The Story of GetUrecruited | Start-up company producing highlight videos for college

"Luck?  I don't believe in Luck...Luck is when opportunity meets preparation"
-Ted Georgalas, Coach of Coaches.


Mahopac News asked to do a story on GetUrecruited some time back...here's the unabridged version of the interview with Michael Bucci, GetUrecruited's Founder and National Director.


Q:  How did you get the idea to start GetURecruited?  What was the process of getting the business up and running?

A:  The idea of GetUrecruited hit me after reading a book by Dan Kennedy, one of my marketing gurus.  I wanted to build a business that had a national audience...meaning I could help a customers living anywhere in the US...and be niche focused.  Also, I really wanted the benefits to far exceed the investment.  I wanted something that was a "no-brainer".

After literally hours of drafting ideas for a business model, I thought of combining the very things I loved the most:  Sports, Marketing, Video and Web.  It hit me, Highlight Videos.  A product.  That's how it all started.  I have to give major credit to a Graphic Design company, TC Graphics for establishing my company's name and brand.  They also helps foster a belief in my company...thanks again guys.   I quickly worked to build a website with them, design cards and create a "Complicated Business Plan", ready?

Help lots of kids.  

I just said, don't over complicate it.  Sell families themselves.  Where I live there isn't a big push for college sports as I see it and I wanted to change the belief level of kids and their parents, empower them to "Chase the Dream".

Q:  I know you attended Mahopac High School.  How did the school prepare you for starting this business? 

A:  Mahopac School did not prepare me at all for starting a business...they showed me one path, go to college, get good grades, get a job.  We never had what these kids have now, and I think it's a shame that most schools have that agenda, which is why I'm regularly invited to visit MHS school to showcase alternative paths.... talk about "Rich Dad's 4 quadrants" in entrepreneurial classes.  It's really my own College Loans that convinced me to follow my dream of helping kids get Financial Aid and Scholarships.

Fact: My wife and I pay well over $400/month for college loans...over 30 years, that's a TON of money and interest.  Victor DiFusco alone will be saved over $500,000...in real money, he would have paid, over the life of loans....because of things we've helped him accomplish.


Q:  Why did you decide to place your business in Mahopac?  How has the town supported you...and how do you think your business supports the town?

I decided to place our business in Mahopac because it's a 5 minute drive from my home...just kidding, it's because that's where a GREAT friend of mine, Domenic Zecca--owner of Alesca Video Productions--- decided to build the ultimate studio for production.  Together, we can help ANY family in the recruiting process by capturing or coordinating videography & photography at our studio, located at 606 Route 6, Mahopac NY 10541.

GetUrecruited has helped kids in 6 states now, but like most businesses started local:  We've helped local kids save close to $750,000 in college costs in less than 2 years.  Fact.  And we are just getting started in terms of establishing our strategic alliances.  The market is quickly, I hope, realizing the difference between just hiring a videographer...and doing it alone, or hiring a team of professionals to help.

We, unfortunately, have zero competition, as we have created our own blue ocean...only one company is as committed as us...and guess what, they've asked us to become their highlight video production company.

Q:  Were you involved in athletics in high school?  Were you recruited at colleges?  What was the process like for you?

A:  I played every sport in high school...football, basketball, lacrosse, cross country...played tennis, tried out for wrestling...everything.  Modestly, I eventually "Captained" most every team I played for because I always wanted to be the best, and bring out the best in people.  It's one of my core values.  Unfortunately, I was not recruited to play anything in college.  I was either too short, too small, too slow or too unexperienced for recruitment...so sports weren't a focus.  I was a 90 gpa college bound quasi-geek/jock.

Plus, NOBODY ever encouraged me to do so.  My family is a hard working "Go to school, get good grades, get a job" family...and there's nothing wrong with that...it's just that they themselves  are entreprenuers...and they were pushing me towards becoming a "marketable piece of the state's economy".


My recruiting process was quick:  I went to tryouts, as a freshman, and made the team at SUNY Albany as a walk-on.  I tried to play harder than anybody on the team to try to impress coaches and win a spot.  I did, & I made the team.  But...big but, there were no scholarships, no recruiting night, or official visits, no fancy signing day...just a jersey.  I was happy with that.

