Twenty Dot Three | SBIR and Business Development
The AFWERX Open Topic SBIR 20.3 application has started on the podcast! In this episode we learn what three steps to take first in order to build a winning proposal. Listen in to hear how we're approaching the 20.3 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) cycle to make the necessary leaps in research and development our female warfighters need.
SHOW NOTES
In this episode of innovator><operator, Julie Willis and Katheryn Basso welcome Scott Hayford, the CEO of Black Hays Group, to the show.
Scott is a retired US Air Force Colonel with experience across multiple programs and agencies. He began his career in the Army and prior to his retirement, he was exposed to innovative companies through his time in various positions the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. As an Air Force officer, he served the Air Force Special Operations Command and worked on solutions to support the warfighter. This experience gave him a broad exposure to program elements and working budgetary requirements for several large Air Force programs. This has given him a different perspective on the programs out there and the opportunities for small businesses to plug in.
In the SBIR process, and in the government procurement cycle, the initial money is typically disbursed in the span of 4 to 10 months upon award That time frame is pretty quick for the government to hand out funds, but a lot of startups will say that's a long time. The challenge is in following up on opportunities and ensuring that you've positioned your solution to survive the valley of death. That’s usually where you'll hear the complaints about the lack of speed in working with the government.
Another challenge is that companies have created a great product, their user or immediate customer loves it, but how do they get it into a program of record within the Department of Defense's budget? That's where the congressional oversight comes in. Since there is only so much money, if the military wants the new capability, they either have to stop doing something, or they have to get more money from Congress to do that new thing. That's where a lot of the innovation efforts are stuck right now. They lack the ability of recognizing what they can stop doing so that they can start doing this new thing.
One way to approach this tradeoff is to see if the military has put out any other calls for your technology or capability. If they did, you need to see who was selected. It’s all public record. There's also a webpage in SBIR webpage and within that you can look to see if what you have has been looked at before by the military. Once you know what's out there and what's been done, then you're in a better position in articulating what you're bringing to the warfighter that is better, more adaptive, cheaper in cost, and maybe faster to construct.
CONTACTING THE SBIR PROGRAM MANAGER
It’s important to reach out to the contact on the specific SBIR you are looking at during the open period. That’s one method to engage with them and if they are not the right person, they will direct you to the right person that could be interested in what you are bringing. In the end, with an MOA, you're trying to find a sponsor that is willing to work with you, give you the funding, and help you develop the product.
ALTERNATIVE SBIR FUNDING
A lot of companies don't even realize that their states may actually offer money to match in their state. It’s an interesting area to research in your state’s SBIR office.
Geoff Orazem, Managing Partner at Eastern Foundry, has a great document that he released called “A Startups Guide to SBIR.” It has a lot of information on the things that many consultants have used and put them together as a compendium. You can leverage it to understand some of the other opportunities that may be out there related to your states.
MOAs AND LETTERS OF SUPPORT
But if you have a letter of support from the Army or the Marines, the letter needs to be focused on the solution that is being built. That's what they want to see. If the results are positive, then the government would be more interested in either providing additional funds or providing additional people for use cases, testing, and evaluation. The letter of support is supporting the potential of the technology, not necessarily which company is going to create that technology.
You want to reach out to the actual users, too, because they're the ones that are going to give you feedback. They're the ones that are going to articulate their needs in such a way that you can write that MOA to be more impactful.
You have to dig into the objective and description and really look through it to see if there's a there opportunity that fits with what you have. It's not necessarily just off the title that you need to look at, you might need to dig into it.
Look at your state SBIR or Small Business Administration office. North Carolina has amazing program that they constantly have web access zooms on new solutions. And even if you're not from the state, they appear so far to accept applicants from all over.
3 STEPS TO DO NOW
Research
Read through all of the SBIRs that are available, identify which ones resonate with your technology.
Network
Leverage your internal network and the tools and capabilities that exist out there. This can be through small businesses that reside within your state, and within the innovation elements across the Department of Defense.
Engagement
Make those calls and send emails to your network. Reach out to them to see if they have someone in their network that is better for you to engage with. You're not necessarily selling anything. You’re asking for information. You're asking for knowledge to understand if your product is viable.
The problem with a lot of companies is they forget to ask for help. Plenty of people out there will assist. Check out Eastern Foundry, Federal Foundry, and Geoff Orazem’s guide.
CONNECT
Scott Hayford
Reach out to Scott Hayford and Black Hays Group on their website https://blackhaysgroup.com.
Katheryn Basso
If you want to learn more about KADRI Clothing, Katheryn’s designs, and her company, head over to their website at https://www.kadriclothing.com.
