Gradually, Then Suddenly

Happy Monday! 

Hemingway famously wrote in the The Sun Also Rises, 

How did you go bankrupt?

Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.

This concept of - slowly, then all at once - ripples across social as more and more wake up to the realization that we’re living at the dawn of a new industrial revolution. What I’ve dubbed, The Aerial Economy.

We’re witnessing exponential change across four foundational pillars:

Transportation
Communication
Energy 
Automation

These are the same forces that have defined every major economic transformation in modern history. 

The automobile and commercial aviation reshaped how people moved, collapsed distant, and redefined where cities could exist. (Transportation)

The telephone, radio, TV, and eventually the Internet, compressed the world, enabling information to travel at the speed of light. (Communication)

Electricity replaced steam, lighting up factories, cities, and homes. (Energy)

Assembly lines and mechanized manufacturing transformed production, lowering costs and reshaping labor at scale. (Automation)

Each shift unfolded gradually, then all at once. 

Today, that same pattern is starting to emerge. 

Nowhere is this more visible than in Space. 

A look at orbital launch activity since 1957 tells a clear story: decades of steady progress followed by an astonishing exponential increase. In 2025, global launch volume ticked an all-time high - a signal that Space exploration is here to stay. (h/t Jonathan’s Space Pages)

The appointment of Jared Isaacman to lead NASA underscores this transition. The era of Space as a purely governmental endeavor is giving way to one shaped by builders, operators, and private capital. 

This is the Aerial Economy taking shape. 

Slowly, then all at once.