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The Fundamental Molecule

Burnt Island Ventures

Welcome to The Fundamental Molecule. This show explores the intersection of water, technology and entrepreneurship. Each week, Tom Ferguson, Managing Partner of Burnt Island Ventures, interviews innovators, experts, entrepreneurs and investors in the world of water, to help us understand where this trillion dollar industry is headed. These are the stories of the people building the future of the world’s most valuable and fundamental resource.
Explore all of our episodes and learn more at https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule

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  • 21 episodes
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  • Avg 46 min
  • English

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  • Today · 43 min

    Reuben Vollmer - Building a Water Company out of Thin Air

    The 250-billion-dollar bottled water industry is a monstrous waste of energy, emissions, plastic, money, and yes, water. Ideally, it would not exist at all. Luckily, my guest today, Reuben Vollmer, agrees and has built Spout, an atmospheric water generation machine that provides ultra-high-quality water at the counter top, and all you need to do is plug it in. Reuben’s route here is one of my favorites. A California drought that put his family farm’s water rights at risk led to a rumination on a field covered in morning dew, which led to a single-minded determination to provide extremely high-quality water from air on demand. He is a card-carrying polymath with a background in everything from film to rapid prototyping to advertising to engineering. What he has built at Spout is genuinely amazing. Please enjoy my conversation with Reuben Vollmer. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- A Chapman Film School alum, Spout Founder Reuben Vollmer’s career spans roles as a Creative Technologist at Deutsch LA and manufacturing manager in Torrance’s aerospace sector. Inspired by morning dew during a 2014 drought that threatened his family farm, he spent 11 years engineering air-to-water technology. His expertise in 3D printing and circuit design now informs Spout (formerly DewGood), a countertop device producing up to 2.5 gallons of pure water daily. Reuben blends imagination with engineering to provide a sustainable, independent water source free from plastic and pipes. 00:00 - Introduction 02:20 - Making Drinking Water From Air 03:21 - Turning California’s Drought Into Spout 07:29 - Why Failure Is Essential for Founders 09:13 - From Failed Prototype to Breakthrough Product 13:39 - Building a Hardware Startup With Limited Capital 20:20 - Creating Better, Cleaner Drinking Water 24:39 - Pricing and Marketing a $2,000 Water Machine 33:58 - Making Atmospheric Water Generation Mainstream 37:59 - Balancing Founder Ambition With Sustainable Growth 42:22 - Build What Customers Actually Want Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Reuben Vollmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reuben-vollmer-a9314341/ Spout: https://www.spoutwater.com/ Key Takeaways: "I’m so used to failure. You know, if I’m not failing, then I’m not doing something right, honestly. And I fail probably nine times out of ten." "Nobody cares that you have a box that makes water. They care if they don’t have to carry three packs of Aquafina to their car every week anymore." "Focus on making a product that people want to buy, not on the product that you want to make." "The grander the vision, I feel like the more energy there is to make it happen." "That raw passion will get you a lot further than paying people. The paying people, most of them don’t care if you succeed or fail, they just want a check." "We’re on a mission to make the best water on earth, which I’ve never heard a water company even strive to do… we’re not settled just being better than bottled water or tap water."

  • September 16 · 44 min

    Nick Dyner - Building a Big Business Around a Tiny Bubble

    My guest today is Nick Dyner, CEO of Moleaer. I've known Nick since the early days of the company when he became a judge at Imagine H2O, and he is one of the founders I admire most in the industry - and for good reason. He has built a fascinating company around the humble and very small nanobubble. No spoilers yet, but they are a revolution in everything from wastewater treatment to biotechnology. Nick is one of the best sales leader CEOs I know, and his insights on the commercialization process, the process of deciding focus, the communication of value, the gradual exit of the CEO from selling - all just excellent. But there's a lot more in here besides. Please enjoy my conversation with Nick Dyner. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Nick Dyner is the CEO of Moleaer, scaling nanobubble technology to improve water quality in agriculture, aquaculture, and wastewater. A sales-led CEO who values customer empathy and process, Nick joined the company in 2017. He previously built commercial teams for the water industry’s major players, serving as the first salesperson at NanoH2O (acquired by LG Chem) and holding leadership roles at GE Water. He understands the risk-reward tradeoff of adopting new technology in conservative industries. Nick studied engineering at Cornell University. 00:00 - Introduction 02:00 - How Nanobubbles Transform Water Treatment 07:23 - Choosing the Right Markets for New Technology 14:36 - Productizing Technology for Market Growth 20:53 - Building Customer Trust With Complete Solutions 24:23 - Reducing Risk When Selling New Water Technology 27:46 - Scaling From Founder-Led Sales to a Sales Team 33:56 - Building a High-Performing Distributor Network 36:27 - Creating a Market for Breakthrough Technology 41:26 - Creating Sustainable Customer Value at Scale Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Nick Dyner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-dyner-8394734/ Moleaer: https://www.moleaer.com/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "The risk-reward tradeoff to adopt new technology in water and wastewater is totally distorted against you if you’re bringing a technology to market." "Empathy is everything." "We’re really good at emotionally detaching ourselves from the technology... and really focus on process." "If I just sold you a nanobubble generator, you’ve got to go buy a pump, you’ve got to buy an oxygen generator, you’ve got to buy electrical controls. I just created work for you." "If the alternatives are better, we’re not going to go after it... you can’t trick the market for that long." "Ultimately you’re reminding people of sort of that bigger picture, which is: is the technology creating value?"

