rainbows, unicorns & uncle sam: funding for your startup

Rainbows, Unicorns & Uncle Sam: Free Money for your Startup by Nicholas Napp is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

SBIRIt’s Like The Easiest $$$

Eva! Rainbows, Unicorns & Uncle Sam: Free Money for your Startup by Nicholas Napp is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.


SBWhat?SBIR = Small Business Innovation &

ResearchFederally mandated grant program

– All agencies with $100M or more must set aside 2.5% of their budget for SBIR programs

– $2+B in awards per year– For small, US based companies– DOD, HHS, NASA, DOE, NSF, DHS, USDA,

DOC, ED, EPA, DOT

Companion program for tech transfer opportunities (STTR)


Why Should You Care?

Phase 1 is typically $100k - $150k– Odds of getting a Phase 1 are ~1:8

Phase 2 is $500k or more– Odds of getting a Phase 2 are 1:3

Phase 3…– You’re on your own

It’s a grant!!!– No equity participation– Relatively few strings attached


My Assumptions

Too slowToo stupidUnlikely to be a fit for anything I was

interested in working on

a.k.a. A Giant Waste of Time


The Reality

Very ResponsiveProgram Manager very well informedSome agencies have very broad

mandatesPainful dotting of i’s and crossing of t’sBut a very viable funding source


Typical NSF Topics

Very, very broad– Biological and Chemical Technologies– Education Applications– Electronics, Information &

Communications Technologies– Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials &

Manufacturing

[Click links to see detailed topic lists]


No Two Agencies Are The Same

DoD & NIH have bigger budgets– Phase 2 can be $1M or more

Nasa tends to be very specific– e.g. Glue for Space Shuttle tiles

Different process, different procedures– Application process– Budgets– Allowable costs– Overall goals


Phase 1 / NSF Specific

Feasibility Study, not a full product– Research focused– High risk scientific research– Broad societal impact– Commercial potential

Six Month Project$150k budget, with strings attached~30 pages in standard proposal


Timeline / NSF SpecificMay 2009 Initial contact with Program

Manager

Jun 9, 2009 Proposal due

Sept 24, 2009 Request for additional info & conference call

Oct 2, 2009 Conference call & decision to fund

Nov 17, 2009 Formal notification

Jan 1, 2010 Grant begins

Jan 4, 2010 Money in bank (approx 2/3 upfront)

June 30, 2010 Grant ends


Budget / NSF Specific

* Mandatory allocations with set %’s & limits

*

*

*


Metrics: Compare & Contrast

PREVIOUS STARTUP

MOVEABLECODE

Time spent trying to raise money

18 months 1 month + waiting time

VC Angel play (in principal) Yes Yes

Within scope of NSF SBIR Yes Yes

# Business Plans / Exec Summaries / PPT Decks

10+ / 15+ / 30+

0 / 1 / 2

Meetings: Bullshit vs Productive

30 : 1 0 : 1

% of Soul Sold or Destroyed 25% 0%

Actual Money Raised $20k $200k

Equity given up ~15% 0%


Other Key Points…

• Takes a long time to write – you can’t do it in a week

• Next NSF SBIR Deadline is June 10, 2011

• Attend an SBIR overview class• Many agencies have matching funds

available– NSF has $550k for $1.1M in investment

or customer revenue


Useful Links

http://www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/sbir/

http://zyn.com/

& http://zyn.com/sbir/