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Interview with paul sathio crown property group final draft

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Paul Sathio started his career as a badminton player in Indonesia but realized it would not sustain him long term. He moved to Australia for his education, earning degrees in civil engineering. He worked for other companies but founded his own, Crown International Holdings Group, in 1996 with his partner Iwan Sunito. Crown has developed over $1 billion in residential projects in Sydney and continues to take on new challenges. Paul attributes his success to hard work, logical thinking, and a bit of luck.

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Always Looking for the Next Challenge: Paul Sathio, CEO Crown International Holdings Group Meet Paul Sathio, a Bali boy turned badminton player, turned civil engineer and turned property boss. His soft-spoken, quiet, hesitant, and calm appearance belie the hunger, the fire, and the enormous appetite he has for solving and conquering the next challenges to make something out of his life. Crown is now in the top ten most renowned developer companies in Australia. Paul and Crown is a proud example of Indonesian success story in Australia. If Paul Sathio, Chief Executive of Crown International Holdings Group, was not building luxury residential development for Sydney upmarket investors and buyers, he would probably be smashing shuttle cock for Indonesia. Badminton was his initial passion. For a good part of his early years, he was playing badminton and liked it so much that he asked his father to send him to Surabaya to join a dedicated badminton club that would enable him to be trained and groomed to play in the national level one day. In his hometown, he was known as the local champion for junior level. As he himself put it, school was second, badminton was my first priority. He might put it that way, but since elementary school and through to high school, he was brilliant at school and able to get very good grades. His father was reluctant to let him go to Surabaya, a big city as he saw it, because he was afraid of the influences that his son would be exposed to. He allowed his son to go to Malang, however, because it is a small city but the quality of badminton player is better than in his hometown, Bali. But in the club in Malang, Paul received no training whatsoever despite being a member of PBSI (Persatuan Bulutangkis Seluruh Indonesia, or the Badminton Association of Indonesia). He had to train himself and play on his own with other club members. Because of this reason, Paul pushed his father again to allow him to go to Surabaya. He finally did go to Surabaya and joined a renowned badminton club in the city, Rajawali Club. But although he could beat Balis badminton champion, he could not beat Surabayas number one. This made him realise that his badminton skills were probably not good enough to make it to the national team. As he grew older, he realised also that badminton will not be a long lasting occupation and that he needed to look at other options to make something out of his life. When he decided to move to Australia for his high school education in Sydney, he let go of his dreams of playing badminton nationally. He started getting serious in his studies when he took Civil Engineering major at the New South Wales Institute of Technology (which is now renamed University of Technology Sydney or UTS) and decided to seriously consider
becoming an engineer. I have to be really good at it because if I dont calculate accurately buildings may fall down. Its a big responsibility. He continued his education and did Master of Engineering at the University of New South Wales. Once he finished university, he worked in a company, building bridges in Mildura. He was also sent to West Java in a job for an Australian company who cooperated with the Bakrie brothers company, Trans Bakrie. Not long after, he gained his Australias permanent residency. He worked in steel business for two years. Ever restless and not easily satisfied, after he felt he has enough experience and knowledge, he decided to be his own boss and make his own company. At that moment, he didnt have any funds, had no business experience, and was refused loan by banks. That didnt deter him. He gathered family, relatives, and friends to help him with the funds. Fortunately, he had their trust and they were all willing to help him. Among his first lenders was his father. He started with small project development as he tried to establish a reputation. In July 1990, he started building 15 villa homes in Ryde, New South Wales. Then he bought 10 homes, and then 13 homes. When he started the business, he did everything himself. He prepared the tender document, he made the plans, built the houses himself, and then he made the marketing collaterals, and even waited in a small office as the real estate agent for those who wanted to buy his properties. It was only in 1994 that he started to get to know Iwan Sunito, his co- founder and CEO of Crown International Holdings Group. Paul met Iwan, an architect, when they were tendering for a same piece of land in a development plan. He ended up winning the bid. Iwan already knew Paul before, because he was known as a good badminton player in Sydneys Indonesian community and once won the second place of a junior badminton championship in Adelaide. It was during those years that he built a connection with Iwan. Iwan was offering his design and architectural expertise, which Paul accepted, and met quite frequently to discuss the project. As they felt a certain working compatibility, they set up what is to be Crown International Holdings Group now, in a 50-50 partnership in 1996. Their first development project together was building a residential property of $27 million apartment block at Bondi Junction, and they havent stopped working together to this day. Iwan and I have many weird coincidences. Like we have the same number in our car plates, and my fathers name is Wijaya Sathio, and his mothers surname is Sathio Wijaya, Paul shared.
