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They are a bad idea for startups, I think. It's easy to win them, but government money is like crack. You are locked into their cycle and it will make it harde
by ivankirigin 18y ago
They are a bad idea for startups, I think.
It's easy to win them, but government money is like crack. You are locked into their cycle and it will make it harder to innovate.
That said, you'd be surprised to learn how easy it is to win a few hundred thousand dollars.
If you want to make a boutique research company, go ahead.
- tptacek 18y agoDo have any experience with SBIR-type loans, or know anyone who has any? Were you surprised to learn how easy it was? I'd love to hear the anecdotes.
- ivankirigin 18y agoI've worked on half a dozen, and written as many proposals. You need to write a 20 page proposal, and you get a stage 1 round. It's usually smallish like $100K. You ask what the sponsor wants you to build, build it with $20K, use the rest on real work, and then get a $700K check to do a bigger project. You should be able to get a product to market with that money. The problem is that the government doesn't expect you to do that. You meet expectations and just finish the work while writing other proposals. It isn't conducive to a growth startup. For example, iRobot was a boutique research firm for almost a decade before they finally decided to make a product. I used to work for CRA in cambridge. That's still their schtick.