CleanTechies cover image

CleanTechies

#178 Investing in Water, IRA's Missing Link, Long Sales-Cycles, Network Compounding, & More w/ Tom Ferguson (Burnt Island Ventures)

May 15, 2024
01:07:16

What do you get when you put Chris Rock, Timothée Chalamet, Greta Thunberg, & Marc Andreessen together? -- You get Tom Ferguson! The King of Water VC!

(Warning! Tom is hilarious, so cancel your comedy cellar tickets because you won't need them)

Today, we had the chance to speak with Tom, the founding partner of Burnt Island Ventures. They are the leading VC investor in all things water.

They became this by compounding their network for years with some of the best water networks, including Imagine H2O.

One notable thing he pointed out is, the IRA didn't include any investment into water infrastructure. 🤯

Tune in to get the whole thing today! 🌱🌎

---
🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.  
---

🌴 https://linktr.ee/cleantechies
📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube 
🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey 
📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox | https://cleantechies.substack.com/podcast
🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel 

-----
Topics:
**5:00 Introduction
**8:10 Why Sustainability
**10:34 Time with Imagine H2O
**16:13 Other Considerations for BIV
**19:27 Story behind the Name BIV
**20:55 MBA and Business School
**27:22 Focus on Building Team
**31:32 Pricing in Velocity of Sales Process
**38:35 Compounding Network as a VC’s Moat
**47:24 Biggest Problems in Water
**56:17 Companies that BIV work with
**1:00:42 Startup Opportunity; Water Testing Market
**1:04:19 Takeaway

-----
Links:
**Tom Ferguson | Burnt Island Ventures
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clean-techies/
**@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X 

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the
law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode