Started from Zero at 33 — Now He’s Building a $1B Airline | Blake Scholl — Silicon Valley Girl Podcast

Blake Scholl March 21, 2025 40 MIN

About the Guest

Blake Scholl

Founder & CEO, Boom Supersonic

Blake Scholl is the founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, a Denver-based aerospace company developing the Overture supersonic passenger jet. Before founding Boom, he worked as a software engineer and entrepreneur, including a stint at Amazon. He started Boom at age 33 with no aerospace background and has since grown it into a billion-dollar company backed by major investors and airline partners.

In this episode of the Silicon Valley Girl Podcast, Marina Mogilko interviews Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO, Boom Supersonic. Blake Scholl shares his journey from software engineer at Amazon to founding Boom Supersonic, a supersonic aviation company valued at over $1 billion. He discusses the mindset shifts required to break into a capital-intensive industry with no prior aerospace background, starting the venture at age 33. The conversation covers how he handled rejection, industry skepticism, and the long road to building a credible aerospace startup.

Key Takeaways

Blake started Boom Supersonic at 33 with a software engineering background — not aerospace — proving deep domain expertise isn't always a prerequisite for disrupting an industry.
Boom Supersonic is valued at over $1 billion, demonstrating that hardware and deep-tech startups can attract major venture-scale investment when the vision is compelling enough.
Overcoming rejection was a central theme — Blake credits deliberate mindset shifts with helping him persist through repeated skepticism from investors and industry insiders.
Transitioning from Amazon to aerospace required Blake to build credibility from zero, highlighting the importance of surrounding yourself with domain experts when entering unfamiliar fields.
The supersonic aviation market represents a major opportunity to dramatically cut long-haul flight times, which Blake frames as a generational leap in how humans experience global travel.

00:00 Teaser 0:54 His early career, 14 years in tech 2:12 "People have to declare big things for big things to actually happen." 3:31 Working at Amazon with Jeff Bezos, the lessons he learned there 7:38 What led him to transition from a corporate job to starting Boom 8:20 Why he quit his stable job at 33, with newborn twins and a toddler daughter 9:06 How much money he saved for his startup 9:44 How he managed his time with family while building a startup 10:30 How he started a company without formal education 12:57 How he moved from theory to practice 14:30 Challenges in hiring the right people 15:50 "When I told people I was building a supersonic jet, they said, 'Are you crazy?'" 17:18 Why you shouldn’t listen to industry experts and should check the information yourself 19:20 No one can tell you what you’re capable of, except yourself 19:56 The failures that can turn out to be winning moments 20:33 The hardest day at Boom 21:17 3 weeks from bankruptcy – What separates a successful founder from a failing one? 22:00 Why 99% of startups fail 22:30 How close they are to launching 24:00 Legal bans and challenges that stopped them 26:12 How everything can change in just 4 weeks 26:20 How to navigate the challenge of 3x the carbon emissions that jets use 28:58 The costs of flying on a supersonic jet 30:18 Why increasing speed is important and how it can drive growth in other fields 32:45 How he manages work-life balance while working at a startup 33:35 "The world is really open to supersonic right now. We have to move fast. I haven't had a day off in 4 months." 34:40 The story behind the Trump photo 37:00 Advice for someone who’s stuck with their idea of building a startup but is facing obstacles 38:00 Stop being afraid of failure 39:18 What he would say to the younger version of himself

Transcript not available for this episode.