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15SecondPitch helps people explain who they are and what they do in just 15Seconds. You can also share your pitch with over 3,600 people at 15SecondPitch.com. Since co-founding 15SecondPitch.com in 2002 Laura Allen has been written about in Adweek, The Financial Times, Crain’s New York Business, and The Wall Street Journal. Laura has been a guest speaker at “Networking Nights”, Co-Sponsored by The New York Times and Starbucks; The M.I.T. Women’s Alumni Group; Pace University; and New York Women in Communications.

What has been the biggest challenge in launching 15secondPitch? What has been the greatest reward?

The biggest challenge with 15SecondPitch—as with many small businesses– has been the unpredictable cashflow. There are moments when you can’t believe how well you are doing and there are moments when the phone is not ringing and you don’t know what you are going to do next.

The greatest reward is getting to work with so many amazing people!! I work with best selling authors, film directors, lawyers, entrepreneurs financial planners, real estate agents, job seekers, technology consultants, actors, web designers, small business owners, career changers, recent college grads. It is great to help them go from creating a great 15SecondPitch to getting a better job, launching a business or attracting more clients. I help them with their pitch and then we create a simple action strategy to get them the results they want.

The concept behind 15SecondPitch is rather unique, have you found the space to be competitive or is 15SecondPitch on the cutting edge of your space?

15SecondPitch was the first website to launch with this concept. We launched in November of 2002. People told me I was crazy. That the 15SecondPitch was too narrow—it was too niche!! Now, all you hear about is that you need to find a narrow niche in the marketplace and focus on it! There are some other websites out there, however, I don’t think any of them provide private pitch coaching like we do.

Being based out of New York, what have been the challenges you have faced in recruiting and maintaining great talent?

My partner Jim, (who co-founded 15SecondPitch with me) and I were here in NYC on 9/11. We witnessed first hand the economic and emotional trauma of that day. Everyone we knew was out of work. It was a very dark time. Jim is a technology expert by trade and doesn’t love to go to networking events. At that time it was really critical to go to networking events and meet new people to get work. We found that a lot of the tech people we knew were amazingly smart, interesting compassionate people, however, they could not explain to a non-techie exactly what they did for a living. And many times, it was going to be a non-techie who was going to pass your name along to the hiring manager. At the same time, a lot of my friends and collegeues were calling me and asking me if I knew of ANY jobs. I started to get very worried for my friends and for myself and Jim!! Because I had worked at an ad agency, I knew the power of branding and marketing. Jim and I started to ask ourselves, “How can we help our friends market themselves more effectively?” Oh, and also, no one had any money at this time, so we needed to find a way for them to market themselves on the cheap. After attending a networking event in L.A. we started brainstorming the idea of creating a “personal” pitch where you could easily explain what you do for a living. We also knew it had to be short, because people have a short attention span these days, so we came up with the idea of having a 15SecondPitch.

We do not currently have any staff. Jim wrote all of the code for the 15SecondPitch website and created the design for it. I’ve done all of the sales and marketing and have gotten every p.r. placement myself.

BONUS: What has been your favorite 15SecondPitch?

It is very difficult to choose one favorite 15SecondPitch. We currently have over 3,600 pitches on the site and we read every one of them. There is one pitch that always stands out in my mind though, because it is so unusual. Talk about having a niche!!

My name is Jamie Tanabe and I am a commercial Pilot, specializing in scattering cremated remains by airplane. I scatter cremated remains by airplane over land or sea. Families can participate in the scattering by watching it from the ground or joining us in the plane. They do the scattering themselves with our patent-pending device. Please contact us for a demonstration flight for you and your staff.

Copyright © 2007 by Will Kern