Episode · Cheeky Pint · 2025-09-10
John Collison & Keller Cliffton: books mentioned on Cheeky Pint
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.
John Collison recommended The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe and Apple in China by Patrick McGee. Keller Cliffton discussed Skunk Works by Leo Janos and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Right Stuff
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe is a classic account documenting the early days of the United States space program and the test pilots turned astronauts of the Mercury project.
Recommended“Tom Wolfe fabulous writer all his stuff I would recommend and certainly, "The Right Stuff" maybe for listeners of this podcast is on the history of the Mercury space program.”
Where to get it
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Skunk Works
Skunk Works by Leo Janos and Ben R.
Discussed“Like what really inspires me, you know, is you think about like Skunk Works, right? And like the teams that built a lot.”
Where to get it
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Apple in China
Apple in China by Patrick McGee is a detailed examination of Apple's manufacturing footprint and supply chain evolution in Asia.
Recommended“People also talk about the fact that it's not competitive to manufacture in the United States anymore, because supply chain, I don't know, did you read the "Apple in China" book?”
Where to get it
