James Watt, co-founder of Brewdog, has made an offer to buy back the craft beer business months after selling it to a US company—a move that reads less like a savvy business maneuver and more like a man who just realized he sold his child to a stranger and now wants it back.
The irony is exquisite. Watt spent years positioning Brewdog as the ultimate craft beer social experiment: a scrappy Scottish outfit that would democratize beer culture and stick it to the big breweries. Then he cashed out to a private equity firm, watched the magic evaporate faster than a pint left in the sun, and apparently decided that corporate stewardship was not, in fact, the vibe.
What Watt seems to be experiencing is the classic founder’s remorse—that peculiar anguish of watching your creation get processed through the machinery of professional management. The craft beer narrative he built required him, personally, to be the rebel. Without Watt’s voice, Brewdog is just another beer company with a supply chain.
The desperation is the best part. If the buyback fails, one can only assume Watt will pivot to his backup plan: launching a competing craft beer brand out of spite, probably called “Watt’s Revenge” or “We Were Right All Along IPA.” He will definitely write a Medium post about it.
The real lesson here is that selling your passion project to corporate money is the business equivalent of letting someone else raise your kid. You might get it back, but it will never be quite the same.