Fast forward a few months and I found out that there was a spot on the Pace Lacrosse team for me...due to my reputation of hard work.  Trust me, it wasn't stats.  I found out that I'd receive a nice financial package to transfer.  I was closer to home, a business school...golden opportunity.  I transferred, played lacrosse for a few years...and saved well over $50,000 because of it.

Q:  How does your business make it different for athletes today?

Great question!  You should probably ask others about this, because I grew up in the dvd generation...but what I hear is:  Local resident Ronny Jedlicka used to literally have to tape together  VHS video "clips" to make highlight videos for people...and it was INCREDIBLY tough to do, so, nobody did it.  So, and here's the point, unless you were on a team that was incredibly good...or you were incredibly good...nobody was coming to watch you play to see if you were "recruitable".   So, unless a coach went out of their way to promote you to somebody, putting their name on the line, you'd have no chance...Think of the scene when Rudy Ruettiger walks into the coaches office at Notre Dame and says "I really want to play for you".  That's what you had to do.

TODAY, GetUrecruited can take footage from 10 dvds, edit it down a 3-5 minute Highlight Video, add a nice introduction, add visual cues to help coaches find you and great music, put in a conclusion...upload it to our GetUrecruited.com website...and then email it to 100 coaches and recruiters, for free, in 15 seconds.  You are able to do SO MUCH more to promote yourself right now, that I thought if I could just empower people to take that action, WE could help a lot of people.


Q:  What's your favorite part of owning your own business?  What's the hardest part?
The hardest part of my business should come first.  The simple answer is:  Not being given the chance to help every family you know you can.  There are so many nuances that are essential, that I've found...just by asking coaches.  Simple things...that I just can't share here, make the difference...

Parents, AD's, Coaches...and players all have different beliefs and values which affect their ability to decide to call us.  I mean, even the best doctors can't get their patients to listen sometimes. 

Also, when a team says they're going to go with a cheaper alternative...or when they don't take the time to fully understand what we do and choose a competitor for short sighted reasons.
This is a new service, and people DON'T know the value yet, or the opportunity cost of choosing an inferior company with less experience.
I mean, it crushed me when a team from out of state decided to go with a cheaper team to help them with their recruiting, and when I finally SAW just the video portion, it just proves the old adage correct:  "you pay for what you get."  I didn't care about the business, it's about value and communicating that value.  I need to get better as a leader...and as a communicator of our company's vision.



Q:  Back to the question though...what was the best part?

A:  There are actually 2 best parts of creating GetUrecruited.  Number one is the absolute joy I get out of the sheer value we create.  It makes me feel great to grasp the fact that the families that received close to $750,000 in aid, paid less than 1% of it to GetUrecruited. 

I mean, if you could buy a fireplace for $100 and it saved you $10,000 in energy in 4 years...You'd buy 8, am I right or am I right?  That's a good example, in terms you can understand, for what we've been doing for families.

I know that most people would be skeptical at first...but, the jury is in...we stand by our product---and we deliver scholarships.  Period.  Number 2 is the team we've put together.  They are simply some of the most special people I've ever met.

Domenic Zecca, Director of Videography, is a true friend, and incredibly smart business man, helping so many families in their times of need.  Dom and I spent hours together, establishing ideas on how to best help families in need...when the company was in a fledgling state.

Then there's  Nikki Gallagher the Director of Marketing & Sales at the Putnam Examiner and a Writer/Photographer for Mahopac News and The Putnam Examiner.  She has helped SO many people learn about what we do...completely volunteered her time for over a year to help get us out there...and her incredible husband Ray Gallagher who is a Four-time New York Press Association Sportswriter of the Year winner, 17-time NYPA Sports Section of the Year winner,  20-time NYPA Photography Award winner and more!  Besides GetUrecruited he's a Sportswriter/Photographer The Examiner, Mahopac News, Bedford Record, The Rivertowns Enterprise, Katonah-Lewisboro Ledger, (Formerly) North County News, and the Putnam County News & Recorder.  He knows everyone, and everyone knows him.  Lets put it this way, before a kid even knows he or she is good...Ray knows them.

