JOIN CSUN'S STARTUP COMMUNITY AND SUPPORT OUR STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS AS THEY COMPETE FOR $4,000 IN PRIZE MONEY!
4th Annual CSUN Fast Pitch New Venture Competition
THIS THURSDAY, November 15th 3-6pm
Oviatt Library - Ferman Presentation Room
Free to attend & open to the community
Hosted by CSUN's David Nazarian College of Business and Economics, CSUN Fast Pitch is an "elevator pitch" competition where 8 teams of CSUN students, selected as finalists from a competitive field, will have three minutes & three slides to pitch their new venture idea to a panel of judges and audience. Each of the student presentations will be followed by a 3-5 minute Q&A period from our distinguished panel of judges.
Fast Pitch winners will receive:
Grand Prize: $2,000
2nd Place: $1,000
3rd Place: $500
Audience Choice: $500
Cleveland is the founder and CEO of Payscout, a full-service global payment processing provider covering six continents. Under his leadership, Payscout was recognized as one of America’s fastest-growing privately-held companies in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. Cleveland is also an Executive Producer at Film Antics and has six short films and a feature film in his portfolio.
Laura is a strategic advisor, external CFO, and coach to startups, middle market growing companies, and executives. She has worked with startups across various industries, from travel, fashion, and lifestyle to renewable energy and technology. Laura also teaches corporate finance and strategy at CLU and serves on the board for several non-profits.
Daniel helps companies turn ideas into products for new and existing product lines, and grow revenue through engaging customer experiences, strategic partnerships and channels. His professional experience includes advising for the Disney Accelerator and Startup Next LA at Techstars and running the startup incubator at Hub101 in Westlake Village.
Allen is a seasoned technology sales and marketing executive, having worked with some of the largest brands in the world (Target, Dollar Shave Club, Honest Co.) on e-commerce customer acquisition and retention. Allen is an active e-commerce entrepreneur and also works with Retention Science (ReSci), which is consistently ranked as one of the "Most Innovative Companies in LA."
Kymber is currently on the board of advisors to Digital Hollywood's Immersive Media and Entertainment Division and Tiny Content, a social VR platform, as well as a consultant for Netflix International Originals. She is previously a co-founder, an Emmy award-winning visual effects producer, executive, development executive, and content producer.
SMART PROSTHETICS | Brandon Cervantes, Hamdi Ahmed, Kevin Vartanian, & David Pucio (Mechanical Engineering)
Smart Prosthetics is utilizing smart materials to design a prosthetic arm to assist below the elbow amputees, who qualify for low-cost health insurance, perform everyday tasks.
QUADLETS | Julian Thomas (Marketing), Carolina Aldana (Information Systems), & Thomas Charlton (Computer Science)
Quadlets is an auction marketplace for services that allows freelancers to bid on consumer work requests within 24 hours or less.
MUSEROOM | Donald “Avi” Stewart (Music), Oscar Cortez (Business Management), & Santiago Torres (Kinesiology)
Museroom is a social networking platform for visual and performing artists (creatives) to connect, collaborate, and find jobs.
MATADOR SOL SAUCE | Eirenel Eclevia, Madeleine Hoeks, Rise Morisato, & Caroline Pak (Human Nutrition)
Matador Sol Sauce aims to increase awareness about high sodium intake in the US and has developed a flavorful, low sodium hot sauce.
HORIZON COVERS | Maja Slopiecka (Music Industry Admin)
Horizon Covers specializes in producing tough, high-quality, and reusable covers that keep your luggage safe from scratches, dirt, and water during travel.
FISH & FARM HI | Emmett Enriques (Marketing)
Fish & Farm HI utilizes technology to help local fishermen and farmers of Hawaii sell directly to consumers.
CLIQ | Ekene Akpati (Marketing)
Cliq is a forum-based web application that powers shared information and interactions on college campuses.
BOOKMARK | Tyler Valentine (Political Science)
Bookmark is an app that improves retention and graduation rates among college communities by helping students succeed through greater social connections.
Special guests:
PIERCE SUPPLY DROP | Josh Lipman, Taidze Banzon, Luc Sparks, Hamun Tavazoie, & Nour Abelmajid (Pierce College, Business & Economics Student Assoc.)
The Pierce Supply Drop offers conveniently packaged, affordable boxes of school supplies primarily targeted towards first year students at Pierce.
Application Process:
Applications were due on Sunday, October 28th. The application consists of: (1) a 2-3 page executive summary or 10-15 page slide deck (PDF), AND (2) a video not to exceed 1 minute (uploaded to YouTube).
Ground Rules:
1) The competition is open to ALL current CSUN students.
2) Individual students or teams may enter the competition.
3) Non-CSUN student team members are allowed, but only CSUN students can pitch.
4) The competition is intended for CSUN student-created, -managed, and -owned ventures.
5) Businesses currently earning >$15K in annual revenue are not eligible.
6) Businesses that have already raised >$50K in funding from outside sources are not eligible.
7) Both for-profit and non-profit concepts are eligible; however, the idea must address sources of revenue.
8) An individual may only be a member of one team.
9) 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners from past Fast Pitch or Bull Ring competitions are not eligible.
The Entrepreneurship Program at the Nazarian College complements our students’ inherent energy and creativity with the skills and knowledge necessary to evaluate the feasibility of an idea and ultimately pitch, launch, and grow a new venture. Whether planning to create a business or bringing the entrepreneurial mindset to a larger organization, the program prepares students to confidently present to an audience while developing a strong action-bias and a willingness to experiment.
