How Eric Peck Piloted Swoop to a $100M Offer, Crashed, and Took Off Again: Co-founder & COO of Vissibl

What does it take for Eric Peck to rise again after a $100M crash?

Eric Peck’s CV reads like a movie script: a former Australian Air Force pilot who flew combat transport missions, a management consultant, and the founder of one of the world's first drone delivery companies, Swoop Aero.

He raised nearly $30 million in venture capital, achieved the world's first drone delivery of a vaccine, and scaled the company to the point of receiving a $100 million acquisition offer.

But this is not a simple success story. In this episode, Eric shares the full, unfiltered story of the startup rollercoaster. He reveals the pivotal moment the board decided to reject the $100M offer to pursue a bigger, independent vision. He then details the "perfect storm" that followed: a fatigued team, a complex new product rollout, and a venture capital winter that brought the company crashing down.

This is a raw and honest conversation about the realities of building a deep tech company. Eric unpacks the immense pressure of being a CEO, his personal battle with burnout, and the period of "strategic rest" he took to recover. He shares powerful lessons on fundraising, capital efficiency, and how to build a startup that is truly valuable to an acquirer.

Finally, he talks about his comeback, taking all the lessons from his crash and applying them to his new AI startup, Vissibl.

Agenda:

• The Pilot's Mindset:

• Eric's journey from flying planes at 15 to flying C-130 Hercules transport aircraft on combat and humanitarian missions for the Australian Air Force.

• The leadership lessons learned from being an aircraft captain at a young age, managing experienced crews in high-stakes environments.

• His standout mission delivering aid to Vanuatu after a cyclone, a moment that would reappear later in his entrepreneurial journey.

• The Swoop Rollercoaster:

• The origin of Swoop Aero: an idea to deliver chemotherapy medication to remote patients in the Australian outback.

• Winning their first major contract with UNICEF in Vanuatu by getting "boots on the ground" to deeply understand customer needs.

• The $100M Decision: The story of receiving a $100 million acquisition offer and the board's decision to reject it to pursue a larger independent mission.

• The Crash: The "perfect storm" of a fatigued team, manufacturing hell, and the collapse of the VC market that led to the company's failure.

• The difficult process of restructuring the business to improve its capital efficiency and wean itself off venture capital.

• The Founder's Playbook for Exits & Deep Tech:

• A key framework for acquisition: are you building value in your Technical IP or your Market & Customers? Eric explains why mixing the messaging can be fatal.

• The crucial role of the team and the "speed of learning" as a core value driver that large companies seek to acquire.

• Why founders scaling hardware or other capital-intensive businesses must understand their working capital cycle and not rely solely on venture funding.

• Surviving Burnout & The Comeback:

• The "Pressure Sandwich": Eric's candid description of being a CEO squeezed between the board's demand for returns and the team's need for support.

• His experience with complete exhaustion and burnout after seven years of non-stop building.

• His philosophy of "strategic rest" and his formula for personal recovery: (Pain + Reflection = Growth).

• How he "took off again" by joining Vissibl as a co-founder, bringing all the lessons from his journey to a new AI startup.

Memorable Quotes

• On turning down the exit: "We turned down a lot of money. And I'd make the same decision again... It wasn't why we were building the company".

• On CEO life: "You're the only person there in that center of the sandwich to manage them. That's when the times are really tough".

• On personal recovery: "To experience growth, you need to have pain you've experienced, times reflection, equals growth".

• On building a startup: "You want to think very carefully about where you're investing and what your acquisition value source is coming from".

• On the founder journey: "It's a marathon, not a sprint... It's all about the last little bit, isn't it?".