Meet Arthur Ko | CEO, Investor, Real Estate Broker, Life Enthusiast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Arthur Ko and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Arthur, how do you think about risk?
Risk taking is really, really difficult for me. After all, we’re (many of us) brought up our entire lives to stay away from risk. It’s like a muscle we need to develop and grow over time. And just like working out our muscles, I believe it needs to be in a controlled environment (such as the gym) or you may hurt yourself. For ex, you wouldn’t throw $1000 into an idea just for the sake of “taking a risk.” I believe, more importantly, you need to understand the potential gains and potential consequences of the risk. It’s easy to see when you’re gambling at a casino, but harder when it comes to making a business decision, In the business world, you can look at things such as marketing data, feedback from clients, etc to help you “count the cards” so to speak. Though, ultimately, you must take the plunge if you believe in something, and be willing to lose it all for the potential gain. You can also calculate the gain based on the risk. Is it potentially a 5x or 10x? 100x? Or is it just a 1-2x? I’m still working on this as well but I do believe there is something beautiful on the other side of taking the risk and flexing that muscle.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I actually worked for another Event Company during 2010-2011. I worked hard and became their National Manager within 200+ days. We grew very quickly as I stabilized the So Cal region. However, everything came crashing down when the CEO shipped me over to NY to expand the region. The moment I left, our So Cal region, which accounted for the majority of our business, ended up a train wreck. The CEO, unfortunately, didn’t pay people on time, which resulted in them stealing equipment and not fulfilling events, which resulted in an insane number of refunds and chargebacks, which left the company in financial shambles. Meanwhile, I was on the other side of the country, handling everything, but not being paid at all. The company ended up owing me more than $70,000 of wages. Meanwhile, I ran out of all of my savings. I eventually left with nothing and drove all the way back to California on about $2,000 in my account. I had to start all over, or so I thought. But I kept my large account contacts in NY. Shortly after, the company filed for Bankruptcy, but my old clients continued to contact me for large national accounts. Instead of telling them the company no longer existed, I decided to take that opportunity and for my own company to fulfill their needs. Suddenly, my company GC events, was born, and the rest is history.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ktown is always the spot to be, haha. Of course, the beaches in So Cal are awesome. Hiking is always cool. And then there’s just good ol fashion playing basketball at the park or the gym. Definite top restaurants I take people to when they visit are Boiling Crab and Jazz Cat.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Reading 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey in my early 20’s greatly impacted my life. In the very first few chapters, I experienced a paradigm shift, or a shift in the way I looked at life through the teachings of the book. Tony Robbins is a great teacher that expands your mindset and state. Lifeworks is a transformational coaching experience that has also greatly impacted my life in looking at things from a possibility point of view and ultimately allowed me to create the genuine loving relationships with my entire family.

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