The Fundamental Molecule

Burnt Island Ventures
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  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

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. 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...

    47 min
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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...

    44 min
  5. 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...

    43 min
  6. 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...

    1h 3m
  7. Allan Adams - The Science is the Easy Bit

    09/03/2025

    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/

    47 min
  8. Matt Fitzgerald - Campaigns, MrBeast and Getting Arrested with your Grandmother

    08/20/2025

    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...

    54 min
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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
    50
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023 Burnt Island Ventures
  • Show Website
    The Fundamental Molecule

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