Mario's issue was basically he learned that Recht, the financier of both operations was planning an integration of Medici and Confente on the design, distribution and sales. Mario was not aware of the plans and would not have approved had he known, when he did find out, he gave notice in an honorable way and was promptly locked out by Recht.
Recht underestimated the intensity of Mario's view.

The guys doing the work at Medici were at the time all former Masi Carlsbad workers. So, the product was on a par with what Masi had been making, less Mario's oversight. The lion's share of the work fell on Mike Howard. Simonetti did ancillary tasks and did more later on. When Medici started, Simonetti had not yet wielded a torch or paint gun for production.