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

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 showIf you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.70+ Placements5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)90-day placement guaranteeIt's really hard to say no to that. Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company. We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank. Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]