In this Social Radars episode we talk with Blake Scholl about one of the cleverest business model transformations in the history of startups: Boom’s move into building gas turbines. When Rolls Royce pulled out as Boom’s engine supplier, it seemed to many like fatally bad news. But instead it not only helped Boom solve boomless supersonic flight, but also enabled them to tap a huge new revenue stream to fund development of the airliner.
Chapters:
00:00 — Rolls-Royce Walks Away
02:39 — The Breakup Goes Public
07:39 — Deciding to Build the Engine In-House
09:01 — The Brian Chesky Advice That Changed Everything
10:25 — Why Building the Engine Was the Right Call
11:06 — Unlocking Boomless Supersonic Flight
13:35 — The Problem of Funding a Supersonic Airliner
14:37 — The AI Power Shortage Creates an Opportunity
16:23 — Turning a Jet Engine Into a Gas Turbine
18:26 — Why Hard Tech Is So Difficult to Fund
21:20 — From Paycheck to Paycheck to a New Business
22:26 — Why America Stopped Building Power
25:56 — The Aerospace Industry Stopped Innovating
27:21 — Designing the Engine and Airplane Together
32:55 — Rethinking the Passenger Experience
39:03 — Rebuilding America’s Industrial Base
Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply
Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs
