It's so fun when you feel like an investment has been dragged out of your hands. At the end of our deployment of our first fund, I was adamant that our final investments had to be blindingly obvious because the next best use of funds was to give more capital to companies we already knew were amazing. So when I met Shane Dyer, CEO of Irrigreen, the quality could not have been more obvious. Here was a multitime founder operating at a seriously high level, building around a product that was an absurdly large improvement on the status quo and which had the potential to save billions of gallons of water. It's been such a pleasure to watch him work, and it was deeply exciting to invest in them again as the third position in our Opportunity Fund. Please enjoy my conversation with Shane Dyer.

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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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Irrigreen’s CEO Shane Dyer discusses tackling overlooked water tech challenges by applying his IoT and growth marketing expertise from outside the sector. He details Irrigreen's genesis, adapting inkjet tech for precise, water-saving irrigation. Dyer shares critical startup lessons: the power of listening to customers for product & marketing direction, strategic hiring focusing on grit over resumes, rigorous iteration & verification for deep tech, effective board management, and keeping the customer the ultimate North Star.

00:00 - Why Water Tech Is the Climate Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight

02:34 - Bringing IoT and Startup Experience into Water Innovation

04:11 - Growth Marketing Tactics for Climate Tech Startups

07:52 - Building High-Impact Startup Teams

09:25 - From Inkjet Printers to Smart Sprinklers

12:43 - Designing Products That Customers Actually Want

17:21 - Reinventing Irrigation Through Digital Precision

21:36 - Balancing Consumer Appeal with Contractor Adoption

25:33 - Simplifying Supply Chains

27:53 - How to Get Real Value from Your Startup Board

32:46 - Running Data-Driven Growth Experiments That Work

35:45 - Scaling Hardware Quickly

38:12 - Hiring as the Ultimate Startup Superpower

40:34 - Shane Dyer’s #1 Advice for Water Entrepreneurs

Links:

Burnt Island Ventures 

Shane Dyer 

Irrigreen 

Sean Ellis 

Steve Blank 

The Startup Owner's Manual 

Nail It Then Scale It 

Getting to Plan B 

The Lean Startup 

SM Material

Key Takeaways:

"Experience is when the hairs on your neck rise during design review, sensing a potential landmine ahead."

"Startups are not little big companies. They're a completely different experience requiring ambition, talent, and grit."

"Growth marketing requires high-velocity experimentation and qualitative insights to drive hypotheses."

"A board is a team. Keep them informed and engaged to work on urgent growth problems for your next unlock."

"Hire slowly and focus more on getting the right team."

"For new ideas, reach directly to customers first."