About Us

FOREST FLOOR™ - FOREST FLOOR LLC

Welcome to the future. At least our future now wraps up the past in a strange way. In 1997 Daniel and Matthew created their first mushroom grow device. Twenty-seven years later, plus 50 years combined professional design and product development experience we find ourselves solving the same problems we solved in the past. What this means for you? We have solved all of the biggest problems facing every experience level of mushrooms growing.

This machine represents a new class of appliances that have yet to be invented or integrated into the fabric of our existence. We are writing new rules for household furniture and symbiotic, environmental appliances. The Model 101 represents FOREST FLOOR™'s Flagship Model 1-tray within 1-device/unit, hence 101. "Metatron's Prismatic Hyper Cube™" is the name of the device/unit as viewed through the lens of an artist. 

Our Founders

Matthew Flansburg

Matthew Flansburg was born at Swedish Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, in 1974. From a young age, he demonstrated a unique talent in both art and mathematics, influenced by his father, Roger, a left-brained thinker, and his mother, Eleanor, a prolific reader and English literature teacher. Creativity ran in his family, with both grandmothers being professional artists—one a watercolorist and the other skilled with needle and thread.

Growing up in Littleton, Matthew enjoyed playing soccer and baseball, but his life took an extraordinary turn in the summer of 1985 when he witnessed a UFO event alongside his parents and thousands of others near Walt Whitman Elementary School. This life-changing experience sparked his father’s encouragement for Matthew to pursue science or a career in military intelligence, hoping to understand the mysteries they had witnessed.

In 1987, his family moved to Chandler, Arizona, where Matthew excelled academically and was elected to student council. By 1988, he was speaking to 3,000 student council officers at the National Jr. High Student Council Convention. Despite facing challenges due to his small size, Matthew channeled his resilience into joining the wrestling team and spent his lunch hours in the chemistry lab with his teacher, Mr. Garcia. Together, they created "Rocket Day" at Willis Jr. High in 1998.

At Chandler High School, Matthew became a varsity wrestler for the back-to-back 5A State Championships, Chandler Wolves. Graduating at the top of his class, he attended Arizona State University on multiple academic scholarships, originally pursuing a degree in Construction and Engineering. However, a newfound passion for physics led him to shift his focus after earning his first C in a physics class. Alongside his academic pursuits, Matthew sold his artwork in galleries around Scottsdale and Tempe.

In October 1997, tragedy struck when Matthew's father, Roger, passed away from a heart attack. This event prompted Matthew to drop out of college to manage his father’s estate. During this time, Matthew and his friend Daniel built their first mushroom-growing machine, an invention that would later inspire his entrepreneurial journey. After re-engaging with his studies, Matthew earned his degree in Physics, with minors in Mathematics, Astronomy, and Philosophy. He turned down his opportunity to work on nuclear submarines for the United States Navy. Instead, Matthew's love for engineering and product development took root in when he joined Netscape in Mountain View, California. he moved to Santa Cruz, California early 2000.

Over the next three decades, he developed a deep expertise across various roles in software and product development, complementing Daniel’s programming skills. His extensive experience includes:

5+ years of Quality Assurance testing and methodologies
15+ years of product management with international cross-functional teams
15+ years of technical writing, including requirements, use cases, and testing criteria
20+ years of UI/UX design engineering for human-centered products
25+ years of web application development
25+ years of vector graphic art and design
25+ years of leadership in bringing innovative products to market

Matthew and Daniel have collaborated on seven different businesses since 1999, working on everything from startup ventures to large-scale projects for companies like AOL and Canon. After nearly a decade away from new endeavors, the duo reunited in June 2023 when Matthew pitched a revolutionary idea: "The World's First Fully-Automated Mushroom Growing Machine." This self-contained appliance addresses the top ten challenges faced by both expert and novice mushroom growers. A completely new type of appliance, it represents a breakthrough in the mushroom cultivation industry.

Daniel Billotte

Born in 1975 in Mesa, Arizona, Daniel was raised in a family that combined the analytical and the artistic—his father, an engineer, and his mother, an artist and entrepreneur, fostered both sides of his personality. From an early age, Daniel’s curiosity knew no bounds. He was the kid who took everything apart just to see how it worked, and he loved every minute of it. He had an innate drive to create, innovate, and explore the boundaries of what was possible.

Despite being brought up in a Christian household, by third grade, Daniel began to feel the cracks in the stories he was told. How could only one religion be right when there were so many different beliefs in the world? His young mind questioned the idea that those without access to "the word" were doomed to eternal damnation. This early skepticism set Daniel on a lifelong quest for spiritual understanding, but in places far removed from organized religion. He became fascinated with the notion that the human mind was capable of far more than what society allowed it to express.

This hunger for deeper knowledge led Daniel to psychedelics in his teenage years. Early experiences with LSD, mescaline, and mushrooms opened his eyes to the boundless possibilities of consciousness. He was hooked—not just on the substances, but on the profound sense of interconnectedness and wonder they provided. Unfortunately, these same circles that introduced him to psychedelics also introduced him to alcohol, which would become a darker and far more insidious influence on his life.

While excelling academically in math and science, Daniel’s true passion was entrepreneurship. From lawn care and handyman services to running his own ‘zine in junior high, Daniel’s entrepreneurial spirit was alive and thriving. But it wasn’t until college that he met the person who would become his lifelong friend and business partner, Matt Flansburg. The two bonded over everything from physics to art to their shared love of pushing boundaries. But their friendship was cemented in 1997, after the sudden death of Matt’s father, Roger. This pivotal moment shifted their relationship from bar buddies to something deeper. In their grief, they found solace in their shared pursuit of knowledge—and in their first joint project, a homemade mushroom-growing box. This was the seed that would eventually blossom into Forest Floor, though neither could have predicted the long journey ahead.

In 1998, Daniel dropped out of college to take a job as a software engineer in Silicon Valley during the Web 1.0 boom. While his career initially soared, the dark pull of alcohol was always there, quietly sabotaging his success. Despite his rapid rise in the tech world, Daniel found himself more and more disconnected from the things that once brought him joy—music, psychedelics, and even his own creativity. By the time he reached his thirties, what had once been a life full of promise and excitement had become a long, slow struggle to stay afloat.

Yet Daniel’s entrepreneurial drive never faded, even in the darkest of times. Over the years, he and Matt embarked on countless projects—some successful, most not—but each one was a step forward, a lesson learned, and another brick in the road that would eventually lead to Forest Floor.

The real turning point in Daniel’s journey came in 2020, triggered by a series of intense DMT experiences. These encounters forced him to confront the hard truth that alcohol had been the common thread behind all of his struggles. But it wasn’t an easy road. Despite attempts to clean up for the sake of his two young daughters, Daniel found himself edging closer to existential nihilism. That’s when he realized he had to make a choice: either change his life or lose everything. With the help of his wife and a close friend, he checked into a detox program. After seven days, he emerged as Daniel 2.0—sober, clear-headed, and ready to rebuild his life.

What followed was a period of rapid transformation. With newfound sobriety came a resurgence of creativity, drive, and clarity. Reconnecting with Matt, who had also left alcohol behind, the two reignited their shared passion for mushrooms. Armed with Daniel’s skills in software and electrical engineering and Matt’s creative vision, they set out to create an automated mushroom-growing box like no other.

Forest Floor was born—a company built on decades of friendship, failures, and the ultimate triumph of two souls who refused to give up on their dream. Today, Daniel and Matt are on a mission to make the transformative power of psychedelics accessible to the masses, helping others unlock the same sense of wonder and healing that brought them back to life.