EP 140: Blake Scholl (Founder and CEO, Boom Supersonic) on Why Supersonic Flight Failed & How Boom is Bringing it Back

Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, is leading the boldest effort in decades to bring back commercial supersonic flight—this time with product-market fit. We talk about what went wrong with the world’s first try at supersonic commercial aircraft (launched in the 70s), why Boeing hasn’t introduced a new plane in over a decade, and how Blake’s startup is building a jet that flies 2x faster than today’s aircraft—without the sonic boom. This episode is a crash course in engineering ambition, regulatory dysfunction, and what it takes to defy gravity and incumbents. (00:00) Intro (00:40) The History and Evolution of Aviation (01:12) The Rise and Fall of Concorde (05:25) The Impact of Government and Founders on Innovation (08:57) Regulatory Challenges and Business Models (26:53) Boom's Vision for Supersonic Travel (47:10) Building Trust with Regulators (48:16) Challenges in the Aerospace Startup (49:36) Recruiting Talent from Unlikely Places (55:47) The Importance of Mission Success Events (01:01:52) Developing a Custom Jet Engine (01:22:54) Reindustrialization and Economic Strategy (01:34:42) Conclusion and Final Thoughts Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA 🎙 Listen to the show Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-logan-bartlett-show/id1606770839 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5WqBqDb4br3LlyVrdqOYYb?si=3076e6c1b5c94d63&nd=1 🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1 Follow on Socials 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow 🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow About the Show Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode, Logan goes behind the scenes with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every Friday for new episodes.