James Watt: Co-founder and CEO of BrewDog, the Scottish craft beer company he started in 2007 with friend Martin Dickie and a dog.
What this episode covers
James Watt traces BrewDog from a derelict industrial unit in Fraserburgh to a community-owned brewery with over 3,000 staff and 100+ locations worldwide. He details the early survival years, the breakthrough Tesco contract he won by bluffing the banks, and the equity-for-punks crowdfunding model that built a community of 210,000 owners. The conversation confronts the 2021 'Punks With Purpose' letter alleging a toxic workplace, with Watt accepting some feedback as fair while contesting other claims. He opens up about his difficult childhood, an estranged relationship with his mother, an inadequacy complex, possible autism, anxiety, and therapy. He closes on BrewDog's three pillars: sustainability, people, and beer.
Recommended on this episode
Good to Great
Jim Collins
“it's actually in the book good to see by jim collins which is a fantastic business book”— James Watt
The guest's own work
Punk IPA
BrewDog
“punk ipa which is our flagship here today was that was the beer that we were trying to sell back then as well”— James Watt
Tokyo (18% beer)
BrewDog
“we made a beer called tokyo 18 now if you looked at the newspaper headlines in the uk when we launched that beer”— James Watt
Elvis Juice
BrewDog
“calling your your us beer which i think is your most popular usb it is elvis juice elvis juice yeah”— James Watt
Pink IPA
BrewDog
“we made a beer called pink ipa that we always get sell 21 percent cheaper to women to highlight the gender pay gap”— James Watt
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
“when we tasted an american beer called sierra nevada pale ale we tasted it it was like wow we love this”— James Watt
Big reveals from this episode
- Watt admits BrewDog's early business plan was to 'make hoppy American beers and tell lies to banks,' bluffing HSBC against Bank of Scotland to fund a bottling line.
- BrewDog has raised almost 100 million pounds from 210,000 'Equity Punks,' making the community the largest shareholder in the business.
- Watt addresses the Punks With Purpose letter from roughly 281 ex-employees alleging bullying, lying and a toxic culture, conceding 'i did push people too far.'
- Watt is giving away nearly 100 million pounds of his own equity so each salaried team member receives 120,000 pounds in shares, plus 50% bar profit-sharing.
- Off the back of a journalist's comment about reading social cues, Watt reveals he is exploring with specialists whether he has 'some kind of light level autism.'
- Watt calls investing in Heineken 'the most stupid thing that i've ever done,' done to try to land a distribution deal that never happened.
- After BrewDog's 2017 billion-pound valuation, a typo sent tens of millions of Watt's payout to Russia, lost for five days before being recovered.
Worth remembering
- Before founding BrewDog, Watt studied law, quit a legal job after two weeks, then spent years as a qualified captain on a North Atlantic fishing trawler.
- BrewDog began with Watt and Martin Dickie brewing beer in Martin's mum's garage, inspired by Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
- BrewDog finished first, second, third and fourth in a Tesco beer competition while only selling about 10 cases a week by hand.
- Provocative low-budget stunts included driving a tank through London and throwing taxidermy cats out of a helicopter over the Bank of England.
- When Elvis's estate demanded license fees over 'Elvis Juice,' Watt and Dickie legally changed their own names to Elvis.
- BrewDog is the world's first carbon-negative beer business, removing twice as much carbon as it emits, advised by Professor Mike Berners-Lee.
- Watt did five days of intensive therapy living in a hut in the woods outside Nashville to be a better father and leader.
- BrewDog bought 9,500 acres in the Scottish Highlands to plant millions of trees and create 'the Lost Forest.'