  • September 2 · 46 min

    Corey Williams - 7 Exits and Counting

    My guest today is Corey Williams, who is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in water. He has built and sold no less than seven companies, with his latest, SmartCover, selling to Badger Meter for $185 million at the start of 2025. Corey is one of the most thoughtful people I know on the art of sales, not only to utilities, but recognizing that great selling is primarily a function of listening and the accurate diagnosis of a customer's reality. His adherence to this principle of really getting to know people, taking their interests seriously - not his own - is at the core of why he's one of the most respected members of our industry. We get into dealing with the RFP process, building sales teams, the opportunity in the under-instrumentation of the collection network, and why sometimes the best management trick is to ask people to keep up - I'm not sure I could. Please enjoy my conversation with Corey Williams. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Corey Williams leads corporate business development for Badger Meter, where he runs merger and acquisition strategy. He was previously President and CEO of SmartCover until its $185 million acquisition in 2025. A licensed Civil Engineer, Corey has built and sold seven companies, including Optimatics, and previously led technology departments for national engineering firms. He serves as Vice President of the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and is on its 2025-26 Board of Trustees. Corey believes in building sales teams on listening and education to solve the problems utilities actually face. 00:00 - Introduction 02:15 - How to Win Utility Buyers' Attention 06:56 - Master Customer Discovery Without Pitching 09:10 - Solving Workforce Challenges with Services 14:19 - Build Trust to Shorten Long Sales Cycles 17:06 - How to Sell Breakthrough Water Technology 20:18 - Why Water Utilities Are Great Customers 24:13 - How to Build High-Performing Water Teams 29:08 - Building Companies for a Successful Exit 35:07 - Exit Negotiation Tips Every Founder Needs 40:22 - How AI Will Transform Water Engineering 42:52 - The Biggest Opportunity in Water Infrastructure Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Corey Williams Badger Meter SM Material Key Takeaways: “This market is unbelievably polite and we don't like to tell people ‘no’, but what you're competing for is bandwidth and attention, not dollars.” “If I'm solving a problem you didn't know you had, now I'm really competing for new attention, and I have to frame that.” “If you have something that has some merit, you'd be amazed at how much the utilities are willing to actually help you.” “If you take that feedback and make the adjustments, you really learn something if you listen.” “Hire people smarter than you, at least in the respective areas that you need them. And more important than just hiring them, let them do it.”

  • August 19 · 47 min

    Mike Ting - Building a World-Class Physical Product

    I am a big fan of Cala Systems. They've set a completely new standard for the heat pump water heater and water heaters in general. What was initially an afterthought from large manufacturers - essentially a marketing ploy that really didn't make much of a difference to overall water heater performance - Cala is a step-change in its $14 billion annually non-discretionary market. When you need a water heater, you need it regardless of what's going on in the economy. We talked to Co-founder and CEO Michael Rigney in Episode 24. It's great - check it out - but we wanted to do a TMF first and have a product lead on. Mike Ting is the Co-founder and CTO of Cala and has overseen the creation of a world-class product, up to and including setting up an entire factory twice. He's a super guy, and this is an insight-laden masterclass in building and scaling a product. Please enjoy my product-first conversation with Mike Ting. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Mike Ting is the Co-founder and CTO of Cala, where he builds intelligent heat pump water heaters that act as grid-interactive thermal batteries. Before Cala, Mike spent ten years developing consumer hardware at Bose and SharkNinja. He worked in the headphone group at Bose and led product teams at SharkNinja, shipping high-volume electronics globally. Today he scales hardware from proof-of-concept to mass production at Cala’s Wilmington, MA factory. Mike earned a mechanical engineering degree from McGill University and is a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen. 00:00 - Introduction 02:01 - What Actually Makes a Good Product 07:10 - Building the World's First Intelligent Water Heater 16:24 - Scaling From Prototype to Manufacturing 26:30 - Blending Hardware, Software, and Customer Experience 33:59 - Why Installers Are the Real Customer 39:27 - The Future of Smart Water Heating 45:05 - Startup Lessons on Building Products That Last Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Mike Ting Cala Systems SM Material Key Takeaways: “The biggest thing for me has always been delivering real value to the customers.” “The best products that you can use are the ones that you don't have to think about.” “At Bose, we used to talk about building products that nobody could have ever thought about before, but once they use them, they could never think about living without them.” “Never assume that you, as the product designers, the engineers, marketers, whatever, know better than what the consumers do.” “If you build something that's way too futuristic, it's a product people already aren't thinking about, it's generally going to scare them away.” “There just aren't contract manufacturers who know how to build water heaters.” “You have to be really resilient and really scrappy. Accept the circumstances and say, ‘Okay, here are the problems I'm going to go solve today.’”

  • August 5 · 42 min

    Jinal Surti - Bringing Visibility to Global Supply Chains

    The world’s biggest supply chains - cocoa, coffee, palm, soy, timber, beef, rubber - all begin in the same place: a farm, often a smallholder, almost always invisible to the companies that depend on it. That first mile is where deforestation happens, where emissions accrue, and where water stress bites hardest. Until recently, nobody could give large companies the ability to understand what was and could be going on at the foundations of their supply chains. Jinal Surti is changing that. After building his career at the forefront of crypto with Egnyte, Ripple, and Menai, Jinal co-founded Epoch in London in 2023 to generate location-linked intelligence - deforestation status, emissions, water stress, and of course, biodiversity risk - compliance for every farm, plantation, and processing facility feeding global commodity supply chains. It’s been such a thrill to work with him on a project of this magnitude, and as you will hear, he thinks as clearly about company creation, value defensibility, and the practical implications and opportunities of AI as anyone I have ever met. Please enjoy my conversation with Jinal Surti. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Jinal Surti is the co-founder and CEO of Epoch, an environmental monitoring, reporting, and insetting platform for the agriculture and forestry sectors. Global commodity producers use Epoch to manage nearly 3 million farms and plantations worldwide. Before starting the company, Jinal spent his career enabling global payments in emerging markets as an early employee at Ripple and a founding executive at Menai. Jinal holds an engineering degree from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 00:00 - Introduction 02:27 - Why Supply Chain Visibility Is Critical 09:55 - How AI Replaces Traditional Supply Chain Audits 16:57 - Why Water Risk Is Reshaping Global Business 20:26 - How Geospatial AI Maps Supply Chain Risk 24:54 - Building a Defensible AI Business 31:54 - How AI Is Transforming Startup Growth 38:50 - Crypto's Real-World Future Beyond Hype 40:49 - First Principles for Building Great Companies Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Jinal Surti Epoch Key Takeaways: "Cleaning up corporate supply chains is the biggest driver that we have not just for climate, but for human rights, for biodiversity, for water, for income inequality." "Just because a product is certified by some certification body doesn’t really evidence any difference... certifications just can’t be enough. You have to show the data." "Self-reported questionnaires are, by the way, also a huge pain point." "What really wins is context. The more customers you serve, the more context you have, and the more context you can use to utilize those models and make your product better." "You almost want people who can delegate the best and manage the best, because that’s what prompting really is, rather than somebody who’s really, really good at doing one thing."