Then there's Matt Tauber and Brian Sutton from L.I.F.T.  They are, without question, becoming huge parts of our team creating GetUrecruited Athletic Development programs and co-creating "GetU Combines", a special event to be held next summer (2012) for athletes.    L.I.F.T.'s presence allows our GetU recruits to have special access to state of the art training methods that have been utilized by professional football players (Ray Rice - Bmore ravens; Courtney Greene - Jville jags), Pro Basketball players (CJ Miles - Utah Jazz ; Smush Parker - 8 diff NBA teams), Pro Golfers like Michael Quagliano, and more.  . 

Q:  Who are your desired clientele? Do you tend to cater to the student or the parent?

A:  That changes every month to me.  At first, I tried to make it the Athletic Directors...thinking it would funnel down to the kid, who'd bug mom and dad...and boom, we're in.  That doesn't always work, because most AD's are very busy.  Then we focused on Booster Clubs...but, Booster Clubs by definition are in existence to raise and keep money...not to focus on "quality".  Then, we focused on parents and kids...and what we found is that, if you put out a great product...back it up with results and a strong vision...the 20% will find you.


We have the resources to find motivated kids now.  Without giving any trade secrets away...that's what we focus on, highly motivated people.

They can be good, great, or incredible.  We'll help you, as long as you are 100% committed.  We don't try to sell anything.  If you want us, we want you.  We're ready.  If you want to get recruited, you choose us...if you want to wing it, you may choose someone else.

Q:  What are your biggest success stories for the business?
A:  They're all the biggest.  Every one of them. If I had to pick I'd have to say that the biggest success story however, just due to sheer numbers and storyline, is Victor DiFusco.  I mean, their family lost their dad about 6 years ago and their mother, Elisa, would have to put a total of 4 kids into college...2 after Victor.  Only Elisa DiFusco can make one to comprehend the appreciation their family has. I will say that if it weren't Victor working his tail off to become the best he could be, our Highlight Video and website, Ray's articles, Dom's videography and Chris' relentless pursuit of something better and better for Victor---and Elisa's love for her son...it wouldn't have happened.  Just ask them.

I, personally, don't take credit for his success, but I do take credit for creating a company...that had a vision, that people have bought into: Chasing the dream.  They got it...to the tune of over $300,000.  Real money.  Perfect ending.


Q:  Tell me a little bit about the services you offer, and the process from the student's point-of-view.

A:  Most students have no idea what to do, so, their parents (unless they have older kids that went through it) also have no idea what to do, and their coaches...also have limited resources to help them.  I mean, on a national level, how many coaches can afford to spend hours and hours emailing and calling coaches to help a kid on their team.  Add the other 30 kids, and their parents. 

There are many ways to promote and improve yourself athletically, and we help with every one of them.  We can make a video from scratch, from your own videos...or simply host a video you've already had made from someone else...right on our dynamic website, instantly providing you access to our network of coaches. 

With our ability to produce a highlight video, we can help any family in the country obtain their footage, and edit it down into an athletic highlight video for college.

No coach wants to sift through 6 dvds to evaluate you...then we can produce DVD's and a website to distribute those highlight videos for you...on GetUrecruited.com.

Lastly, we can now offer outstanding athletic development from L.I.F.T. for a bargain.  I mean, you're getting the guy that trains NFL standouts Ray Rice and Courtney Greene, NBA star CJ Miles and more!


Q:  Is there anything else about the business or your history that you think is important to mention?

A:  Our 24 month goal is to become the "highlight video production company" for another major market player.   We are building a team that is capable of producing over 5,000 athletic recruiting videos a year...and we'll need to, with some of the alliances we've built.  Currently, we work with LaxLessons, a fantastic Lacrosse Blog and athletic profile company as their highlight video producer for NY...PrimeTime Lacrosse in NY, Primetime lacrosse in MA...and more.

We also want to virtually train our athletes from over 200 miles away... holding them accountable to their goals and dreams with L.I.F.T.'s new technological advancements coming soon.

That's all part of the plan...to be the best, to simplify and condense the initial parts of the recruiting process....and help the most families Chase the Dream--and achieve it.

Thank you!

-Michael Bucci

Founder and National Director

GetUrecruited.com
914-879-8415