#286 Ethan Thornton - This 22-Year-Old Built a .50 Cal Rifle Out of Home Depot Parts
3/9/20264 hr 4 min
Ethan Thornton is the Founder and CEO of Mach Industries, a defense technology company developing next-generation unmanned systems and hydrogen-powered weapons platforms to redefine modern warfare and energy logistics. Ethan left MIT after one semester in 2023 to focus on building Mach full-time. Originally from Texas, Ethan grew up on a farm where he began prototyping weapons in high school. Funded through car tech jobs, knife and furniture sales, and small engineering projects. His early hands-on ingenuity and deep sense of urgency, intensified by the war in Ukraine—motivated him to accelerate U.S. innovation in unmanned aircraft and weapon systems to help deter China and strengthen national defense capabilities. Under his leadership, Mach Industries has attracted backing from top venture firms including Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Bedrock, and has secured major U.S. Army contracts while expanding manufacturing operations. Ethan’s work reflects a broader vision beyond defense. He frequently speaks on the strategic significance of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, the U.S. dollar’s reserve status, the challenge of social decay and neo-feudalism, and the need for productive, post-partisan solutions that secure America’s technological and economic future. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: Go to https://calderalab.com/SRS. Use code SRS for 20% off your first order. Go to https://helixsleep.com/SRS for 25% off. Make sure you enter our show name after checkout so they know we sent you! Go right now to https://hillsdale.edu/SRS to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started. Ethan Thorton Links: X - https://x.com/ethanrthornton Mach Industries X - https://x.com/mach_industries Mach Industries - https://www.machindustries.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Shawn Ryan· Host0:30
[instrumental music] Dude, what's up?
Ethan Thornton· Guest0:36
Excited to be here.
Shawn Ryan· Host0:38
Yeah, I'm pumped. I gotta tell you, man, when we first talked, Alex Epstein actually sent me a text about you, and, um, watched, watched a good portion of the interview you did with him, and then, uh, looked you up, and I saw you on my buddy Mike Ritland's podcast. He's a good friend of mine. And, and, uh, dude, I just, I love what you're doing.
Ethan Thornton· Guest0:59
Thank you. I really appreciate it.
Shawn Ryan· Host1:00
It's fucking awesome.
Ethan Thornton· Guest1:01
Thanks, Tony.
Shawn Ryan· Host1:01
It's im- it's, it's, it's just, it's impressive. It's, it's... I just love talking to people like you. And, uh, I'll tell you what's funny, I mean, you're over there building drones and all this advanced tech shit, and you're like, "What are you up to?" I'm like, "Uh," [laughs] I was like, "I'm embarrassed to say this, but I'm trying to figure out how to run electricity to my kid's fucking O scale train set."
Ethan Thornton· Guest1:24
[laughs] I've been meaning to ask you. You get it running?
Shawn Ryan· Host1:26
I did.
Ethan Thornton· Guest1:27
Oh, great.
Shawn Ryan· Host1:27
I got it. [laughs] So finally