Slotto hits it big in the Marketplace

November 27, 2012

Writer

A few years back Glenn talked about a man on the Marketplace website who had a dream and a shed. He didn’t have much money for his business idea so he worked out of his shed. After the segment aired things changed dramatically. This audience responded in a huge way - how big? So big he's now getting his product in Bed, Bath, and Beyond and other stores across the country! Glenn discussed the story on radio this morning.

Below is edited text from his monologue on the story:

I want to give you a message of hope today. I want to give you a message of success. I want to tell you about an American entrepreneur. His name is Robert Darling. Robert Darling is a creator of a ‑‑ of a handcrafted toy called Slotto. It's unfinished wood pieces that you ‑‑ that have slots in them you put them together. And it's kind of like the Lincoln Logs or the Tinkertoys of today. And in 2008 this guy's 61 years old, the market crashes, he loses his job, he's got nothing. He's got nothing. And he doesn't know what to do. He actually is out on the street after looking for a job, he'll go out and he'll get a sign and he'll go on the street with a sign that says, I need a job. He meant it.

He lived in Oregon. And then he would go back to his house and he would start to make these little toys that he was selling part time at, like, the farmers market in Portland, Oregon. These toys called Slotto. Well, he couldn't, he couldn't ‑‑ you know, he couldn't make enough of the toys to be able to, you know, feed the family, keep his house and everything else, but he really believed and he was like, this is what I really need to do, and I'm not going to be on the government dole.

Well, he found out about ‑‑ he found out about the Marketplace and he sends me a bag of these toys, Slotto. And I get them and I say, "Well, you know what, let me go take these and I'll play with them with Raphe and if, you know, we like them, I'll call you back." So we take them, I take this bag home and I dump it out in the living room, on the living room floor one Saturday or one ‑‑ I think Friday night, and we start playing with it. Well, before I know it Tania's like, "Okay, it's time for bed and it's really late." And we had made, like, I think a castle and he made a castle, I made a castle and we were playing war with it. The next morning I get up and he doesn't have the TV on and he's now making airplanes and so we make an aircraft carrier out of them and airplanes and we're having dogfights and we spend all day playing with Slotto.

So halfway through Saturday I call up Kevin and I said, this toy is great. I love this. I said, let's see if, you know, we can do the deal with the Marketplace. So Monday I get in and I'm all excited and he said, "Glenn, I called him back and he's really excited, but there's a down side to this. He's just one guy and he's only working in his shed that he built and he doesn't even have the money for a roof on this shed. He's just taken tarp and put it over for the roof so he can keep the rain out." I'm like, you've got to be kidding. I said, so we can't ‑‑ how many can he make? And he said he can only ‑‑ he can only promise that he can make, like, 263 of these. I said, we can't go on national airwaves and say only 263. And he's like, "Look, we'll just do a 48‑hour sale and in 48 hours we'll cut it off and whatever he sells, that way ‑‑ because you believe in it, right?" And I said, yeah, it's great. And he said that way he can get some seed money because he's got nothing. I said okay.

Well, here was the problem. I went on the air and I talked about it and this was 200 maybe 9 and I talked about it and I said this is the greatest toy ever. Slotto. And I said, we have a two‑day sale. By the even of the hour we couldn't shut the Internet process down fast enough. By the end of the hour, he had sold double the amount of Slotto games. They were selling Slotto games ‑‑ or Slotto sets, one set every 30 seconds and we could ‑‑ it was blowing everything out. People were ‑‑ it was Google trending. It was just all of a sudden exploded.

Well, now here we are with a guy who advertised on this program. He went through the Marketplace because he was just an entrepreneur that didn't have a lot of money but, you know, he was like, "If I could just get this in front of people, they will love it." I am so excited to tell you that Robert Darling has announced on TheBlaze that Slotto, a little idea that he had, has moved clearly out of their little shed that he couldn't even afford a roof on and moved now into a new workshop where he has his own employees. Sales have been so good that he's just signed a deal with J.C. Penney, Kohl's and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

He said this: "I started out making Slotto in a makeshift shed in my backyard. It was a constant struggle. The opportunity from the Marketplace allowed me to get a real workshop, hire employees, grow my business. I realized how many people truly loved my product. The Marketplace didn't just grow my business. It propelled my business to extraordinary heights."