  • July 22 · 46 min

    Blake Anderson - Transforming the World of the Small Utility Operator

    Water systems don't exist in a vacuum. Systems are human endeavors run by operators, and the great majority of America's roughly 90,000 water systems with under 1,000 connections are really small ones run by crews of one, maybe two or three people. Blake Anderson knows that world better than almost anyone. A certified operator who has spent 14 years running water systems, Blake is the founder of Mogollon Water Management, which operates and maintains community water systems across the White Mountains of Northern Arizona. He now also lends that operator's eye to Ziptility, the asset management platform built for small utilities that acquired his platform last year. I loved this conversation. It is a trip into the weeds of what it takes to run a small system and, crucially, how it can be better. He knows what it is like to be responsible for a system and the lives that depend on it, from operating a backhoe to fix a leak in the middle of the night all the way to explaining budget trade-offs to an untrained community system board. This is a view of the heart of our industry we don't get often enough, and Blake is the perfect person to bring the operating practicality to Ziptility's platform that will be transformational to the vast majority of America's water systems. Please enjoy my conversation with the excellent Blake Anderson. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Blake Anderson is Ziptility’s VP of Strategic Operations and Founder of Mogollon Water Management (MWM). A Grade 4 operator with 14 years of experience, Blake professionalizes rural water systems. He built MWM into Northeastern Arizona’s largest O&M provider by rescuing micro-systems and securing capital. Since Ziptility acquired MWM in 2025, he has focused on scaling a nationwide model that pairs local crews with field-first utility software. 00:00 - Introduction 02:32 - What Water System Operators Actually Do 07:07 - How Modern Tech Is Transforming Small Utilities 10:06 - Building a Water Utility Management Business 18:23 - Designing Better Software for Water Operators 22:49 - How to Fix America's Small Water Systems 32:47 - Why Ziptility Acquired Mogollon Water Management 37:14 - Creating the Future Operating System for Utilities 39:13 - Solving the Water Industry's Workforce Crisis 41:28 - Policy Changes That Could Save Small Utilities 44:25 - Customer-First Advice for Water Entrepreneurs Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Blake Anderson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-a-0553702b6/ Mogollon Water Management: https://mogollonwater.com/ Ziptility: https://www.Ziptility.com/ Key Takeaways: "A good operator can walk into a room and tell if a pump's been running too long just by the temperature and the smell of the bearings." "Software needs to be driven by your thumbs in a trench with a shovel right next to you. If they won't use it in the field, it doesn't do anything." "If you are crazy about your customer and you really love their problems, you're going to be successful. Seek the welfare of the communities you serve."

  • July 8 · 42 min

    Greg Floyd - Serving a Market Bigger than Android & iOS Combined

    Everybody remembers their first. When I was with Imagine H2O, I had the great fortune to meet Greg Floyd, who needed a small check for an early prototype of their shower head, which was crucially different from the litany of shower heads that were coming out at the time. They were all neon and internal drives and control panels and all this crap that totally overlooked that when people are having a shower, they want one thing and one thing only: plentiful, usually hot water to help them get clean and feel relaxed. Do not introduce complexity or unreliability into this equation. Greg and his team really got it. And as importantly, had identified a gigantic market where the value prop of their shower, and I am leaving the explanation of that to him, really hits. Showers are a giant pain in the ass for hotels, and Shower Stream essentially deletes the source of a whole lot of trouble. There are now 400+ live devices across five hotel chains, 150,000 showers taken with zero complaints, paybacks measured in weeks. It's an unusual story in an overlooked market - the kind I love. And as you will hear, Greg has built deliberately into a fascinating position. Please enjoy my conversation with Greg Floyd. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Greg Floyd is the Co-founder and CEO of Shower Stream, an Austin-based startup transforming water and energy efficiency for hotels. Using IoT-enabled smart shower technology, Greg helps properties reduce resource consumption by 20% while maintaining guest satisfaction. With a B.S. in Computer Science from UT Austin, Greg brings a strong technical background from his decade-long career as a software engineer at Silicon Labs and AMD. An expert in embedded systems, he has successfully led Shower Stream through elite accelerators like Imagine H2O to scale sustainable property technology. 00:00 - Introduction 02:59 - The Hidden Costs of Hotel Shower Misuse 09:55 - Building a Smart Shower Guests Never Notice 15:24 - Proving Water Savings with Real-Time Data 21:49 - Creating a Hardware-as-a-Service Business Model 30:05 - Winning Enterprise Customers as a Startup 34:11 - Reaching Product-Market Fit with a Lean Team 40:25 - Why Passion Drives Startup Success Links: Greg Floyd Shower Stream SM Material Key Takeaways: "The first layer of reliability here is designing the thing to be non-intrusive. It's not a nanny telling you to turn off the water when you're done using it." "We give the hardware to the hotel owners for free. . . and then we're going to charge you $10 per month per room. . . we typically come in at $25, $26 of savings per room per month." "We can divert over a gigaton of CO2 emissions. Again, because there's a heating component here and then all of the energy that goes on the back end of water." "In hardware startups, it takes seven years to become an overnight success."

  • May 13 · 49 min

    Alaina Harkness - Falling in Love with the Problem

    Building any organization is hard. Building a nonprofit, community place-based organization in an industry you are new to, and then doing it so well that the government gives you well into nine figures to lead a regional economic engine over the next 10 years, is really hard. But Alaina Harkness is genuinely that impressive. And it's super clear she's only just getting started. After stints at the MacArthur Foundation, the Brookings Institution, and RW Ventures, she took over Chicago-based Current, where our very own Steve Kloos chairs the board, in 2019. And from the very first time I met her, it was clear they had a very talented leader indeed at the helm. This conversation shows you why I thought that and that I was 1,000% right. She's awesome. Please enjoy my conversation with the wonderful Alaina Harkness. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Alaina Harkness discusses her transition into the water sector to lead Current, emphasizing the value of "interstitial" organizations that connect innovators to complex water problems. She explores the Midwest's shift from taking water abundance for granted to treating it as a vital economic asset amid growing industrial demands. Alaina also breaks down the strategy behind winning a $160M NSF grant for Great Lakes RENEW to build a circular blue economy, the importance of hiring "T-shaped" teams, and the unique realities of leading a nonprofit scale-up like a startup. 00:00 - Introduction 02:33 - Why Alaina Harkness Joined Current 06:02 - How Chicago Became a Water Innovation Hub 12:01 - Why Connectivity & Collaboration Drive Better Innovation 15:12 - Leading Current Through Rapid Growth & Industry Change 17:07 - Why Water Security Is Becoming an Economic Priority 19:52 - How Data Centers Are Reshaping Water Infrastructure 24:14 - The Strategy Behind Current’s $160M NSF Grant Win 29:55 - The Startup Lessons Behind Building a Water Innovation Ecosystem 35:56 - Inside the NSF Regional Innovation Engine Vision 42:41 - Long-Term Thinking, Investment & the Future of Water 48:01 - The Best Advice for Water Entrepreneurs Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Alaina Harkness: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaina-harkness/ Current: https://currentwater.org/about-us/ Great Lakes RENEW: https://greatlakesrenew.org/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "Fall in love with the problem. Let it motivate you every day. Don't be seduced by one solution." "There's a humility in knowing nothing. Valuing the expertise to ask the right question is crucial." "Regional economic development is not a thing. It's fundamentally competitive, a zero-sum game." "We have to confront the physical and material realities of our world. It's starting to get priced into banking." "The number one skill in fundraising is to clearly and authentically speak to the vision." "We have a paradox of abundance. It's easier and cheaper for us to use our drinking water for industrial purposes."

