Why the Future of Software is AI and Human Collaboration | Steven Fabre, Co-founder and CEO, Liveblocks
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this episode of The Peel, host Turner Novak interviews Steven Fabre, co-founder and CEO of LiveBlocks, an infrastructure platform that enables developers to build collaborative software with AI integration. (02:17) The conversation explores how LiveBlocks evolved from providing real-time collaboration tools to becoming a comprehensive platform for human-AI collaboration. Steven shares his journey from designer to CEO, discusses the challenges of enterprise sales, and reveals insights about building AI-native software that treats artificial intelligence as a true collaborator rather than just a chatbot bolted onto existing products. (08:08) The episode also covers Steven's experience navigating a co-founder departure, building a successful remote team culture, and the evolution of LiveBlocks through three major product iterations.
- Main themes: AI-native software development, collaborative infrastructure, founder evolution, remote team building, and treating AI as a collaborator rather than a separate tool
Speakers
Steven Fabre
Steven Fabre is the co-founder and CEO of LiveBlocks, a collaboration infrastructure platform for people and AI. Originally from a small rural region in France called Aveyron, Steven began his career as a designer and previously worked at InVision where he led design efforts to convert their desktop application to a browser-based collaborative tool. He started his entrepreneurial journey after a basketball injury in Sydney forced him to find alternative income, leading him to build websites and eventually enter the startup ecosystem.
Turner Novak
Turner Novak is the founder of Banana Capital and host of The Peel podcast. He focuses on exploring startup stories and interviewing founders about their journeys building successful companies.
Key Takeaways
Treat AI as a Collaborator, Not a Chatbot
The most successful AI implementations don't force users to learn new interaction patterns but instead integrate AI into existing collaborative workflows. (08:05) Steven emphasizes that companies should enable users to mention AI within their current tools - like commenting systems, Slack channels, or document editors - rather than creating separate AI chat interfaces. This approach feels natural because people already know how to collaborate with humans using @mentions and contextual conversations. LiveBlocks uses this internally with tools like Devin AI, where team members can tag the AI engineer directly in Slack to fix bugs or create tickets, treating it exactly like they would a human team member.
Self-Serve is Critical for AI-Era Growth
Modern AI-native companies can achieve significant revenue growth with smaller teams, making self-serve capabilities more important than traditional enterprise sales armies. (50:28) Steven learned that while the old playbook involved hiring dozens of salespeople to reach $10M+ ARR, today's successful companies can scale revenue without proportionally scaling headcount. This requires building products that customers can easily adopt and expand within their organizations without heavy sales intervention. The shift reflects changing buyer expectations and the efficiency gains that AI-native products can provide to both vendors and customers.
Build Prebuilt Components, Not Just Infrastructure
LiveBlocks discovered that providing low-level APIs wasn't enough - developers needed prebuilt, opinionated components to achieve fast time-to-value. (32:34) Their evolution from version 1.0 (raw infrastructure) to 2.0 (prebuilt React components for comments, notifications, and text editing) showed massive growth acceleration. Instead of spending months building collaborative features from scratch, developers could drop in components that worked like Google Docs or Figma immediately. This lesson applies broadly: successful developer tools often need to provide both the infrastructure and the interface layer to drive adoption.
Remote Teams Need Structured Overlap and In-Person Connection
Successful remote companies require 2-3 hours of daily team overlap and intentional in-person time to maintain momentum and relationships. (81:33) Steven learned from InVision's remote work challenges that timezone alignment is crucial - having team members scattered across the globe creates decision delays that compound over time. LiveBlocks hires primarily in Europe and East Coast US to ensure overlap, hosts annual company retreats, and budgets for project teams to meet in person when needed. The key insight is that remote work succeeds when you're intentional about when and how people connect, rather than assuming complete asynchrony will work.
Hire Senior, Autonomous People for Remote Success
Remote companies should prioritize hiring experienced professionals who can work independently and have prior remote work experience. (82:56) Steven emphasizes that not everyone is suited for remote work, and recent graduates especially benefit from in-office mentorship and company culture immersion that's harder to replicate remotely. Successful remote hires are passionate about the work itself, experienced in their roles, and comfortable with autonomy. This hiring philosophy requires being more selective but results in teams that can maintain momentum and quality without constant oversight.
Statistics & Facts
- LiveBlocks achieved over 3x revenue growth in the year following their co-founder's departure, demonstrating that well-structured teams can maintain momentum through leadership transitions. (76:47)
- ChatGPT ranks as the third, fourth, or fifth largest traffic source for LiveBlocks' website, highlighting the growing importance of AI search optimization for developer tools companies. (21:31)
- LiveBlocks hired a head of people when they were only 6-7 employees, which Steven notes is "unheard of for most companies" but was crucial for establishing remote culture early. (79:02)
