5 Minutes With… Liam James Watson, Chief Executive, LupoToro

Liam James Watson is a young, energetic executive, not dissimilar to other young, energetic executives you’d likely find around Silicon Valley or rising on Wall Street. He is self-made, clear-cut and down to earth.

In 2015, Watson was broke, working at Hungry Jacks Burger Joint (akin to Burger King) and had the choice of university or entrepreneurship. He chose the latter. In late 2015 he had started an online pharmacy business named In-house, building a substantial client base online and achieving an annual turnover of over $5 million within two years of operation, snowballing his personal wealth into the multi-millions (as at 2019, Watson is ranked at a personal net wealth of $7 million at age 23).

Fast forward, focusing on 2016. Whilst working on his online pharmacy business, Watson developed a serious interest in Cryptocurrency trading. He traded personally, studied technical analysis and even experimented in forex trading. This sparked an idea in Watson: why not trade for those that can’t or don’t know how? Fast-establishing a network of professionals, Watson leveraged his connections by bringing this idea of Cryptocurrency trading on behalf of high-net worth clients to private consulting firm, MXN Consulting LL. Long story short, Watson convinced the firm not only to rebrand (now, LupoToro) but make Cryptocurrency trading a primary focus (the firm already had a focus on Cryptocurrency services, such as investment and tax/law guidance, but not over the counter trading). The rest is history.

From mid-2016 onwards, LupoToro built upon the already solid financial foundation of MXN Consulting which preceded it, becoming Australia’s leading Cryptocurrency establishment. Now, acting as current Chief Executive of LupoToro, Liam James Watson is as excited as ever for the future of Cryptocurrency and finance not only in Australia, but on a global scale. We had the opportunity to spend some time with Watson, our transcript of our interview below.

[The following transcript has been edited for conciseness]

Alyson Shontell: Thank you for taking the time to sit with us this evening, it is a pleasure to have you.

Liam James Watson: No problem, thank you for having me.

AS: Let’s get right into it, what drove you to start an online pharmacy?

LJW: The pharmacy was a spur-of-the-moment idea to be honest. I wanted to find a way to get prescription medicine legally to people, without inconveniencing them. You can buy food online, do your shopping, clothing, but it was hard to get medicine. I wanted to fix that.

AS: You provided a service for a common need.

LJW: Exactly.

AS: From what I understand, you sold (InHouse) pharmacy in 2018? What inspired you to sell?

LJW: The pharmacy was sold at the end of 2017 actually, it was simply business; I had a good offer, we were very profitable and so decided that it was time to move on. At the time Crypto-assets were a major interest to me and I wanted to get involved with this new technology.

AS: Did your interest in Cryptocurrency lead you to selling the pharmacy, was that a direct influence?

LJW: Not really, I could easily have had someone run the pharmacy for me and I do whatever else I wanted. It was more that I felt I had done what I needed to do, built up a great customer base and great online retail front. Running an online pharmacy was great, but it was never my dream. I’ve always liked how things work, the idea of technology changing the world, that is my passion. With an online pharmacy I provided a service and met the needs of people, but I did not satisfy the itch I had for tech – but Crypto does that.

AS: Right, so Cryptocurrency is a passion. How did you propose the idea of a rebranding and inclusion, heavily focusing on OTC (over the counter) trading and investment options to MXN Consulting, before it became LupoToro?

LJW: Good question, I really don’t know. I knew the owner of MXN and we are good friends. I guess the idea came up one night, we played with it and said ‘you know what, let’s do it’. We rebranded, increased the scope of Crypto in the business further and just built on it. It snowballed.

AS: Is the owner of MXN Consulting still involved with the business, LupoToro?

LJW: Yes.

AS: Now I’ve got to ask, you are quite young, has your age had any implication on your business practices at LupoToro or in the past? Do people make assumptions due to your age?

LJW: I think so yeah. People always judge no matter what. I’m still in my 20s and that I guess…does have an effect on people, sure. Especially the older guys who have been around in the industry for a while. But you know, the world is changing. The richest people of the last 20 years have all been under 35 and tech is the new frontier. Crypto, social media, it’s all new ground. Age isn’t important, it is what you do with your time and knowledge that is. I’m comfortable.

AS: That is a good way to be. How has the journey been building LupoToro into the success that it is today? How was the initial reaction from existing clients and the public during the rebranding phase?

LJW: That was hard for sure. Existing clients were not that interested in Crypto, they are moreso now, but back when we started the process they were not. The public was also pretty confused. But we persisted.

AS: Where do you see LupoToro heading into the future? What are the immediate goals for the company?

LJW: Immediate goals are to further takeover the Australian marketplace for financial guidance, tax guidance, investment help for everyday people and businesses. We also provide business consulting at a very high level – we cover managerial consulting, restructuring, process improvement – and we do it so well. So Crypto and blockchain are a major specialty of LupoToro, we are market leaders in the field, but we don’t want people to forget that we are multi-faceted, multi-talented. So the immediate goals are to ensure people remember these details, we are the one-stop shop for finance and business, personal or on a large scale.

AS: That’s fantastic, well put. We’ve heard a good deal about LupoToro’s OneApp, what can you tell us about it?

LJW: OneApp is in development now. It is a mobile application where you can do all your banking, make payments in cash or Crypto, trade shares or Crypto, get an instant bank loan approval – we are the only app which will get you pre-approval all the way through to cash in hand, within minutes or seconds. Property management, personal finance management, whatever you want, the app will provide. We even have rewards systems we’re working on, you can potentially win a Mercedes or other great gifts through the app. There is a lot to tell.

AS: That is a lot to go through, I’m not sure we’d have the time for it all. Could you give us a timeline on when the app is expected for public release?

LJW: Very soon. Very very soon.

AS: Exciting times ahead I’m sure then! Before we go, what is the number one most important milestone for you at LupoToro?

LJW: The most important? I’m not sure. I’m not really sure. The most impressive was landing HSBC as a consulting client, we did a major deal for them regarding blockchain assistance and research, I think it was a $270 million account or something, we scored that book and since then, things just went up up. That was a big one for sure.

AS: Incredible, that is superb. Thank you Mr Waston for taking the time to spend five minutes with Business USA, it has been a pleasure being able to talk with you.

LJW: My pleasure, no worries.

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