  • March 25 · 40 min

    Ravi Kurani - Swimming in Your Customer's Shoes

    As you may have noticed, I really like unusual routes into entrepreneurship, where someone with an unfair advantage in and around some area of the world decides to solve something dumb within it. Ravi Kurani is ground zero for that paradigm - the scion of the pool monarchy of Southern California. He will explain. He went from shop assistant to pool boy to impact investor to founder to exited founder, and is now bringing his considerable talents to the roll-up game as well as the streets of New York. He's also the host of the podcast Liquid Assets, which is excellent. So this is me shamelessly trying to steal his tricks. One of my favorite things about Ravi is his insistence on understanding the reality of markets and his commitment to the work it takes to get there. He's awesome. Please enjoy my conversation with Ravi Kurani. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Ravi Kurani is the President of Standard Water Corp, a company digitizing the world’s most critical asset. A mechanical engineer who started as a pool boy, he founded Sutro, a robotic water diagnostics platform, which was acquired in 2019. He is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, holds three patents in water monitoring, co-authored a book on hardware development, and hosts the Liquid Assets podcast. Ravi is passionate about building products that help society and the environment. 00:00 - Ravi Kurani’s Journey From Pool Boy to Water Tech Founder 02:57 - Building Sutro and the Case for Affordable Water Sensors 05:04 - Why Storytelling Drives Startup Funding and Distribution 13:13 - Pivoting Into the Pool Industry to Validate Water Technology 15:59 - Designing Human-Centered Hardware for Pool Owners 18:12 - Scaling a Hardware Startup From Prototype to Global Shipping 22:21 - Rolling Up Pool Service Companies With AI and Field Tech Tools 28:37 - Why Wastewater Reuse Is the Next Big Water Opportunity 29:53 - Private Equity vs Venture Capital in Water Innovation 31:18 - Liquid Assets: Explaining Water to a Broader Audience 39:36 - The Most Important Lesson for Water Entrepreneurs: Know Your Customer Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Ravi Kurani: https://ravikurani.com/ Standard Water Corp: https://www.standardwater.co/ Liquid Assets: https://www.liquidassets.cc/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "Storytelling is key. Founders often have great tech but struggle to convey it. You need to distill your message into a compelling story." "Live in your user's shoes. Understand their needs and behavior. That's the secret to creating a product that truly resonates.” "In hardware, problems are inevitable. Water gets everywhere, and electronics hate water. You must anticipate and solve these issues." "The Silver Tsunami is real. Older experts are retiring, and there's a shortage of younger replacements. We need to transfer knowledge effectively." "The Feynman curve shows that true mastery allows for simplicity. But getting there is a knife fight."

  • March 4 · 47 min

    Barrett Hansen - Building the System for Cash Flows in Water

    One of the things that is most easily overlooked in water is just how big it is. And we mean Lake Michigan and the Nile and the Amazon basin and all the big things, but cash flow is just as big, if not bigger than actual flows. And all that cash needs to be managed. As you will hear, $500 billion a year flows through US utilities of all stripes alone, coming from customers, governments, NGOs and other sources into those utilities, then out to employees, service providers, utilities, chemical suppliers, consultants, all day, every day. And that half trillion dollars is handled through software that is problematic. Old, expensive, inflexible, poorly designed, especially in under-resourced utilities. Nobody has successfully built the software to help them manage these flows as efficiently as possible. Nobody until Barrett Hansen and the team at Current arrived to build a platform to solve one of the more obvious and vital workflows in utility management, aiming squarely at those under resourced utilities. Now live with 60 customers, Current is up there with the fastest growing companies we have backed and Barrett is a very smart, very humble guy. I have a soft spot for people who went to graduate school in Cambridge - Allston actually. Please enjoy my conversation with Barrett Hansen. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Barrett Hansen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Current, a cloud-native utility billing and payments platform purpose-built for small to mid-sized water utilities. An innovative problem solver with a decade of experience in tech and analytics, he combines technical strengths in data analysis, predictive modeling, and visualization with operational expertise and a strategic mindset. Previously, Barrett delivered data-driven solutions in Silicon Valley across fintech, B2B SaaS, and sales operations. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. 00:00 - Introduction 02:20 - Utility SaaS Opportunity in Water Industry 03:48 - Why Utility Billing Is Still Manual 06:43 - Finding Startup Ideas in Boring Industries 09:52 - How to Start a Vertical SaaS Business 13:31 - How to Get Your First Customers 17:09 - Pain vs Buying Triggers in B2B Sales 18:52 - Cold Calling Strategy That Actually Works 21:01 - How to Build a Winning SaaS MVP 25:31 - Founder Led Sales for Early Startups 27:37 - SaaS Pricing Strategy for Utilities 29:51 - Customer Onboarding and Retention Strategy 34:29 - How to Build Trust in B2B SaaS 37:04 - Expanding Into Fintech and Payments 40:34 - Using Data Analytics for Utility Insights 44:07 - Why Boring Startups Can Win Big Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Barrett Hansen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrett-hansen/ Current Software: https://www.currentsoftware.app/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "$500 billion a year goes through the US utility market, whether it's electric, gas or water. I think global will probably be about 10 times that." "Utilities, unlike other industries, they're not competitive. If anything, they're extremely collaborative. They share information." "We're data rich, insight poor. And so that's the role that we think we can play is to kind of help connect the dots there."

