Not sure I can say I'm quite ready to invest in TPC, but I will say as a retail customer Nic & Brook have been great to me. Purchased a NIB TWD & refurbished TOTAN, with no complaints. They were always quick to respond if I had an issue. They also made a few arcade cabinets for me SF2 & MK1 which turned out very nice.
Good luck with your venture!
Quoted from Oldgoat:I was speculating on what the previous poster called fuzzy math.
So, if I understand your post correctly, it sounds like you took a salary, albeit below market, and then augmented with an additional $2mm in dividends. My question was based on the fact that you would have had to pay out an additional $667k for you to get that $2mm. This resulted in the second musing that small companies looking to grow would not typically draw out an additional $2.7mm. They would reinvest earnings into the company since they believe they can get a better return investing in themselves than something else. This is why, in my experience, the BDC's, VC's, etc. look for complete commitment by the principles. Basically, if the principles don't believe enough in the story as evidenced by taking as little money as possible out of the firm, why should they (the VC/BDC's)? Now all that being said, I wish you success and I will take a quick gander at the financials. Heck it might be something I'd toss a couple of dollars at as a flyer. Unfortunately, that would be terrible news for you as I have an amazing ability to pick losers and buy high/sell low.
Thanks for the post. Income is income and there is always taxes. I indicated we have taken over $2 million in draws pre-tax. Of course you have to take more out to get $2 million after tax. It doesn't make it fuzzy math. If you invest $50k and get $500k in taxable income in 12 years, that's not bad. We have drawn money over the years to invest in other ventures in order to diversify our investments. That has served us well. Keeping cash in the business would not have generated more income, just interest income savings. Any BCC, VC, etc. would understand that we are making smart decisions with our cash and look at the cash flows we can generate going forward. If I wanted to cash out and not benefit from our planned growth I would just sell the company so do not take selling 6-10% of our equity as a lack of belief in our future.
Quoted from RandomGuyOffCL:I’m guessing you didn’t go to church today...
Why would I? I'm an atheist. I don't need a flying spaghetti monster to get me through the day. Humans can stand on their own two feet, and be ethical, decent people without religion.
*edit* I'll be happy to edit/delete this post once yours is removed, as it should have been already.
Investing!
Taxes!
Church!
Religion!
And to think, we all came here because we like to hit a silver ball around.
Quoted from Stuart_Pitt9876:like to hit a silver ball around.
I don’t think it has anything to do with being silver... we just like knocking balls around, wether they roll, rebound, or rattle around in your nut sack.
Quoted from Bublehead:I don’t think it has anything to do with being silver... we just like knocking balls around, wether they roll, rebound, or rattle around in your nut sack.
Well said, Butthead!
Quoted from PinballCompany:Bank rates are tied to prime. So they will likely be above 6% within 2 years. Notes pay 6% for only 2 years then can be converted to equity with no interest required.
So you want a pinball machine and ownership? Now that would be a "bad business decision".
Just not true. We have done thousands of deals and only a handful have been "bad experiences".
You do not know me. Call my office and have a chat. Talk to me at Expo. Badmouthing me here only makes you look bad.
Don't feed the troll. Ignore him like everyone else does.
I agree as well. If I had taken that dudes advice I would "own" a predator and an alien... I'm not smart enough to participate here, but throwing flames at this is silly, if you are interested pick up the phone and deal in person, instead of typing in a tank top in your aunt's basement.
Quoted from ZEN:I agree as well. If I had taken that dudes advice I would "own" a predator and an alien... I'm not smart enough to participate here, but throwing flames at this is silly, if you are interested pick up the phone and deal in person, instead of typing in a tank top in your aunt's basement.
I think the person in the tank top was Otaku and it was his Grandma's basement..... 
Oh - No - that was a different deal. Sort of. Different scale and particulars.
Quoted from ZEN:I agree as well. If I had taken that dudes advice I would "own" a predator and an alien... I'm not smart enough to participate here, but throwing flames at this is silly, if you are interested pick up the phone and deal in person, instead of typing in a tank top in your aunt's basement.
If people dont learn from their mistakes they are bound to repeat them. I would hate to see the pinball community not learn from Predator, Jpop, Stern Book deal, etc...
I bought my WOZ through the Pinball Company. Brooke and Nic have been great and really helped working the hurdles we faced on the way.
But on the other hand, the experience also showed the inherent limits of distribution. Mostly that a distributor cant keep a stock of every machines he sells and has to rely on his network to deliver what he sells. In the context of manufacturers doing direct sells, and products coming in limited numbers, distribution is a fragile business.
Quoted from Whysnow:If people dont learn from their mistakes they are bound to repeat them. I would hate to see the pinball community not learn from Predator, Jpop, Stern Book deal, etc...
Heighway Pinball.....never forget.
