BrewDog founder James Watt says a month after stepping down as chief executive of the craft beer giant, he leaned on advice to help develop his new influencer marketing venture.
On Monday, the entrepreneur announced plans for Social Tip, a new app platform he says is designed to empower ordinary consumers to become influencers.
The business will allow Britons who post on social media about brands they like and sign up to Social Tip to be rewarded with cash based on their level of engagement.
Mr Watt, who remained an adviser and non-executive director of BrewDog, said he had spoken to the former Made in Chelsea star and influencer while setting up the new venture.
He says BrewDog has largely “grown by word of mouth” and believes Social Tip will allow companies to expand their audience in a similar way.
Mr Watt said: “The businesses we are talking to are really excited about the prospect.
“We’ll be promoting ourselves from day one, so people will see the opportunity to make money from their contributions, but companies will want their customers to be aware of the opportunity to share their experiences and profit at the same time.”
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Mr Watt said the economics of using influencers had “massively changed” for businesses, suggesting they could get more value from rewarding ordinary people who use and pay for their products.
“On a macro level, many major influencers are not offering the return to business now that they were a few years ago,” he said.
“What people do is changing and people are looking for something more authentic.
“We don’t think there’s anything more authentic than customers actually using your products and cheering them on to spread the word.
“Yes, they have smaller individual followers, but having hundreds of them has more benefits than spending the same amount on one big name.”
The company said it has already partnered with dozens of brands, including Huel, PureGym and Dash water.
Mr Watt will run the company alongside Thomas Matecki, former chief technology officer of fintech firm Zilch, and Georgia Lee, former CEO of food delivery company Supper.
Social Tip will officially launch and be available for download in the summer.
Mr Watt, who has stepped down as head of BrewDog after 17 years, has also invested in 15 to 20 start-ups, including leading a £500,000 funding round for soft drinks company Living Things last week.
He has handed over the BrewDog reins to chief operating officer James Arrow, but still has a non-executive role as “captain and co-founder” of the business and retains his 21 per cent stake in the business.
The Aberdeen-born entrepreneur set up his own brewery with co-founder Martin Dickie aged 24 on an industrial estate in 2007. They decided on the name because Mr Watt’s father Jim had recently had a puppy.
He came from a fishing family and helped his father on his fishing boat in the North Sea. He claims to be a “fully qualified deep sea captain” on his LinkedIn profile.
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He studied law and economics at the University of Edinburgh. After landing a job as a paralegal, he quit after two weeks – describing the “adjustment” as “painful at best” – and three years later started BrewDog with Mr Dickie.
The business initially struggled, but took off when, after about six months, Tesco placed an order to sell the beer nationwide.
In 2014 Mr Watt won Great Britain’s Entrepreneur of the Year and in 2016 he and Mr Dickie were awarded an MBE.
The pair grew up as best friends and became roommates when they both lived in Edinburgh.
Mr Watt, who is divorced with two daughters, has been the face of the company since its inception.
But his tenure has been marred by controversy in recent years, with former employees accusing the firm in an open letter in 2021 of having a “culture of fear” in the business with “toxic attitudes” towards younger staff.
He later admitted he was “too intense and demanding” amid a dispute over workplace culture where he was accused of inappropriate behavior and abusing his power.
Speaking to Steven Bartlett on the CEO Diary podcast about his leadership at the company, he admitted that he used to push people “too far” because of his “high standards”.
But the chief executive – whose company has been accused of a “rotten culture” – said his actions were carried out with “100% good intentions”.
More than 15 former staff have previously spoken out against Mr Watt, with some claiming he made barmaids feel “uncomfortable” and “powerless”.
Mr Watt said the allegations were false and denied any wrongdoing.
It was reported last year that he had sought professional help after being labeled as “semi-autistic” following the allegations.
He was diagnosed with ADHD – which causes people to be restless and impulsive – and Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism.
Mr Watt has been dating Ms Toffolo, 29, since the summer of 2023 after a friend set him up on a blind date.
Ms Toffolo – known to her friends as Toff – admitted she hopes her boyfriend Mr Watt will be “the one”.
Toff said, “I’d love it if it was him, but hey, so far so good. I don’t know. It’s still very early. But we are really happy.
“James actually walked into a wall on our first date, which was really funny. But I think I knew [how strong their connection was] since the second date.
“I mean it was classic James and me. The first date was so stereotypical, really beautiful time, I knew I really liked him, great.”