4 ms·

Driverless cars aside for a second, government grants are essential to R&D and commericialization. Having learned recently about Small Business Innovation Resea

by f00_ 8y ago

Driverless cars aside for a second, government grants are essential to R&D and commericialization. Having learned recently about Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants, I can't believe I didn't know about it Department of Transportation topics for 2018: https://www.sbir.gov/node/1413255 https://www.sbir.gov/node/1413255 Even if the research isn't done by government itself, it's likely the result of government grants. VC usually step in and reap profits way later

dmix 8y ago
Most of those grants require ridiculous amounts of paperwork, with projections and business plans. That basically forces you to lie and jump through hoops to get through the process. There are plenty of companies that are experts at getting those funds, which is essentially part of their business model. But it can be a big distraction for a small firm where it would likely be better to find private funding sources.
- mmmBacon 8y ago
  I worked for such a firm. Basically almost nobody gets to a Phase III which is the commercialization stage. If anyone does get to that stage, they are not usually set up to make a commercial product and generally require some kind of licensing or partnership to make commercialization possibile. This is typically because these businesses are set up to satisfy the bureaucracy of the SBIR award process and not to actually produce a product (in most cases). In another case I worked at a VC funded company that had some government contracts to try to help self fund R&D activities. These activities proved to be orthogonal to our main product focus and became paperwork exercises. I had to fill in a time sheet for years where I put zero hours on it.
  - FakeComments 8y ago
    I’m thinking about getting into this space — any chance you could share a bit about the experience?

by f00_ 8y ago

dmix 8y ago

Most of those grants require ridiculous amounts of paperwork, with projections and business plans. That basically forces you to lie and jump through hoops to get through the process. There are plenty of companies that are experts at getting those funds, which is essentially part of their business model. But it can be a big distraction for a small firm where it would likely be better to find private funding sources.

mmmBacon 8y ago
I worked for such a firm. Basically almost nobody gets to a Phase III which is the commercialization stage. If anyone does get to that stage, they are not usually set up to make a commercial product and generally require some kind of licensing or partnership to make commercialization possibile. This is typically because these businesses are set up to satisfy the bureaucracy of the SBIR award process and not to actually produce a product (in most cases). In another case I worked at a VC funded company that had some government contracts to try to help self fund R&D activities. These activities proved to be orthogonal to our main product focus and became paperwork exercises. I had to fill in a time sheet for years where I put zero hours on it.
- FakeComments 8y ago
  I’m thinking about getting into this space — any chance you could share a bit about the experience?