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One thing that many people may not realize is that DARPA doesn't award grants, it awards contracts. You're obligated to achieve your deliverables, in contrast

One thing that many people may not realize is that DARPA doesn't award grants, it awards contracts. You're obligated to achieve your deliverables, in contrast with NSF/NIH/etc where you might discover something new and follow a different path than you anticipated in your grant proposal. This is not a bad thing, but something to be aware of. Second, the reporting periods are much shorter. You'll have a call with your DARPA PM every two weeks. This is for DARPA to provide any assistance they can to address roadblocks and move forward, but it does keep the pace relentless. I also find DARPA projects to be the most ambitious and interesting projects I've worked on so far. Much less risk averse and highly imaginative.

rfreytag 11y ago
> DARPA [...] awards contracts. You're obligated to achieve your deliverables Deliverables can be a report if you have nothing more. Easier than handling the changing demands of angels and VCs. DARPA contracts pay you to do the promised research on the topic you proposed and then report your NEGATIVE or positive results, in writing, to three entities: PM, DARPA Director, and DTIC (Defense Technical Information Center). DARPA's compliance requirements are minimal and very reasonable. As performer on three DARPA contracts I can say the PMs were professional, sharp, and gave me great flexibility to pursue results. I did the research behind at least 8 products, probably unfundable due to risk, with the support of DARPA. Best of all, I have ownership of the products and my entire company post-funding. Quickly developing a trusting relationship with your PM and the staff is key to a good result; as with any customer. DARPA PMs are all current in their fields and know their time to produce results is limited (2-4 years) so they expect "high risk" submissions that might deliver revolutionary results. The only catch is taking research results to market is non-trivial. However, even there DARPA is getting better at helping you find partners and follow-on contracts.
- etrautmann 11y ago
  Completely agree - we've got a fantastic PM under the new BTO and that makes a huge difference to the success of the project.
kevinalexbrown 11y ago
I like parts of the darpa model, like sufficient funding to accomodate failure, and fast timescales. But it can be distracting for some people, where lab members will be pulled from more basic science questions to more engineering 'how can I make this closed-loop stimulator hit these white matter tracts?' questions.
bradneuberg 11y ago
I've been fascinated by the ambition and innovation in most DARPA projects. How does someone who is in industry rather than an academic context get involved in a DARPA project? More info on my background for context: http://codinginparadise.org/about/ http://codinginparadise.org/about/

rfreytag 11y ago

> DARPA [...] awards contracts. You're obligated to achieve your deliverables Deliverables can be a report if you have nothing more. Easier than handling the changing demands of angels and VCs. DARPA contracts pay you to do the promised research on the topic you proposed and then report your NEGATIVE or positive results, in writing, to three entities: PM, DARPA Director, and DTIC (Defense Technical Information Center). DARPA's compliance requirements are minimal and very reasonable. As performer on three DARPA contracts I can say the PMs were professional, sharp, and gave me great flexibility to pursue results. I did the research behind at least 8 products, probably unfundable due to risk, with the support of DARPA. Best of all, I have ownership of the products and my entire company post-funding. Quickly developing a trusting relationship with your PM and the staff is key to a good result; as with any customer. DARPA PMs are all current in their fields and know their time to produce results is limited (2-4 years) so they expect "high risk" submissions that might deliver revolutionary results. The only catch is taking research results to market is non-trivial. However, even there DARPA is getting better at helping you find partners and follow-on contracts.

etrautmann 11y ago
Completely agree - we've got a fantastic PM under the new BTO and that makes a huge difference to the success of the project.

kevinalexbrown 11y ago

I like parts of the darpa model, like sufficient funding to accomodate failure, and fast timescales. But it can be distracting for some people, where lab members will be pulled from more basic science questions to more engineering 'how can I make this closed-loop stimulator hit these white matter tracts?' questions.

bradneuberg 11y ago

I've been fascinated by the ambition and innovation in most DARPA projects. How does someone who is in industry rather than an academic context get involved in a DARPA project? More info on my background for context: http://codinginparadise.org/about/ http://codinginparadise.org/about/