Designing Coffee Gear People Actually Use | DOM SYMONS from Subminimal!

Designing Coffee Gear People Actually Use | DOM SYMONS from Subminimal!

April 15, 2026 · 41 min

About this episode

Dominic Symons discusses the challenges and processes involved in designing practical coffee tools.

What does it actually take to turn a coffee idea into a real product?In this episode, we sit down with Dominic Symons, Founder of Subminimal and designer behind tools like the NanoFoamer and Subscale. We unpack what separates genuinely useful coffee equipment from the endless stream of gadgets hitting the market.From identifying real problems behind the bar to prototyping, manufacturing, patents, and raising over $1.5M through Kickstarter, Dominic shares what most people misunderstand about launching a product, and why simplicity is often the hardest design challenge.We also explore copycat culture, protecting ideas, and why many concepts should never make it past the sketch phase.If you’ve ever wondered how coffee tools actually come to life, this episode is for you.If you're new here (welcome), our show dives into some of the best coffee conversations on the internet, but we will always remind ourselves at the end of the day - It's Just Coffee! https://subminimal.com @subminimal Products mentionedNanoFoamerNanoFoamer PROSubscaleFlick WDT Tool CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:24 Meet Dominic Symons (Subminimal) 02:04 Raising $1.5M on Kickstarter 03:01 Is Kickstarter Still Worth It? 04:33…

People in this episode

Hosts: Ben Bicknell, Rohan Cooke

Guest: Dominic Symons

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Subminimal

Products: NanoFoamer, NanoFoamer PRO, Subscale, Flick WDT Tool

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