Apostle Incubator: CSULB Community

Jan 28: Financial Analysis 
The art of cash flow projections and leveling up your financial game. 

Feb 4: Secondary research 
This is like doing homework before launching your business—it helps you make informed decisions and reduces risks. By leveraging existing data, you can better understand who your customers are, how to reach them, and whether your idea has the potential to succeed. Come learn from our rock star research librarian, Nicollette Brant. Student will learn how to calculate marketing potential (TAM, SAM, SOM).

Feb 11: Customer discovery & Customer engagement  
Customer discovery prevents you from building a product nobody wants. It ensures you solve real problems, saving time, money, and effort. It’s the foundation for creating a product-market fit, where your solution matches what customers are actively looking for. Build a product that truly resonates with your target market(s). Customer engagement is about creating positive, ongoing interactions that keep your customers interested and invested in your brand!

Feb 18: Customer Acquisition 
The process of attracting and converting potential customers into paying customers. It involves strategies and actions to grow your customer base while keeping acquisition costs manageable. The goal is to bring in new customers who will engage with and benefit from your product or service.

Feb 25: How to price your product 
Pricing is both an art and a science. By balancing costs, market research, customer insights, and testing, you can find a price that supports your goals while appealing to your target audience.

March 4: Business Plan Workshop
Workshopping your Business Plan – we will have four experts that will work with teams on their business plans. Goal is to make sure that everyone is ready to (1) compete in the Sunstone Innovation Challenge or (2) start their own small business.

March 11: Sales Modeling
Getting your first customer is all about hustle and strategy -Leverage your network, clearly communicate how you fix their problem, get early adopters and testimonials, share content, case studies, and engage online, personalized cold outreach, be where your customers are, form strategic partnerships, test small ads, follow up relentlessly, deliver an amazing experience – Happy customers bring more customers! 

Bonus: Get paid ASAP—your first sale validates your idea! 🚀

March 18: Protect your IP 
Protecting your IP ensures your hard work and creativity remain yours. By combining legal safeguards, strategic documentation, and vigilance, you can secure your competitive advantage in the market. Learn directly from an IP attorney how to secure the legal rights to your ideas, inventions, and/or brand name and logo to prevent unauthorized use or copying.

March 25: Storytelling 
Storytelling techniques transform your pitch from a dry presentation into a compelling narrative that captures attention, builds an emotional connection, and makes your concept memorable. Instead of just presenting facts, you craft a journey—starting with a relatable problem, introducing your solution as the hero, and ending with a vision of success. A great pitch story makes investors and customers see the impact, not just the idea.

April 8: Creativity and Business

April 15: Corporate entrepreneurship 
This refers to the process of fostering entrepreneurial thinking, innovation, and new venture creation within an established organization. It involves applying the principles of entrepreneurship—like creativity, risk-taking, and agility—to drive growth, create new products or services, or improve existing processes within a corporate structure. It helps organizations remain dynamic and forward-thinking, even as they grow larger and more complex. By embracing entrepreneurial principles within a corporate structure, companies can unlock untapped potential, stay competitive in evolving markets, and ensure long-term success.

April 22: Sunstone Innovation Challenge Finale 
April 22, 2025 | 4pm at the Pointe in the Walter Pyramid

April 29: Experiential Exercise 

May 6: Pitch Your Business 
This is an opportunity for any team to pitch their business idea and practice selling themselves and their idea! 

*subject to change