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, have three minutes & three slides to pitch their new venture idea to a panel of judges and audience. Each of the student presentations is followed by a 5-7 minute Q&A period from our distinguished panel of judges.
1ST PLACE ($2,000)
HORIZON COVERS | Maja Slopiecka
Horizon Covers specializes in producing tough, high-quality, and reusable covers that keep your luggage safe from scratches, dirt, and water during travel.
2ND PLACE ($1,000) + AUDIENCE CHOICE ($500)
MATADOR SOL SAUCE | Eirenel Eclevia, Madeleine Hoeks, Rise Morisato, & Caroline Pak
Matador Sol Sauce aims to increase awareness about high sodium intake in the US and has developed a flavorful, low sodium hot sauce.
3RD PLACE ($500)
BOOKMARK | Tyler Valentine
Bookmark is an app that improves retention and graduation rates among college communities by helping students succeed through greater social connections.
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.
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.
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."
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.
