WhoBuilt

How 50 People Built a Supersonic Jet

Jul 28, 2026· 50 min· 12K views·Watch on YouTube
#Experimentation#Product Strategy

Speaker

Blake SchollCEO at Boom Supersonic

Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, talks about building supersonic aircraft with a small team at Y Combinator.

Why supersonic travel matters

Scholl contrasts the 1969 moon landing and Concorde with the slower pace of aerospace today. He argues that faster travel can reshape life on the ground, pointing to how jetliners helped make Hawaii a mainstream destination and enabled global music tours.

From a cardboard mockup to supersonic flight

After finding little progress in supersonic aviation, Scholl founded Boom despite having a software background and limited aviation experience. The company began with a cardboard and plywood mockup, then built XB-1 to learn how to develop a supersonic jet. XB-1 later broke the sound barrier, and Scholl says Mach cutoff meant its sonic boom did not reach the ground.

Making aircraft development faster

Scholl says a team of about 50 built XB-1 by making hardware development more like software development. Boom created tools such as Makeboom to simulate aircraft designs and BladeRunner to evaluate engine blades, and built an in-house machine shop to turn digital designs into prototype parts in about 24 hours.

Scaling production and financing

Boom is building a factory to produce engines and eventually Overture, its passenger airliner. Scholl says the company adapted its supersonic engine for ground power generation, a product called Superpower, to generate customer revenue and support engine development.

Founder lessons from building Boom

In the Q&A, Scholl advises founders to pursue problems they care about, even when others ask why now, and to learn unfamiliar subjects from first principles. He recommends engaging safety regulators early, seeking advice from people who have done a task before, and showing ability through side projects. He also says AI has lowered the cost of custom software, while physical-world automation remains difficult.

Takeaways

  • Choose a problem you care enough about to keep working through setbacks.
  • Use simulations and custom software to explore design trade-offs before committing to hardware.
  • Build in-house tools and manufacturing capacity when outside iteration slows learning.
  • For difficult hardware projects, seek experienced advice while continuing to experiment.
  • Show what you can do through side projects, especially when you lack work experience.

Mentioned in this talk

BoeingBoom SupersonicGrouponAWSUberFederal Aviation AdministrationConcordeXB-1StarlinkMakeboomBladeRunnerOvertureSuperpowersupersonic flightMach cutoffAIrapid hardware iterationvertical integrationJeff BezosTravis Kalanick

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