What was the starting capital that you (or investors) put into Heighway Pinball at the foundation of the company?
Where did that investment come from?
What financial/business advice did you receive before starting Heighway Pinball?
Who did you receive that advice from?
Why were the prices for a machine in the UK so high compared to the US? Especially seeing as they were manufactured in the UK.
Do you feel this alienated the UK market?
Or did you feel that because so many people had had poor dealings with you in the past, that they wouldn't buy from you anyway?
What were the projected sales of Full Throttle?
How many Full Throttles actually shipped?
What were the projected sales of Alien?
How many Aliens actually shipped?
At what point did you first realise that there were financial difficulties?
What did you receive in the sale of Heighway Pinball?
There seems little point asking what happened to the money? How can you sleep at night? Or answering questions that we already know the answers to. etc. etc. We want to hear real FACTS.
There is also no point in him making excuses about manufacturing delays, or quality issues from suppliers, the crippling rent for a factory WAY bigger than needed. These are to be expected with any manufacturing business, and should be factored in to any decision making.
I do not think that Andrew set out to defraud or commit any scam at any point. I think that he is incredibly naïve/stupid when it comes to financial matters (as has been demonstrated in many other areas away from HP which don't need going into here), or running a business. As the bank balance diminished, I'm sure he was thinking along the lines of "If I can just get x amount of money, I'll be able to get this sorted and start shipping games, paying suppliers, paying employees, etc. etc. The same way that a gambling addict keeps betting more and more money chasing the big win that will solve everything - until they're completely in the $h!t.
I would seriously recommend that he gives up on trying to run any business, waiting for the 'next big thing' but rather go and get a job working for someone else where he has no say in decisions made which could impact on the future of the business - as let's face it - his track record leaves a lot to be desired.
