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. 

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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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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 Start

0:49 Introduction

1:50 Anthea’s career to date

6:10 2S Water’s genesis

8:30 Its product and the problem it solves

10:43 Understanding the problem

14:39 Establishing early customer relationships with large companies

16:50 Pros and cons of this early engagement

18:19 Crossing the Chasm and Anthea’s implementation of it

21:11 Navigating partnerships

27:00 Funding with grants

29:19 Key skills in writing grants

32:48 What surprised Anthea most about the water sector

34:32 What she has learned since joining it

35:19 Anthea’s advice based on these learnings

37:05 Her experience in the Lithium market

39:52 Working with family

42:24 Anthea’s speaking and presenting skills and their value

46:01 Her most important piece of advice for aspiring water entrepreneurs

Links:

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."