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Won by convincing bars that letting customers pour their own beer and pay by the ounce increases revenue and cuts labor costs, rather than being a loss-prevention risk.
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MODEL
BUSINESS MODEL
Product + Service Hybrid, Franchise-style Licensing
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HOW THEY BUILT IT
- Founded 2015 by CEO Josh Goodman; grew from 1 employee to 30 within 5 years, and now operates 12,000+ self-pour taps across 500+ locations in 30 countries including Whole Foods, Buffalo Wild Wings, Caesars Entertainment, the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps.
- Received a major strategic investment from CCEP Ventures (Coca-Cola European Partners' innovation fund) in September 2020, which acquired a 25% stake in parent company Innovative Tap Solutions, alongside Branded Strategic Hospitality.
- Uses proprietary, industrial-grade, Linux-based screens (not consumer tablets subject to random OS updates) hardwired via Ethernet rather than dependent on Wi-Fi, engineered in 2015 for reliability in high-traffic bar/restaurant environments.
HOW TO ARCHITECT IT
1. Reframe a behavior operators assume is risky (letting customers self-serve alcohol) as a revenue and labor-efficiency opportunity, because the real economics (pay-by-the-ounce, reduced staffing) favor the operator once RFID/age-verification controls remove the actual risk.
2. Build proprietary, purpose-built hardware (industrial screens, hardwired connectivity) rather than relying on consumer tablets, because bar/restaurant environments punish any downtime and consumer-grade hardware fails under that load.
3. Design an open API architecture rather than building your own POS from scratch, because integrating with a bar's existing POS, loyalty (Untappd) and payment systems removes the switching cost of adopting self-pour technology.
4. Offer both mobile (retrofit-friendly) and built-in wall configurations, because not every venue has an existing remote-draw draft system, and a cheaper mobile option removes the capital barrier for smaller operators.
5. Take strategic investment from a beverage giant (Coca-Cola) that becomes both a validator and a channel into new categories (non-alcoholic self-pour) beyond the original beer/wine use case.
DISTRIBUTION MODEL
Direct Sales, Partnership Distribution
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HOW THEY OPERATIONALIZED
- Direct sales relationship with bars, restaurants, casinos, hotels, grocery stores and even office/government spaces (U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps).
- Partnership with Micro Matic (a global market-leading dispensing-equipment supplier) for draft system hardware integration, extending distribution through an established beverage-equipment supply chain.
- 24/7 phone/live support and an established service network across the East Coast, Midwest and West Coast used as a differentiator versus competitors without equivalent on-the-ground presence.
HOW TO REPLICATE WHAT WORKED
Emerging Market
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MARKET
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MARKET TYPE
Self-serve beverage dispensing was a genuinely nascent category when PourMyBeer started in 2015 - the number of businesses using self-serve technology grew from fewer than 10 to over 700 within about five years of the category's emergence, per industry figures. PourMyBeer won by helping create and then lead that emerging category rather than entering an already-established competitive market.
WHY THEY WON
Self-serve beverage dispensing was a genuinely nascent category when PourMyBeer started in 2015 - the number of businesses using self-serve technology grew from fewer than 10 to over 700 within about five years of the category's emergence, per industry figures. PourMyBeer won by helping create and then lead that emerging category rather than entering an already-established competitive market.
ENTRY STRATEGY
Greenfield Entry
EXECUTION
PourMyBeer entered by building its own proprietary self-pour hardware and software from scratch in 2015, engineering deliberately around reliability requirements (hardwired, industrial-grade, Linux-based) rather than adapting existing consumer tablet-based POS technology, effectively creating the self-pour beverage-wall category alongside a small number of early competitors.
FOOTHOLD STRATEGY
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PourMyBeer's foothold began with individual bars and taprooms willing to pilot the novel concept of self-service alcohol dispensing, proving the labor-savings and revenue-uplift case (one operator reported 60% of alcohol revenue from the self-pour wall staffed by just 1 employee versus 40% from a traditional bar staffed by 4) before expanding into larger institutional and enterprise accounts (Whole Foods, Buffalo Wild Wings, the U.S. military).
PourMyBeer's foothold began with individual bars and taprooms willing to pilot the novel concept of self-service alcohol dispensing, proving the labor-savings and revenue-uplift case (one operator reported 60% of alcohol revenue from the self-pour wall staffed by just 1 employee versus 40% from a traditional bar staffed by 4) before expanding into larger institutional and enterprise accounts (Whole Foods, Buffalo Wild Wings, the U.S. military).
GROWTH CAMPAIGN
CAMPAIGNS THAT WORKED
Direct customer testimonials quantifying dramatic financial swings (one venue projected to lose $256,000 for the year instead profited $250,999 after installing a 40-tap system) used as the core sales-conversion content; recognition as an Entrepreneur 360 fastest-growing company (2017-2018) used for broader credibility; the CCEP Ventures investment used as a major validation and PR event signaling a global beverage leader's confidence in the technology.
