5 ms·

What does the taxpayer get back? Do you pay back the money? Does the government get an ownership stake? And if it didn't exist, does private equity not exist?

_delirium 5y ago
The goal of SBIR is to provide seed funding for American small businesses engaged in innovation, and is one of the more popular parts of federal science funding, across parties. People like small businesses. They don't really like private equity. Making the results of U.S.-funded research exploitable without license by foreign entities is also very unpopular. That is one reason the U.S. does not have a public domain mandate of the kind you propose. I would personally be open to your suggestion that the government should take an ownership percentage in return for its funding. I don't think this has been seriously proposed, but it has interesting implications.
- biztos 5y ago
  > the government should take an ownership percentage in return for its funding But wouldn't that create a big conflict of interest? WidgetCorp is 10% owned by the Feds, InterWidget is not. Who gets the contract for those $6M widgets in the new fighter jet?
  - Swenrekcah 5y ago
    I have every confidence that the people picking contractors won't let a 10% stake owned by the federal government cloud their judgement. If the stake was owned by any of the relevant institutions then that might play a role, since it could contribute in some way to the institution's budget perhaps. But it's an interesting idea. If the government were to take a percentage in return for funding, there could be an explicit goal of getting out of the position with X times return in less than Y years. X might not have to be particularly large, the goal would only be to cover losses and inflation.
unishark 5y ago
The govt gets an unrestricted license to use the technology produced by SBIR funding. The "R" in SBIR is research. By the end of govt funding (phase II), the company is supposed to commercialize it on their own. The money maxes out around $1M, for producing a prototype only. Compared to private equity, it's only angel-investment-sized funding, but for a high-risk project that requires research to demonstrate so angel investment will not suffice. It is not ready to launch after govt funding.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

_delirium 5y ago

The goal of SBIR is to provide seed funding for American small businesses engaged in innovation, and is one of the more popular parts of federal science funding, across parties. People like small businesses. They don't really like private equity. Making the results of U.S.-funded research exploitable without license by foreign entities is also very unpopular. That is one reason the U.S. does not have a public domain mandate of the kind you propose. I would personally be open to your suggestion that the government should take an ownership percentage in return for its funding. I don't think this has been seriously proposed, but it has interesting implications.

biztos 5y ago
> the government should take an ownership percentage in return for its funding But wouldn't that create a big conflict of interest? WidgetCorp is 10% owned by the Feds, InterWidget is not. Who gets the contract for those $6M widgets in the new fighter jet?
- Swenrekcah 5y ago
  I have every confidence that the people picking contractors won't let a 10% stake owned by the federal government cloud their judgement. If the stake was owned by any of the relevant institutions then that might play a role, since it could contribute in some way to the institution's budget perhaps. But it's an interesting idea. If the government were to take a percentage in return for funding, there could be an explicit goal of getting out of the position with X times return in less than Y years. X might not have to be particularly large, the goal would only be to cover losses and inflation.

unishark 5y ago

The govt gets an unrestricted license to use the technology produced by SBIR funding. The "R" in SBIR is research. By the end of govt funding (phase II), the company is supposed to commercialize it on their own. The money maxes out around $1M, for producing a prototype only. Compared to private equity, it's only angel-investment-sized funding, but for a high-risk project that requires research to demonstrate so angel investment will not suffice. It is not ready to launch after govt funding.

deleted 5y ago
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