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Comment by crowcroft | Hacker News Reader

I imagine the odds are that Boom will most likely fail, but if wealthy investors want to pump money into supersonic flight R&D knowing that the risk is high, then I'm all for it. If nothing else it's very cool.

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"Because it's cool" is an underappreciated basis for investment.

>I imagine the odds are that Boom will most likely fail, but if wealthy investors want to pump money into supersonic flight R&D knowing that the risk is high, then I'm all for it

The model for all of these aerospace startups is to just develop something interesting enough for an acqui-hire. Boom will never build a passenger jet. But some of their tech may make it into the next generation of GE engines if they're successful.

That's a lot of hopium given that they're making their own engines because no real engine manufacturer thinks it's a good idea. The entire company was created because a rich techie had an exit and liked flying. A lifestyle business, I guess.

If they spin a defense product at some point they could make a very good case that they're a necessary company given Boeing's utter incompetence here of late.

If they can succeed in making anything that is good enough to be approved by the FAA or to be used in anything then honestly I would say that as a massive win for them.

The technology is dual use. There is value in war, unfortunately.

Ferengi Rule of Acquisition 34: War is good for business.

Ferengi Rule of Acquisition 35: Peace is good for business.

Better than investing in blockchain or another openai wrapper company

I get a lot more enjoyment out of billionaires spending their money on rockets and super sonic planes than buying land in Hawaii and kicking native people off of it.

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