No theatre.
You talk to the person thinking through the problem and building the thing.
ONE IDEA. ONE SPRINT. ONE THING YOU CAN ACTUALLY CLICK.
Got an idea?Let's make the f*cking thing.
Beer Mat turns rough ideas, awkward workflows and “there has to be a better way” conversations into a working first version you can actually put in front of someone.
1 week prototype sprintfixed scope before we startworking thing at the end
THE BIT I ACTUALLY LIKE
The bit between “what if…” and “holy sh*t, it works.”
THE WHOLE PITCH, REALLY
Most early ideas do not need a software company. They need somebody willing to get into the mess, work out what matters and make enough of it real that guessing can stop.
THE FIRST VERSION IN YOUR HEAD
dashboardaccountspaymentsAInotificationsanalyticsmobile app?admin area
THE BIT WE ACTUALLY NEEDMake the annoying thing easier.Everything else has to earn its way back in.
YOU
I need an app with a dashboard, AI, accounts, payments and probably—
ME
Hang on. What's the annoying bit you're actually trying to fix?
YOU
…honestly? This one thing.
ME
Lovely. Let's build that first.
No feature landfill.
If version one survives without it, it can wait until reality asks for it.
Something real.
A prototype you can click, show, test and learn from. Not a strategy PDF pretending to be progress.
STUFF I'VE TRIED
Real problems. Made-up clients. Working prototypes.
These aren't fake case studies. I found recurring problems people genuinely complain about, scribbled the useful bit down, then built the version I'd want to test first.
real complaints →made-up names, obviouslyPlay with it Play with it Play with it
REAL PROBLEM 01TRADES / LEAD QUALIFICATION
QUICKQUOTE
Steve builds bathrooms. Steve hates building quotes.
Turn a vague website enquiry into a proper job brief, indicative range and something Steve can act on.
REAL PROBLEM 02AGENCIES / ONBOARDING
KICKOFF
Your client sent the logo. Somewhere. Probably.
Collect files and access, expose blockers, nudge clients and know when a project is genuinely ready.
REAL PROBLEM 03SMALL TEAMS / SCHEDULING
BOOKED.
WhatsApp is not a booking system. Neither is Dave.
Turn a customer message into a reschedule with availability, staff, deposit, conflicts and confirmation.
THE SPRINT
Talk. Cut. Build. Try.
Four moves. Enough structure to keep us moving. Not enough process to squeeze the life out of the idea.
back-of-the-mat planning →
Talk
Dump the whole thing on me. The half-plan, the stupid bit, the “I don't know if this is possible” bit.
→
Cut
Find the smallest useful thing hidden inside it and politely murder everything version one does not need.
→
Build
Make the important bits real: interface, flows, logic, data and enough backend to prove the idea actually works.
→
Try
Give it to reality. Watch what breaks, keep what works and decide whether the idea deserves another sprint.
THE OUTPUTSomething useful enough to answer the next question.
FOUNDING SPRINTSFrom £650
One problem. One week. One working thing. While Beer Mat is new, the early projects get the early price.
Bring me something messy →WHO'S “WE”?
Mostly me,
actually.
SMALL ON PURPOSE
You bring the rough idea. I ask annoying questions, get far too interested in it, cut away the bits that do not matter yet and build the useful part.
Beer Mat stays small deliberately. No sales-guy → account-manager → designer → developer telephone game. The bloke talking through the problem is the bloke building it.
Strange problems.
“Could we…?”
Feature lists.
AI because AI.
YOUR TURN
What's been living in your head for six months?
Do not write me a brief. Tell me the rough version, what currently sucks and what you wish happened instead.