Welcome back to The Sunstone Way.
That was fun, wasn’t it? There’s nothing quite like a “lose and go home” tournament to ratchet up the tension and excitement. Even if you’re Duke on the men’s side or UConn on the women’s, the butterflies are real every time the basketball goes up for tipoff.
The third round of games in the quest for the NCAA title begins tonight, Thursday, March 26. It’s called the Sweet Sixteen because there are 16 teams left, out of the original 68. You can check my math, but that means 52 teams – 104 if you count both men and women – have ended their season with a loss.
By the last whistle on Sunday evening, we will be down to the Final Four. Four men’s teams and four women’s teams will have survived March Madness to play for the crown in April – April 3 and 5 for the women, April 4 and 6 for the men.
Another Type of Tournament
Different types of teams also compete in spring as part of the university entrepreneurial world. Fortunately, these competitions – we call them pitch contests – are not a one-and-done situation. Teams of business founders get the opportunity to practice pitching their ideas, business plans and more, then entire other pitch contests with refined presentations.
These days, most universities have a department, institution or emphasis on learning to be a successful entrepreneur. Here at Sunstone we support these endeavors – particularly in California – through our nonprofit donor-advised fund, the Sunstone Community Fund.
In fact, we’ve sponsored several pitch contests at a level where our name is part of the event’s name. At California State University, Long Beach, there’s the Sunstone Innovation Challenge. It’s produced by the CSULB Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute, and teams are comprised primarily of CSULB students who have gone through a year of the Apostle Enterprise Lab and/or other entrepreneurship programs (CSULB offers a minor in Entrepreneurship!).
This year’s challenge is on April 22, and the stakes are high enough to generate some significant stress – there are cash prizes for the best presentations.
Spreading Impact
Many of the CSU campuses have programs training up entrepreneurs. A network has been established, thanks to Dr. Wade Martin at CSULB, and there now is a systemwide pitch competition called the Sunstone CSU Startup Launch Competition where teams from all 23 campuses are invited to compete. Most often, those accepting the challenge have won or done well at their campus pitch contests.
Just like the NCAA Tournaments, stress rises as you get into the more elite competition. There are more prizes and more money. This year’s event will be on May 8 at the Cal State Northridge campus.
Of course, the CSU system doesn’t have a monopoly on entrepreneurial spirit. There’s an ANTrepreneur Center on the University of California Irvine campus, and the Stella Zhang New Venture Competition is named after and supported by one of our founding partners, Stella Zhang. The Grand Finale will be on May 21.
Government planners get in the act at the Sunstone Economic Development Challenge @ USC Price. That event has teams of graduate business students work with professionals at several municipalities to come up with new economic development approaches. That Final Pitch competition is on April 23 on the USC campus.
It Takes Work
Those college basketball teams in the Sweet 16 didn’t get there by hoping. It took hard work on the practice floor and during the regular season. The NCAA determines who will play in the tournament based on how the teams played during the regular season and in their league tournaments. It took wins there to have a chance to win here.
Much the same is true in the business world. It takes practice and wins for a founder to get a new business off the ground. Participating in these university pitch competitions is practice for pitches in the real world to potential investors and partners.
Sunstone doesn’t stop helping founders at the university level. We continue to help after graduation with support for accelerators including the Long Beach Accelerator. We promote pitch events and meetings through the Sunstone Venture & Innovation Center.
We work to create championship-caliber teams and work to make it to the championship game. Because that’s the Sunstone Way.
And remember, always be a Sunstone!
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
Sunstone
To receive a copy of this blog each week, sign up at the link.
And check out the P3 Builder newsletter here.
Have a comment about this topic, or want to suggest topics for future blogs? Click here.
Sunstone Investment Group, headquartered in Southern California, is the holding company for the Sunstone family of entities, including: Sunstone Investment Management Services, responsible for administrative services; Sunstone Advisors, an SEC-registered investment adviser, which oversees Sunstone Venture Partners LLC, a private capital fund manager; Sunstone Cities, a government economic development consulting firm; and Sunstone Community Fund, a charitable organization that supports entrepreneurship. Sunstone is dedicated to enriching lives through investment, entrepreneurship, and community. Email us at contact@sunstoneinvestment.com.
©Sunstone, 2026