The Mentor with Mark Bouris

Liam Bell turned a COVID lockdown into a seven-piece band phenomenon called Play Lunch. Now he's taking his "bogan funk" sound to America.
This episode dives deep into the business of music, from building a seven-person creative team to mastering social media without losing authenticity. Liam breaks down how Play Lunch cracked the code on modern music marketing, built a devoted fanbase through deliberately imperfect branding, and turned merchandise into their financial lifeline. Plus, how they're preparing to export Australian culture to US audiences.
• Building a seven-piece band during the COVID lockdown
• Creating the "bogan funk" genre and Australian identity in music
• Managing personalities and delegation in creative businesses
• Social media strategy that prioritises authenticity over polish
• Revenue models: why merch outsells streaming in modern music
• Preparing Australian acts for international markets
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Adam Schwab grew Luxury Escapes from a bootstrapped Groupon clone into a billion-dollar travel empire without raising capital until COVID. Here's exactly how he did it.
In this deep dive, Adam breaks down the contrarian moves that built one of Australia's most successful travel businesses. From accidentally discovering the travel arbitrage that competitors missed, to building competitive moats through switching costs and AI-powered personalisation. He reveals why focus beats diversification, how they turned hotel partnerships into a cornered resource, and the metrics that actually matter when building enterprise value.
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Jack Say and Isaac Gibbons turned COVID boredom into TikTok gold, then built SmartAss toilet paper from their viral comedy empire.
Jack and Isaac reveal how they went from filming empty supermarket shelves during Melbourne's lockdown to creating a data-driven content machine with 15 success pillars.
They break down their "orb" philosophy for protecting business partnerships, landing their product in every Coles store, and building authentic brands that audiences actually want to buy from.
The 15-pillar algorithm they use to predict viral content
How they turned their first TikTok video into a sustainable business
Why 85% of Australian toilet paper cuts down virgin trees (and how they're disrupting this) • The "orb" concept that protects their 20-year friendship in business
Their data-driven approach to brand building and audience analysis • How they got into Coles just 6 weeks after launching
Why they choose recycled, Australian-made over quick cash partnerships
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Jeremy Cabral built Finder to $100 million in revenue and 600 employees across 23 countries.
Now he's using AI to revolutionise business growth at lightning speed. Jeremy walks through exactly how AI is transforming everything from customer acquisition to operational efficiency.
He reveals how companies can implement AI agents to automate complex workflows, shares his framework for extracting institutional knowledge from top performers, and explains why the next 12-18 months will separate winners from losers.
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Jonathan Pease is Australia's go-to pitch expert, working with executives from the biggest companies in the country.
Here's how AI is completely reshaping the way we present and pitch. In this episode, Jonathan breaks down how AI has commoditised content creation but amplified the need for authentic human connection.
We explore the critical difference between documents and presentations, why vulnerability is your secret weapon, and how to read the room in real time. Plus, Jonathan reveals his MeWe storytelling framework and explains why the future belongs to those who master taste and communication.
Check out more details on the Pitch retreat here: https://www.winningtheroom.co/the-pitch-retreat-2026
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