Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Keller Cliffton joins John Collison to talk about Zipline’s journey from Rwandan aid deliveries to Chipotle burrito airdrops, 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 Wolfe: bookshop.org/p/books/the-right-stuff-tom-wolfe/bf1ca617f9dab8ad?ean=9781429961325&next=t&next=t
Skunk Works by Ben Rich: bookshop.org/p/books/skunk-works-a-personal-memoir-of-my-years-of-lockheed-ben-r-rich/67057eb959b36a08?ean=9780316743006&next=t
Apple in China by Patrick McGee: bookshop.org/p/books/apple-in-china-the-capture-of-the-world-s-greatest-company-patrick-mcgee/496b96d06a984e01?ean=9781668053379&next=t
Full transcript on Substack:
cheekypint.substack.com/p/zipline-ceo-keller-cliffton-on-air
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2IHbGJJMpiFoz5YrvRfTFw
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cheeky-pint/id1821055332
Substack: cheekypint.substack.com
Key moments
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
Keller Cliffton joins John Collison to talk about Zipline’s journey from Rwandan aid deliveries to Chipotle burrito airdrops, 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 Wolfe: bookshop.org/p/books/the-right-stuff-tom-wolfe/bf1ca617f9dab8ad?ean=9781429961325&next=t&next=t
Skunk Works by Ben Rich: bookshop.org/p/books/skunk-works-a-personal-memoir-of-my-years-of-lockheed-ben-r-rich/67057eb959b36a08?ean=9780316743006&next=t
Apple in China by Patrick McGee: bookshop.org/p/books/apple-in-china-the-capture-of-the-world-s-greatest-company-patrick-mcgee/496b96d06a984e01?ean=9781668053379&next=t
Full transcript on Substack:
cheekypint.substack.com/p/zipline-ceo-keller-cliffton-on-air
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2IHbGJJMpiFoz5YrvRfTFw
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cheeky-pint/id1821055332
Substack: cheekypint.substack.com
Key moments
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
