Hard Tech Startups Are Built One Milestone at a Time

At Heart Aerospace, Anders Forslund built the company one material milestone at a time, using each one to earn the credibility and capital to build the next. “We really had no technology. I came to YC Demo Day with a little 3D-printed model.” “We went from having the LOIs to building the 400-kilowatt motor, which was the size of a small jet engine. That in turn attracted actual pre-orders, and then that attracted more capital.” Their first major airline customer came through the spam folder. “United Airlines came through an inbound email through our info email... we showed them the electric mo