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. Topics: 0:00 Intro 01:36 Your early years 09:00 Being a sea captain & what it taught you 13:23 The start of Brewdog 26:25 Your marketing principles 38:59 Adjustments from being a fisherman to CEO of a global company 44:09 Your leadership evolution 49:31 Why don't you step down as CEO? 52:47 Did you ever imagine you’d be here? 58:34 Forgiving your mother for creating 'that voice' 01:04:21 Punks with purpose letter 01:15:57 Horrific interviewing techniques 01:22:26 Why did you invest in Heineken? 01:25:15 Autism 01:28:25 Whats the silver lining here? 01:29:46 Anxiety & Therapy 01:35:28 The future of Brewdog - sustainability 01:40:14 Finance advice 01:45:52 The last guest question Are you ready to think like a CEO? Gain access to the 100 CEOs newsletter here: ⁠https://bit.ly/100-ceos-newsletter 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= Listen on: Apple podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-diary-of-a-ceo-by-steven-bartlett/id1291423644 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7iQXmUT7XGuZSzAMjoNWlX FOLLOW ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steven/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SteveBartlettSC Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-bartlett-56986834/ Sponsors: Craftd - https://bit.ly/3JKOPFx Huel - https://my.huel.com/Steven Vodafone Business - https://bit.ly/3NIM35n https://bit.ly/3AuPKsA