Blog – Our Crusade Moment That Changed Everything

It was an a-ha moment. January 14th, 2017. I had just finished reading the book “Business for Punks” by James Watt. It changed the way I looked at our business. It simplified everything. It made the impossible seem possible. It inspired a crusade.

Here’s the story of Brewdog. Two guys, a dog and a small brewery. They had a mission and it was simple. To spread the love of craft beer all over the world.

I know. Don’t most breweries share this mission?

Yes. But it’s not just the mission. It’s how they pursue it. They did it differently, dramatically differently. And they created a crusade.

How did they do it?

By assaulting the way beer had always been done. Metaphorically and literally. You can find hundreds of videos of them smashing generic beers with baseball bats.

They pushed the boundaries with everything. They brewed beer wherever it’s never been brewed before. Underwater, on trains. You name it. They even made the world’s strongest beer. And served it in taxidermy bottles.

All in the name of proving beer can be different. And it can be better.

They created a crusade. Now thousands of fans own a piece of the company. And Brewdog has locations all over the world.

For years I’ve battled with the game of baseball.  Just like Brewdog battled with the beer industry. It’s slow. It’s long. And it can be boring.

We’ve tried a lot of things to make it more fun. But we’ve never gone all in.

Baseball is like beer in a lot of ways. It’s been here for a long time. Most have experienced it. And many people love it.

But like great craft beer. Brewdog proved there’s a better way.

We believe we can help make baseball better. We can make it more fun. We can’t focus on tradition. We can’t consider how it used to be done. And this may upset a lot of people. But it needs to be done.

We must look at every piece of the game. From the way the game is played, to the way the game is watched. From how players interact with fans, to how fans interact with players. We have to focus on the complete experience.  We have to question everything and go all in. And we can’t be afraid of smashing the old way with baseball bats.

That’s how you start a crusade. Our day starts today.

What’s your crusade and when do you start?