From Complex to Simple: How Deridut’s ‘Google Maps of Water’ Pitch Transforms Technical Innovation into Customer Understanding
How do you explain a complex technical solution to a problem that most people don’t even know exists? In a recent Category Visionaries episode, Javier Marti shared how Deridut evolved their messaging from technical complexity to elegant simplicity, offering valuable lessons for founders tackling similar challenges.
The Power of Familiar Analogies
When asked to explain his company, Javier’s response is deceptively simple: “I’m building the Google Maps of water.” This analogy works because, as he explains, “everybody understand what the Google Maps is, and we all understand how traffic is affecting our ability to go from a to b and how useful that is to many industries.”
But what makes this analogy particularly effective is how it leads naturally into deeper conversations: “after saying the Google maps of water, the conversation leads into the uncertainty that we have around water events. And how unfortunate it is that we know more about a pit stop coming our way than a flood event that may happen in your doorstep.”
Breaking Down Complex Problems
Behind this simple analogy lies a sophisticated understanding of market needs. Javier explains that their customers are “trying to have a better understanding of what are the risks and the real impacts of climate change into their balance sheet at large. It could be through an operational decision, it could be through what are the sustainability efforts that we have to put in place to adapt and survive going forward as a company.”
The key insight here is how they’ve broken down a complex technical solution into clear business outcomes. Rather than leading with technical capabilities, they focus on specific use cases: “when you look at supply chain, which is heavily affected by climate change, when you look at an insurance company, which is trying to understand whether your policy has to increase or I have to pay you x million dollars.”
Technical Depth as a Foundation
While their messaging is simple, it’s built on deep technical expertise. Javier coined the term “water data scarcity” at COP28 to describe a fundamental market challenge: “If you look at the map of the United States, you see about 12,000, 17,000 at most data points or locations where we’re collecting data about water… If you do the math about the geographical extension of the United States, and you divide it by 15,000 just to do a quick math, you realize that’s not enough coverage.”
This technical understanding allows them to explain complex concepts through relatable examples: “Unfortunately, all these mega projects lack a little bit that facet of life, how to bring a practical thing into the market, how to bring something that creates value and can be really, truly helpful to the society at large.”
Framework for Simplifying Technical Products
From Deridut’s messaging evolution, we can extract a practical framework for simplifying complex technical products:
- Start with a familiar analogy (Google Maps for water)
- Bridge to the problem (knowing more about traffic than floods)
- Connect to business impact (balance sheet risks)
- Support with technical credibility (water data scarcity concept)
This layered approach allows for different levels of conversation depending on the audience’s interest and technical sophistication. The initial analogy provides an easy entry point, while subsequent layers add depth and credibility for more technical discussions.
For founders building complex technical products, the key lesson is that simplification doesn’t mean sacrificing sophistication. Instead, it’s about creating multiple layers of understanding that allow you to meet different audiences where they are while maintaining the ability to demonstrate deep technical expertise when needed.
The goal isn’t to oversimplify, but to create an accessible entry point that leads naturally to deeper discussions about value and implementation. As Javier’s experience shows, the right analogy can transform a complex technical solution into something immediately understandable, while still leaving room for substantive technical discussions.