This is one of those talks that can move you. You know the feeling. Even if you aren't in food tech, keep reading. Bill Fultz is about to inspire you to focus on work that actually matters, and prove that you can lead a business with pure honesty and still achieve massive success.
Tanya: For those who don't know you, can you share anything you'd like about yourself?
Bill: I've been involved in the restaurant industry since I was 18, right out of high school. At first, I was on the merchant side in the restaurant space, then moved on to become a dealer or reseller, VAR, — lots of terms for it — and did that successfully at scale for a number of years. Then I transitioned into the ISV side of the industry. Over those journeys, I've worked with well over 26 different point-of-sale platforms that I've built, bought, or sold.
I've added retail and many other sectors in this enjoyable journey, and it truly is a lot of fun. I enjoy technology; I love solving problems that haven't been solved yet, but I also like interacting with people.
“This is one of those great industries where you get to make people's lives better in many different areas, whether that's for owners, operators, staff members, partners, or our own employees”.
It's rewarding, and I've been blessed beyond anything I deserve.
Tanya: So you led a VAR before you ever worked for a vendor, right? What do vendors still get wrong about dealers that you knew on day one?
Bill: I started the serious part of my career as a VAR, doing deployments mainly for restaurants and retail businesses. I spent a number of years doing that, then took over sales and operations, and eventually became president of the organization. In that journey, I have seen the full ecosystem of what it takes to succeed.
I think vendors underestimate the value of their relationship with resellers. Just because they're not technically an ISV doesn't mean they don't have a lot to offer. They are the face of many of the products and services we supply. They're the ones who have to explain to the merchant why something doesn't work, why it is too complicated, and they often have to justify the price.
People often undervalue what VAR’s can do and how much stress they absorb in the process. If technology providers truly understand this, then promote market strategies where all stakeholders make money in this equation. The merchant obviously has to make money to pay the VAR, which the vendor endorses. It's an ecosystem, and if everyone can't make money, or anyone tries to displace that relationship, it doesn't work.
If you put your time and energy into something, you should be fairly compensated. Vendors often believe, "Oh, it's just a lead or a referral; that's all it's good for." But there's a reason why the attrition numbers are so low when you have a reseller in place. They become an advocate; they go the extra mile; their children go to these places with them on the weekends. That, in itself, is the strength, because large companies can't do it easily. The VAR channel allows that local community connection, which remains crucial in a people's business.
Tanya: My next question was about you getting into the hotel business, but I think you have already answered it by saying that you like to work with people. The question was: why go deeper into hospitality if you see it every day already?
Bill: I've always loved being connected to the work I do. I've been in the restaurant business as an owner-operator, and we have retail shops in our family. You have to stay close to the work and the problems you solve. It gives you a perspective you simply can't get through short interviews or an analyst's report.
A good friend had a vision to open and operate a boutique hotel, and I wanted to understand that business more deeply. Construction is almost complete, and it will open this holiday season.
Tanya: Cool, where is it?
Bill: It is in Oregon, on the coast, in the new wine country. The wine country has moved as seasons and climates have adjusted. It's a town very close to our principles: community-based and very open to local entrepreneurs. We think it's a great opportunity.
Tanya: Now let's move to Linga itself. There is an all-in-one on every POS website. What does an operator actually stop paying for each month when they switch to you?
Bill: Merchants need to solve more than a single problem, whether they are a retailer or a hospitality customer. Historically, they've had to go to many places to solve these issues.
They have a labor problem and need to address payroll. They have an inventory problem and need help with stock and purchasing. They need payment options across credit, debit, and gift cards. These problems run deep. Historically, merchants had to use many different systems or create their own ways of managing things through spreadsheets and policies.
It takes up so much time. Subscription fatigue also happens at the consumer level and, absolutely, at the business level. A bunch of monthly subscriptions adds up very quickly. Are they actually getting the value?
With Linga’s platform, a large range of problems can be solved, reducing time and complexity for merchants.
One of the first things I did when I joined Linga was to eliminate all those extra fees. We decided it is a platform, and it should have a single, easy-to-understand price.
Each merchant has a mix of problems that is different. Some restaurants do delivery, some don't. Some already have their scheduling sorted out. With Linga’s approachable platform, merchants can turn on different problem solvers — scheduling, inventory, delivery — and know they're included in their platform.
We didn't want an environment where they overpay or avoid using our software because it costs more to solve a specific problem. We made it approachable: here are all the problems we solve, and you decide how to activate them. You know what your costs will look like; it's very simple, and you can turn features on and off as you want.
That approach has been really successful. We lowered our overall price, but revenues are up. It's more attractive, so we're doing more business with more merchants. It's working.
Tanya: What I really liked is that when I checked your website, everything was so transparent. I don't need to write to anyone or call a hotline to find out the price. With a lot of POS systems, there are no numbers. I don't know what I should pay. I think it's great; it should be the basic, but unfortunately, it's not.
Bill: We got it to a simple position. When we talk to a merchant learning about our solutions, the next thing they want to know is the price. What people do in this industry today is, "I'll get you a quote and get back to you." We just tell them the price. "Here's what we're going to do. Will this solve your problems? Yes. Here's what it will cost." It can be accomplished in a single conversation.
“We charge the same price structure to everyone because we want everyone to succeed. Why should I make it punitive just because you have your first business, compared to someone who is on their seventh?”
We create equal, accessible pricing, and they know what it will be as they grow. When they call to open five more locations, they already know their costs.
It's fair, simple; we never have to remember what special deal we gave to someone else. That transparency is intentional so we can move faster.
Tanya: Wow, your speech is so moving. I have some goosebumps! Tricky question. Maybe you can say what Linga is bad at now? What are the struggles?
Bill: What we're really poor at right now, and addressing, is our communication. We've gone through rapid change over the last nine months: we've changed pricing, how we sell hardware, and how we handle payments. Our messaging has lagged behind. Newer partners get it because it's the only way they know, but with older partners, we still need to communicate better.
It's not that we aren't communicating, but we're using traditional marketing approaches like emails and webinars. It doesn't work anymore. Everybody is sending emails and posting on social media to the point of overload. On top of that, AI-generated content is specifically flooding everyone's inboxes. The information is there, but people just don't see it.
At our September Summit, we're releasing a new merchant app called Control Center. This philosophy applies to everything we do now. It's an app that lets merchants control their environment, view reporting, message within their organizations, approve requests, and interact with the system right from their phones. And of course, we've layered AI into it.
This is how we communicate with merchants, and we'll keep growing it. But we're giving our partners that same application. They can have a single app on their phone, and we can push notifications directly, avoiding emails or webinars. If something big happens in retail, for instance, the app amplifies that notice to make sure they see it.
This app is included in their subscription, not extra. They're selling this platform every day, and we communicate through the very thing they sell. Everything we do for our partners also supports our merchants and employees, who are connected to the same network. We're creating a simpler way to interact that addresses the people, the program, and the product.
As we evaluate our strategies through this lens, how does it serve our people, the overall program, and the product itself? Focusing on those three aspects prevents distractions and stops us from creating things that don't have value. For example, we are building our knowledge center to help our employees, partners, and merchants within the same solution. No one has special access; everyone gets the best information.
Tanya: I'm meeting you for the first time, and you're inspiring me with your love for what you're doing. Next question is about AI. Where else do you use it?
Bill: Our approach with AI is a little bit different. Our vision for artificial intelligence goes beyond the product; we aren’t interested in creating glitzy features that look good during a sales pitch but offer no practical value. Early on, we centered on the term cognitive business framework.
It's not an AI-first company that believes people aren't part of the process and tries to have AI do everything. Our aim was: how do we stitch together the different departments and help provide a beneficial cognitive framework of AI and human intelligence to a better outcome?
For example, you can offer an AI feature where you ask questions, and it saves you clicks and taps. That's valuable to a merchant; it saves time and keeps them from having to learn something new. The system uses natural language to do what we've done for years, but it simplifies the process.
But what if we tapped that same AI into the product itself? What if it reported back learnings, built product requirements, and generated code? What if that created training and support material, while feeding inputs back to our sales teams for forecasting? That's a cognitive framework in action.
We are placing all these in the same toolbox. Everyone benefits, from the support person taking phone calls to the engineer writing code to the salesperson marketing the product. Each department has its missions, but the intention is to bring it all together into a singular framework.
“People ask me, 'Will AI take my job? Are you going to reduce the workforce?" The answer is no”.
We need to give our teams better tools so they can handle growth without adding more people, which is very expensive. We still need people to run this business; that doesn't change.
I liken it to building a house. A hundred years ago, you used manual tools, but you could still build great houses. As tools improved, you could build even more interesting houses with the same or fewer people. The goal isn't to stop building houses; we just want to do it better and faster. We encourage our teams to learn the technology and solve problems in new ways, not to get rid of people, but because we want to build more and better houses faster.
It's exciting. One proof point is our upcoming summit conference. We had 16 major product deliverables. Historically, we might have delivered 50% on time. Now, we hit 95% ready to go. That acceleration from ideation to real products is exciting. We see AI as an enabler; it doesn't replace the people aspect of our business; it improves it.
Tanya: It's a very abstract question. But what do you think will really change in the industry in, let's say, three years? Maybe other companies will fire people because of AI, maybe there will be fewer resellers?
Bill: The channel is not going away or dying; people have been saying this for decades, and yet it's growing.
What a VAR does today looks a lot different than 10 years ago. Before, it was just shifting boxes; a VAR connected you to specialty hardware like printers or touch screens. Then the internet came around, and everyone realized they could get those things quickly online. It shifted from selling boxes to selling services, and VARs created value.
Then, when tablets and the cloud came out, services weren't as difficult. They didn't require the high level of expertise they did before. Services became less needed. The same happened with hardware: still needed, just not the focal point. Now we've moved into residual payments and making money from the financial transaction side. I think we're entering the end of that era, too. Merchants are smarter; information is more valuable. I love that you can feed a merchant statement into an AI tool, and it tells you immediately where you're paying too much.
We're moving into an era where it's results-based. Software will have to deliver real business value. For those in the consulting space who understand how to help a merchant grow and aren't just there to charge a tax, there's a huge opportunity. Value-added resellers are awesome at this. I talk to highly successful restaurant and retail operators, and every time we discuss new tech, they learn something. They often say, "I had no idea this could work this way or be leveraged in this capacity." That people-to-people interaction truly matters.
“I'm excited because, as technologies develop, the VAR actually has a bigger role in the value chain than in the past. VARs aren't going away”
Another thing we see is two different mentalities within VARs. Some are tech-focused, delivering every single part of a tech stack for a merchant: networking, security, sound systems. Others are more sales-based, focusing on the sales approach rather than acting strictly as technical consultants.
To succeed in the future, VARs will have to lean more into the sales element. They need to lean into educating and selling solutions at scale. It will be less about running 24/7 help desks, as there are ways to achieve that without building the infrastructure themselves. This environment has always been moving and morphing. Those who are flexible and willing to adjust will thrive here, and those who want to hold on to old ways will struggle.
