Start a revolution not a business
Don’t waste your time on bullshit business plans. Forget sales. Put everything on the line for what you believe in. These mantras have turned BrewDog into one of the world’s fastest-growing drinks brands, famous for beers, bars and crowdfunding. Founded by a pair of young Scots with a passion for great beer, BrewDog has catalysed the craft beer revolution, rewritten the record books and inadvertently forged a whole new approach to business.
In Business for Punks, BrewDog co-founder James Watt bottles the essence of this success. Rethinking conventional business wisdom so you can go beyond the norm. From finances (‘chase down every cent’) to marketing (‘lead with the crusade, not the product’) this is an anarchic, indispensable guide to thriving on your own terms. Don’t look for the gaps in the market. Don’t be a pathetic leech scrambling around for crumbs of some else’s-second-rate pie. Bake your own goddamn pie. Look to create a whole new market. Start a revolution not a business.
Why we love this book?
For BrewDog to be credible, your reason to exits, needs to extend beyond your own brand. Focusing on growing a brand-new emerging category you are passionate about instantly, gives you more relevance. BrewDog is not about growing, but about getting more people to drink great beer. Period.
What we love about BrewDog is that they always like to do things differently. This is not about being completely intuitive or being anarchic for an anarchic sake. It’s about living and breathing what you really believe in, with verve. BrewDog is using the BrewDog charter, their core values, as the moral compass in everything they do. This is the glue that ties everything together.
Everyone at BrewDog is very clear about what they care about and how they do things. And the fact that the charter was created by the people who live these values daily, gives it much more power and much more weight. The team members can take complete ownership of the type of culture they are looking to continue building. What a great example of how core values act as the rudder on a good ship!
