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The Pinball Show: Uprooting Deeproot - Part 1

PodcastAnalysis updated 2mo ago1 hr 48 min listen
The Pinball Show
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The Pinball Show: Uprooting Deeproot - Part 1 Host: Zach Meny Special Guest: Blueberry Johnson In Part One of The Pinball Show Special Series 'Uprooting Deeproot', Zach Meny speaks with hobbyist pinball researcher, Blueberry Johnson, about the fall of attempted upstart pinball company deeproot. Mr. Johnson has compiled an extensive amount of unreleased data from previous deeproot employees and from public information, showcasing detailed information about this failed startup pinball company, per Mr. Johnson. DISCLAIMER: Content presented in this podcast episode is based on information received from Mr. Blueberry Johnson. The Pinball Show offers this disclaimer because the information received cannot be confirmed as coming from the direct sources, although the respondents were informed of the intentions of this information and were agreeable to it being used in a podcast medium. All of the information in this episode is 'alleged' and not being reported as fact; it is merely a form of reporting information from outside/secondary sources, much of which is for entertainment purposes. Blueberry Johnson contact email: drblueberryjohnson@gmail.com Visual references to the information presented in this episode can be found at knapparcade.org email: thepinballnetwork@gmail.com website: thepinball.network facebook: facebook.com/thepinballnetwork twitch: twitch.tv/pinballnetwork youtube: youtube.com/thepinballnetwork instagram: @thepinballnetwork twitter: @therealTPN review: thisweekinpinball.com/the-pinball-show/

Kineticist’s take

TL;DR

Deep Root Pinball collapsed due to founder Robert Mueller's fraud, mismanagement, and $58M investor scheme.

Synopsis

The The Pinball Show presents an in-depth investigation into Deep Root Pinball collapse, hosted by Zach with guest researcher Blueberry Johnson (BJ), a community sleuth who tracked the company's history. The episode traces Deep Root's timeline from 2015 through the August 2021 SEC intervention, revealing that founder Robert Mueller defrauded nearly 300 investors of ~$58 million through insurance policy investments while claiming to build pinball machines. Mueller's mismanagement: including a massively oversized facility, constant design pivots, unpaid staff, frivolous spending (gym equipment, soccer club sponsorship, country club expenses), and rejection of expert advice: doomed the venture despite hiring talented designers like Steve Bowden and John Papaduke.

Entities

  • Deep Root Pinball· company
  • Deep Root Tech· company
  • Zidware· company
  • The Deep Six Event· event
  • Retro Atomic Zombie Adventure Land (RAZÁ)· game
  • This Week in Pinball (TWIP)· media
  • Pinside· organization
  • SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)· organization
  • Utah Department of Labor· organization
  • Blueberry Johnson (BJ)· person
  • Chris Chandler· person
  • Colin McAlpine· person
  • Crystal Gimnich· person
  • Jeff Patterson· person
  • Jeremy Packer (Zombie Yeti)· person
  • John Papaduke (J-Pop)· person
  • Kerry Hardy· person
  • Robert Mueller· person
  • Steve Bowden· person
  • Zach· person
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