This guy was out on the street with a sign. He made all of the Slottos himself. It was his idea, it was his passion, it was his sweat. It was everything that he did. And then soon he'll be demonized. Right now he's an American success story. Right now, in this economy, when nobody can ‑‑ when nobody ‑‑ everybody needs a handout, everybody needs something, no. No. You know what we need? We need great entrepreneurs. And we need a place where entrepreneurs can get together and they can show the American people their wares. There is so many great things on the Marketplace, and I know that ‑‑ I know that, you know, there's nobody more frustrated than I am at the speed at which we do things. We do things incredibly fast but not fast enough for me, and it drives me nuts. The Marketplace is going to end up being one of the most important things I ever do.

The Marketplace and the American Dream Labs are going to end up being the most important thing I think I've ever done because we're going to show you that things can be done, and we're going to give people the opportunity, like this guy. Slotto, we had nothing to do with it. We didn't come up with his plan. We didn't come up with the toy. We didn't do ‑‑ I had my part. My part is show good people a great product. Show them. And show them, get into a situation to where you don't need ‑‑ right now you need so much money. This guy was selling them at the Portland farmers market because he could just go and bring a table and show up and bring his stuff. You can't advertise on a national platform. You can't do that. You have to be J.C. Penney's or Kohl's or something like that.

I remember the first time I went to go get a car loan. I went into the bank and they said, "You don't have any credit." I said, "I know. But that's why I'm here. I want to be able to get a car loan." "Well, you don't have any credit." Well, how do I get credit ‑‑ this is before the time where everybody had a credit card. "How do I get the credit if you won't give me a loan?" It was a Catch‑22. How can I be successful if I can't tell people about my product? How can I be a big huge thing if nobody knows about me? That's what the Marketplace is. And hopefully in the next six months, hopefully by March you're going to see a new phase of what we're going to be doing for entrepreneurs and taking the next step. I don't even know how many, what do we have, 250 people in the marketplace now? And it's just because I am not growing with debt. I refuse to get into debt. We could be a lot bigger. This Marketplace could be a lot bigger and a lot more things if I took on $10 million of debt. I am not going to do that. And I'm not doing it because that's when you become beholden to somebody. And I'm not going to become beholden. I want to do the things that I believe in. I want to find the entrepreneurs that really have the same kind of mindset. I don't know Mr. Darling. I know his work. And I know he's come up and he's pulled himself up. And I know that at least for a while ‑‑ and he's 61. So I'm guessing he's going to be this way for the rest of his life. But at least for a while, he will not forget where he came from. And he will help others achieve their dreams. And he will stand up for the American entrepreneur and the American experience and the American spirit. And he'll help spread that. I'm not just taking anybody. I don't want to just take anybody. I don't want to partner with just anybody. I want to partner with people who believe the same kinds of things. We don't have to believe the same things politically but we have to believe in the entrepreneurial spirit, we have to believe in American exceptionalism, we have to believe that we can do it, we have to believe that corporations don't have to be bad. They can be good. We don't have to believe that ‑‑ we have to get together on the idea that you did build something. And you have a right to keep that when you're done and not be vilified for doing something with your life, doing something with your brain and your hands. That's a good thing.

If you bought it on the Marketplace, you might want to save that bag and that original Slotto game because that one was made by the creator, and soon you won't know the name of the person because they're hiring new employees. American employees. In this economy.

Congratulations. Slotto, America's new Tinkertoy.

Critical theory destroys truth and justice

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Critical theory once stood out as the absurd progressive notion that it is. Now, its maxims are becoming an integral part of ordinary political discourse. The more you repeat a lie, the more you will believe it, and this is the very dangerous place in which we find ourselves today.

Take this critical theory maxim as an example: If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice. It's a necessary evil, if you will, the necessity of “controlled injustice.”

By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we’ll save the republic. We’ll be acting in a noble way.

This definition of justice is defined by the “oppressed,” not the “oppressor.” It is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. To achieve this justice, however, we need to endorse acts on occasion that, while seemingly unjust, serve a higher purpose. It will ensure the stability and the unity of our republic, and this may manifest in ways that seem contradictory to our values. But these are the necessary shadows to cast light on “true justice.”

