James Watt, BrewDog Founder - 17 Years of Billion Dollar Brand Building GOLD in 2 Hours

Show Notes

In 2016, I read Business For Punks.

One of the greatest business books of all time.

And, a huge inspiration to start HUNGRY.

Total honour to sit down with James Watt, BrewDog founder

This is a F*CKING BANGER!!!!!!

Deffo watch on Youtube if you can, first time we’ve recorded in 4K cinematic a.k.a grown up cameras.

ON THE MENU:

1. The Swimming with Sharks Gratitude Rule: “there’s a 100 billion to 1 chance of you being here so GO FOR IT” 

2. Why Good founders solve problems, but Great Founders use obstacles to find a different way of thinking

3. Be thankful for obstacles “obstacles are the way you differentiate, find magic + show the world what you’re really made of” 

4. BrewDog “Challenge Everything” Dogma = Einstein “blind faith in authority is the greatest obstacle is truth”

5. BrewDog “Speed” Dogma = “You set the speed of your company, you set the deadline” 

6. BrewDog “Speed” Dogma = “We count time in dog years” “Brands don’t understand the impact of speed” 

7. . BrewDog “Dogs on Deck”” Dogma = “You simply HAVE TO BE where the action is “

8. Nassim Taleb Speed Barbell: “Speed speed speed + accept 20% of the time you’ll be going wrong + Use your customer to course correct”

9. . Seneca Barbell: pure action + pure reflection = Pain + reflection = progress

10. Why BrewDog Will Never Hire Blue Chip Losers ever again 

11. Why Competition is a Gift From God - but NEVER focus on the competition 

12. Barnacles On a Boat Rule: Don’t just put systems in, a straight jacket of policy

13. Why James Has Two Desks: Analogue vs. Digital “you can’t create the future looking at an inbox”

14. Question One: If I spend this £1 do I get a 10x return vs. competitors?

15. Question Two: What could you do that would kill your business?

16. Question Three: What is 5 craziest random things I can do right now to grow by business 

17. Why Founders MUST accept: Your Team will NEVER think like a founder + Your head is different vs your team

18. Fire Fast Rule: "If you were running a marathon you wouldn’t wait till mile 22 to take the stone out"

19. Why Brands Fail in Supermarkets: “You didn’t fail because of the supermarket listing, you put something on shelf that wasn’t good enough”

20. How BrewDog Used Price Laddering Psychology to go Premium Mainstream 

21 . Price Laddering: “You need hooks to bring people into brand” + “Value perception” + “Create margin enhancing opportunities”

22. Why Staying successful is harder then getting successful "everyday re-earn your success"

23. REMEMBER: You Don’t Own Your Brand Your Consumer Does 

23. Elon Musk Advice for Food & Drink Founders “Don’t do sales” + “Cut the crap committee”

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What is HUNGRY.?

HUNGRY is THE podcast for Challenger FMCG & Hospitality Founders wanting to pour gasoline on growth.

We chat with the industry BIG HITTERS. We ooze out the HIDDEN success secrets they’ve never told before and dive deep into their gut-wrenching failures, so you avoid them.

We help you grow bigger, faster, stronger.

Over the last 6 years, we’ve chatted to some insane guests on the poddy:

Rory Sutherland, Seth Godin, Jamie Laing, Spencer
Matthews, Tom Kerridge, Sir John Hegarty,

The founders of SOHO House, TRIP, The Devonshire, Tony’s Chocolonely, Vita Coco

Look, I’ll be blunt,

HUNGRY is NOT your normal podcast.
HUNGRY is NOT scripted and sterile Q&A interviews.
HUNGRY is for pretty much no one.
HUNRGY is a deliciously fun, wild and crazy, ADHD rollercoaster of free flowing conversations.

got what it takes?
Buckle up. Strap in.

get ready to… FEED YOUR HUNGER