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In our latest real estate tech entrepreneur interview, we’re speaking with Luke Nolan from Student.com.
Without further ado…
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Luke Nolan and I am the Founder & CEO at Student.com
What problem does your product/service solve?
Student.com is the world’s largest student accommodation marketplace – we provide a go-to place for students looking to find their perfect home away from home at university. We list over 1.5 million student beds across 500+ cities and 130+ countries worldwide. Finding student accommodation can be a stressful and confusing experience, with many students heading away from home – or even to a different country – for the first time. From first-hand experience, I understand how confusing finding, and then booking accommodation in another country is. From having to check multiple websites, to then trying to compare rooms and package options, it can be both time intensive and overwhelming. The aim of Student.com is to have all the student properties in your chosen city available at the touch of a button/tap of an app. Making it easier, providing peace of mind, and more importantly helping them find somewhere students can call home whilst at university.
What’s are you most excited about right now?
It has been a challenging year, and I think everyone is still adjusting to the new normal. For us it has been a year of great change, and like many companies, we were watching and tracking to see how COVID-19 would impact us. But what has been so awesome to see is that students are still eager to learn, and also learn abroad! Whilst they may be taking longer to book their accommodation – after being hesitant due to the changing travel restrictions – we are still finding many students want to embark on their learning journey. The hunger for experience and learning from today’s students is remarkable, and we are excited to help them.
What’s next for you?
We expect January 2021 and the second university semester/term for students around the world to be busier. Many universities are getting used to the new normal, and with more courses switching to in-person teaching as we head into the New Year, we expect to be busy helping students find their accommodation. From a business point of view, we are always looking to build on the ways we can provide additional support for students. Whether that’s from supporting them through our Together by Student.com intergenerational programme, or providing safer travel/settle in options with our partnership with Uber – there are always more ways we can help students, so that is our focus.
What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?
We care deeply about mental health. I personally feel very lucky to be a naturally positive person all my life and not only is it a core value or our business I feel like it is a human superpower and I would love to support anyone to be able to bring positive energy into their life. Mental health is something we need to work at every day. There are so many “traps” that can suck energy and make you feel down. Unfortunately a lot of young people have not had a support system around them growing up. I am referring to friends, family, coaches, team members, anyone who can pick you up and feel good. I was so lucky growing up having two extremely positive parents and a very loving and warm family especially my sister and of course some incredibly loving and generous friends. This helped shaped who I am today and I feel like I can naturally smile every day and see the funny side of life even when times are tough. I try my best on a daily basis to inject as much of my positive energy as possible to the people around me. We made one of the core missions of Student.com on a company level to support people as well through several mental health initiatives and in fact, we are all getting together globally on the 18th of November to run 5km in a virtual positive spirit. I myself am an endurance athlete and I love pushing myself over long distances. I feel like a passion for sport and physical activity is actually one of the “magic tricks” to fast track yourself to a positive attitude and combat mental health issues that love to come knocking on your door. If I had to sum this all up into one recommendation, (even though this is going to sound cheesy) it would be to remember to just smile – even now when you read this.
Thanks to Luke for sharing his story. If you’d like to connect, find him on LinkedIn here.
We’re constantly looking for great real estate tech entrepreneurs to feature. If that’s you, please read this post — then drop me a line (drew @ geekestatelabs dot com).
Source: geekestateblog.com