Taking the reins at a company is no small thing, especially when your predecessor in the CEO role was someone as exceptional as Julie Mullen. Julie had built the basis for Aclarity, and following her was not for the faint of heart.

Mike Shaw is not faint of heart. He is an exceptional technical and product leader with fascinating experiences at Evoqua and Nanostone, and he has been leading the development of the Aclarity product up to its first commercial deployments late last year. Now officially in the CEO role - congratulations, Mike - I wanted to hear how he reflected on his journey, the transition from a technical leader to a company leader, and talk about the development of the PFAS market, among many other things, including a certain Manchester United manager. Please enjoy my conversation with the CEO of Aclarity, Mike Shaw.

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

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Mike Shaw has two decades of water industry expertise across product management, engineering, and R&D. Before joining Aclarity, he was VP of Product at Nanostone Water, leading global application engineering and innovation strategy. Mike also spent 12 years at Evoqua Water Technologies, most recently as Director of Process and Technology, where he managed international teams to integrate advanced technologies into the company’s portfolio. A specialist in global water treatment implementation, Mike holds a chemical engineering degree from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

00:00 - Introduction

00:49 - Taking Over as CEO at Aclarity After Julie Mullen

01:50 - Aligning Technical and Commercial Teams Around the Real Customer Problem

04:21 - Using Techno-Economic Analysis to Prove Product–Market Fit

12:25 - Shifting From Engineering Leader to CEO

16:14 - Building a Water-Tech Career Path

22:02 - Why Startups Win for Speed

24:17 - Iterating Toward Breakthroughs

29:13 - Solving PFAS Destruction

32:09 - How PFAS Customers Decide

35:47 - Where the PFAS Market Is Headed

45:35 - Water Entrepreneur Advice

Links:

Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/

Mike Shaw: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-shaw-02172a16/

Aclarity: https://www.aclaritywater.com/

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Key Takeaways:

"Technical people often drift from the problem. A tiny mistake can lead you off course."

"Good techno-economic evaluation means measuring a problem and assessing the solution's ability to address it."

"Honest assessment of your solution and competition is crucial. Bias doesn't help anyone."

"Having a product management function prevents silos and keeps the team aligned."

"Surround yourself with diverse people. You need pessimists, optimists, detail-oriented, and big thinkers."

"It's not about speed, it's about velocity. Direction of travel really matters."

"Constantly second guess yourself. Test your hypothesis. Surround yourself with people who will challenge you."

My guest today is the exceptional Christopher Gasson. As the owner of Global Water Intelligence, he has built a business that he bought for £17,000 and less than 150 subscribers to the indispensable knowledge source for people in this $1.6T business of water. Those of you who read his opinion columns in GWI know that this is a man not short of opinion, and I think that is an enormous service in a sector that suffers from a lack of people willing to both speak their mind with clarity and be controversial. He thinks as clearly as anyone I have met about water as a business and brings decades of perspective to how he communicates about where the market, and his market, is moving today, from semiconductors and AI to the bond markets and the potential for utility privatization in an era of government indebtedness. He's just right. Please enjoy my conversation with the excellent Christopher Gasson.

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

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Christopher Gasson is the owner of Global Water Intelligence (GWI) and a revered authority on water finance. Since acquiring GWI in 2002, he has built the pre-eminent source of information for the $1.6T water industry, including products like DesalData and the Global Water Summit. An Oxford graduate in Politics and Economics, Christopher combines a background in investment banking with a distinctive voice as a columnist. Known as the "water industry torchbearer," he is also a co-founder of the Global Water Leaders Group and Leading Utilities of the World.

