The Drone Company Everyone Thought Was Illegal (Now Worth $4B+) | E2265

March 20, 2026·1 hr 39 min·5 clips

Zipline accidentally delivered life-saving blood to a hospital roof, forcing nurses to risk their lives to retrieve it.

Jason Calacanis interviews Keller Clifton of Zipline, discussing the drone company's journey from delivering blood in Rwanda to scaling in the U.S., highlighting regulatory hurdles, life-saving impacts, and technological innovations. Later, Raul Vora shares his experiences founding Reportive and Superhuman, covering viral growth, acquisitions, and entrepreneurial lessons.

As heard by us

Drone delivery framed as logistics, not spectacle.

Keller Clifton of Zipline treats drone delivery as a logistics problem, not a spectacle. The company began in Africa delivering blood and medicine on fixed-wing airplanes, then shifted from a 2011 start to building the system in 2013.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want the drone-delivery story without the sci-fi fog.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from This Week in Startups