How an 18-Year-Old Outsmarted Big Tech and Raised $1.4M with Liam Fuller | Watson Weekend LIVE
The Watson Weekend hosts Rick Watson and Jessica Lesesky discuss the most important retail and e-commerce news from the past week. In the Headline Hangover, they discuss retail's Q4 challenges, AI's impact on brick-and-mortar stores, and retail media trends. They highlight Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's view that AI will accelerate the decline of physical retail, and discuss ThredUp's new peer-to-peer selling model. The hosts also address concerns about agentic commerce liability and Coca-Cola's use of generative AI in advertising.
The episode includes an interview with Liam Fuller, an 18-year-old entrepreneur from Ireland who founded three companies and now runs Source, an AI operations tool for retailers. Liam explains how Source integrates with legacy systems to help operations teams access data and perform tasks more efficiently.
He discusses the challenges of entering the US market, attracting engineering and sales talent, and balancing product development with business growth. Liam emphasizes the importance of product-market fit, cautious scaling, and targeting mid-market brands with complex back-office needs.
He notes the rapid advancement of AI models and the mixed reactions among retail executives, ranging from fear to enthusiasm.
The conversation concludes with advice for new founders and reflections on the evolving retail technology landscape, underscoring AI's transformative potential and the need for startups to innovate within traditional verticals,
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Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
02:50 - Headline Hangover
15:17 - Introducing Liam Fuller
21:15 - How do you pitch brands?
24:42 - Hiring developers in France
26:11 - Evaluating sales talent
33:50 - Focus for the next 6 - 12 months
36:40 - Product market fit
41:50 - Go to market
44:49 - What does Source do?
51:26 - Too many AI startups?
54:27 - AI and retail trends
57:20 - End of show
