Former linebacker for the Shippensburg Raiders Football Team, Josh Goodman ’02, started a self-pour beverage company, which has taken off in the last five years.
PourMyBeer currently partners with some of the largest brands out there, including Buffalo Wild Wings, Dave & Buster’s, Whole Foods, and even Coca-Cola.
The Vision
After leaving his position at an IT staffing firm, Goodman decided to leave corporate America and become an entrepreneur. He tried starting a carpet selling business for college student dorm rooms, but this idea became a lesson rather than a success.
Luckily, Goodman worked hard right out of college to build a “safety net,” and he encourages other postgraduates to do the same. That safety net provided the opportunity to pursue future passion projects, like PourMyBeer.
The idea for PourMyBeer came to Goodman in 2009 when he and some friends went to a bar in Baltimore, MD, and experienced very poor service. Goodman thought, “there has to be a better way,” and so the wheels in his head started turning.
Goodman envisioned a type of self-pour service for customers to pour and choose their own drinks. He developed a prototype and installed it in that very same bar in Baltimore. The prototype turned out to be another lesson, but Goodman pressed on to improve his idea.
Going International
PourMyBeer officially began as an LLC called Innovative Tap Solutions. The company faced various changes to its self-pour technology before developing “The Magic Box.” From adopting a system in Atlanta to selling mobile draft tables, PourMyBeer finally developed a technology free of technical issues and easy enough for a child to use and install.
A company in Austria agreed to build Goodman a custom-solution Magic Box, the first purpose-built hardwired system perfect for restaurant installation and consumption. Since the first batch of Magic Boxes in May of 2015, 3,000 have been sold worldwide.
For Goodman, seeing PourMyBeer’s success over the last five years has been “surreal.” He said he strongly believes in the power of vision and speaking things into existence. Even during the pandemic, when the hospitality industry crashed, Goodman believed in the company and PourMyBeer actually experienced its best year yet. While self-pour remains a small segment of the market, he anticipates the company will continue to flourish.
Today, PourMyBeer has over 8,000 taps in 24 countries, partnering with some of the largest brands out there. Recently, PourMyBeer reached a huge milestone when Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) offered to buy 20 percent of the company.
Goodman expressed, “when the largest beverage company in the world says they want to own 20 percent of your company, that’s a huge deal.” Although the initial deal was put on pause during the pandemic, it officially closed in September, 2020 and PourMyBeer now partners with the largest beverage company in the world.
A Team of “Doers”
As the number of projects increased, PourMyBeer’s team expanded to 25 passionate, dependable members.
When Goodman first started the company, he wanted to create a different experience for his employees compared to his time in the corporate world. His negative experiences created a passion in him to uplift with positive activities. For example, he once gave his team their bonuses by sending them paper money shooters, which they loved.
Goodman said he’s built a great team of “doers.” After all, when it comes to leading a successful company, Goodman expressed, “it’s about getting the right people on the bus.”
Future Expansion
In December of 2020, PourMyBeer tackled more projects in one month than in the company’s entire first year in 2015, and Goodman said the team “crushed it.”
While PourMyBeer has taken significant strides in the last five years, the company remains in the early stages of life and has not yet hit mainstream. Goodman is confident his product and his team will one day lead the self-pour beverage market.
