Earlier this year, Craft launched the Pod. In case you missed it, the Pod is the most innovative
product offering in the private aviation space in the last decade. It’s a 721 exchange fund that
owns aircraft and other assets, allowing participants to leverage their stock to fly private.
An exchange fund in and of itself is a complex financial mechanism to manage, even with a
traditional asset like real estate as part of the portfolio. So how does an exchange fund manage
a fleet of private jets that are successfully operating hundreds of flights a year?
The answer in short, is that it doesn’t; a separate entity runs the operation. But this is where our
synergies really shine.
In 2020, a close friend of mine, Israel Slodowitz, told me that he was starting a private jet
charter business and asked me if I could help him out. Before I knew it, we were running a full-
time charter operation and have been growing that business since. We’ve spent the last five
years building out a well run operation; exploring ways to improve operational efficiency,
implement modern software, control the sales cycle, maintain the aircraft, and ensure the right
culture takes root.
When Israel first shared his idea for the Pod, we jumped back into startup mode to get the
exchange fund off the ground. We could have hired any private jet operator to run the operation,
but because we had spent the last five years building an operation from the ground up, we had
the solution in hand.
We’ve discussed buying another operator or contracting out the operation, but the synergies
between the two organizations would not be the same. I’m sure any entrepreneur would agree
that a good culture and strong synergies are priceless when trying to run a business, especially
when building a product from the ground up or starting a new company.
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