KEY LEARNING
If your category involves a behavior operators assume is risky (self-service of a controlled product), invest heavily in the trust-and-control layer (RFID verification, per-person pour limits, credit-card-linked accountability) since that trust layer, not the pouring mechanism itself, is what actually unlocks adoption. If your product requires reliable uptime in a high-traffic commercial environment, purpose-built proprietary hardware you control end-to-end can be a genuine competitive moat against consumer-hardware-based rivals.
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MONEY
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REVENUE MODEL
PourMyBeer charges a flat rate based on the number of screens/taps installed plus add-on features (POS integrations, SMS, mobile wallet), explicitly avoiding the per-ounce fee model some competitors use - deliberately choosing not to take a cut of every ounce poured, unlike some rivals, because the company positions itself as not wanting to 'penalize customers for their success.'
PRICING MODEL
A flat per-screen rate (plus mobile/built-in wall hardware costs starting around $1,300-$18,000 depending on configuration) rather than a percentage-of-revenue or per-ounce fee, so a venue's technology cost stays predictable and doesn't rise as the self-pour wall becomes more successful and pours more beer.
WHY THEY WON
PourMyBeer charges a flat rate based on the number of screens/taps installed plus add-on features (POS integrations, SMS, mobile wallet), explicitly avoiding the per-ounce fee model some competitors use - deliberately choosing not to take a cut of every ounce poured, unlike some rivals, because the company positions itself as not wanting to 'penalize customers for their success.'
A flat per-screen rate (plus mobile/built-in wall hardware costs starting around $1,300-$18,000 depending on configuration) rather than a percentage-of-revenue or per-ounce fee, so a venue's technology cost stays predictable and doesn't rise as the self-pour wall becomes more successful and pours more beer.
TARGET AUDIENCE
CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR
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Bars, restaurants, breweries, casinos, hotels, grocery stores, offices, and institutional/government venues (military bases) wanting to offer self-serve beer, wine, cocktails, cold brew or kombucha.
Sales-led, consultative purchase process involving a custom quote based on tap count, existing draft infrastructure and venue type, typically requiring the venue to also invest in underlying draft system equipment from a local installer.
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MOTION
GROWTH EXPANSION MODEL
COMPETITIVE STRATEGY
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PourMyBeer expanded from beer-only dispensing into wine, cocktails, cold brew coffee and kombucha (positioning itself as 'liquid-agnostic'), and expanded geographically from the U.S. into 30 countries, while its CCEP Ventures partnership specifically opened a trial expansion into Western Europe (starting in Spain) and the non-alcoholic beverage category.
PourMyBeer differentiates as the established category leader with the most taps installed in recent years and a track record of reliability ('never been replaced' at any installed location, per company claims), competing against newer entrants primarily on proven uptime and installed-base scale rather than price.
HOW THEY EXPAND
PourMyBeer expanded from beer-only dispensing into wine, cocktails, cold brew coffee and kombucha (positioning itself as 'liquid-agnostic'), and expanded geographically from the U.S. into 30 countries, while its CCEP Ventures partnership specifically opened a trial expansion into Western Europe (starting in Spain) and the non-alcoholic beverage category.
HOW THEY COMPETE
PourMyBeer differentiates as the established category leader with the most taps installed in recent years and a track record of reliability ('never been replaced' at any installed location, per company claims), competing against newer entrants primarily on proven uptime and installed-base scale rather than price.
GROWTH ENGINE
GTM
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Existing customers' publicly quantified financial results (specific profit swings, revenue percentages) function as a powerful referral engine within the tight-knit bar/restaurant ownership community, while the Micro Matic and beverage-industry trade-show presence (NRA, Pizza Expo) extends reach into venue operators actively researching new technology.
Existing customers' publicly quantified financial results (specific profit swings, revenue percentages) function as a powerful referral engine within the tight-knit bar/restaurant ownership community, while the Micro Matic and beverage-industry trade-show presence (NRA, Pizza Expo) extends reach into venue operators actively researching new technology.
Direct sales to bars, restaurants and institutional venues supported by dramatic ROI case studies and a dedicated installation/support network, with the Coca-Cola-affiliated investment used to open new geographic and category expansion (non-alcoholic beverages, Europe).
SUSTAINING MOATS
Switching Costs, High Customer Lock-In, Brand Power, Technology Advantage (complex enterprise scenarios)
moat
PourMyBeer's moat is its proprietary, purpose-built hardware (industrial-grade, hardwired, Linux-based screens the company fully owns and controls, unlike competitors dependent on consumer tablets and Wi-Fi) combined with an established multi-region service network - a reliability track record that strengthens every year the installed base grows without a single unit needing full replacement, according to company claims.
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