From a Punt to 600+ Billboards: The Gawk Story with Luke Course

What happens when two brothers take a punt on a few billboards and end up building a regional media business with more than 600+ billboards and 50+ people? In this episode of Beyond Growth, Reyan (  / reyanfernando  ) sits down with Luke Course (  / luke-course-57b15836  ) , co-founder of Gawk (https://gawk.com.au/) , to unpack the real story behind the business. What started as an idea to build a few passive-investment billboards turned into something much bigger. Luke shares the highs, lows and plenty of lessons from the journey, including the early days of getting their hands dirty, navigating COVID, making bold decisions during uncertainty, and building a business where people and culture sit at the centre. They talk about why the brothers chose to focus on regional Victoria, how Gawk has maintained its unique larrikin culture while scaling, and why investing in people has become one of their biggest competitive advantages. In this episode, they explore: • ​Taking a punt and turning an idea into a growing business • ​The early challenges that shaped Gawk • ​Why COVID became a major turning point • ​Betting on regional Victoria and seeing an opportunity others overlooked • ​Building and protecting culture while growing beyond 50 people • ​Making sophisticated advertising technology accessible to local businesses • ​Why being independent and genuinely consultative matters • ​The lessons Luke has learned about leadership, people and scaling If you're a founder trying to grow, a leader navigating the challenges of scaling, or simply love a good underdog story, this conversation is about backing yourself, backing your people and doing business differently. Find out more about Gawk by heading to www.gawk.com.au (https://gawk.com.au/) This episode was proudly brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠ISO365 - ISO Compliance⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.iso365.com.au/) , as a Service. You can connect with ⁠⁠Reyan Fernando⁠⁠ (  / reyanfernando  ) via ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ or by heading to ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.reyanfernando.com.au⁠ (https://reyanfernando.com.au/)