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.

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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

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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

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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."

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.

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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

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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/

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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."

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

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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/

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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."

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

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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/

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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."

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

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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/

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Key Takeaways:

"Stories are powerful. They help us make sense of the world. They shape meaning and understanding."

"Find people who...

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

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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/

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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...

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

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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/

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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."

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

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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

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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."