Business for Punks, James Watt
Business for Punks, James Watt
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Business for Punks
Break All the Rules--the Brewdog Way

Author: James Watt

Narrator: James Watt, Kaleo Griffith

Unabridged: 5 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 02/23/2016


Synopsis

Forget about building a business—businesses fail and fade into oblivion. Start a revolution instead. 

James Watt started a rebellion against tasteless mass market beers by founding BrewDog, now one of the world’s best-known and fastest growing craft breweries, famous for beers, bars, and crowdfunding. In this smart, funny book, he shares his story and explains how you too can tear up the rule book and start a company on your own terms. It’s an anarchic, DIY guide to entrepreneurship—and a new manifesto for business.

After spending seven years on the high seas of the North Atlantic, James Watt started BrewDog craft brewery in Scotland with his best friend, Martin Dickie. They didn’t have a business plan. All they had was a mis­sion to revolutionize beer drinking and make other people as passionate about craft beer as they are. 
 
They’ve succeeded. Within a few years, BrewDog was huge—a world-famous craft brewery with beer bars around the globe and hundreds of thousands of fans. Those fans became literal backers of their business with the introduction of an unprecedented crowdfunding movement, Equity for Punks. And in rewriting the record books and kickstarting a revolution—James and BrewDog inadvertently forged a whole new approach to business. 

Business for Punks bottles the essence of James’s methods in an accessible, honest mani­festo. Among his mantras: 

·  Cash is motherf*cking king. Cash is the lifeblood of your company. Monitor every penny as if your life depends on it—because it does.
·  Get people to hate you. You won’t win by try­ing to make everyone happy, so don’t bother. Let haters fuel your fire while you focus on your hard-core fans.
·  Steal and bastardize from other fields. Take inspiration freely wherever you find it— except from people in your own industry.
·  Job interviews suck. They never reveal if someone will be a good employee, only how good that person is at interviews. Instead, take them for a test drive and see if they’re passionate and a good culture fit.

Business for Punks rethinks conventional business wisdom so you can go beyond the norm. It’s an anarchic, indispensable guide to thriving on your own terms.
 


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tarmo on June 08, 2016

It's probably new word record on bragging/advice ratio. Lots of new wave startup "fuck oldschool" type of rhetoric that uses dramatic language to present "revolutionary" management principles what were tad mainstream back the Andy Grove founded Intel.......more

Goodreads review by Richard on September 29, 2017

Hmm. How do I rate this book? Well I think that depends on which way I rate it. The first, most obviously, is the content. Actually, this is a pretty good primer on starting and running a business. Most of the advice is pretty standard, but there is an energy and drive which is lacking from most boo......more

Goodreads review by Richard on February 22, 2016

A good book. Well worth the read. I would be interested to see what the author thinks of this in 20 years, 50 years as his company goes from being a fast growing start-up to being a venerable institution. I found these comments of particular note: Pg. 27: "The whole gap-in-the-market approach is an out......more

Goodreads review by Chris on February 02, 2021

Busines for Punks is a frustrating read. Whether you enjoy it or not really depends what you are looking for going in. For me, I read the book because I enjoy business books to gain an insight into how different businesses operate (good or bad, it’s interesting for me to see what they do) and Brewdog......more

Goodreads review by Jtc911 on July 12, 2017

One of those books that says a lot without saying much at all. Would have been interesting to hear the other founder's perspective on things too as I suspect James is the one with the big ego. Hats off to them both for building a successful business but it's a shame they didn't really share anything......more


Quotes

"An undeniably engaging read with tangible, pragmatic advice...and seasoned wisdom”
—The Scotsman

"An idiosyncratic guide for budding entrepreneuers"
—Financial Times 

"[Watt] explains how a company that started in a shed in Scotland became an operation with an annual turnover of £50 million and sales in 55 countries...useful tips for a fledgeling entrepreneur with a bright idea"
—The Times 

"BrewDog represents the future...They've crafted their own success. And if a couple of Scottish guys with a faithful dog can, you can too."
 —Will King, the founder of King of Shaves