James interviewed in The Scotsman newspaper.

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BrewDog’s Emperor Penguin was recently featured the Scotsman’s Business pages in one of their ‘My Decade’ series where cutting edge business people (or in this case, scamps in penguin suits) discuss their last 10 years.

 1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was in Germany teaching Germans to swim and to speak English (sometimes even simultaneously). My time in Germany was a gap year before I started studying Law and Economics at Edinburgh University. It was great to live independently abroad at such a young age.

2. How did you get to where you are now?

Hard-work.

3. What was your greatest triumph?

I once finished second in a potato eating competition in Denmark                                                                                                   

4. What was your biggest low?

Not being able to speak for  an entire 2 weeks after I got my tonsils taken out!

5. What is the hardest decision you have had to take since 2000?

No decision is any harder than the rest of them. Every day is a stream of decisions to be made. We are judged on the quality of our decisions and actions, not on how tough it was to make them.

6. Who has particularly inspired you over the past 10 years?

Darth Vader, who I still think will be the next CEO of Tesco. 

7. What has been the biggest challenge to your particular business sector since 2000 and how have you overcome it?

We see no challenges, only opportunities.

8. What do you think has been the greatest invention from the last 10 years and why?

If anyone can ever invent anything greater than a Sandwich they will surely rule the world. The power of the internet to shorten the distance between producer and consumer has been awesome, at least for those smart enough to take advantage and with enough integrity to benefit.  The market for something to believe in is infinite.

9. And the most irritating invention?

Mindless cc’s in emails! I also hate mission statements; because if you know exactly what you are doing and everyone else is on board what the hell do you need a mission statement for?

10. What's the funniest/strangest experience you've had since 2000?

Martin being accused by the former President of Romania of ‘fucking Mother Teressa’ whilst presenting to him and a panel of judges in Rome. We were shortlisted for European Entrepreneur of the year. We did not win.

11. What's your greatest personal achievement since 2000?

Becoming a fully qualified deep sea captain in 2006. I can now captain any fishing vessel, anywhere in the world. You should maybe even call me Captain James. After 2 weeks working as a lawyer I decided it was not for me and spent the subsequent 4 years on a North Atlantic trawler. I still spend about 10 weeks a year at sea, the North Atlantic in January is a pretty scary place.  Launching www.equityforpunks.com was also pretty cool. This new type of business model lets anyone who enjoys our beers invest in our company online.

12. Where do you hope to be in 2020?

The Prime Minister who rid the country of the red tape plague and bureaucratic epidemic and restored the vaguest hint of reason and morality to the justice system. I could solve the world’s problems if I had a bit more spare time.

Year born: 1982

Education: Honours degree in Law and Economics from Edinburgh University 2004, Fishing Vessel Captains Qualification 2006.

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