Quoted from PinballCompany:Wow. This guy is smart. Seriously. If I was starting a pinball manufacturing company today, I would not have any (or many) distributors. But I am also a marketing guy and believe 95% of customers would find my products through my efforts. However, you do need to establish relationships with installers and servicers in major markets. That can be done by working with distributors and compensating them for their role or creating that network of distribution hubs/service points in house. I never understood why out of state customers did not pay some kind of federal sales tax that got distributed to states. The Supreme Court decision could make things difficult if we have to file tax returns in 50 states. Maybe they will come up with some other way of collecting tax on sales that doesn't involve that. The ruling did play a role in our expansion plans and now we are lot less hesitant to have "nexus" in other states.
The last company I worked for collected sales tax on products shipped to something like 43 states.
Heck, I have to file multiple state returns myself. I fly into certain states for work, even for a day, BAM! a tax event is created...
I hope these guys do well. Nic and Brooke seem like hard working people.
Key Man Life insurance?
What do 2018 numbers look like compared to 2017?
Mandatory tax distributions for equity holders?
Salary caps?
I'm curious about "Use of funds"
USE OF FUNDS
9. What is the purpose of this offering?
The Company intends to use the net proceeds of this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, which includes the specific items listed in Item 10 below. While the Company expects to use the net proceeds from the Offering in the manner described above, it cannot specify with certainty the particular uses of the net proceeds that it will receive from from this Offering. Accordingly, the Company will have broad discretion in using these proceeds.
10. How does the issuer intend to use the proceeds of this offering?
If we raise: $500,000
Use of Proceeds:
95% towards inventory; ; 5% towards WeFunder Fees
If we raise: $1,000,000
Use of Proceeds:
50% towards inventory ; 45% paying back existing loans; 5% towards WeFunder Fees
GL to you guys, I would just keep grinding it out yourselves and forego all the future potential problems of having limited partners
Sink everything back into the business and hire more people until it hurts.
Fire yourselves from $10 an hour tasks.
Patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day 
I don't think it was very smart to basically reveal Stern's wholesale pricing to the world on the K podcast. Nothing like biting the hand that feeds you! I honestly think when the next crunch hits, manufacturers are going to cut out distributors and go to direct sales in order to maintain their margins. I've seen it happen in other hobby segments, and it would't be much of a stretch to see it happen in this one as well. Or think about Stern knocking the pinball manufacturing world to their knees by offering games directly for "just over 3900" per game.
Quoted from iceman44:45% paying back existing loans
nothing like borrowing from peter to pay paul...
After listening to Nic on the podcast he struck me as somebody that is smart, intelligent, and has a vision. Buying luxury items (particularly those with complexity) involves a different buying experience than a commodity, as it entails education and being able to envision yourself in that environment. Because of this, the museum concept as a storefront makes a lot of sense. Think of immersive buying experiences such as the Apple store, Tesla store, the big boat shows, etc. For the lay person looking to buy something for the basement, it provides a destination where they can see a lot of merchandise setup and immerse themselves in having an arcade in their home. Using words like "hall of fame" and "museum" give weight and connote legitimacy to the lay person, and adds to the experience of buying from the TPC vice a drop-ship distributor. It definitely reads to me that Nic is going after an up-scale market sector, which probably makes sense. I will not comment on the investment mechanism as that is not my area of expertise but concept-wise, I think he has a sound idea.
Quoted from Whysnow:nothing like borrowing from peter to pay paul...
Hey, I'm sure it's somebody's dream theme.
download (resized).jpgQuoted from PinballCompany:Thanks for the post. Income is income... We have drawn money over the years to invest in other ventures in order to diversify our investments. That has served us well.
income is not income. a lot of people will believe anything when someone with an MBA says it, which is why there's a whole lot of brokers making 6% off others money for doing nothing. this is what we call inorganic growth. I hear a whole lot or words and not a whole lot of numbers. What's your organic revenue growth year to year? not just last year. What's your operating income? What's your interest income? What's your pretax income? How much do you spend on Sales and Marketing? What's your net income? How much debt do you have? How much cash do you have? What's your gross profit? What are your operating expenses? the only numbers you list on your wefunder is one year of revenue growth, the fact that you have facebook followers and that you have an MBA. You also mention that your buyers don't like cheap prices. Who the hell wants to pay more for something than they have to? Who are these people that are williing to buy pinball machines for twice what they could on pinside, and how have you found so many that you're about to be the biggest pinball company imaginable? What are you selling? How does a model of selling the same product as everyone else for double work? It seems like you're just selling your can do attitude and a pretty website that you've paid to have google mention first. Investing in promises and people is every scam that ever existed. Your MBA doesn't mean your product is better than anyone elses. Prove to us that we should invest, don't bully people who don't know anything into believing they're missing out.
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Columbia, MO