Anthea Sargeaunt, CEO and Co-founder of 2S Water

Anthea Sargeaunt is the CEO and Co-founder of 2S Water. Multivariate, real-time non-contact sensing is one of the holy grails of water management. Getting it right will allow all stakeholders to understand what is in their water in real time. And if we can get it really right, this knowledge will allow a host of improvements in water management, including reduced chemical and energy use, reduced pollution, reduced fines, improved health outcomes, improving the pace and cadence of experimentation with new technology. The list is very long indeed. Anthea and her team have taken a fascinating pathway from problem selection to massively leveraging their equity through grants. She is an exceptional founder and person and one of the best founder communicators I have met. I loved her insights into the importance of public speaking as you're building a company. Please do enjoy my conversation with the excellent Anthea Sargeaunt. Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-moleculeFor 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-----------Anthea's entrepreneurial journey, spanning from early ventures to the oil and gas sector, showcases her problem-solving prowess and industry acumen. Today, she and Tom explore partnership complexities and grant acquisition, stressing understanding partner expectations and grant funding's role in startup growth. Anthea's insights emphasize genuine connections, adaptable communication, and infrastructure investment for streamlined product development. This dialogue not only underscores innovation's transformative power but also offers guidance for aspiring water entrepreneurs, marking a pivotal moment in industry evolution.Episode Highlights:0:00 Start0:49 Introduction1:50 Anthea’s career to date6:10 2S Water’s genesis8:30 Its product and the problem it solves10:43 Understanding the problem14:39 Establishing early customer relationships with large companies16:50 Pros and cons of this early engagement18:19 Crossing the Chasm and Anthea’s implementation of it21:11 Navigating partnerships27:00 Funding with grants29:19 Key skills in writing grants32:48 What surprised Anthea most about the water sector34:32 What she has learned since joining it35:19 Anthea’s advice based on these learnings37:05 Her experience in the Lithium market39:52 Working with family42:24 Anthea’s speaking and presenting skills and their value46:01 Her most important piece of advice for aspiring water entrepreneursLinks:Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/2S Water: https://www.2swater.com/Quotes:"I've always been surprised at water treatment operators. They're such a special breed of people. They do it because they love it.”"In the mining sector, when we look at it, there is no other real path to the market than through the large multinationals.""If you don't have that kind of insight coming from the other side of the table, it's hard to get it anywhere else.""Partnerships are completely fundamental... cultivating them is vitally important.""Writing a grant is much like any other sales process... understand what the grant organization is trying to accomplish.""The lab isn't the field... get out into the field as fast as you can."