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James Watt | What it Took to Create a Unicorn Business with BrewDog Founder
Manage episode 479476510 series 2342396
Take the survey now: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1iHRZvOly_Q7aprlQBF7n38y0EjgvnHw2OdYII8yQElc/edit?ts=670d0111
Rob talks to James Watt, who founded beer empire BrewDog, now valued at £1.8 billion. He shares the journey of BrewDog and reveals the high stakes gambles, near bankruptcies and disruptive thinking that propelled its success. Beyond beer, Watt passionately discusses the UK's economic challenges, his new ventures, and the unconventional leadership approaches that helped him build a unicorn business.
James Watt REVEALS:
- Why he gave 20% of his equity to BrewDog employees & created a pay cap
- BrewDog's growth strategy
- Being on the edge of financial ruin for over years, including not being able to pay himself
- Why after 17.5 years as CEO, he stepped away to pursue new ventures
- How he manages his productivity through extreme focus
- Why community building is essential for business success
- Why millionaires are leaving the UK
BEST MOMENTS
"For me, if we weren't teetering on the edge of financial oblivion, I wasn't working every single penny of cash that I had hard enough because I had to open new markets. I had to try and find a way to employ new salespeople. I had to find a way to open new locations."
"Would or could another beer company sponsor a sports team? Yes. Okay. We're not gonna do that. Would or could another beer company spend 200,000 pounds taking out these adverts? Yes. We're not gonna do that."
"At a certain point in time, your company is gonna do things that are so stupid you'd never thought you'd be associated with such incompetence. But to make matters worse, if you're CEO, it's all your fault."
"These are the job traders, the wealth traders, the people who pay a disproportionate percentage of taxes; twice as many millionaires are leaving the UK than at any point in time. And it's not just a millionaire, it's like their future innovation."
VALUABLE RESOURCES
bit.ly/Robsupporter
rob.team
Episode Sponsor - AG1
Claim your exclusive offer of AG1 at the link below
ABOUT THE HOST
Rob Moore is an author of 9 business books, 5 UK bestsellers, holds 3 world records for public speaking, entrepreneur, property investor, and property educator. Author of the global bestseller “Life Leverage” Host of UK’s No.1 business podcast “The Disruptive Entrepreneur”
“If you don't risk anything, you risk everything”
CONTACT METHOD
Rob’s official website: https://robmoore.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robmooreprogressive/?ref=br_rs
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/robmoore1979
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
disruptive, disruptors, entreprenuer, business, social media, marketing, money, growth, scale, scale up, risk, property: http://www.robmoore.com
1162 episodes
Manage episode 479476510 series 2342396
Take the survey now: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1iHRZvOly_Q7aprlQBF7n38y0EjgvnHw2OdYII8yQElc/edit?ts=670d0111
Rob talks to James Watt, who founded beer empire BrewDog, now valued at £1.8 billion. He shares the journey of BrewDog and reveals the high stakes gambles, near bankruptcies and disruptive thinking that propelled its success. Beyond beer, Watt passionately discusses the UK's economic challenges, his new ventures, and the unconventional leadership approaches that helped him build a unicorn business.
James Watt REVEALS:
- Why he gave 20% of his equity to BrewDog employees & created a pay cap
- BrewDog's growth strategy
- Being on the edge of financial ruin for over years, including not being able to pay himself
- Why after 17.5 years as CEO, he stepped away to pursue new ventures
- How he manages his productivity through extreme focus
- Why community building is essential for business success
- Why millionaires are leaving the UK
BEST MOMENTS
"For me, if we weren't teetering on the edge of financial oblivion, I wasn't working every single penny of cash that I had hard enough because I had to open new markets. I had to try and find a way to employ new salespeople. I had to find a way to open new locations."
"Would or could another beer company sponsor a sports team? Yes. Okay. We're not gonna do that. Would or could another beer company spend 200,000 pounds taking out these adverts? Yes. We're not gonna do that."
"At a certain point in time, your company is gonna do things that are so stupid you'd never thought you'd be associated with such incompetence. But to make matters worse, if you're CEO, it's all your fault."
"These are the job traders, the wealth traders, the people who pay a disproportionate percentage of taxes; twice as many millionaires are leaving the UK than at any point in time. And it's not just a millionaire, it's like their future innovation."
VALUABLE RESOURCES
bit.ly/Robsupporter
rob.team
Episode Sponsor - AG1
Claim your exclusive offer of AG1 at the link below
ABOUT THE HOST
Rob Moore is an author of 9 business books, 5 UK bestsellers, holds 3 world records for public speaking, entrepreneur, property investor, and property educator. Author of the global bestseller “Life Leverage” Host of UK’s No.1 business podcast “The Disruptive Entrepreneur”
“If you don't risk anything, you risk everything”
CONTACT METHOD
Rob’s official website: https://robmoore.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robmooreprogressive/?ref=br_rs
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/robmoore1979
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
disruptive, disruptors, entreprenuer, business, social media, marketing, money, growth, scale, scale up, risk, property: http://www.robmoore.com
1162 episodes
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