The Fundamental Molecule

Burnt Island Ventures
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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

  1. Barrett Hansen - Building the System for Cash Flows in Water

    MAR 4

    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."

    48 min
  2. Tom Ferguson - Fat Tails, Charlie Munger and Being an m-Maximizer

    FEB 18

    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."

    45 min
  3. Paul O'Callaghan: Tolstoy, Chekhov and Liam Neeson

    FEB 4

    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."

    47 min
  4. Mike Shaw - From Accidental Chemist to PFAS Destruction CEO

    JAN 21

    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."

    47 min
  5. Christopher Gasson - Building the Source of Truth for the Water Sector

    JAN 7

    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."

    50 min
  6. Dylan Wolff - Wait, Kitchens Defrost How?!

    12/10/2025

    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."

    44 min
  7. Sivan Zamir - The Model of Corporate Startup Engagement

    10/22/2025

    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."

    43 min
  8. Peter Brooks - Building an Infinite Compounding Machine

    09/24/2025

    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.”

    1h 3m
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About

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

Information

  • Creator
    Burnt Island Ventures
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    52
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023 Burnt Island Ventures
  • Show Website
    The Fundamental Molecule

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