  • February 18 · 44 min

    Tom Ferguson - Fat Tails, Charlie Munger and Being an m-Maximizer

    Water is one of those sectors that hides in plain sight — essential, enormous, and quietly full of complexity — and very few people have done more over the last decade to help the world take it seriously than Tom Ferguson. From shaping the earliest conversations around water risk, to building global platforms for entrepreneurs through Imagine H2O, to founding Burnt Island Ventures as the first venture firm dedicated exclusively to water, Tom has been a consistent force in defining what this industry can become. Milestones are useful moments to pause and ask first-principle questions, and for the 50th episode of The Fundamental Molecule, Steve Kloos and I decided to do something special - flip the mic. This episode covers a lot of ground — including Charlie Munger, fat tails, Culture Bees, the Burnt Island and keeping the main thing the main thing. Please enjoy our conversation with Tom Ferguson. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Tom Ferguson is the Founder and Managing Partner of Burnt Island Ventures. With a decade in water and startups, he previously led Imagine H2O’s global programming, where companies raised $600M+ under his tenure. Tom holds an MA from the University of Edinburgh and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Christine Boyle is a Partner at Burnt Island Ventures. A veteran entrepreneur, she founded Valor Water Analytics and led its sale to Xylem in 2018, where she later served as VP of Digital Product Development. She is also the Chair of the Cal-Nevada American Water Works Association. Steve Kloos is a Partner at Burnt Island Ventures. An experienced investor and leader, his background includes pivotal roles at GE Water and True North Venture Partners. He is the founding board chair of Current Water and a longtime advisor to Imagine H2O, specializing in water and climate tech. 00:00 - Water Tech and Entrepreneurship Trends 01:40 - Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing 03:43 - Spot the Series B Funding Gap 06:31 - Scale from Seed to Growth Investing 09:19 - Win in Water with Better Storytelling 13:44 - Use Acting Skills for Founder Leadership 16:43 - Build a Fat Tailed Water VC Portfolio 21:05 - Use Munger Mental Models to Invest Smarter 25:43 - Build Culture Beats that Drive Behavior 26:53 - Hire for Learning Speed 33:03 - Choose a Memorable Fund Name 36:22 - Build a Water Specialist Mega Fund 40:29 - Pick the Right Water Startup Problem Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Tom Ferguson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-ferguson-biv/ Christine Boyle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cboyle/ Steve Kloos: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-kloos-4136bb3/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "Stories are powerful. They help us make sense of the world. They shape meaning and understanding." "Find people who know where to put themselves in the kitchen. It’s about action and understanding." "Be the queen in the kitchen. Know where to put yourself. Act on what needs to be done." "Avoid failure by eliminating paths to failure. It’s not about brilliance, but about avoiding mistakes." "In water, the survival rate is high. We focus on companies with good bones that stick around." "We're building the plane as we're flying. Our journey mirrors our founders' experiences." "Inversion is key. Avoid what doesn’t work. Focus on consistent, not stupid, decisions."

  • February 4 · 46 min

    Paul O'Callaghan: Tolstoy, Chekhov and Liam Neeson

    Accurate, informed, contextualized, sophisticated research is at the heart of the development of any industry because it allows the players, from CEOs to investors to entrepreneurs, to make better decisions. Since inception in 2011 as O2 Environmental, Paul O'Callaghan and BlueTech Research have been at the forefront of getting pretty much all the key figures in our industry the information they need when they need it. Paul is a wonderful guy, thoughtful, insightful, a magpie for ideas that usually don’t coexist, and an exceptional entrepreneur in more ways than one. There aren’t many conversations that feature Tolstoy, Chekhov, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, BIV Partner Steve Kloos, Glen Hansard, David Bowie, and the Beatles. Please enjoy my conversation with Paul O'Callaghan. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Paul O’Callaghan is a scientist, researcher, and documentary producer focused on sustainable water technologies. As founder of O₂ Environmental and CEO of BlueTech Research, he provides global intelligence on water innovation. Paul holds a PhD from Wageningen University, where he developed the WaTA model and co-authored The Dynamics of Water Innovation. He is the executive producer of the documentaries Brave Blue World and Our Blue World. In 2025, he received the Stroud Award for Freshwater Excellence for his contributions to water research and public communication. 00:00 - Introduction 02:00 - What “Disruptive Innovation” Really Means in Water 04:19 - Why Traditional Disruption Models Fail in Regulated Water Markets 06:16 - How to Evaluate Water Startups 08:25 - The 12-16 Year Reality of Building a Water Company 10:49 - Speeding Up Commercialization Without Breaking the System 12:47 - Hardware vs Software in Water 16:20 - Building BlueTech Research 25:40 - Trust, Data, and AI 28:24 - Storytelling as Strategy 31:36 - Brave Blue World 36:10 - Making Water a Universal Human Story 44:49 - One Rule for Water Entrepreneurs Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Paul O’Callaghan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/o2environmental/ BlueTech Research: https://www.bluetechresearch.com/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "Innovation theories are helpful. They provide frameworks to analyze emerging technologies." "Disruptive innovation is often misunderstood. It's not just about change." "In water, a low-end innovation won't work. You can't compromise on drinking water standards." "The entrepreneur's role is to imagine what doesn't exist and make it real for others." "In technology innovation, the math and science matter. Fundamentals must stack up." "The water sector is still emerging. We're just starting to generate critical data." "Travel opens your mind. It teaches there are many ways to see and be in the world." "Music lets you participate without speaking. It's a universal language." "Trust is paramount in water. You can't afford to be wrong." "Make a list. Weeks with a list always go better. Surround yourself with good people."

  • January 21 · 46 min

    Mike Shaw - From Accidental Chemist to PFAS Destruction CEO

    Taking the reins at a company is no small thing, especially when your predecessor in the CEO role was someone as exceptional as Julie Mullen. Julie had built the basis for Aclarity, and following her was not for the faint of heart. Mike Shaw is not faint of heart. He is an exceptional technical and product leader with fascinating experiences at Evoqua and Nanostone, and he has been leading the development of the Aclarity product up to its first commercial deployments late last year. Now officially in the CEO role - congratulations, Mike - I wanted to hear how he reflected on his journey, the transition from a technical leader to a company leader, and talk about the development of the PFAS market, among many other things, including a certain Manchester United manager. Please enjoy my conversation with the CEO of Aclarity, Mike Shaw. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Mike Shaw has two decades of water industry expertise across product management, engineering, and R&D. Before joining Aclarity, he was VP of Product at Nanostone Water, leading global application engineering and innovation strategy. Mike also spent 12 years at Evoqua Water Technologies, most recently as Director of Process and Technology, where he managed international teams to integrate advanced technologies into the company’s portfolio. A specialist in global water treatment implementation, Mike holds a chemical engineering degree from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. 00:00 - Introduction 00:49 - Taking Over as CEO at Aclarity After Julie Mullen 01:50 - Aligning Technical and Commercial Teams Around the Real Customer Problem 04:21 - Using Techno-Economic Analysis to Prove Product–Market Fit 12:25 - Shifting From Engineering Leader to CEO 16:14 - Building a Water-Tech Career Path 22:02 - Why Startups Win for Speed 24:17 - Iterating Toward Breakthroughs 29:13 - Solving PFAS Destruction 32:09 - How PFAS Customers Decide 35:47 - Where the PFAS Market Is Headed 45:35 - Water Entrepreneur Advice Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Mike Shaw: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-shaw-02172a16/ Aclarity: https://www.aclaritywater.com/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "Technical people often drift from the problem. A tiny mistake can lead you off course." "Good techno-economic evaluation means measuring a problem and assessing the solution's ability to address it." "Honest assessment of your solution and competition is crucial. Bias doesn't help anyone." "Having a product management function prevents silos and keeps the team aligned." "Surround yourself with diverse people. You need pessimists, optimists, detail-oriented, and big thinkers." "It's not about speed, it's about velocity. Direction of travel really matters." "Constantly second guess yourself. Test your hypothesis. Surround yourself with people who will challenge you."

