Ep. 60: Reuben Vollmer - Building a Water Company out of Thin Air
The 250-billion-dollar bottled water industry is a monstrous waste of energy, emissions, plastic, money, and yes, water. Ideally, it would not exist at all. Luckily, my guest today, Reuben Vollmer, agrees and has built Spout, an atmospheric water generation machine that provides ultra-high-quality water at the counter top, and all you need to do is plug it in.
Reuben’s route here is one of my favorites. A California drought that put his family farm’s water rights at risk led to a rumination on a field covered in morning dew, which led to a single-minded determination to provide extremely high-quality water from air on demand. He is a card-carrying polymath with a background in everything from film to rapid prototyping to advertising to engineering. What he has built at Spout is genuinely amazing.
Please enjoy my conversation with Reuben Vollmer.
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Full show notes and links to mentioned content below.
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A Chapman Film School alum, Spout Founder Reuben Vollmer’s career spans roles as a Creative Technologist at Deutsch LA and manufacturing manager in Torrance’s aerospace sector. Inspired by morning dew during a 2014 drought that threatened his family farm, he spent 11 years engineering air-to-water technology. His expertise in 3D printing and circuit design now informs Spout (formerly DewGood), a countertop device producing up to 2.5 gallons of pure water daily. Reuben blends imagination with engineering to provide a sustainable, independent water source free from plastic and pipes.
00:00 - Introduction
02:20 - Making Drinking Water From Air
03:21 - Turning California’s Drought Into Spout
07:29 - Why Failure Is Essential for Founders
09:13 - From Failed Prototype to Breakthrough Product
13:39 - Building a Hardware Startup With Limited Capital
20:20 - Creating Better, Cleaner Drinking Water
24:39 - Pricing and Marketing a $2,000 Water Machine
33:58 - Making Atmospheric Water Generation Mainstream
37:59 - Balancing Founder Ambition With Sustainable Growth
42:22 - Build What Customers Actually Want
