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Pic of The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

E157: Brewdog Founder: The Untold Story Of One Britain’s Fastest Growing Companies: James Watt

July 4, 2022
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The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

Description

James Watt is the CEO and founder of Brewdog, the Scottish craft beer sensation that is now valued at $2 billion. A former sea captain, he’s had to navigate increasingly choppy waters at Brewdog.

But after a string of allegations rocked the company, ranging from personal impropriety to financial misconduct to marketing scams, James has had to start from scratch in Brewdog’s reputation, and on his own management style. For the first time, James walks us through his mistakes, what he denies, and what he defends.

Where does the line blur between a hard-driving start-up and a toxic culture. It’s a tricky balance many challenger companies have to contend with. James’ is a story where he sailed a little close to the wind, when the revelations dropped it looked like everything he built could slip away. Can he navigate Brewdog back to dry land? He tells us exclusively how he plans to.


Topics:

  • Your early years
  • Being a sea captain & what it taught you 
  • The start of Brewdog
  • Your marketing principles
  • Adjustments from being a fisherman to CEO of a global company
  • Your leadership evolution
  • Why don't you step down as CEO?
  • Did you ever imagine you’d be here?
  • Forgiving your mother for creating 'that voice?
  • Punks with purpose letter
  • Horrific interviewing techniques
  • Why did you invest in Heineken?
  • Autism
  • Whats the silver lining here?
  • Anxiety & therapy
  • The future of Brewdog - sustainability
  • Finance advice
  • The last guests question


James:

https://www.instagram.com/brewdogjames/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/BrewDogJames?s=20&t=wXnTEyTvBKbmeTrXwFFrcg


Shows mentioned Good Ship BrewDog, BBC sounds - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0cfkklv?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

The Truth about BrewDog - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0013yfj


Books mentioned:

Ben Horowitz - amazon.co.uk/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=


Watch the episodes on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDiaryOfACEO/videos


Follow us on Telegram: https://t.me/diaryofaceo


Sponsors:

Vodafone Business - https://bit.ly/3bO9soS 

Craftd - https://bit.ly/3JKOPFx

Huel - https://my.huel.com/Steven