And isn’t that what we are all after, anyway?

Here’s another critical theory maxim: Sometimes we find the truth through fabrication. Our pursuit of truth sometimes requires a strategic use of falsehoods. The truth is a construct that has been shaped and tailored to promote the well-being of the collective.

We sometimes need to accept and propagate lies designed by "the system” — not the old system, but the system that we’re now using to replace the old to get more justice through injustice and more truth through fabrication.

We’re engaging in a higher form of honesty. When we fabricate, it’s for the right reason. We are reaching up to the heavens fighting for a higher sort of honesty. To fortify the truth, we occasionally must weave a tapestry of lies. Each thread, essential for the greater picture, will ultimately define our understanding and ensure our unity under this infallible wisdom.

The election is coming up. Does this maxim sound familiar? Many think it is imperative that we secure our republic through election control to maintain our republic. Sometimes, we might need to take actions that by traditional standards might be questionable.

The act of securing elections requires cheating. It's not mere deception. It is a noble act of safeguarding our way of life. We're on the verge of losing this democracy, and without deception, we will lose it.

To ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of those we know will destroy it, we may have to make a few fabrications. We're fabricating stories to be able to control or secure the republic through our elections. By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we'll save the republic. Therefore, we'll be acting in a noble way. Stealing an election from those who wish to harm our society is truly an act of valor and an essential measure to protect our values and ensure the continuation of our just society.

If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice.

I know it's a paradox of honor through dishonor. But in this context, by embracing the dishonor, we achieve the highest form of honor, ensuring the stability and the continuation of our great republic.

Let this be heard, far and wide, as a great call to patriotic action. As we advance, let each of us, citizens of this great and honorable republic, consider these principles. Not as abstract or paradoxical but as practical guides to daily life. Embrace the necessity of controlled injustice, the utility of lies, the duty to secure our electoral process, and the honor and apparent dishonor. These are not merely strategies for survival. They are prerequisites for our prosperity.

We all have to remember that justice is what our leaders define, that truth is what our party tells us. Our republic stands strong on the values of injustice for justice, honor through dishonor, and the fabrication of truths. To deviate from this path is to jeopardize the very fabric of our society. Strength through unity; unity through strength.

We've heard this nonsense for so long. But now, this nonsense is becoming an instituted reality, and we are entering perilous times. Don't be fooled by the narratives you will hear during the march to November. Never let someone convince you that the ends justify the means, that a little bit of injustice is needed to achieve a broader, collective vision of justice, that truth sometimes requires fabricated lies and narratives. If we do, justice will cease to be justice, truth will cease to be truth, and our republic will be lost.

Top 5 MOST EVIL taxes the government extorts from you

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"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." -Ben Franklin

The injustice of taxation has been a core issue for Americans since the very beginning of our country, and it's a problem we have yet to resolve. This belief was recently reignited in many Americans earlier this month on tax day when the numbers were crunched and it was discovered that the government was somehow owed even more hard-earned money. As Glenn recently discussed on his show, it's getting to be impossible for most Americans to afford to live comfortably, inflation is rising, and our politicians keep getting richer.

The taxpayer's burden is heavier than ever.

The government is not above some real low blows either. While taxes are a necessary evil, some taxes stretch the definition of "necessary" and emphasize the "evil." Here are the top five most despicable taxes that are designed to line the IRS coffers at your expense:

Income Tax

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"It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income." -Ben Franklin

On February 24th, 2024 we hit a very unfortunate milestone, the 101st anniversary of the 16th Amendment, which authorized federal income tax. Where does the government get the right to steal directly out of your paycheck?

Death Taxes

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"Now my advice for those who die, Declare the pennies on your eyes" -George Harrison

Not even in death can you escape the cold pursuit of the tax collector. It's not good enough that you have to pay taxes on everything you buy and every penny you make your entire life. Now the feds want a nice slice, based on the entire value of your estate, that can be as much as 40 percent. Then the state government gets to stick their slimy fingers all over whatever remains before your family is left with the crumbs. It's practically grave-robbery.