00:00 – Introducing Christopher Gasson

02:10 – Why Christopher Bought GWI and How the Market Collapsed

04:01 – The Pivot to Desalination and the Rise of Global Water Markets

07:05 – Why Industrial Water and Ultra Pure Systems Became the Big Bet

10:42 – How AI, Data Centers and Chip Fabs Reshape Water Demand

15:37 – Hyperscalers, Community Water Partnerships and Public Backlash

17:13 – Extreme Weather, Climate Disruption and NASA’s Scariest Chart

22:19 – How Capital Markets Are Waking Up to Water Investment

27:56 – What the UK Got Wrong About Water Privatization

30:25 – Why Finance Literacy Gives Water Leaders a Strategic Edge

33:10 – What Makes Powerful Commentary and Water Thought Leadership

36:15 – How AI Is Transforming GWI and Water Market Intelligence

39:51 – GWI’s Future as a Global Water Tech Platform

42:22 – Biggest Contrarian Wins and Misses in Water Innovation

47:32 – Essential Advice for Every Water Entrepreneur

Links:

Christopher Gasson

Global Water Intelligence

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Key Takeaways:

"The water industry is capital hungry. For every dollar in revenue, you need $7 in capital."

"Droughts and floods are increasing with temperature rise. We need agile solutions."

"The public sector owns underperforming water assets. Private sector participation is key."

"Understanding physics is crucial in water technology. Overlooking it leads to failures."

"Water infrastructure needs flexible solutions. Fixed solutions to variable problems don't work."

You may know by now that I get pretty excited when people walk through the figurative BIV door with an understanding of reality that is virtually impossible to diagnose from the outside. From the moment I met Dylan Wolff and he explained what he was up to, I couldn't believe what he was solving. We will go into some depth as to what he's building at CNSRV, but it's the vehicle for the deletion of a stunning quantity of waterway as well as the provision of a multi layered, deeply practical and financial set of value propositions, all of which drop straight to their customers’ bottom line. Once you see it, you really can't unsee it. Dylan also happens to be, as we say back home, a really lovely bloke to spend time with. Please enjoy my conversation with Dylan Wolff.

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

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Dylan Wolff is the Founder & CEO of CNSRV, a startup transforming commercial kitchen sustainability. A product developer driven by California’s water crisis, Wolff identified a hidden source of waste: running faucets to defrost food. He built the CNSRV DC-O2, a device that saves 98% of water and halves prep time. Resilience has defined his journey; weathering the COVID-19 industry shutdown, he bootstrapped development and secured groundbreaking rebates from water districts. Today, his tech is used by industry leaders, proving environmental impact drives financial ROI.

00:00 - Introducing CNSRV and the Future of Water Tech

00:49 - Exposing Hidden Water Waste in Commercial Kitchens

02:36 - How Dylan Discovered the Defrosting Problem

04:02 - Validating a Silent Industry Pain Point

06:17 - Turning Curiosity Into a Scalable Startup Opportunity

09:01 - How CNSRV Saves Water, Time, and Labor

12:10 - Matching Value Propositions to Kitchen Stakeholders

15:12 - Navigating COVID and Early Product Development Hurdles

19:42 - Building a Lean Team and High-Performance Product Design

23:52 - Lessons From Founder-Led Sales and Market Education

27:22 - Early Distribution Wins and Scaling Through Rep Groups

30:18 - Product Evolution: Smarter Interfaces and New Models

34:27 - Enterprise Logos vs. Regional Rollouts

36:05 - Quantifying the Massive Market and Water Savings Impact

37:05 - How Utility Rebates Accelerate Customer Adoption

39:14 - The Emotional Reality of Entrepreneurship

41:45 - Essential Advice for Water Innovators: Perseverance

Links:

Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/

Dylan Wolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-wolff-032b1439/

CNSRV: https://cnsrv.com/

SM Material

Key Takeaways:

"Solve a problem you're passionate about. Translate curiosity into action."

"Perseverance is everything. If you believe in it enough, don't take ‘no’ for an answer."

"The kitchen is full of hidden inefficiencies. Expose reality to solve them."

"Running lean is crucial. You can provide value without massive overheads."

"Every day looks different. It's both the...