This episode charts the unique path of Adam Johnson, CEO of the critical UK infrastructure company, Water Direct. Adam recounts his journey from an entrepreneurial Texas upbringing to the fast-paced world of Silicon Valley tech sales at startups like WePay and Voxbone, experiences that forged a distinct perspective on adaptability and storytelling. He shares how a Texas blizzard became the "AHA moment" that revealed the hidden value in Water Direct, leading him to acquire the company through the search fund model he discovered during his MBA. This episode highlights the translation of skills between seemingly unrelated industries and the profound challenges and rewards of stepping into the CEO role.

Chapters

Meet Adam Johnson: from Texas to Silicon Valley (0:40)

Adam's early life and influences (2:39)

Navigating career choices and early jobs (8:07)

Sales and startups: lessons from WePay and Voxbone (11:26)

Transition to leadership and private equity insights (20:37)

Discovering the search fund model (23:19)

Getting hooked on ETA (26:22)

The role of an MBA in pursuing a search fund (27:27)

The importance of storytelling in ETA (30:20)

Acquiring Water Direct (31:49)

Understanding Water Direct's business model (32:04)

Challenges and rewards of being a CEO (41:52)

Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs (47:37)

Future plans for Water Direct (49:30)

Conclusion and key takeaways (51:45)

Some advice from Adam:

"It's rare that you you become infatuated with something like this, but it just made sense to me. And I think it's really lucky not a lot of people from a career perspective, at least can say that, they get a bit obsessed with what they're doing. And I, I totally felt that with the search."

"Speak to as many people as you can. Everybody's experience with entrepreneurship broadly is going to be unique. [Try] to form a view of whether or not this is the right path for you can only be done through looking ... into the kaleidoscope because everybody's experience is different and yours will not mimic anybody, but it might at least have quite a few elements from lots of people that you speak to."