Alex Fuglesang - A Deep Dive Into Desal, Literally

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/

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/

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

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

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 -----------