As Paul acts as civil engineer and builder and is responsible for the development and construction, Iwan works as the architect and the concept designer, as well as being responsible for overseeing the marketing efforts of their development projects. Iwan Sunito is the man of the office, whereas Paul is the man of the site. Business partnership is sure a tricky subject. If not navigated wisely, it could end up disastrous. But fortunately, Paul and Iwan have a very good attitude and a level headed mindset when it comes to partnership. In a partnership, each has his own strengths. We come together to complement each other. So the way we see it is that one plus one can equal five. Fortunately, that is happening. For a joint venture, each of us must give and take, and must understand each other. We focus on the big picture and the ultimate purpose. If we have problems, we make it smaller or disappear, not bigger, he explains at his spacious guest room in his office and Crown head quarter in the Sydney suburb of Milsons Point. Crown projects have combined value of over $1 billion dollars, and their lowest value project now is worth around $100 million. Their recent residential projects are 233-unit, five-building apartment complex development called Eko located near the Olympic Park in the Newington suburb (which is is worth $130 million), 149-unit waterfront development in the suburb of Rhodes called Sanctum, and the 16-storey, 254-unit apartment called Gallery in the Sydney western suburb, Parramatta. Gallery project was completed last year, whereas Eko is due to be completed this August, and they started the construction process for Sanctum early 2010 and it is scheduled to be completed in 2012. Other than those projects, Paul and Iwan are also set up for a couple of other development plans. The first one is five- tower residential above a shopping center at Topryde commencing in early October with approximately 500 unit. The second one is three-tower, 25- storeys at Parramatta CBD of approximately 350 unit plus commercial unit, which will start sometimes next year. Even though lending has been difficult in the past two years, Crown has not had any difficulties in securing funds from banks. Because our cash flow is good and we have enough funds, we have a good bargaining position when it comes to negotiation with banks, Paul explained. The bank knows us well, and they know our ability. Fortunately, we dont have any problem and they support us. Paul is not easily daunted by the complex process of construction. Challenges like those are exactly what he loves about property development and construction. We all have our own purposes and goals to keep moving forward and go ahead in life, whether it be happiness in our family, or our finances, and other purposesAnd I am sure that as we walk through life, there will be twists and turns, but ultimately if we just keep
going through it, at the end of it we can find immense self-satisfaction when we can get what we aim for. Ultimately, he never thought that he would be where he is now. But when he reflected on his journey so far, he came up with the three essential components of success that he had learnt. To be able to succeed, you have to work hard. Next, you have to have some common sense, and be able to do logical sequence of thinking. The third one you need is luck. I think it plays a part as well, he revealed.

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Interview with paul sathio crown property group final draft

  • 1. Always Looking for the Next Challenge: Paul Sathio, CEO Crown International Holdings Group Meet Paul Sathio, a Bali boy turned badminton player, turned civil engineer and turned property boss. His soft-spoken, quiet, hesitant, and calm appearance belie the hunger, the fire, and the enormous appetite he has for solving and conquering the next challenges to make something out of his life. Crown is now in the top ten most renowned developer companies in Australia. Paul and Crown is a proud example of Indonesian success story in Australia. If Paul Sathio, Chief Executive of Crown International Holdings Group, was not building luxury residential development for Sydney upmarket investors and buyers, he would probably be smashing shuttle cock for Indonesia. Badminton was his initial passion. For a good part of his early years, he was playing badminton and liked it so much that he asked his father to send him to Surabaya to join a dedicated badminton club that would enable him to be trained and groomed to play in the national level one day. In his hometown, he was known as the local champion for junior level. As he himself put it, school was second, badminton was my first priority. He might put it that way, but since elementary school and through to high school, he was brilliant at school and able to get very good grades. His father was reluctant to let him go to Surabaya, a big city as he saw it, because he was afraid of the influences that his son would be exposed to. He allowed his son to go to Malang, however, because it is a small city but the quality of badminton player is better than in his hometown, Bali. But in the club in Malang, Paul received no training whatsoever despite being a member of PBSI (Persatuan Bulutangkis Seluruh Indonesia, or the Badminton Association of Indonesia). He had to train himself and play on his own with other club members. Because of this reason, Paul pushed his father again to allow him to go to Surabaya. He finally did go to Surabaya and joined a renowned badminton club in the city, Rajawali Club. But although he could beat Balis badminton champion, he could not beat Surabayas number one. This made him realise that his badminton skills were probably not good enough to make it to the national team. As he grew older, he realised also that badminton will not be a long lasting occupation and that he needed to look at other options to make something out of his life. When he decided to move to Australia for his high school education in Sydney, he let go of his dreams of playing badminton nationally. He started getting serious in his studies when he took Civil Engineering major at the New South Wales Institute of Technology (which is now renamed University of Technology Sydney or UTS) and decided to seriously consider
  • 2. becoming an engineer. I have to be really good at it because if I dont calculate accurately buildings may fall down. Its a big responsibility. He continued his education and did Master of Engineering at the University of New South Wales. Once he finished university, he worked in a company, building bridges in Mildura. He was also sent to West Java in a job for an Australian company who cooperated with the Bakrie brothers company, Trans Bakrie. Not long after, he gained his Australias permanent residency. He worked in steel business for two years. Ever restless and not easily satisfied, after he felt he has enough experience and knowledge, he decided to be his own boss and make his own company. At that moment, he didnt have any funds, had no business experience, and was refused loan by banks. That didnt deter him. He gathered family, relatives, and friends to help him with the funds. Fortunately, he had their trust and they were all willing to help him. Among his first lenders was his father. He started with small project development as he tried to establish a reputation. In July 1990, he started building 15 villa homes in Ryde, New South Wales. Then he bought 10 homes, and then 13 homes. When he started the business, he did everything himself. He prepared the tender document, he made the plans, built the houses himself, and then he made the marketing collaterals, and even waited in a small office as the real estate agent for those who wanted to buy his properties. It was only in 1994 that he started to get to know Iwan Sunito, his co- founder and CEO of Crown International Holdings Group. Paul met Iwan, an architect, when they were tendering for a same piece of land in a development plan. He ended up winning the bid. Iwan already knew Paul before, because he was known as a good badminton player in Sydneys Indonesian community and once won the second place of a junior badminton championship in Adelaide. It was during those years that he built a connection with Iwan. Iwan was offering his design and architectural expertise, which Paul accepted, and met quite frequently to discuss the project. As they felt a certain working compatibility, they set up what is to be Crown International Holdings Group now, in a 50-50 partnership in 1996. Their first development project together was building a residential property of $27 million apartment block at Bondi Junction, and they havent stopped working together to this day. Iwan and I have many weird coincidences. Like we have the same number in our car plates, and my fathers name is Wijaya Sathio, and his mothers surname is Sathio Wijaya, Paul shared.
  • 3. As Paul acts as civil engineer and builder and is responsible for the development and construction, Iwan works as the architect and the concept designer, as well as being responsible for overseeing the marketing efforts of their development projects. Iwan Sunito is the man of the office, whereas Paul is the man of the site. Business partnership is sure a tricky subject. If not navigated wisely, it could end up disastrous. But fortunately, Paul and Iwan have a very good attitude and a level headed mindset when it comes to partnership. In a partnership, each has his own strengths. We come together to complement each other. So the way we see it is that one plus one can equal five. Fortunately, that is happening. For a joint venture, each of us must give and take, and must understand each other. We focus on the big picture and the ultimate purpose. If we have problems, we make it smaller or disappear, not bigger, he explains at his spacious guest room in his office and Crown head quarter in the Sydney suburb of Milsons Point. Crown projects have combined value of over $1 billion dollars, and their lowest value project now is worth around $100 million. Their recent residential projects are 233-unit, five-building apartment complex development called Eko located near the Olympic Park in the Newington suburb (which is is worth $130 million), 149-unit waterfront development in the suburb of Rhodes called Sanctum, and the 16-storey, 254-unit apartment called Gallery in the Sydney western suburb, Parramatta. Gallery project was completed last year, whereas Eko is due to be completed this August, and they started the construction process for Sanctum early 2010 and it is scheduled to be completed in 2012. Other than those projects, Paul and Iwan are also set up for a couple of other development plans. The first one is five- tower residential above a shopping center at Topryde commencing in early October with approximately 500 unit. The second one is three-tower, 25- storeys at Parramatta CBD of approximately 350 unit plus commercial unit, which will start sometimes next year. Even though lending has been difficult in the past two years, Crown has not had any difficulties in securing funds from banks. Because our cash flow is good and we have enough funds, we have a good bargaining position when it comes to negotiation with banks, Paul explained. The bank knows us well, and they know our ability. Fortunately, we dont have any problem and they support us. Paul is not easily daunted by the complex process of construction. Challenges like those are exactly what he loves about property development and construction. We all have our own purposes and goals to keep moving forward and go ahead in life, whether it be happiness in our family, or our finances, and other purposesAnd I am sure that as we walk through life, there will be twists and turns, but ultimately if we just keep
  • 4. going through it, at the end of it we can find immense self-satisfaction when we can get what we aim for. Ultimately, he never thought that he would be where he is now. But when he reflected on his journey so far, he came up with the three essential components of success that he had learnt. To be able to succeed, you have to work hard. Next, you have to have some common sense, and be able to do logical sequence of thinking. The third one you need is luck. I think it plays a part as well, he revealed.