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

You've had a lot of controversy over the last two years: bullying, lying, unfair dismissals, all of this stuff. What do you say to that?

I did. I did push people too far.

How fast did BrewDog grow?

We have grown, on average, 87% a year.

Fucking hell.

Everyone told us, "Make your beer cheaper. Change your name. Change your packaging," and we didn't listen to any of that. How can we get our name out there with no money at all? So we had to do things that were intentionally provocative and sometimes we kinda crossed that (laughs) e- edge as well. The best entrepreneurs have got to find a way to do things differently to how other people are doing things. We've got two very simple tests that we apply to everything that we do. So the first test is... This is the worst public health crisis for a generation. I've only ever been in tears once in, in my job, and I broke down in tears addressing our team in March of 2020, thinking that we're not going to be able to pay you, we're not going to be able to keep you in a job. I think people don't realize, like, being a CEO is a very, very lonely job at times.

That day. Talk me through what it's like to be a CEO when 300 people sign a letter making these allegations-

Yeah.

... about toxic workplace culture, unfair dismissals, all of this stuff. So without further ado, I'm Steven Bartlett, and this is The Diary of a CEO. I hope nobody's listening, but if you are, then please keep this to yourself. James, what is the... You've listened to this podcast before, so you know I have a theme of (laughs) where I start. I'm, like, trying to frame it as a surprise-

Mm-hmm.

... that I'm gonna start with your childhood. But... (laughs) Um, first, thank you for being here. It's, um, you know, it's always lovely to hear that people are, um... guests that we have on also kind of understand the format. Where I wanted to, to start with you is to take you right back, because that, for me, is always the context of, of somebody. So when you, when you look back, and when I read back at your early years in that small fishing community you grew up in, um... Was it Gardenstone?

Yeah, Gardenstone, up in the Northeast of Scotland.

When you, when you look back yourself at the foundational shaping, um, pivotal events of, like, those early years that are responsible for who you became in your life, the first events that you look back and go, "Now, that's the first dot I can connect," what are those?

I think there's, uh, I think there's a few. So, we grew up in a tiny fishing village northeast of Scotland. My dad was a fisherman. My mom was a schoolteacher. And being a fisherman is, is tough. And, uh, I just remember, like, the kinda hard work ethic instilled from, like, grandparents, whose, uh, grandfather, who was also a fisherman, my dad, who was a fisherman. So, kind of really hard working, really honest, kind of salt of the earth type character. But then he was always away and I'd be at home with my mum, and my relationship with my mum was, was never that good. And I think I struggled a lot when I was, when I was a kid. Um, I had quite a severe speech impediment when I was, when I was grown up and, um, this is something I haven't spoken about before, so... (laughs) Um, so that kind of always made me a little bit of an outsider, a little bit of a loner. Always felt a bit socially awkward. As I grew up and became a bit older, I had quite severe acne, so again, outsider, loner, socially awkward. And I think it's a trait that a lot of entrepreneurs have in common, they're a bit socially awkward. And I think if you're less likely to read social cues-