The Team

I’ve done the inspections. I know the pain.

This isn’t a product manager pitching from a whiteboard. I’ve held the air pump, collected the swab, and written the report at 2am.

Mike German, Ph.D., P.E.

Proposed: Director, Environmental Services

🔎

200+ residential inspections

Lead paint, mold, asbestos, radon, water quality. Knows the field operations, lab workflows, and report-writing pain firsthand.

🎓

Ph.D. Environmental Engineering (Johns Hopkins)

Research focused on water quality, environmental health, and exposure science. Published in peer-reviewed journals.

Licensed Professional Engineer

P.E. license — can stamp reports, review engineering controls, and provide expert testimony on environmental health issues.

🏗

Built InspectAI

AI-powered inspection platform that eliminates the 3x report-writing overhead. iPhone walks through, AI handles spatial mapping, defect detection, photo organization, and report generation.

💧

Co-founded Drinkwell — 3M+ people served with clean water

Built water treatment systems across India and Bangladesh. Arsenic, fluoride, iron removal at scale. Understands the water quality problem from source to tap — and how to make testing actionable.

💼

Climate-tech operator

Commercial lead at Airloom Energy (Breakthrough Energy Ventures). Built 40+ data platforms across defense, energy, and biotech.

What I’ll Do in 6 Months

Month 1–2: Supply

Personally recruit and vet the first 50 inspector agencies in NYC and Austin. I know the industry — I’ve worked alongside these people.

Month 3–4: Launch

MVP category in search. Manual LMN processing. First bookings. Validate cross-sell conversion rates.

Month 5: Integrate

Nudge logic live. A/B test messaging and timing. Begin HSA payment integration.

Month 6: Scale

HSA Unlock live. Automated LMN. Conversion inflection. Prepare for Top 10 metro expansion.

“I will lead the end-to-end launch: from supply-side sales to product requirements for Canary.”

Ready?

Let’s run the demand test.

2 weeks. One banner. Zero engineering. If >1% of allergy patients click “test your home,” we have product-market fit.

mike@stepsventures.com →