The Bottleneck Podcast
Episodes
James Watt with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on BrewDog, gut instinct and starting again
07 Jun 2026
Contributed by Lukas
James Watt quit law after two weeks, spent seven years as a captain on a North Atlantic fishing boat, then built BrewDog from two humans and a dog int...
Mark Tapscott and Daniel Davey with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on Britain's 1st EV sportscar
29 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tesla veterans Mark Tapscott and Daniel Davey are the co-founders of Longbow Motors — a British electric sports car company with a radical idea: tha...
Jamie Bartlett with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on AI, trust and the internet
10 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jamie Bartlett has spent 15 years investigating the strange corners of the internet before they crash into the mainstream. In this episode, he joins R...
Robbie Lyle with Elfried Samba on AFTV, Global Fan Network, and building a sports media empire
26 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Robbie Lyle started AFTV with a borrowed camera, a borrowed mic, and a belief that football fans deserved to be heard. Thirteen years later, he’s bu...
Conny Kalcher with Rory Sutherland on customer loyalty, human connection and building trust at scale
12 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Conny Kalcher, Chief Marketing Officer at Zurich, joins Rory Sutherland to explore why most companies get customer experience wrong.After decades at L...
Matt Pohlson with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on flatlining, £400M growth and £120M donated
27 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you literally die — and come back with a completely different view on business, risk, and what actually matters?Matt Pohlson — f...
June Sarpong with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on culture, connection and staying in the game
15 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to build a career that lasts three decades — and stay curious enough to keep reinventing it?June Sarpong — broadcaster, author, ...
Ellie Norman with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on finding fans and making them stay
01 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ellie Norman — Chief Marketing Officer at Formula E and former Chief Communications Officer at Manchester United — joins Rory Sutherland and Elfri...
Eliza Filby with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on the Bank of Mum and Dad economy
08 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Eliza Filby — historian and author — joins Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba to examine why inheritance now matters more than income.The conve...
Oscar Ryndziewicz with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on DFYNE becoming the UK’s fastest-growing company
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Oscar Ryndziewicz — founder of DFYNE — joins Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba to unpack the decisions behind one of the UK’s fastest-growing pr...
Clarke Ching with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on bottlenecks, leadership and progress
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Clarke Ching — author of The Bottleneck Detective — joins Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba to unpack why progress stalls, how leaders quietly bec...
Ama Amo-Agye with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on founders and the cost of success
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ama Amo-Agye scaled PlantMaid from £100 to £13m — and discovered that success changes the rules faster than founders expect.Ama joins Rory Sutherl...
Rory Sutherland, Elfried Samba and Lottie Whyte on founder focus and knowing your customer
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Growth stalls when founders lose focus.Lottie Whyte, founder of MyoMaster, joins Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba to unpack how simplifying the busin...
Rory Sutherland, Elfried Samba and Nicholas Gruen on why systems break and how to fix them
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of The Bottleneck Podcast discusses the toxic nature of modern politics. Economist Nicholas Gruen joins Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba...
Rory Sutherland, Elfried Samba and Ben Francis on building a billion dollar brand
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of The Bottleneck Podcast explores what it really takes to build a billion-dollar brand. Ben Francis MBE, founder and CEO of Gymshark, jo...
Rory Sutherland, Elfried Samba and Jess Butcher MBE on the age of distraction
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of The Bottleneck Podcast explores how our digital world has turned attention into the ultimate commodity. Jess Butcher MBE, founder of S...
Rory Sutherland, Elfried Samba and Max Osborne on marketing's next wave
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of The Bottleneck Podcast dives into the uneasy relationship between creativity and data in modern marketing. Max Osborne, co-founder of ...
Rory Sutherland, Elfried Samba and Timothy Armoo on the future for influencers
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of The Bottleneck Podcast explores the future of influence — who really holds it, how it’s shifting, and what that means for brands. ...
Rory Sutherland, Elfried Samba and Jordan Schwarzenberger on scaling the Sidemen
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of The Bottleneck Podcast explores how creators turn audiences into real businesses — and why many struggle to grow. Jordan Schwarzenbe...
Rory, Elfried and Krish on AI
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Elfried and Rory tackle a defining challenge: convincing people that AI meeting software isn’t a spy in the room and that AI isn’t about replacing...
The Bottleneck Podcast - Trailer
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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