1/ At tonight’s employee rollout celebration I asked @boomaero employees what they thought our odds of success were on the day they joined

2/ the answers ranged from 5% to 100%.

For me... I thought we had well under one chance in ten. At founding, I feared I’d never manage to assemble a team. Then I feared we’d never raise the money to accomplish anything.

3/ the first 18 months were almost a game for me. How far could we get? I thought we had such a low chance of success that any progress at all was amazing. I expected failure so much I wasn’t afraid of it.

4/ at some point in 2018 that flipped. It became so abundantly clear that what we are doing IS possible... and that if we didn’t succeed, it would be because we didn’t execute. The ball was handed to us. And we just needed to score.

5/ for me as leader, things got MUCH harder the more viable Boom became. The lightness of “let’s see what I can do” shifted to the heaviness of “if we don’t do this, it’s my fault”

6/ Today, as we have an assembled airplane in the hangar, it’s 100% clear that we CAN succeed. But that’s not the same as knowing we WILL.

7/ which brings me back to the immense pride and gratitude I have for the people @boomaero and their families. These are the people who were willing to commit even while they knew success was far from assured.

8/ But stepping back, rational people can always question the unproven. “It might not work because X or Y.” And they are right.

9/ This is where Innovator’s Courage is key. You must assume success is possible and focus 100% of your energy on HOW. And give no quarter to your doubts.

10/ The infamous “reality distortion field” of visionary tech leaders is a misnomer. It’s much closer to an *optimism maximization field*, at least in my leadership style

11/ You have to convince people that the odds of success are high enough—and success so meaningful—that is worth committing yourself to delivering what you can’t prove is even possible.