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The Bottleneck Podcast

The Bottleneck Podcast

By: Bottleneck Podcast
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Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, and Elfried Samba, CEO and Co-Founder of Butterfly Effect and former Global Head of Social at Gymshark, explore the hidden blocks that slow teams down, from flawed strategies to missed cultural signals and outdated thinking.

Each episode breaks down a real challenge through the lens of behavioural science, digital strategy, and lived experience. Through conversations with industry pioneers and creative thinkers, they unpack why teams fail and reveal secrets for driving progress.

Joined by guests who’ve built, rebuilt, or reimagined entire industries, Rory and Elfried challenge assumptions, unpack failure, and explore what moves the needle.

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Bottleneck Podcast
Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Josh Hart with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on AI, people and the future of work
    Jun 21 2026

    Josh Hart co-founded YuLife nine years ago with a simple but radical idea: digital experiences should feel as good as the best computer games, not as painful as a tax return.


    In this special live episode, recorded in front of an audience at YuLife HQ, he joins Rory and Elfried to ask the question every HR leader is quietly dreading: what does AI actually mean for your people?```


    They cover the productivity gains nobody is talking about, how senior employees are quietly becoming the biggest beneficiaries, and what the AI moment could mean for the long-term sick. This is an honest, funny and wide-ranging conversation about the gap between the AI narrative and the AI reality.

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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • James Watt with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on BrewDog, gut instinct and starting again
    Jun 7 2026

    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 into a business making a million cans of beer a day.


    In this episode he joins Rory and Elfried to talk about the power of naivety, why differentiation always beats optimisation, and what it actually takes to build a challenger brand from nothing.He also opens up on what really happened at BrewDog — the private equity deal that almost worked brilliantly, and finishing a painful second in the bid to buy his own business back. And he reveals his plan for a new beer business called Second Best.Plus: why community will always beat audience, the danger of bottom-of-funnel obsession, and what his new platform SocialTip is doing to bring word-of-mouth marketing into the digital age.


    Follow RoryInstagram: @rorysutherland_clipsTikTok: @RorysutherlandclipsX: @rorysutherlandLinkedIn: in/rorysutherland/Follow ElfriedInstagram: @elfriedsambaLinkedIn: in/elfriedsamba/https://www.butterflyeffect.xyz/Follow JamesInstagram: @captainjameswatt / @socialtiphq / @secondbestbeerLinkedIn: in/jameswatt-investor-entrepreneur-punk/X: @JamesBWattA Sassy+ original podcast series


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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Mark Tapscott and Daniel Davey with Rory Sutherland and Elfried Samba on Britain's 1st EV sportscar
    May 29 2026

    Tesla veterans Mark Tapscott and Daniel Davey are the co-founders of Longbow Motors — a British electric sports car company with a radical idea: that cars should be getting lighter, simpler and more exciting, not heavier, duller and more expensive.

    They join Rory and Elfried to explain what it actually takes to build a car company from scratch in 2026. From first principles and physics to the new motor manufacturing business model, this is a conversation about great product design, the death of corporate thinking, and why the UK might be sitting on the most exciting opportunity in automotive since the internal combustion engine.


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    1 hr and 1 min
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