Brand Up

Bob DeCecco faced a daunting situation in early 2010 when he met with some New York hedge fund executives. DeCecco was there to ask for a $25 million investment in what was then a floundering Clearwater-based consumer products firm the fund had backed. It was an audacious request considering the firm, then called OmniReliant Holdings, had just ripped through more than $50 million of the fund's cash in three years with nary a profit.

A semi-retired financial services and technology executive in Sarasota, DeCecco essentially made a last-ditch effort to save OmniReliant. DeCecco, 43, had only run the company for two months, but he was confident he knew both what was wrong and how he could make it right.

The pitch worked. Sort of.