If you were a year into MIT’s aerospace engineering program and were offered $100,000 to drop out and put your entrepreneurial skills to the test, would you take the risk?
This is the decision 19-year-old Ethan Thornton faced when he received the Thiel Fellowship, a grant awarded to young adults with brilliant venture ideas who will work on building new things instead of attending college. Thornton co-founded Mach Industries, which has captured the interest of the Department of Defense with its hydrogen-powered military systems. Mach Industries develops weapons modeled after bullets rather than missiles, using hydrogen as a simpler and more flexible fuel. Concerns about sustainability have apparently made it all the way to the defense technology sector.
In June 2023, the company landed $5.7 million from a seed funding round. Soon after, venture capitalists invested enough to put their startup valuation at $335 million. What could go wrong?
A lot, apparently – being a successful entrepreneurial CEO as a teenager requires more skill than just engineering knowledge. One of Thornton’s colleagues was hospitalized in an accident with shrapnel all over his body when a hydrogen-powered gun exploded. They had to scrap exciting projects in favor of more economical decisions, and though Mach Industries paved a bridge between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon, soon they had big competitors. Military defense systems have seen $100 billion of venture capital in the past few years, and companies like Thornton’s are stealing contracts from giants like Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Mach Industries’ current focus is expanding production processes in order to increase output and be able to deliver systems to the military within a year, a goal they certainly need to meet to see success. Thornton’s hydrogen-powered defense ideas are groundbreaking, but his management abilities will ultimately decide whether Mach Industries will become the face of the future or another buried startup.
Sources:
19-Year-Old MIT Drop-Out Is Making Waves in Defense Technology (techtimes.com)
This is a very interesting story. I would imagine that Ethan, majoring in engineering, might have a harder time navigating business deals and practices if he, presumable, doesn’t have experience in the field. I hope things go well for Ethan and his friends. It sounds like they have the ground to disrupt current B to B interactions.