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

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.Guest: Tom Ferguson, Founder and Managing Partner, Burnt Island VenturesHost: Ravi KuraniCHAPTERS0:00 Intro0:46 The S-curve, and where water sits on it4:35 Why execution, not ideas, is the bottleneck11:18 Why now: what changed around 202016:18 What exits actually look like in water19:40 The capital spectrum: venture, PE, search funds21:46 Private credit and the water bond market24:37 Where water needs people right now26:30 From Imagine H2O to raising Fund I30:32 Why they pass on most water companies35:01 The weirdest ideas that turned out to be good ones41:09 Agriculture, and the next PFAS investment42:13 AI, data, and what still has a moat48:21 Long sales cycles as a moat49:44 Growing up between London and the west coast of Scotland55:40 The unromantic reality of running a fund1:02:24 Water rights, and why he stays out of them1:07:21 The best life advice, from The Wire1:09:14 Where to reach Burnt Island (not with AI)LINKSBurnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.comTom's podcast, The Fundamental Molecule: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-moleculeFull episode notes: https://www.liquidassets.cc/water-trillion-dollar-asset-class-tom-ferguson/Liquid Assets is a podcast about water through the lens of business, technology and policy.Subscribe: https://www.liquidassets.cc