Blog
SBIR/STTR Budgets Provide the Numbers; the Budget Justification Tells the Story
As you prepare your NIH or NSF budget, you will also need to prepare a detailed budget justification. This is an important and mostly underutilized part of the proposal. Numbers on a spreadsheet are only half of the story. The reviewers need to see WHY you are...
How to Connect with Prime Contractors: An Interview with Lockheed Martin
If you are planning to or have already submitted an SBIR/STTR proposal to the Dept. of Defense you probably have a keen interest in learning how to connect with prime contractors. Primes provide small businesses with various assistance during different phases of their...
Using the DoD Topic Description to Do Your Homework
If you are interested in winning SBIR/STTR proposals from Department of Defense, you probably know the importance of talking to the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) or Topic Author during the “open period” before you write your proposal*. You will want to ask any...
Writing your NIH SBIR/STTR Specific Aims: Impact is Key!
We have found that the best first step in developing an SBIR/STTR proposal is to draft the one-page Specific Aims document. This section is the most important page in your proposal. In it you should state concisely the goals of the proposed research and summarize the...
Tips on Writing Your Commercialization Plan
Martin Zwilling, CEO of Startup Professionals, is one of my favorite bloggers on wide-ranging topics of interest to entrepreneurs and small business owners. One of his recent articles “13 Red Flags to Avoid in Your Investor Funding Pitch” contains solid advice for...
The Support Provider’s Dilemma: Is this Person Coachable?
If you’re an entrepreneur seeking to improve your chances of winning SBIR/STTR funding for your technology, ask yourself this: Are you coachable? According to author and international consultant, Timothy R. Clark, “Coachability is the willingness to be corrected and...
Who Needs SBIR/STTR Training Anyway??
One of the first things we advise our clients or prospective clients to do as they look forward to preparing a competitive SBIR/STTR proposal is to give themselves a leg up by starting off with some training. Lots of people don't think they need training before they...
Top 10 Brilliant Ideas and Stupid Mistakes: Secrets of Phase II Proposal Success
Last month, we outlined our top 10 dos and don’ts for getting your Phase I NIH proposal in shape and ready to submit before the April 5 deadline. This month we continue that theme by presenting what we have determined, over years of reviewing proposals, to be our top...
10 Dos and Don’ts for Your Phase I NIH Proposal
If you’re planning to submit for the April 5 NIH SBIR/STTR deadline, now is the time to start laying out the steps you’ll need to take to get your polished, compelling Phase I proposal submitted before the deadline. Over the years, BBCetc consultants have reviewed a...
