Water Is a Trillion-Dollar Industry Hiding in Plain Sight | Tom Ferguson, Burnt Island Ventures

<p>Tom Ferguson runs Burnt Island Ventures, the first venture fund dedicated entirely to water. In this conversation he lays out the investing case for a $1.6 trillion market most people have never thought about: where water sits on the S-curve, what changed around 2020, what exits actually look like, and what it costs the person running a small fund.</p><p><br></p><p>Guest: Tom Ferguson, Founder and Managing Partner, Burnt Island Ventures</p><p>Host: Ravi Kurani</p><p><br></p><p>CHAPTERS</p><p>0:00 Intro</p><p>0:46 The S-curve, and where water sits on it</p><p>4:35 Why execution, not ideas, is the bottleneck</p><p>11:18 Why now: what changed around 2020</p><p>16:18 What exits actually look like in water</p><p>19:40 The capital spectrum: venture, PE, search funds</p><p>21:46 Private credit and the water bond market</p><p>24:37 Where water needs people right now</p><p>26:30 From Imagine H2O to raising Fund I</p><p>30:32 Why they pass on most water companies</p><p>35:01 The weirdest ideas that turned out to be good ones</p><p>41:09 Agriculture, and the next PFAS investment</p><p>42:13 AI, data, and what still has a moat</p><p>48:21 Long sales cycles as a moat</p><p>49:44 Growing up between London and the west coast of Scotland</p><p>55:40 The unromantic reality of running a fund</p><p>1:02:24 Water rights, and why he stays out of them</p><p>1:07:21 The best life advice, from The Wire</p><p>1:09:14 Where to reach Burnt Island (not with AI)</p><p><br></p><p>LINKS</p><p>Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com</p><p>Tom&#39;s podcast, The Fundamental Molecule: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule</p><p>Full episode notes: https://www.liquidassets.cc/water-trillion-dollar-asset-class-tom-ferguson/</p><p><br></p><p>Liquid Assets is a podcast about water through the lens of business, technology and policy.</p><p>Subscribe: https://www.liquidassets.cc</p>