  • January 7 · 49 min

    Christopher Gasson - Building the Source of Truth for the Water Sector

    My guest today is the exceptional Christopher Gasson. As the owner of Global Water Intelligence, he has built a business that he bought for £17,000 and less than 150 subscribers to the indispensable knowledge source for people in this $1.6T business of water. Those of you who read his opinion columns in GWI know that this is a man not short of opinion, and I think that is an enormous service in a sector that suffers from a lack of people willing to both speak their mind with clarity and be controversial. He thinks as clearly as anyone I have met about water as a business and brings decades of perspective to how he communicates about where the market, and his market, is moving today, from semiconductors and AI to the bond markets and the potential for utility privatization in an era of government indebtedness. He's just right. Please enjoy my conversation with the excellent Christopher Gasson. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Christopher Gasson is the owner of Global Water Intelligence (GWI) and a revered authority on water finance. Since acquiring GWI in 2002, he has built the pre-eminent source of information for the $1.6T water industry, including products like DesalData and the Global Water Summit. An Oxford graduate in Politics and Economics, Christopher combines a background in investment banking with a distinctive voice as a columnist. Known as the "water industry torchbearer," he is also a co-founder of the Global Water Leaders Group and Leading Utilities of the World. 00:00 – Introducing Christopher Gasson 02:10 – Why Christopher Bought GWI and How the Market Collapsed 04:01 – The Pivot to Desalination and the Rise of Global Water Markets 07:05 – Why Industrial Water and Ultra Pure Systems Became the Big Bet 10:42 – How AI, Data Centers and Chip Fabs Reshape Water Demand 15:37 – Hyperscalers, Community Water Partnerships and Public Backlash 17:13 – Extreme Weather, Climate Disruption and NASA’s Scariest Chart 22:19 – How Capital Markets Are Waking Up to Water Investment 27:56 – What the UK Got Wrong About Water Privatization 30:25 – Why Finance Literacy Gives Water Leaders a Strategic Edge 33:10 – What Makes Powerful Commentary and Water Thought Leadership 36:15 – How AI Is Transforming GWI and Water Market Intelligence 39:51 – GWI’s Future as a Global Water Tech Platform 42:22 – Biggest Contrarian Wins and Misses in Water Innovation 47:32 – Essential Advice for Every Water Entrepreneur Links: Christopher Gasson Global Water Intelligence SM Material Key Takeaways: "The water industry is capital hungry. For every dollar in revenue, you need $7 in capital." "Droughts and floods are increasing with temperature rise. We need agile solutions." "The public sector owns underperforming water assets. Private sector participation is key." "Understanding physics is crucial in water technology. Overlooking it leads to failures." "Water infrastructure needs flexible solutions. Fixed solutions to variable problems don't work."

  • Dec 10, 2025 · 44 min

    Dylan Wolff - Wait, Kitchens Defrost How?!

    You may know by now that I get pretty excited when people walk through the figurative BIV door with an understanding of reality that is virtually impossible to diagnose from the outside. From the moment I met Dylan Wolff and he explained what he was up to, I couldn't believe what he was solving. We will go into some depth as to what he's building at CNSRV, but it's the vehicle for the deletion of a stunning quantity of waterway as well as the provision of a multi layered, deeply practical and financial set of value propositions, all of which drop straight to their customers’ bottom line. Once you see it, you really can't unsee it. Dylan also happens to be, as we say back home, a really lovely bloke to spend time with. Please enjoy my conversation with Dylan Wolff. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Dylan Wolff is the Founder & CEO of CNSRV, a startup transforming commercial kitchen sustainability. A product developer driven by California’s water crisis, Wolff identified a hidden source of waste: running faucets to defrost food. He built the CNSRV DC-O2, a device that saves 98% of water and halves prep time. Resilience has defined his journey; weathering the COVID-19 industry shutdown, he bootstrapped development and secured groundbreaking rebates from water districts. Today, his tech is used by industry leaders, proving environmental impact drives financial ROI. 00:00 - Introducing CNSRV and the Future of Water Tech 00:49 - Exposing Hidden Water Waste in Commercial Kitchens 02:36 - How Dylan Discovered the Defrosting Problem 04:02 - Validating a Silent Industry Pain Point 06:17 - Turning Curiosity Into a Scalable Startup Opportunity 09:01 - How CNSRV Saves Water, Time, and Labor 12:10 - Matching Value Propositions to Kitchen Stakeholders 15:12 - Navigating COVID and Early Product Development Hurdles 19:42 - Building a Lean Team and High-Performance Product Design 23:52 - Lessons From Founder-Led Sales and Market Education 27:22 - Early Distribution Wins and Scaling Through Rep Groups 30:18 - Product Evolution: Smarter Interfaces and New Models 34:27 - Enterprise Logos vs. Regional Rollouts 36:05 - Quantifying the Massive Market and Water Savings Impact 37:05 - How Utility Rebates Accelerate Customer Adoption 39:14 - The Emotional Reality of Entrepreneurship 41:45 - Essential Advice for Water Innovators: Perseverance Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Dylan Wolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-wolff-032b1439/ CNSRV: https://cnsrv.com/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "Solve a problem you're passionate about. Translate curiosity into action." "Perseverance is everything. If you believe in it enough, don't take ‘no’ for an answer." "The kitchen is full of hidden inefficiencies. Expose reality to solve them." "Running lean is crucial. You can provide value without massive overheads." "Every day looks different. It's both the best and worst part of being an entrepreneur." "The market is massive. 15,000 units can save billions of gallons of water annually." "Entrepreneurship is a test of will, not intellect. Embrace uncertainty and keep pushing."

