Blake Scholl: How Boom Supersonic Took Flight

Starting Greatness with Mike Maples

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways Boom Supersonic is the first entrepreneurial commercial airliner startup in a century The airliner industry has been taken over by financial types starting in the 1970s, which is one of the reasons why innovation has stalled Don’t dismiss the thing that you actually want to create for the thing you think you’re good at because what you are good at can change with the right motivation and effort “We’re just taking a 787, making it long and skinny, changing the wing shape, and putting in more engines.” – Blake Scholl Very special companies, typically founder-led, are the only companies willing to cannibalize their current business to build for the future  A technically-credible founder, effective storytelling, meaningful partnerships, and top-tier talent are required for a company to succeed Half of Boom Supersonic’s seed money came from investors that Blake knew from his previous company, and the other half came from investors that were passionate about aviation but thought he was crazy for trying to do thisWhen in fundraising mode, accomplish milestones that are actually progress, but also ones that look like progress Tangible, visible, relatable progress is essential for being able to fundraise  Avoid the Bystander Effect, which describes how the more people that are watching a problem, the less likely it is that any one of those people will do something about it Falling victim to the Bystander Effect prevents society’s most important and obvious problems from being solved

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More than fifty years after the first Concorde took flight, consumer air travel is actually SLOWER. Blake Scholl and his team at Boom Supersonic are out to reverse this stagnation and change how we think about commercial aviation. In this episode, Mike Maples, Jr of FLOODGATE interviews Scholl to learn more about the history of American aviation, the origins of Boom Supersonic and the challenges it faces now, and how tech founders are exploring unfamiliar spaces with great success.