The Bull Ring New Venture Competition serves as a launchpad for new business ideas from CSUN students across campus. The event is hosted by CSUN's David Nazarian College of Business & Economics and has been made possible thanks to the generosity and support of distinguished CSUN alum Jeff Marine and his family.
The 6th Annual Bull Ring (Virtual Edition) concluded on April 27th, 2021. Congrats to our prize winners! Please see below for more info. 
Grand Prize | $5,000
Synergy Active Aero
Jeffrey Astorga & George Aquino
Synergy Active Aero will provide amateur racers around the world with a competitive edge via our pro-motorsport-quality, sustainably manufactured active rear wings.
2nd Place - tie | $2,000
NAPKN
Aaron Black & Santiago Martin
NAPKN is a web app for independent content creators that provides a user-friendly interface to navigate the complicated world of music publishing.
2nd Place - tie | $2,000
Búme
Leonel Hernandez, Marylin Castellon, Carlo Lupercio, Gyoung Hwa, Vidas Sileikis, & Nikolay Terentyev
Búme is an interactive mobile app that empowers street vendors by offering community resources and connecting them with customers in real-time.
Audience Choice | $1,000
Dr. Nugget Games
Caroline Hartley & Christopher Meredith
Doctor Nugget Games is a board game company creating “Corgi Butt,” a fun, simple, replayable card game for board game enthusiasts, families, and young adults.
Special Guests from Granada Hills Charter High School
Project Envo is a non-profit that envisions a world in which inhabitants understand the power of their contribution to their community, and when combined with others driven by the same cause, can educate generations on climate change.
Gail Becker is the founder and CEO of CAULIPOWER, which uses the power of veggies to make healthier, easier versions of the food you crave, that actually taste like the food you crave. Launched only 4 years ago, CAULIPOWER’s products are now available in over 25,000 stores and 5,000 restaurants nationwide.
Rick Friedman is the CEO and Founder of NovusGC, a boutique law firm which provides business-oriented General Counsel services to startups, innovators and early-stage investors. Rick’s expertise spans venture financing, licensing, commercial transactions and general corporate matters.
Jang Lee ‘97 is Partner at Upround Partners, a finance consulting firm that assists early stage companies in growing their business. Prior to Upround Partners, he led finance for many venture-backed startups in Southern California including Shoedazzle, TheBlackTux, Hollar and Joymode.
Lydia Shayne is the founder and creative force behind DeLuscious Cookies & Milk, which has grown to become a destination bakery in Los Angeles. Her curiosity, creativity and willingness to experiment with unusual, high-quality ingredients are what give DeLuscious Cookies their unmatched flavors and textures.
We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to our 2021 Bull Ring mentors, each of whom took one of our 20 semi-finalist teams under their wing for a 6-week period as part of the competition. The mentors volunteered their time to provide direct, 1-to-1 feedback and advice virtually, drawing on their success and experience in the startup space.
Alex Honadel
Andy Mysza
Anngel Benoun
Avetis Antaplyan
Bandhana Katoch
Brian Frankel
Charles Yacoobian
Danny Stein
Emily Serebryany
Gerald Anderson
Jay Scott
John Ko
Lewis D'Vorkin
Marty Stark
Michael Letson
Nishit Rathod
Sylvia Martini
Tom Regev
Tora Brown
Victor Benoun
Applications were due Sunday, March 7th, 2021 and required:
(1) a 10-25 page slide deck *or*
5-7 page executive summary, AND
(2) a video not to exceed 2 minutes.
1) The competition is open to ALL current CSUN students.
2) The competition is intended for student-created, -managed, and -owned ventures.
3) Teams must be comprised of at least 2 members.
4) At least 50% of team members must be current CSUN students as of the 2020-2021 academic year (Fall 2020 graduates eligible). The "pitch" must be delivered by a CSUN student.
5) Businesses currently earning >$15K in annual revenue are not eligible.
6) Business that have already raised >$50K in 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 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.