Payroll

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"The power to tax is the power to destroy." -John Marshall

What's that? The nice chunk of your paycheck the government nabs before you can even get it to the bank wasn't enough? What if the government taxed your employer just for paying you? In essence, you make less than what your agreed pay rate is and it costs your employer more! Absolutely abominable.

Social Security

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"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -Ronald Reagan

Everyone knows the collapse of Social Security is imminent. It has limped along for years, only sustained by a torrent of tax dollars and the desperate actions of politicians. For decades, people have unwillingly forked over money into the system they will never see again.

FICA

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"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue." -Thomas Paine

FICA is the payroll equivalent of Social Security. Your employer has to match however much you pay. It means it costs your employer even more to pay you—again, you'll NEVER see that money. At this point, are you even working for yourself, or are you just here to generate money for the government to frivolously throw away?

5 DISTURBING ways World War III will be different from previous wars

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Has World War III begun?

Over the weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel involving over 300 missiles and drones. This marked the first direct attack on Israel originating from Iranian territory. Fortunately, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, 99 percent of missiles and drones were successfully neutralized by Israeli defense systems. Iran claimed that the operation against Israel had concluded and that no further offensive was planned, although the possibility of another attack is still present.

This has left many people, including Glenn, wondering the same thing: did we just witness the start of World War III?

Glenn recently had a World War II Air Force Veteran as a guest on his TV special, who told stories of the horrors he and his brothers-in-arms faced in the skies over war-torn Europe. This was a timely reminder of the terrors of war and a warning that our future, if it leads to another world war, is a dark one.

But, if Glenn's coverage of the Iranian attack revealed one thing, it's that World War III will look nothing like the world wars of the twentieth century. Long gone are the days of John "Lucky" Luckadoo and his "Bloody Hundredth" bravely flying their B-17s into battle. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of autonomous drones and missiles clashing with extreme speed and precision over several different fronts (including space) simultaneously. This ain't your grandfather's war.

From EMP strikes to cyber attacks, here are FIVE ways the face of war has changed:

EMP attacks

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The entire modern world, on every level, is completely dependent on electricity. From your home refrigerator to international trade, the world would come to a grinding halt without power. And as Glenn has pointed out, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull off. All it would take is 3 strategically placed, high-altitude nuclear detonations and the entire continental U.S. would be without power for months if not years. This would cause mass panic across the country, which would be devastating enough on its own, but the chaos could be a perfect opportunity for a U.S. land invasion.

Nuclear strikes

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Nuclear war is nothing new. Many of us grew up during the Cold War, built fallout shelters, and learned to duck and cover. But times have changed. The Berlin Wall fell and so did the preparedness of the average American to weather a nuclear attack. As technology has advanced, more of our adversaries than ever have U.S. cities within their crosshairs, and as Glenn has pointed out, these adversaries are not exactly shy about that fact. Unfortunately, the possibility of an atomic apocalypse is as real as ever.

Immigration warfare

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The strategy of strangling an opposing nation's economy to gain the upper hand is a wartime tactic as old as time. That's why the Border Crisis is so alarming. What better way to damage an opponent's economy than by overburdening it with millions of undocumented immigrants? As Glenn has covered, these immigrants are not making the trek unaided. There is a wide selection of organizations that facilitate this growing disaster. These organizations are receiving backing from around the globe, such as the WEF, the UN, and U.S. Democrats! Americans are already feeling the effects of the border crisis. Imagine how this tactic could be exploited in war.

Cyber shutdowns

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Cyber attacks will be a major tactic in future wars. We've already experienced relatively minor cyber strikes from Russia, China, and North Korea, and it is a very real possibility that one of our adversaries inflicts a larger attack with devastating consequences on the United States. In fact, the WEF has already predicted a "catastrophic" cyber attack is imminent, and Glenn suggests that it is time to start preparing ourselves. A cyber attack could be every bit as devastating as an EMP, and in a world run by computers, nothing is safe.

Biological assault

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Don't trust the "experts." That was the takeaway many of us had from the pandemic, but something less talked about is the revelation that China has manufactured viruses that are capable of spreading across the globe. We now know that the lab leak hypothesis is true and that the Wuhan lab manufactured the virus that infected the entire world. That was only ONE virus from ONE lab. Imagine what else the enemies of America might be cooking up.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

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The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

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Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

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As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity