Before You Apply

Before You Apply: Keep in mind that developing a competitive proposal is a major commitment of your time and effort.  You want to ensure that your efforts are well-focused and that you have a reasonable chance of winning.  Beyond that, you must be sure that if you do win, you will be working on a project that furthers your business goals, and will lead you towards development of a profitable product or service. Most successful companies actually lose money on Phase I, as an investment for future Phase II and Phase III profits.  Before applying for TechLink’s assistance, you should complete the following to determine if the topic of interest is an appropriate fit for your company or team:

• Conduct initial background research on the appropriate DoD programs or systems (usually specified in the topic description), and find out about any similar topics from past solicitations:
  • Google searches are usually a good place to start.  Use appropriate keywords and system names (from the topic) as search criteria. If too many hits occur, you can use the search field limiter "site:mil" to restrict your search to DoD websites, or the more restrictive "site:army.mil" "site:af.mil" or "site:navy.mil" etc.
  • To find out about similar past topics, go to the SBIR Gateway (http://www.zyn.com/sbir/) and search "Closed SBIR/STTR Solicitation Topics" using similar keywords, or even search by the TPOC’s name, to find out about previous related solicitations.
  • If there were similar or related topics, search the DoD Award Data (http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/awards/index.htm) to find out who won for those topics.  For older awards, a Phase II award for one of the winners may be listed.  More recent awards may not be posted at this site - check DoD SBIR/STTR Links for the specific award databases for Air Force, Army or Navy components, which are usually more up-to-date than the DoD award database.  
  • Find out more about the listed winners, especially any Phase II winners.  Visit their website, or even call them to find out if they're willing to discuss their technology and/or results.
  • Go to DoD SBIR/STTR Links for more information about the specific DoD component issuing the solicitation topic.  For example, if it's a DARPA topic, go to the link to DARPA Programs to find out which specific program the topic might support, and/or the DARPA programs managed by the listed TPOCs. 
  • Find out more about the specific organization/center issuing the topic.  For example, in the 2006.1 Air Force solicitation, page AF-8 (of the AF topics) shows that topics AF06-123 through AF06-153 are managed by AFRL/MN (Munitions Directorate).  Links to AFRL/MN may be found through the AFRL Organizations link from Air Force SBIR Home at DoD SBIR/STTR Links. In many cases, the domain name on the listed TPOC's e-mail address indicates their organization (e.g. joe.smith@navair.navy.mil indicates Joe is part of NAVAIR).

• After you've conducted this background research, contact the listed DoD TPOC(s) to discuss their specific needs, and to get a better understanding of how you might meet those needs superbly.  Note that you should not be trying to "sell" your approach to them over the phone, but rather listening to them as your customer, and demonstrating a keen interest in helping them solve their specific issues. 

Note that recent solicitations provided the following clarification regarding discussions with TPOCS:

Direct Contact with Topic Authors.
... During this period, proposers have an opportunity to contact topic authors by telephone or email to ask technical questions about specific solicitations topics.  Questions should be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic’s requirements.  Offerors may not ask for advice or guidance on solution approach, nor submit additional material to the topic author.  If information given in response to a question is deemed necessary for the preparation of proposals, that information will be made available to the public through SITIS.

Points for discussion might include:

• Is this a major or ongoing issue for that Service (or other branches of the military as well)?  In other words, are they likely to have follow-on funding for Phase II and Phase III?
• How many proposals do they expect to fund?
• Who is (are) the prime contractor(s), if any, for the system(s) this is to be used in?
• Have any large Defense contractors expressed interest in this topic as a potential collaborator?
• Would the TPOC be willing to consider a face-to-face meeting for more detailed discussions? Note: the Army has set a policy of not permitting such meetings after topics have been posted, even prior to the blackout.
• Can the TPOC refer you to other personnel using this technology, or working on related technologies, for further discussions? 
• Do they normally review proposals online, or use B&W printouts (low resolution ink jet, or even second-hand copies)? This can give you an indication of whether or not color or high-resolution graphics should be avoided in your proposal.
• Is the TPOC familiar with other approaches that have been tried in the past, and their results?  Based upon your background research for this (see above), you may be able to ask the TPOCs about the outcomes for specific past awards.

• Develop a conceptual transition plan for how your company, perhaps in a strategic alliance with other companies or prime contractors, could ultimately get the resulting technology into the Defense acquisition cycle and into the hands of the warfighter. Questions for you to consider may include:
  • Do you expect to eventually sell this directly to the military? If so, how will you deliver and service the products?
  • Would you be working with a prime contractor? If so, who is (are) the prime contractor(s) for the systems or products this technology will go into? Have you established contacts with any of the primes?
  • Will you be making the product yourself? If it's a manufactured product, do you have the facilities to make this, or who could you partner with? If it needs to be made in large quantities, will you/they be able to scale up rapidly?
  • Have you had any experience in developing and commercializing similar products, or in military procurement?

You can contact Ray Friesenhahn, 406-994-7726 at TechLink at any time to get feedback on your ideas, suggestions and assistance in developing a more effective approach, or finding appropriate partners with whom to work.

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