Jan 17, 2026 · 45m · sourcery
I Tried Flying an Air Taxi With Archer’s CEO (Midnight Simulator) · Sourcery with Molly O'Shea
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Host Molly O'Shea tours Archer Aviation headquarters with Founder and CEO Adam Goldstein to explore the future of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis. Through flight simulator demonstrations, facility walk-throughs, and strategic discussions, Goldstein shares how Archer is navigating aerospace regulation, public markets, dual-use defense, and commercial scaling.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Molly holds 20.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Molly as informed peer 2.0 Guest teaching 2.7 Guest disagreement 0.9 Molly pushing back 0.2
speaking balance: gold is Molly, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 31:25 Dismissing competitor air taxi operator fantasies
Adam directly rejects competitor business models attempting full-stack operator models in major metros, calling it unrealistic hype and projecting public backlash if hundreds of aircraft were dumped into New York.
Hardest push from Molly ▶ 19:05 Molly's playful banter on executive name dropsWhen Adam playfully mocks Molly's question for rattling off high-profile founder names, Molly immediately fires back with another prominent executive name to hold her ground.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 20:50 Explaining helicopter aerodynamic counter-reactionsThe flight instructor and Adam break down the complex Newtonian dynamics and simultaneous pedal and cyclic inputs required to stabilize a traditional rotorcraft versus fly-by-wire software.
Molly holds their own ▶ 9:19 Molly introduces Chinese dual-use naval manufacturing policyMolly contributes domain knowledge by raising China's statutory requirements for dual-use commercial-military shipbuilding, which Adam validates as the exact blueprint needed for American eVTOL defense scale.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Molly as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Molly pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tour of Archer HQ and Discussion on Political Support | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Molly frames the discussion around Archer's recent political momentum and funding. Adam details the regulatory hurdles and contrasts the current administration's responsiveness with previous inaction. | |
| Fundamentals of eVTOL Technology and Defense Applications | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | Adam explains the technical transition between vertical lift and forward flight, as well as defense dual-use scale. Molly demonstrates relevant geopolitical knowledge by citing China's dual-use shipbuilding standards. | |
| Sponsor Segment: Brex Corporate Finance Platform | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Following the sponsor read, Adam describes the legal and institutional backlash Archer faced upon going public, highlighting Boeing's lawsuit and the importance of Reddit retail liquidity. | |
| Office Tour: The Candy Wall and Personal Vices | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | A lighthearted segment covering office candy and vices transitions to public market strategy. Adam playfully teases Molly for extensive name-dropping, which Molly readily counters with another name. | |
| Hands-On Test: Traditional Helicopter Simulator | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | Molly tests both a traditional helicopter simulator and Archer's Midnight fly-by-wire simulator. The instructor and Adam actively coach her on aerodynamic controls and pedal stabilization. | |
| Sponsor Segment: Turing AI Training Infrastructure | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | After the Turing sponsor break, Molly and Adam review her simulator flight and discuss the intense physical and mental demands of executive travel. | |
| Middle Eastern Partnerships and Global Market Strategy | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Molly inquires about the strategic importance of Middle Eastern partners, and Adam explains how early backing from Mubadala in Abu Dhabi created an entire regional ecosystem. | |
| Commercial Aircraft Sales Model and Manufacturing Scale | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | Adam reframes the urban air taxi narrative, dismissing competitor direct-operator models in favor of an OEM sales strategy across secondary markets like Tucson. Molly draws a parallel to early Waymo resistance. | |
| Sponsor Segment: Public.com Investing Platform | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Following the Public sponsor spot, Adam speaks candidly about inspirations, personal balance, and overcoming malicious corporate and legal attacks early in Archer's public lifecycle. | |
| Office Culture and the Viral "Archer Apes" Giraffe Mascot | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | The episode wraps with rapid-fire stories about the viral Archer Apes giraffe mascot, a bizarre unsolicited phone delivery from a politician, and an Olympic flight jacket gift. |
Statements from this episode (18)
Goldstein: eVTOL aircraft will begin flying in US cities next year
“And so we came up with this concept around what they called the EIPP or eVTOL integration pilot program. And that was to allow these aircrafts to start flying in the cities in the U.S. As soon as next year. And so what they're going to do is they're actually g…”
Goldstein: Buttigieg refused meetings, but Sean Duffy meets with Archer monthly
“I literally could not get a meeting with Secretary Pete Buttigieg. I couldn't do it. He just wouldn't take the meeting. And so, I don't know if it just wasn't important to him or whatever his reasons were, but as soon as the new administration, the administrat…”
Goldstein: eVTOL is the first new FAA aircraft category in 60 years
“So you have a new platform that's really, it's like day one of that, first new category at the FAA in 60 years, and it's an opportunity to build a whole next generation of aviation.”
Goldstein: China mandates commercial ships be built for military transport
“Yeah, so in China they have Made it mandatory that ships of a certain size have to be strong enough and fortified enough to be able to carry military assets as well as civilian assets.”
Goldstein: Archer Aviation's primary defense partner is Anduril
“So our big partner in the defense industry is Andrel.”
Goldstein: Archer had only 50 employees when it announced going public
“So when we announced we were going public, we were actually 50 people.”
Goldstein: Airplane startups require at least $1 billion in capital
“To build airplanes, it's extremely expensive. You're not even in the game without a billion dollars. Because it takes a huge team for many, many years to really develop core technologies that can be safe, reliable, and ultimately, like, put into production.”
Goldstein: Boeing sued Archer immediately after its public listing announcement
“So when you have an industry that's so heavily consolidated, they don't want new entrants. And so Boeing sued us instantly.”
Goldstein: Retail investors frequently push Archer into NYSE top 10 volume
“But if you look at a volume traded throughout our stock, we will often be a top 10 most heavily traded stock on the New York Stock Exchange. That will happen all the time. That is because of the retail.”
Goldstein: Jim Cramer's constant attacks on Archer only increase public attention
“Like, Kramer has always hated us and just gashes us at every chance he can get. And in a way, it just brings more, almost like, attention to it.”
Goldstein: Scaled electric engines enable multi-propeller redundancy in eVTOLs
“There are multiple sets of propellers, and the you know, ability for electric engines to be scaled really far down gives you an ability to build an aircraft with lots of redundancy, and that's what those multiple sets of engines propellers really represent.”
Goldstein: Archer could not have been built outside the US
“I don't think there's another country that you could do something like this in.”
Goldstein: Mubadala's early investment catalyzed Archer's expansion into the UAE
“Mubaba became an Archer investor. So they were an investor very early in sort of our public journey. And it was kind of kicked off a lot of the action in the UAE.”
Goldstein: Full-stack eVTOL models are too operationally complex to be profitable
“So the challenge with being an OEM, and an operator, and, a demand aggregator, an infrastructure player, you know, a pilot training company, a maintenance company, that's a lot of stuff to do at once. It's very hard to actually build a real business that will …”
Goldstein: Scaled air taxi networks will take 10 to 20 years
“So air taxi will happen over time. It's not gonna happen year one. It's probably not gonna happen year five, but it will happen by year 10, and it will certainly be scaled by year 20.”
Goldstein: Competitor weaponized the government by framing Archer engineer as a spy
“If, in America, I didn't think it was possible for a competitor to weaponize the government to come after you. And we saw that. It was unbelievable. It was you know, one of my engineers was set up to look like he was like a Chinese spy, and it was totally fake…”