Zipline CEO Keller Cliffton on air-dropping blood to Rwandan hospitals and getting to 50,000 aircraft per year
Keller Cliffton joins John Collison to talk about Zipline’s journey to 115 million miles flown, the lost art of American airplanes, building 50k drones a year in California, getting to 99.9% reliability, and US vs. Chinese manufacturing.
Books referenced:
The Right Stuff by Tom WolfeSkunk Works by Ben RichApple in China by Patrick McGeeTimestamps
(00:00) Intro
(00:45) 115 million miles flown
(04:10) Why drone delivery took so long
(07:38) Getting started in Rwanda
(13:31) 51% reduction in maternal mortality
(15:33) Access vs. waste
(21:45) Scaling globally
(24:05) Zipline’s Platform 1
(25:50) The Right Stuff
(27:22) Drone design and safety
(30:12) Getting to 99.9% reliability
(34:39) Multimodal logistics
(38:15) Zipline’s Platform 2
(44:03) US drone regs and the FAA
(48:02) Progress and stagnation in US aviation
(51:30) If Keller ran the FAA
(54:24) 30% WoW growth in Texas
(58:25) Why Texas and not California?
(01:00:28) Building 50k drones in California
(01:06:18) US vs. Chinese manufacturing
(01:11:30) Advice for hardtech founders
Cheeky Pint
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
- No. of episodes: 12
- Latest episode: 2025-09-24
- Business Technology Entrepreneurship
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