CSUN Fast Pitch New Venture Competition

12pm - 1pm

How to Build Schedule Blocks

C. Doe

Good Company Venture | Founder & CEO

Mrs Robinson

Mike Zoppo is a host of exceptional ability. Studies show that a vast majority of guests attending events by Mike have been known to leave more elated than visitors to Santa's Workshop, The Lost of Continent of Atlantis, and the Fountain of Youth.

Congratulations to our student teams!


STUDENT PRIZES


GRAND PRIZE ($2,000)

Listabid

Kamyar Sepanlou

Listabid is the first platform that empowers home sellers to save tens of thousands of dollars and find the best realtor for their home — by having agents compete.

 

2ND PLACE ($1,000) + AUDIENCE CHOICE ($500)

Olga's Salsa

Jatziri Lopez & Olga Ahumada 

Olga's Salsa is developing handcrafted salsas to help people bring authentic Mexican flavor to their meals with fresh ingredients and family recipes passed down from our taco stand.


3RD PLACE ($500)

Les Chouchous

Aaliyah Troupe

Les Chouchous is a beauty brand developing a refillable LED-lit lip compact that helps women keep their lip products organized and accessible, bringing elegance, inclusivity, and sustainability to everyday beauty.

 

HONORABLE MENTION

NERI

Carlos Marin

NERI’s innovative approach enables landfills to evolve into bio-based processing hubs, where organic waste is transformed through biological agents into regenerative materials supporting both economic and ecological goals.

 

Cerebral Atlas

Luis Olmos

Cerebral Atlas provides adaptive AI infrastructure for enterprises, delivering self-learning systems that cut retraining costs and keep intelligence current through a scalable platform that helps businesses evolve their AI as fast as their data.


Special guest from Granada Hills Charter High School:

ConnectAI

Alyssa Chen

ConnectAI is an AI-powered social enhancement platform that helps individuals become stronger communicators in professional settings and social interactions.



Additional Information:


WHAT IS FAST PITCH?

CSUN Fast Pitch is an "elevator pitch" competition where 5 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 3-5 minute Q&A period from our distinguished panel of judges.


CSUN Fast Pitch is meant to be prelude, or training ground, for teams to prepare for the Jeff Marine Bull Ring Competition in the Spring semester and is a great way to "pressure-test" your idea in a realistic, yet low-risk, environment. The virtual format is intended to simulate what an entrepreneur would likely face in today's venture environment, where Zoom interactions often precede in-person meetings.


WHY ENTER FAST PITCH?
Fast Pitch is a great way to hone your idea, receive feedback and advice, expand your team, and/or prepare for the Jeff Marine Bull Ring Competition in Spring 2026!


MORE INFO / QUESTIONS
Please see below for the full competition schedule, rules, and eligibility. If you have additional questions, please contact Ryan Holbrook, Entrepreneurship Program Director at the Nazarian College.

DISTINGUISHED JUDGES

PRESIDENT/FOUNDER | PINNACLE PRODUCT INNOVATION

ERIC P. ROSE

Eric has 35+ years of professional experience in new product development and commercialization with companies ranging from startups through Fortune 500 firms. His expertise spans key areas including market research, manufacturing sourcing, R&D project management, and IP commercialization. Eric has worked in the consumer, medical, and industrial product markets with companies including Baxter Healthcare and Mattel. 

DIRECTOR | SBDC AT COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS

CATHERINE GROOMS

As Executive Director, Catherine Grooms leads and manages the SBDC hosted by College of the Canyons, a team of 29 including 21 Professional Business Advisors providing services to entrepreneurs and business owners in the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley and Metro Los Angeles.  Working with thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs, and her broad financial experience prior to joining the SBDC in 2006, helps clients positively impact local economies.

FACULTY | CSUN & CSULA

FRAN GUZMAN

Fran teaches marketing research, consumer behavior, quantitative & qualitative research methods, marketing strategy, and intro to business at CSULA and CSUN. He has extensive expertise in CPG marketing, with past experience including product development and innovation, customer insights, brand management, and sales strategy at The Kraft Heinz Company, SONIC Drive-In, and Dr Pepper Snapple Group.  

Application Instructions

Applications were due Sunday, October 26th, 2025.

Required application materials:

1) A 10-15 page slide deck (PDF preferred) or 2-3 page executive summary, AND

2) A video not to exceed 1 minute (submitted via YouTube or equivalent).

 

Rules & Eligibility

1) The competition is open to ALL current CSUN students.

2) The competition is intended for student-created, -managed, and -owned ventures.

3) Solo entrants are eligible.

4) At least 50% of team members must be current CSUN students as of the 2025-2026 academic year (Spring 2025 graduates eligible). The "pitch" must be delivered by a CSUN student.

5) Businesses currently earning >$15K in annual revenue are not eligible.

6) Businesses that have already raised >$50K in investment funding from outside sources are not eligible.

7) Both for-profit and non-profit business concepts are eligible; however, sources of revenue must be addressed.

8) An individual may only be a member of one team.

9) 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners from past Fast Pitch/Bull Ring Competitions are not eligible.