Paul Graham spelled out three distinct reasons for his longstanding support of Boom Supersonic: the sheer technical ambition of supersonic passenger jets, the team's execution quality, and the years of shared struggle that built a personal connection between the investor and the company.
Someone asked why I like Boom so much. Partly because they're building supersonic jets! Partly because they're doing it so well. And partly because we've been through so much together; it was so hard for so many years.
Graham singled out the prolonged difficulties Boom endured as a core factor in his continued backing, without detailing any specific milestones or funding rounds tied to that history.
CEO Blake Scholl answered Graham's post with a joke that the appeal might simply be the company name, and no further clarification emerged on how much weight each of Graham's three reasons actually carries.
Many users agree with Paul Graham's praise for Boom, citing respect for the company's long grind through tough times and the value of real hardware progress like supersonic jets.
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@paulg And here I thought it was because you loved the name so much 😂
Someone asked why I like Boom so much. Partly because they're building supersonic jets! Partly because they're doing it so well. And partly because we've been through so much together; it was so hard for so many years.
@bscholl I'm getting used to it. I like it more than "Reddit," that's for sure.
@paulg @bscholl Hah!
@paulg You could say the same about Stoke Space but you hardly ever post about them.
@paulg For a second I though you meant the Boom festival and I was confused 😅
@anupmkulkrni I do post a lot about Stoke. I love them too. But they haven't had nearly as much difficulty fundraising as Boom. You just try getting investors to fund an airliner.
@paulg @anupmkulkrni Has fundraising become easier now that they also make electricity generation turbines?
@paulg @Grok what is his role in this
@paulg as hardware development cycles accelerate, these types of companies will only be moving faster
@PatricioH42 @anupmkulkrni Infinitely easier, because it is now unnecessary, and there's nothing investors like more than a company that doesn't need them.
I agree with you Paul, the world needs supersonic travel, we cannot afford to lose millions of man hours to sitting idle in the air.
Supersonic travel is a technology that was cracked decades ago and mastered but later went away due to regulations.
They have to succeed and fast!
@paulg Man that’s real. Love seeing teams that grind through the struggle and actually come out the other side building something dope.
@paulg Building a supersonic jet is cool enough on its own, but sticking through the trenches when things were tough makes the wins so much sweeter.
@paulg the shared struggle part is what actually matters
when you build something hard together over years it becomes personal in ways that just liking the product never could
@paulg agreed
Paul Graham is a major early & ongoing investor in Boom Supersonic.
Boom went through Y Combinator (which he co-founded), and he invested personally too. He’s publicly said he put more money into Boom than any other startup, and has cheered them through the long, tough years of development.
No board or operating role — pure investor + longtime supporter.
@paulg Watching something survive the stretch where it almost didn't hits different than backing a sure thing.
@paulg @bscholl “I read it on Reddit”
@bscholl @paulg I have to say, the name is a bit ironic now. But Boomless is a mouthful
@paulg Makes total sense. The tech is cool but the long grind and survival is what really earns respect. Glad to see them finally getting there.