How 50 People Built a Supersonic Jet

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.