Building the First Independent Supersonic Jet: Blake Scholl's Journey

What if supersonic travel didn’t just belong in the realm of science fiction? With the vision of Blake Scholl and Boom Supersonic, flying faster than sound is on the verge of becoming a reality, making the world more accessible than ever.

The Vision for Supersonic Travel

In the Mojave Desert, Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 prototype is quietly redefining what’s possible in aviation. As the first independently developed supersonic jet in history, the XB-1 is designed to cruise at Mach 1.7 and demonstrate the feasibility of 100% sustainable fuel. This one-seat aircraft serves as a research platform, collecting critical aerodynamic and systems data to inform the development of Overture, a 65-passenger supersonic airliner. Overture aims to bring back routine supersonic passenger travel with ticket prices comparable to today’s business class. By solving challenges like sonic booms and fuel efficiency, Blake Scholl and his team hope to usher in a new era where crossing continents at twice the speed of sound is commonplace. The XB-1’s success could spark a revival of the golden age of supersonic flight, prompting regulators and airlines to embrace faster travel and shrink global distances to a morning commute.

A Journey from Tech to Aviation

Blake Scholl began his career far from runways, studying computer science and building web services at Amazon. After leading product at Groupon, he launched Palago, a mobile-ecommerce startup that combined barcode scanning with gaming. While these ventures honed his technical skills, they lacked a compelling mission. A visit to a Seattle museum reignited his childhood fascination when he encountered a retired Concorde. “In my 20s, I set a lifetime goal of flying supersonic after seeing a Concord in a museum,” he recalled. Determined to understand why the Concorde had been retired, Scholl realized that breakthroughs in economics and design could make a modern supersonic jet viable—and he decided to lead that effort himself.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

To tackle the obstacles that grounded the Concorde, Scholl dove into aviation economics and engineering fundamentals. He discovered that high ticket prices, limited seating, and poor fuel efficiency doomed past attempts. “The answer was not technology; the answer was economics,” Scholl explains. He built spreadsheet models simulating global route demand, lift-to-drag ratios, engine fuel consumption, and structural weight. To fill his own knowledge gaps, he enrolled in an airplane design course and reviewed calculus and physics on Khan Academy. With conservative assumptions vetted by aerospace professors, his models showed that better metrics on aerodynamic efficiency, propulsive efficiency, and structural efficiency could unlock a profitable business-class fare on supersonic routes.

“The answer was not technology; the answer was economics,” Blake Scholl emphasizes. [verify]

Crafting a High-Caliber Team

Building a supersonic jet demanded more than data; it required passionate experts who could innovate at pace. Scholl had no industry contacts, so he scoured LinkedIn, reached out to former colleagues, and flew himself to meet engineers nationwide. His breakthrough came when a former Groupon teammate introduced him to a SpaceX engineer. He then asked every new contact: if politics and budgets were no object, who are the top five people you’d recruit? Repeating this question across meetings let him map a global network of elite talent. Today, Boom’s core team of about 50 professionals—many drawn from SpaceX, Boeing, and early-career engineering programs—delivers rapid design iterations. “Small high-caliber teams can do things that big teams can’t do,” Scholl observes.

Insights from the Fast Track to Supersonic

Rather than jumping straight to a full-scale airliner, Boom built the XB-1 as a testbed to accelerate learning. Each flight delivers data on aerodynamics, materials, and systems integration, enabling swift design tweaks. “If we knew on day one what we know today, we could have done it in half the time for a third of the money,” Scholl reflects. This lean, iterative approach mirrors software startups: build, test, measure, refine. It not only speeds development but also avoids budget overruns common in traditional aerospace programs. By integrating pilots’ feedback and real-time sensor data, Boom minimizes costly failures and de-risks the path to Overture.

Advice for Aspiring Founders

Scholl’s journey offers key lessons for entrepreneurs tackling deep-tech ventures. First, pursue projects that resonate with your deepest passions rather than chasing trends. Founders motivated by a clear mission can weather challenges that would stall less driven teams. Second, ground bold ideas in quantitative analysis to test assumptions and refine product-market fit early. He recommends making small bets: prototype, validate hypotheses, then scale. “There isn’t a day I doubt that it’s worth giving my all,” Scholl says, underscoring the power of unwavering belief in your cause. This combination of personal commitment and data-driven rigor can turn moonshot concepts into operational breakthroughs.

The Future of Supersonic Travel

Boom’s next milestone is Overture, a 65-seat airliner targeting Mach 1.7 cruise on 100% sustainable fuel. Innovations that shape sonic booms into harmless shockwaves could clear regulatory hurdles for overland routes by 2029. Ticket prices are set to mirror current business-class fares, bringing supersonic flight within reach of frequent travelers. Partnerships with sustainable aviation fuel suppliers will address environmental concerns, while collaborations with regulators and airports will smooth certification. Soon, trips like New York to London in under four hours or Tokyo to Seattle in around four hours could become the norm, transforming global business and leisure travel.

Conclusion

Blake Scholl’s quest to revive supersonic passenger flight shows that combining deep-tech ambition, rigorous economics, and a lean, passionate team can overcome century-old challenges. By treating aerospace programs like software startups—iterating quickly, learning from failures, and maintaining a clear mission—entrepreneurs can tackle even the most complex engineering problems.

• Start by assembling a lean, passionate team and iterating rapidly on prototypes to master deep-tech challenges.