logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2024
1h 27m

Boom: Supersonic speeds for everyday tra...

Jason Calacanis
About this episode

This Week in Startups is brought to you by…

Vanta. Compliance and security shouldn't be a deal-breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 report fast. TWiST listeners can get $1,000 off for a limited time at https://www.vanta.com/twist

Squarespace. Turn your idea into a new website! Go to https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST for a free trial. When you’re ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

OpenPhone. Create business phone numbers for you and your team that work through an app on your smartphone or desktop. TWiST listeners can get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://www.openphone.com/twist

*

Todays show:

Boom Supersonic’s Blake Scholl joins Jason to discuss the future of supersonic flight (1:18), Boom's vision and test flights (9:25), the evolution of hardware startups (22:29), the future of autonomous aviation (1:17:06), and much more!

*

Timestamps:

(0:00) Boom Supersonic’s Blake Scholl joins Jason

(1:18) Commercial flight speed & Concorde history

(8:34) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist

(9:25) Boom's XB-1 test flights and airline partnerships

(15:04) Pricing, market comparison, and venture capital's view on hardware startups

(21:16) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST

(22:29) Evolution of startup market and hardware innovation

(29:03) Boeing's innovation decline and attracting talent to projects

(36:15) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://www.openphone.com/twist

(37:42) Working with tech legends and overcoming engine design challenges

(49:14) Cross-discipline innovation

(57:01) Learning from Air France 447 and cockpit safety design

(1:03:36) Cockpit technologies and the MH370 mystery

(1:11:30) Public perception of aviation risks and airport security impact

(1:17:06) The future of autonomous aviation

*

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

*

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

*

Follow Blake:

X: https://x.com/bscholl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakescholl

Check out: https://boomsupersonic.com / https://x.com/boomaero

*

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

*

Thank you to our partners:

(8:34) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist

(21:16) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST

(36:15) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://www.openphone.com/twist

*

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

*

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

*

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

*

Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Up next
Nov 22
Jason predicts a “major M&A moment” in the next six months! | E2213
<p>Register here to join Founder University Japan’s kickoff: <a href="https://luma.com/cm0x90mk" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://luma.com/cm0x90mk</a></p><p><br></p><p>Today’s show:</p><p>Google and Meta had their cases dismissed (or received a slap on the w ... Show More
55m 35s
Nov 20
Why data is the biggest AI bottleneck (feat. Arthur Mensch of Mistral AI) | E2212
<p>Today’s show:</p><p>The race for more compute gets all the headlines, but Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch tells us the REAL danger is running out of data!</p><p>On TWiST, Jason and Alex are chatting with the head of France’s largest foundation AI company, Mistral AI, about how en ... Show More
1h 5m
Nov 19
AI Model Showdown: Grok 4.1 vs. Gemini 3 | E2211
<p><strong>AI Model Showdown: Grok 4.1 vs. Gemini 3 | E2211</strong></p><ul><li><br></li></ul><p>Register for Founder University Japan’s Kickoff! <a href="https://luma.com/cm0x90mk">https://luma.com/cm0x90mk</a></p><ul><li><br></li></ul><p>Today’s show:</p><p>*Will the arrival of ... Show More
46m 45s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2024
Tech CEO on the Future of Travel & Technology w/ Adam Goldstein | EP #82
In this episode, Peter and Adam discuss the future of transportation, when we’ll have flying cars, and how vehicle technology will evolve in the coming years.  17:28 | Ready for the Driverless Sky? 30:17 | The Future of Urban Transportation 1:03:23 | Disrupting the Aerospace ... Show More
1h 16m
Oct 2024
Insiders React: SpaceX’s Big Win + Kamala Backs Crypto, Dubai’s Tech Rise, Replit AI Changes Coding
<p>What if you could build and deploy a full app in minutes, without writing a single line of code?</p> <p><br /></p> <p>In this episode, Chris Saad and Ray Dargham, Co-Founder and CEO at Step, discuss the latest tech news shaping the future for founders and investors. </p> <p><b ... Show More
51m 44s
Oct 14
Bryan Johnson: The #1 Longevity Secret You Can Start Doing Today
<p>(0:00) Introducing Bryan Johnson</p> <p>(0:46) Bryan takes the audience through a quick biological age test</p> <p>(5:53) The single best longevity hack from all of his research</p> <p>Thanks to our partners for making this happen!</p> <p>Solana - Solana is the high performanc ... Show More
10m 39s
Mar 2025
Building Lovable: $10M ARR in 60 days with 15 people | Anton Osika (CEO and co-founder)
<p><strong>Anton Osika</strong> is the co-founder and CEO of Lovable, which is building what they call “the last piece of software”—an AI-powered tool that turns descriptions into working products without requiring any coding knowledge. Since launching three months ago, Lovable h ... Show More
1h 9m
Feb 2025
#63 AI is changing ANIMATION Forever with Move AI CEO
Tino Millar is the Co-founder & CEO of Move AI, a company using artificial intelligence to capture human motion from video—no suits, no sensors, just videos. Move AI is making high-quality motion capture more accessible for creators in gaming, film, and sports. In this episode, T ... Show More
1 h
Nov 9
"Sell the alpha, not the feature": The enterprise sales playbook for $1M to $10M ARR | Jen Abel
Jen Abel is GM of Enterprise at State Affairs and co-founded Jellyfish, a consultancy that helps founders learn zero-to-one enterprise sales. She’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met on learning enterprise sales, and in this follow-up to our first chat two years ago (coveri ... Show More
1h 21m
Jun 2025
12 INSANE AI Agent Use Cases in Lindy AI (Live Demo)
Episode 64: What if you could hire an AI intern to handle your meetings, emails, CRM, and even negotiate refunds over the phone? Nathan Lands (https://x.com/NathanLands) is joined by Flo Crivello (https://x.com/Altimor), founder of Lindy AI, a leading AI agent platform in Silicon ... Show More
42m 4s
Oct 21
Karim Atiyeh - Building Ramp - [Invest Like the Best, EP.445]
My guest today is Karim Atiyeh. Karim is the co-founder and CTO of Ramp, the fastest-growing finance automation platform in history, reaching over $1 billion in revenue in just over five years. Ramp is, of course, also our presenting sponsor, so I’m obviously very biased in how h ... Show More
1h 45m
Apr 2025
Next-Gen Founders: Startups in the Age of AI (Edu)
Is AI making startups easier—or just changing the rules of the game?In a world where execution is cheap and accessible, building a successful startup is more competitive than ever. In this episode, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein unpack the reality of every business having access ... Show More
53m 2s
Sep 12
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis on AI, Creativity, and a Golden Age of Science | All-In Summit
<p>(0:00) Introducing Sir Demis Hassabis, reflecting on his Nobel Prize win</p> <p>(2:39) What is Google DeepMind? How does it interact with Google and Alphabet?</p> <p>(4:01) Genie 3 world model</p> <p>(9:21) State of robotics models, form factors, and more</p> <p>(14:42) AI sci ... Show More
31m 48s