My last email on the length of time it is taking to review proposals generated plenty of feedback! So I thought I'd mentioned a few more things I am seeing and hearing.

During the Great Recession, SBIR saw a dramatic increase in proposals as the pool of startup capital dried up. Obviously that really slowed down the review cycles. However, right now the startup world is really awash in capital! But there does seem to be increased interested in the SBIR program, and not necessarily increased resources on the review and award side.

Remember that agencies review differently. In DoD, the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) conducts the review, bringing in any internal, and occasionally external, experts as needed. But one solicitation from a part of DoD that had not (at least to anyone's knowledge) previously put out a solicitation, received over 150 responses to a software topic - and their intent was to award two phase 1 proposals. As you can imagine, they were VERY FAR behind in their review timeline!

I do know that NSF is still receiving roughly the same number of actual proposals for review that they had before the change to the "invitation" system. However, they are receiving roughly three times as many pitches as they are getting proposals.... And the number of Program Directors has not expanded that dramatically. So frankly, at NSF they have their hands very full! NSF has also aggressively positioned themselves as the earliest of the SBIR programs - a pre-seed program if you will, and that does mean that they get a lot of attention! So, again, it increases the work load without necessarily a big increase in PD's.

What does that mean for you? You still need to be at the top of the heap in terms of your proposal. If we can help, check out our course, or course plus coaching, or reply to this email if you'd like more one-on-one help!