let's say year on year as opposed to a rupee contract which is 10%
  55. He said 50 to 60% of Colabs' clients are international companies. 50, 60% of our clients today are international companies or US, Norway, Europe, Middle East
  56. He said Colabs raised 3 million in 2022. humne 22 mein raise kiya 3 million
  57. He said an investor added 2 million, and that a total of 5 million had been announced. Additional 2 million unhone daale and total 5 million announce kar chuke hain
  58. He said Colabs has raised money for its Saudi rollout and is still in that process. we have pretty much um raised for our Saudi rollout today and we are currently in that process as well
  59. He said the first Saudi building is being designed. we've already started designing our first building as well
  60. He said Colabs has always taken whole buildings rather than individual floors. We have never gone into a floor. It has always been the concept
  61. He said Colabs is one of the few companies in the region to raise venture capital after the WeWork crash. we today are one of the only companies, I would say in uh this region, Pakistan for sure, but also over there, that has raised venture capital post the WeWork crash
  62. He said Colabs broke even six months after it launched in 2019. When we launched in 2019, um we broke even after the first six months
  63. He said Colabs' operating burn over six years was under $1 million of the $5 million raised. In the last, I would say six years, our aggregate burn operationally from the $5 million we raised was less than a million
  64. He said flexible workspaces can generate free cash flow at 25 to 35% profit margins. fundamentally flexible workspaces when they are actually operating at a profit margin which can be anywhere from sort of 25% to sort of a 30%, 35%, you will eventually generate free cash flow
  65. He said Karachi sites operate at about 1.5 to 2 times the revenue of Lahore sites. our sites in Karachi operate at almost I would say 1.5 to 2 times revenue of Lahore
  66. He said the issue is spending power, not the number of users. It's a spending power issue. It's not a user issue.
  67. He said people who paid between 25,000 and 35,000 per seat four or five years ago cannot afford more today. if four to five years ago was paying a person a certain price per seat, which I would say between 25 to 35,000, today is also not able to afford more than that
  68. He said the minimum wage was 17,000 five years ago and is set to reach 44,000. aapki minimum wage paanch saal pehle 17,000 thi, abhi 44,000 hone wali hai
  69. He said that when he is expanding, it becomes very difficult to make a return. So when I am expanding, it becomes very difficult to make a return
  70. He said Pakistan will grow more slowly than before after the challenges of the last 12 to 18 months. in the last 12 to 18 months, there have been many challenges and because of that, Pakistan will grow, but maybe not at the same pace like you were growing previously
  71. He said the core of what Colabs wants to do now is go big in the region. the core of what we want to do right now is go big in the region
  72. He said Colabs will expand in Pakistan through partnerships and joint ventures. So Pakistan will expand through partnerships and we are actively exploring that as well
  73. He said Colabs plans to enter Islamabad and expand in Karachi. we want to go into Islamabad, we want to expand into Karachi
  74. He said Colabs initially wanted to retain control. We initially wanted to retain the control
  75. He said Pakistan's economy is driven by local consumption. it's a it's a local consumption driven economy
  76. He said Colabs is entering Saudi Arabia with a local partner, a large Saudi family. we're going in with a very exciting uh local partner, very large Saudi family
  77. He calls the Saudi co-working market very nascent. So surprisingly, Saudi is a very nascent market, right?
  78. He said an international player in Saudi charges $1,500 or more a month. a Saudi international player is charging anywhere from 1500 dollar plus a month
  79. He said that at an average of $1,000 per seat in Saudi, one can comfortably make about a 30% margin. If in Saudi today an average price per seat that is 1000 dollar, okay? You can still comfortably make I would say 30% margin
  80. He said a lot of his team has moved to Saudi Arabia in the last two or three years. a lot of my team has moved to Saudi in the last two, three years
  81. He said Colabs has about 350 staff, about 150 of them in its HQ team. our team today is about 350, but if I look at the core team which is what we call the HQ team, about 150
  82. He said his capex might be four to five times that of Pakistan, but if his revenue is ten times, his margin is 30%. my CAPEX might be four to five times of Pakistan, but if my revenue is 10 times, my margin is 30%
  83. He said Class A real estate in Saudi Arabia has about 95% occupancy. Saudi mein today class A real estate has 95% occupancy
  84. He said Colabs' success in the last four or five years comes from community, not space. co-labs ki success in the last four, five years has not been space. It's been the fact that we've been able to create communities
  85. He said investors look for how a company can grow 10 or 20 times, not for net profit. As an investor, the focus is not net profit. Focus is not on dividends. It's how do you 10x or 20x this growth
  86. He said four to five Saudi locations would bring double-digit million-dollar revenue. if we are able to open anywhere from four to five locations in Saudi, that's double digit million dollar revenue
  87. He said Pakistan has about 250 million people and a very low median age. 250 million people, very low median age
  88. He said it will take Pakistan the next few years to get out of where it is today. it will take Pakistan the next few years to get out of where we are today
  89. He said Pakistan has to make basic goods before it can make complex products like iPhones. Jab tak rote baltiyan nahi banayenge, toh iPhone kaise banenge?
  90. He said few Pakistani wealth creators are self-made, first-generation people. Very few people today where you see ki they are self-made, they're first generation
  91. He said one option is to give land to a bank for a loan at 14 to 15%, and otherwise there is no option. aap ya phir bank ko zameen deke loan lo, jo aapki 14, 15% pe, otherwise there is no option
  92. He said Pakistan could have more billion-dollar companies in 25 years. I think Pakistan will be an economy which is, I mean, which which is grown up. Um, you have more billion dollar companies across Pakistan
  93. He said Pakistan could stay stuck in its bubble unless it resolves its political challenges. unless you are able to get rid of all these political challenges, just be stuck in its bubble
  94. He said consumer spending will rise as Pakistanis need food, schools and hospitals. These people need to eat. These people need to go to school. They need to go to hospitals
  95. He said growing companies must stay strict about their core principles. is primarily that you have to be very strict in terms of adherence, in terms of sort of your core principles
  96. He sometimes gives Gen Z people The Hard Thing About Hard Things, a book by Ben Horowitz. woh uski book hai, um, Ben Horowitz ki, I mean, The Hard Thing About Hard Things. Um, aaj kal jo hamari Gen Z hai na, unko main woh kitab kabhi kabhi deta hoon
  97. He said Colabs' bread and butter is its initiatives, focused on partnerships and on the events held there. our bread and butter is sort of our initiatives in the sense that very much focused on partnerships, on the sort of events that took place there
  98. He said he moved toward Saudi Arabia because Pakistan's growth has a limit. main Saudi kyun move hua? Because I knew ki Pakistan mein, theek hai, growth hai, but woh jo ek, there's a limit to it
  99. He said his ambition was to build a billion-dollar company. meri ambition thi ki maine billion dollar company banani hai