How I built a private jet in my office!

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·Nov 3, 2024

14 years ago, I had to come up with the idea of how to build the best showroom in the world. But the biggest issue was, what the hell do I put inside the window of this showroom? I had to make sure that people looking in from the window outside didn't think this was a travel agency or a toy store that sold toy airplanes.

So I came up with the idea: first of all, how do I get an eye-catching giant airplane fuselage in the front window on Park Lane for the showroom? I decided to build this Airbus 319 corporate jet to get everybody's eyes as they're driving by in their cars to see what the hell is in that window.

I had to think about how I was going to make it cosmetically appealing to really everybody because the problem is you don't want to design something that really is distasteful for some people. You want something attractive, sexy, crazy, or sort of over the top. So we wanted to get something contemporary, something pleasing on the eye, something that really doesn't object to anybody.

And this is what we came up with: we had a seating area, like a lounge area, as you walk in further. We had this other couch with another big, big club chairs. As you look out the windows, you can see the clouds moving, just as if you're flying.

David Lee at Startup School NY 2014

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How I built a private jet in my office!

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