<story><title>Starting an Airline </title><url>http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/startup/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pkorzeniewski</author><text>It blows my mind how people start such big businesses. You must build an airport, hire stuff, buy planes, meet many legal requirements and so on, all costing tens of millions of dollars, and on top of that, it must be profitable. This gives some insight, but still it&amp;#x27;s terryfing. I feel so small.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rayiner</author><text>The key observation is that the airport is built on credit (by the government, not the airline, using bonds), and the airplanes are usually either bought on credit or leased (in which case they are built by the airline on credit).&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s an illustration of why banks and bank debt are so important in our economy! This capital-intensive sort of business doesn&amp;#x27;t happen by an entrepreneur writing a $1 billion check from funds he has on hand.</text></comment>
<story><title>Starting an Airline </title><url>http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/startup/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pkorzeniewski</author><text>It blows my mind how people start such big businesses. You must build an airport, hire stuff, buy planes, meet many legal requirements and so on, all costing tens of millions of dollars, and on top of that, it must be profitable. This gives some insight, but still it&amp;#x27;s terryfing. I feel so small.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rokhayakebe</author><text>I always thought I was very ambitious, granted &amp;quot;my ambitions far exceeded my talents.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;When I stood there under the Eiffel Tower, I felt like I never had a grand thought in my life. To think that massive undertaking started in someone&amp;#x27;s head is just humbling.&lt;p&gt;So I feel you. I feel so small.</text></comment>