James Watt from BrewDog was guest lecturer at the latest New Enlightenment Lecture hosted by Strathclyde University on May 23.
The title of the lecture was 'Enlightenment and Prosperity: How two men and a dog have driven growth and scaled up through innovation and passion.'
James Watt was a fully qualified deep sea Captain, having earlier completed an honours degree in Law and Economics. He traded in being a ‘salty sea dog’ to become a BrewDog in 2007, pursuing his passion for great craft beer by setting up the company with Martin Dickie.
BrewDog is a business that is changing the way we think about growth and how to achieve it – James and co-founder Martin have turned a conventional business model on its head and pioneered and enlightened their business sector, driving a true scale up business.
James later met informally with Hunter Centre staff and some alumni who have set up businesses of their own to share guidance and advice.
This prestigious lecture series – backed by Sir Tom Hunter - captures the spirit of enterprise, renewal and growth which marked the first Scottish Enlightenment and laid the foundations for the modern age.
The New Enlightenment at Strathclyde lecture series inspires and encourages debate about the new approaches needed if we are to reinvigorate Scotland and drive global change. It explores how knowledge, the advancement of knowledge and its practical, useful applications can transform people’s lives. This was the third lecture in the series.