  • Oct 22, 2025 · 43 min

    Sivan Zamir - The Model of Corporate Startup Engagement

    In 2015, all of the startup founders who were part of Imagine H2O's Accelerator had to bear with me as I had no idea what I was doing. One of those founders was Sivan Zamir. Four years later she was and remains the only person to go through the program twice, and mercifully, her feedback then was rather better. Now she's VP of Enterprise, Innovation and Venture at Xylem, Burnt Island Ventures’ anchor investor and a true partner. And Sivan has become a serious force in early stage water, taking on the enormous challenge of making a very large company very good at working with very small ones. She and her team not only set a new standard for corporate engagement with the startup community, we think they reinvented it. It has been fascinating to see how the ideas and principles of entrepreneurship are flowing into the wider Xylem organization as a result. She is a force of nature, an unyielding advocate for water and an astonishingly generous friend. Please enjoy my conversation with Sivan Zamir. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Sivan Zamir, VP of Enterprise Innovation and Venture at Xylem, shares her journey from two-time founder to corporate innovator. She discusses the systemic challenges large companies face when working with startups and her strategy to overcome them. Key topics include the criticality of team culture and "voice of customer," using agile sprints to drive change, and a unique "partnerships-first" corporate venture capital model. She also advocates for bringing enabling technologies from other industries into the water sector and advises all entrepreneurs to "be kind." 00:00 - Introduction 02:24 - Why Big Companies Struggle to Work With Startups 05:53 - Breaking the Certification Roadblock for Pilots 08:06 - Startup Lessons: Team Culture and Customer Feedback 16:40 - First 90 Days: Research, Business Plan, and Execution 20:32 - Running Sprints and Scaling Innovation Culture 25:18 - Building Partnerships Before Launching Venture Capital 29:49 - How the Accelerator Program Drives Go-To-Market 35:25 - The State of Water Tech: Adjacent Innovation and Low Funding 40:53 - Final Advice: Always Lead With Kindness Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Sivan Zamir: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sivan-sidney-zamir/ Xylem: https://www.xylem.com/en-us/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "Team culture is everything. You can teach skills, but you can't teach culture. It's the backbone of resilience and innovation." "Voice of the customer is critical. Without it, you're building on a hypothesis without market validation." "In large companies, innovation must be baked into governance, metrics, and incentives." "The water sector needs to look beyond itself. Adopt existing tech from other industries." "Accelerators simplify complex processes. They coordinate efforts and focus on clear outcomes." "The water tech sector has grown, but we have a long way to go. Only 3% of climate tech investment is in water." "Kindness is essential in entrepreneurship. It's a small world, and relationships matter."

  • Sep 24, 2025 · 1 hr 2 min

    Peter Brooks - Building an Infinite Compounding Machine

    Out of 910 graduating students in the Class of 2014 from HBS, three went into water. Of those three, only Peter Brooks and I remain. And, meaning no offense to all our wonderful classmates, I'm glad it's him. Peter is just a really great guy. A former Marine, he worked across a variety of fascinating opportunities before setting up Sylmar Group. He and his partner Michael have been hard at work creating a compounding machine in water, building with an infinite holding period. And, as you will hear, it has developed exceptionally in the six years since it was founded. I have been looking forward to this for a long time because there are few people as thoughtful, practical, wise, self-effacing and talented as Peter. I was also amazed to find out that this is the first time he has talked about the Sylmar story on a podcast. So you're literally hearing it here first. Please enjoy my conversation with Peter Brooks. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Peter Brooks details Sylmar's "compounding machine" strategy, advocating for patient, long-term investment, cultural integration, and network effects to create value. He explains their entrepreneurship-through-acquisition model, targeting small, high-quality water businesses, and emphasizes operational enhancements while preserving an entrepreneurial spirit. Peter shares insights on managing growth, recruiting talent, and his military-informed leadership. He also addresses the future water market, noting AI's increasing demand and the critical role of infrastructure, and urges entrepreneurs to pursue their "true north" for societal benefit. 00:00 - Peter Brooks & the “Compounding Machine” 02:30 - Equity, Culture & Network Effects 06:03 - Partnering with Mission-Critical Small Operators 11:27 - Listen, Prioritize, Fix Systems 17:02 - Operating System That Scales 21:24 - Disciplined Growth & Smart Capital Allocation 26:35 - Make Water a Talent Magnet 34:46 - Sales as Market Discovery 43:21 - AI Data Centers & Water 50:49 - Tech That Matters Now 1:01:27 - True North Leadership Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Peter Brooks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterharringtonbrooks/ Sylmar: https://sylmargrp.com/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "Compounding is the consistent accumulation of small advantages that allow us to win." "In water, patience is rewarded. Quick-turn investors often misunderstand this." "We're building a compounding machine with long-term patient capital." "Plans are nothing, but planning is everything. No plan survives first contact with reality." "Water is the third pillar of public safety, critical behind fire and police." "Embrace uncertainty. Entrepreneurship isn't for the faint of heart." “Roughly every 5 million of EBITDA, you're going to have a different job description if you continue to scale.” “So much of the M & A world, people just paste over underperforming bad business decisions with new acquisitions.” “When you have a long time horizon, you can literally say, ‘We'll talk down the road. Let us know when you're ready because we think you'd be a great partner for us.’” “I rue the day when…we're not actually thinking about customers.”

  • Sep 3, 2025 · 46 min

    Allan Adams - The Science is the Easy Bit

    It's always worth listening to someone's ‘why’ for doing something. What is their core motivation? Are they a tourist, or are they here for the long haul? When you combine a compelling ‘why’ with the right mix of technical brilliance, charisma, kindness, and energy, you get someone who looks and sounds a lot like Allan Adams. He is the founder and CEO of Aquatic Labs, who have made amazing strides in bringing lab chemistry into real time, eradicating one of the core monitoring problems that is profoundly bad in both water operations and ocean science. This is also the only conversation where the guest's idea of a misspent youth is teaching particle physics at MIT. He is genuinely amazing. Please enjoy my conversation with Allan Adams. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Allan Adams joins Tom today to discuss how witnessing dying coral reefs after the birth of his son inspired him to leave physics and found Aquatic Labs. He critiques the inefficiency of slow, lab-based water analysis and details his mission to create real-time, scalable sensors. By first optimizing industrial processes, Aquatic Labs aims to commoditize its technology, making it affordable for vital future applications like verifying ocean carbon sequestration and tracking the true impact of climate change on our most fundamental resource. 00:00 - Introduction to Water Innovation and Entrepreneurship 00:49 - Allan Adams’ Journey from Physics to Ocean Science 02:29 - Fiji Expedition and Life-Changing Career Shift 05:25 - Passing Ocean Stewardship to the Next Generation 07:29 - Global Climate and Human Impacts on Oceans 11:12 - Founding Aquatic Labs to Scale Real-Time Ocean Sensors 15:43 - Industrial Use Cases and Aligning Profit with Conservation 19:42 - Lessons from Academia and Startup Realities 22:50 - Breaking Lab Bottlenecks with Real-Time Water Sensing 26:43 - Commercialization Journey and Market Pivot Post-Election 32:05 - Hard Lessons in Sales and Building a Mission-Driven Team 37:41 - The Big Vision: Aquatic Labs’ Role in Water and Carbon Markets 43:29 - Allan’s Advice for Water Entrepreneurs Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Allan Adams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allan-adams/

