Becoming A Purpose-Driven Entrepreneur with Philip Winter, Co-Founder of Nebia

Author: Marc Weinstein
Published: Fri 03 Apr 2020
Episode Link: http://www.thelookuppodcast.com/episodes/episode-22-becoming-a-purpose-driven-entrepreneur-with-philip-winter-co-founder-of-nebia

The Most Important Thing

Check out Philip’s company Nebia, who are redefining the way we shower by reducing our water consumption by 50% per year.

About Philip Winter

Philip Winter is the Co-Founder & CEO of Nebia, currently reinventing the way people shower. Nebia is a San Francisco-based startup that has built a new shower system based on a better experience and unprecedented water savings. The company is backed by leading investors in Silicon Valley, including Y-Combinator. Prior to Nebia, Philip was a Princeton-in-Latin America Fellow working at Endeavor in Mexico City. He has a passion for the confluence of business and international development work. Philip earned his BA in International Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was also a member of the varsity golf team.

About Nebia

Nebia is reinventing the way people shower, based on a better experience, beautiful design, and unprecedented water savings. We are a San Francisco-based hardware startup, building a direct-to-consumer brand in a product category that hasn’t seen much innovation in decades. Nebia is backed by some of Silicon Valley’s leading investors, including Y-Combinator.

Episode Overview

In this episode I had the privilege to connect with the co-founder of Nebia, Philip Winter. Philip and I discuss an array of topics. We begin with the story of Nebia, an atypical company even by Silicon Valley standards, and the classic 5 year “overnight success.” We discuss the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurship, the principles that have supported him through this journey, the current vibe in Silicon Valley, and toxic habits of entrepreneurs.

We also focus quite a bit on impact, sustainability, global water consumption and the potential for a global water-related crisis.

It’s clear to me that Philip and Nebia will be successful in reshaping the future of our planet.

Some Highlights and Favorite Quotes:

Philp describes his YCombinator interview at the end of which YC founder, Sam Altman asks to take a full shower!

Philip shares critical advice from Apple CEO, Tim Cook: “We make lots of product prototypes that people don’t like at Apple; just keep going!”

Philip explains an important tradeoff that all hardware companies must face: quality v. time v. cost – you if you could only optimize for two, which would you optimize for?

“Spaces have a certain power over you”

“These are not the same frameworks and structures that are going to take us into the future…”

Episode Breakdown:

0:00 – Why Philip started a showerhead business

05:00 – Measuring Impact

10:00 – “The Overnight Success”

17:00 – The pros & cons of high powered investors

25:30 – Philip’s guiding principles

32:30 – “Sustainability” / How do we Actually Make an Impact?

37:00 – Global Water Consumption and Drought

42:00 – Toxic Entrepreneurship

47:00 – Philosophy