Learn from Luke

A video conversation with Luke Skurman, CEO of Niche and Ascender Board Member. Niche recently raised $35 million in Series C funding.

Published in

Ascender

4 min readJul 9, 2020

Starting a business isn’t easy, and that’s even before you add in a global pandemic. Few people know the hardships and highlights of being an entrepreneur and growing a small business better than Luke Skurman, CEO at Niche and an Ascender Board Member. Niche is an online platform that combines analysis with reviews to highlight the best schools, companies, and neighborhoods. Since its founding in 2002, the company (and Luke) has experienced successes, failures, a worldwide recession, periods of retraction, and periods of growth. Despite this bumpy journey, Luke continues to believe in the company passionately. In the midst of the current COVID-19 crisis, Niche announced that it raised a $35 million Series C round of funding.

You should be doing this [running a startup] because you really love what you’re doing. Entrepreneurship is very stressful. There are ‘high’ highs and ‘low’ lows. But if you’re not really enjoying it, it’s not worth the anxiety and the stress.
— Luke Skurman

The videos from our conversation with Luke (broken up into sections below) will provide you with some insightful advice on being an entrepreneur and finding resilience during a crisis. Read the brief summaries and then watch the six short videos below to learn more from Luke.

LET’S GET STARTED!

What is Niche?

Choosing a college is a big decision. This one idea was the impetus for Luke Skurman to launch Niche almost two decades ago in 2002 as a graduate student. Today, Niche connects people to their future schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces and saw over 100 million visits to its platform over the past 12 months.

Entrepreneurship & Growth

For Luke, ‘entrepreneurship’ includes a little bit of everything — finance, marketing, management, and passion. When Luke built an initial prototype of a product that would eventually evolve into Niche, he knew that he was meant to be an entrepreneur. Over the years, he’s learned that you won’t have a great business unless you have a great product. Learn more from Luke on the importance of having a great product and how he’s grown Niche over the years.

Being Deliberate

Starting a successful company begins with the creation of an initial business plan. It’s more than just a class project assigned at every business school. Entrepreneurs are short on resources when first starting a business, so it’s important to have a plan to set priorities and organize goals. Learn more from Luke on the importance of being deliberate when planning for the future.

Prioritize, Execute, Deliver

No matter your job title or career, we all have limited time. Not all projects or activities are created equally. Luke believes in focusing your time and energy on the tasks that will have the greatest impact. It’s also important to keep in mind that being busy doesn’t necessarily mean you are being productive. Learn more from Luke on how to prioritize your work in order to achieve your goals.

Investors

Luke’s explanation for winning over investors is relatively simple: “If someone is going to give you their actual cash and invest in your early-stage business, they have to believe you.” Entrepreneurs at all levels can build trust and credibility with investors by delivering results and communicating transparently. Learn more from Luke on how he fostered mutually beneficial relationships with individuals interested in investing in his business.

Dealing With Crisis

The global pandemic isn’t Luke’s first crisis. Niche successfully navigated the 2008 financial crisis, too, but not without experiencing some disappointments and losses. Reaching out to clients, stakeholders, and investors was key to the company’s survival. Luke took action and didn’t allow himself to be paralyzed by uncertainty. Learn more from Luke on how the lessons he learned in 2008 are guiding his decisions today.

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