These questions are somewhat intertwined, and obviously we offer a lot of deep insights in our new workshop (details below). But here's a quick summary.
First, for both the SBIR and STTR programs, the small business is the contract/grant awardee. An SBIR awardee "may" have one or more sub-contractors, within certain budget limits, but does not have to. However, an STTR awardee MUST have a subawardee which is generally a university or research lab, again within certain budget limits. And certain agencies strongly prefer that you have a lab partner.
Second, agencies have wildly differing budgets. At the low end, an SBIR-only budget of less than $10 million. At the high-end - over $1 billion for both SBIR and STTR programs.
And of course, these issues, and many more, influence which agencies you should apply to. To have a successful SBIR/STTR strategy, you need to align your business and technology strategy with the interests, mission and topics, of the agency, but you also have to take into account those budget issues. The overall budget influences the "per award" budget, and some agencies have tiny awards with lots of requirements for sub-awards to professors!
Developing a successful SBIR or STTR proposal generally takes 150-200 hours of the most talented members of your team. Before you make that investment, get my inside help to develop a strategy that can make SBIR/STTR work for you and move your business forward!
Remember, don't do this alone, get the help you need for less than the price of a plane ticket! Check out our new workshop
Here's to Entrepreneurship!
Nicole and the VentureWrench Team
