110 —What I Learned Building the World’s Largest Student Accommodation Marketplace.
Join us for this week’s ScaleHQ Podcast with Luke Nolan as he shares his transformative insights on building the world’s largest student accommodation marketplace and provides practical advice for entrepreneurs aiming to scale their businesses.
In this ScaleHQ episode, Sean sits down with Luke Nolan, the visionary Founder of Student.com, the world’s largest student accommodation marketplace.
With operations in over 40 countries and close to $3 billion in transactions, Luke shares his journey from startup to global success, offering valuable insights and strategies for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Here are some key points discussed in the interview:
- Genesis of Student.com: Luke recounts the "aha moments" that led to the creation of Student.com.
As an international student himself, he identified a massive opportunity to simplify the student accommodation process.
His unique perspective and firsthand experience fueled his passion for solving this problem on a global scale. - Scaling through Technology: Luke emphasises the importance of leveraging technology to scale the business.
He shares how early investments in tech helped Student.com expand rapidly, particularly in large markets like China.
By focusing on creating a seamless user experience, the platform was able to cater to millions of students worldwide. - Overcoming Challenges and Pivots: The journey wasn’t without its hurdles. Luke discusses a major pivot that involved reducing operational costs and laying off 42 employees in a single day.
This painful but necessary step was crucial for the company's long-term sustainability and growth. - Leadership Transition: Luke talks about his recent transition from CEO to a more strategic role, bringing in a new CEO to lead the company.
He shares the steps taken to ensure a smooth transition and the importance of building a strong leadership team to drive the business forward.
Listen to the full episode to learn more about Luke Nolan’s strategies for scaling a business, navigating challenges, and creating a global impact in the student accommodation industry.
ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Luke is an entrepreneur and an explorer.
Building businesses and chasing adventures have been the core values driving his life.
His most recent start-up was Student.com, a business he spent over a decade building.
Originally Irish-Portuguese with a nomadic childhood and an adventurous spirit, his vision for a better solution for international students led to a global technology platform operating around the world, which has done over $2bn in transactions.
Fanatical about extreme sports and anything in the mountains, he dedicates a big part of his life to training his body and mind for adventures.
He was one of the first people to run the World Marathon Challenge (7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days) and has run ultra-endurance single and multi-stage races all over the world, including some of the most iconic (Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc, MOAB240, and GODZone).
His passion for endurance sports led him to get involved in building a new brand of experience-based events, Worlds Iconic.
The inaugural event was a mass participation road race in Dubai from the iconic Burj Al Arab to the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.
Luke is married to Serbian athlete and coach Ivana, and they are very happy new parents to their daughter, Mila.
They are residents of Dubai and are usually out on an adventure.
About Sean Steele
Sean has led several education businesses through various growth stages including 0-3m, 1-6m, 3-50m and 80m-120m. He's evaluated over 200 M&A deals and integrated or started 7 brands within larger structures since 2012. Sean's experience in building the foundations of organisations to enable scale uniquely positions him to host the ScaleUps podcast.
