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Comment by gbaccount9999 | Hacker News Reader

My $.02 as someone who has applied for multiple SBIR grants with one winning proposal.

1. Government proposal selection is painstakingly tedious and slow. 2. There are actual politics involved with final selections and winners may be pre-selected to win through information back channels that exist outside of the official process. 2. Big contracting firms (GD, Boeing, British Aerospace, Leidos, etc.) with a lot of political muscle and connections pair with connected small companies and individuals to help them win these contracts. It's not only allowed that they do this - it's actually suggested. [1] In return they get consulting fees and free R&D for future product lines.

[1] https://www.sbir.gov/tutorials/preparing-proposal/tutorial-4

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Most importantly, the Government receives "Government Purpose Rights" to Data and Computer Software (including source code). The "SBIR/STTR Protection Period" gives the government a copy of the product for evaluation during which the government has limited distribution and use rights. After four years, the Government has Unlimited Rights (see the SBIR Policy Directive [1]which means they have a royalty-free license to use, authorize others to use, distribute, and disclose said data and software for Government purposes. All of this is defined in the model contract [2] for Phase I and Phase II awards. There are some restrictions, but you'll need to read the documents carefully to determine when these items apply and/or can be excluded.

With that said, I've found SBIRs to be exceptionally useful for my business (I've won $750k in Phase I funding and administered $1M in Phase II funding). The proposal forced me to hone my idea and I received feedback fairly quickly (6 months) with a week or so of invested time. The product is built with minimal risk to my business and the Government can set up meetings with potential users (something that is exceptionally difficult if you aren't on contract). Lastly, with most SBIRs you can request up to $10-15k of additional funding for Commercialization Assistance which permits you to sit down with an adviser who can guide you on bringing your product to market. SBIRs are really an ideal method for Small Businesses to grow.

[1] https://www.sbir.gov/sites/default/files/SBIR-STTR_Policy_Di...

[2] https://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/sb/resources/model-contrac...

Edit: fixed links, added statement about my involvement with SBIRs.

The truly shocking thing about SBIR/STTR programs is realizing what they are and why they exist. Basically, a couple of decades ago the remaining big defense contractors merged to the point where they had enough market power to slash their R&D spending to the bone — in order to more efficiently focus on moving taxpayer dollars into shareholder pockets.

To offset this, Congress created a set of programs that basically shifted the cost of low-level R&D onto the taxpayer. It seems fully expected that the goal of these programs is to fund smaller businesses to do this research, but only until the point that those businesses can be acquired by the big defense contractors. There are even special partner days where STTR/SBIR recipients get matched up with the Beltway bandits, and there are official government agents there to hell make these partnerships and acquisitions happen. In many cases this is the only way a small firm can get access to the real money, so the big firms effectively get their R&D at taxpayer cost without taking any real risk at all.

You're being too kind on point #2

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