In this busy, connected world, there's a story of success that will inspire you which began in Lander, Wyoming. It's the story of Jason Kintzler, Founder and CEO of Pitch Engine and his story is in a slim book called "The New American Startup. "
Jason Kintzler was most recently an exhibitor at NMXlive, formerly known as BlogWorld and New Media Expo, this year's event was hosted at the RIO Hotel and Casino. At NMXLive, Jason shared insights into his book "The New American Startup" and demonstrated his website PitchEngine.com. The site was beautiful and got your attention. You wanted to know how he figured this out and brought this to the marketplace.
What we learn from Jason is that he grew up in rural America in Lander,Wyoming and he attributes this upbringing to helping him develop values of independence combined with a strong work ethic.
Jason shares with the world," I believe that each of us is the best person to tell our own story. I believe that with a little technology and direction, people can rally their supporters through their own networks, grow their businesses, and tell their own stories better and more simply."
The pathway to success wasn't instant or cheap. In fact, In 2009 Jason was a Finalist for the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator, a startup competition, which was the reason he attended South by Southwest(SXSW) in Austin, TX.
At South by Southwest, Jason connected with Fabian Labera, now COO of PitchEngine.
Jason knew how to create digital content and had extensive experience in journalism and public relations. He wanted to creat a tool that would make press releases more effective and more attractive by combining words and photos into one press release. He knew that it would also make work easier for those who were using them.
Solve a problem: PitchEngine does. To create a more complete and attractive press release that gets people's attention and doesn't require extra steps to resend pictures to people. A tool that allows someone to do the job right the first time. It offers efficiency.
Jason came up with a tool that combines the ability to place words and pictures in press releases and thereby making them visual and more attractive when he created "PitchEngine.com, but to bring it to the marketplace required development of the right website. That would require more capital.
The launch of a website with technological tools was not easy or cheap and for Jason, a little luck came his way in Las Vegas. Jason truly believes that it was all "meant to be" that he would develop and launch PitchEngine.com.
In need of quite a few thousands to develop his site, about $16,000 was the quote he had to accomplish this, Jason wasn't sure what to do since he just didn't have that amount of capital available to hand to someone to do the job.
Jason was in Vegas planning to attend an event and was staying over at one of the casino hotels the night before. He decided to take a chance and have some fun with $20 in a slot machine called "Deal or No Deal" -yes it was licensed as a game from the popular tv show "Deal or No Deal" and what happened for Jason in that game was a bonus worth $3600. It was the deal that gave him some cash down on his dream website and the rest is his success story.
There are certain business practices that Jason lives by and they include being authentic and he says," I go to bed every night knowing that I'm doing right by people that truly believe in, and support, what I do."
PitchEngine has been transforming the public relations industry and is now used by more than 45,000 businesses worldwide including companies like Pepsico, Walmart, and Budweiser.
Two years after the launch of PitchEngine, Jason was offered and turned down a $9 million dollar acquisition deal. What we learned from Jason is that he is proud to be an entrepreneur and employer in his small town in Wyoming .
He's a dad and knows things are different when people are depending on you and counting on you for their livelihood with PitchEngine. He is proud to be part of growing a business and an American Statup success story. He's not ready to sellout. In fact, you'll be hearing more about his business growth and ventures will are adding more employment in Wyoming soon. http://www.PitchEngine.com
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