  • Aug 20, 2025 · 53 min

    Matt Fitzgerald - Campaigns, MrBeast and Getting Arrested with your Grandmother

    The saying, "Those who tell the stories rule the world," is such a core truth that it is both a quote from Plato and a Native American proverb - two entirely distinct societies coming to the same conclusion. We in water know that our inability to tell our story is one of the most frustrating aspects of the sector and one of, if not the most, negatively impactful. So what happens when you put water's story in the hands of two of the best storytellers and creators on the planet? Matt Fitzgerald is the campaign architect of #TEAMWATER, which, after #TEAMTREES and #TEAMSEAS, is the third major campaign from MrBeast, the world's largest YouTuber, and Mark Rober, the world's most prominent science YouTuber. #TEAMWATER's aim is to mobilize $40 million in one month in order to provide two million people with clean, safe, reliable drinking water for decades. It is one seriously entrepreneurial undertaking, and Matt is a remarkable guy. We thought it would be fascinating to sit down with him and find out how he thinks about pulling off something this audacious, and we were right - it was. Please enjoy my conversation with Matt Fitzgerald. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Campaign architect Matt Fitzgerald discusses the strategy behind #TEAMWATER, the $40M clean water initiative with creators MrBeast and Mark Rober. He shares his philosophy on building successful movements like #TEAMTREES and #TEAMSEAS, focusing on harnessing the "attention economy." Fitzgerald explains the importance of simple, emotionally resonant narratives that make complex issues universal and inspire mass participation, turning viewers into heroes and creating tangible change. 00:00 - Power of Storytelling in the Water Sector 02:28 - What Makes an Effective Campaign 05:39 - Building Narratives That Inspire Participation 08:12 - Inside the #TEAMWATER Mission and Impact 11:05 - Leveraging Massive Creator Reach for Change 13:29 - Lessons from #TEAMTREES and #TEAMSEAS 20:44 - Competing in the Attention Economy 25:25 - Messaging Strategies That Resonate 28:57 - Balancing Grassroots and Grasstops Influence 36:17 - Matt Fitzgerald’s Career and Campaign Insights 42:12 - Using Emotion to Drive Action 43:20 - Shaping Philanthropy for Water’s Future 47:20 - Call to Action for #TEAMWATER Support at https://teamwater.org/ 49:18 - Matt’s advice for water entrepreneurs Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Matt Fitzgerald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattfitzgerald/ Contribute to #TEAMWATER: https://teamwater.org/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "Water is where climate and people meet. You either have too much of it or too little." "The best campaigns build relationships, activate them, and provide a next step… a cycle of engagement." "#TEAMWATER is a $40 million crowdfunding campaign to bring clean water to 2 million people." "Water is like the sun; everyone has a relationship to it. Yet it's stuck in conference rooms and reports." "The greatest change you can make is the change that happens after you're gone." "If you know your North Star, you can navigate the squiggly line of your journey." “If you do one thing, go to teamwater.org and donate.”

  • Aug 6, 2025 · 48 min

    Mick O'Dwyer - Mandated, Recurring & Operationally Painful

    Some people are born to drive their own bus. They have an idiosyncrasy of outlook that makes building their own thing inevitable. When these people run into a problem that they find both annoying and ridiculous and decide to solve it, good things happen. Mick O'Dwyer is one of those people. Even before BIV started, the second check I ever wrote, and first real one, was into his company, SwiftComply, and for good reason. He is a very serious entrepreneur in its most core sense. He's a taker of opportunities with, as you will hear, a clear attitude to risk, who delights in the wrestle of getting the thing done. As anyone who has met or shared a karaoke room with him will attest, he's also a great person to spend time with. The man could sell, and indeed has sold, Guinness to the Irish. Please enjoy my conversation with the excellent Mick O'Dwyer. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Mick O'Dwyer shares his evolution from a young, ambitious engineer at Guinness to a water entrepreneur. He recounts his time at Dublin City Council, where the "ridiculous" and inefficient paper-based system for managing fats, oils, and grease in wastewater sparked the idea for his company. Mick details his journey of building SwiftComply, from developing the initial solution to moving to the U.S., making a high-stakes acquisition, and scaling the business. 00:00 - From Guinness Factory to Government Engineer 08:29 - Discovering the Wastewater Compliance Problem 12:38 - Building the First Version of SwiftComply 16:58 - Turning a Consulting Gig Into a Tech Company 20:32 - Going Global After a U.S. Conference Breakthrough 22:43 - Why Moving to Silicon Valley Was a Game-Changer 30:43 - Using AI to Improve Utility Compliance and Efficiency 33:31 - Rebuilding Product Velocity After Acquisition Challenges 41:28 - Scaling SwiftComply With Growth Investment 46:43 - Advice to Founders: Bet on “Mandated, Recurring, Painful” Problems Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Mick O'Dwyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/odwyermichael/ SwiftComply: https://www.swiftcomply.com/ SM Material Key Takeaways: "I had this compelling thing that the world needed a solution for the problem. What I will say is I wasn't really built to be a passenger." "The bus was leaving the station and had no driver, and I was like, well, I'm going to be the one to drive that bus." "I was young and opinionated and bullish. You could say I'm now old and opinionated and bullish." "I fell in love with wastewater treatment. I fell in love with the people in the plant, actually. Like, they're just like, you know, these men who are 40 years older than me." "I was just using practical experience to solve the problem at hand.” "I had to extract myself from that and had the trauma of giving up things. You don't need to see the company to be the one running payroll." "I do have a core belief that people overestimate the downside of risk." "Good investors invest in traction, and great investors invest in the future."

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