"Breaking the global water scarcity problem would be the second most impactful thing we could do to create prosperity on Earth — right after clean energy." — Michael Welling, CEO & Co-founder, Kreneon

In S4E18 of the DAREwithDarwoft podcast, host Ned Hayes sat down with Michael Welling — in collaboration with the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network — to explore one of the most audacious market ideas of our time: treating water as a tradable commodity to unlock the capital flows needed to address the global water crisis. The conversation moves from first principles — why water is systematically underpriced — to a concrete architecture for change.

Principal topics covered:

• Why the water crisis is fundamentally a capital access problem, not a technology problem.

• How a commodity market for water would work: measurement, digital ledgers, and compliance instruments.

• The parallels between water and energy markets, and what the transition could look like.

• Why 70% of water basins in decline signals a structural market failure — and an opportunity

This one's for the founders and investors who believe the biggest problems are also the biggest markets.

The future of water isn't just a policy question. It's a market design challenge — and the window to get it right is now.