SBIR at the National Science Foundation (2015) / Chapter Skim
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6 Insights from Case Studies and Extended Survey Responses
6 Insights from Case Studies and Extended Survey Responses
Pages 152-174
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Appendix A describes the survey instrument, including the safeguards observed to protect the respondents. 2 some cases, these responses may reflect some misunderstandings on the part of executives about In the operations of NSF SBIR program.
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Together, these topical sections on impacts and issues provide the first wide-ranging and publicly available feedback of the NSF SBIR program directly from program recipients. Together, these sections provide the first wide-ranging and publicly available feedback of the NSF SBIR program from program recipients.
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Box 6-2 provides verbatim survey responses that pertain to company formation and related seed funding. 3 PriceWaterHouseCoopers MoneyTree Survey, accessed January 28, 2014, |
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SBIR awards provided early seed capital to position the company for future investment and growth." "Company was initiated to win this award." "The SBIR funding allowed us to generate the first proof of principle data that enabled us to attract more investors and get the company going." FUNDING OTHERWISE UNFUNDABLE PROJECTS Commercial funding from investors or lenders is often unavailable to small or newer companies with limited track records that are working to develop products that do not yet exist and hence have no demonstrated existing market. These funding difficulties come in several flavors.
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Box 6-4 provides verbatim survey responses that help explain how NSF SBIR awards reduce risk. The SBIR program has the effect of reducing the risk of projects to levels that are acceptable to other investors.
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This impact is illustrated by the case study of Divergence, for which the role of SBIR funding has shifted over time.
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Very large scale assessments are now routine at WTRI as a result. BOX 6-5 Core Technologies: Verbatim Survey Responses "The SBIR funding supported internal R&D to demonstrate composite process ing technology.
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Blankenship noted that the early SBIR awards that funded the core technology are now being supplemented by subsequent awards focused on developing new products altogether. For example, the SBIR program is now helping to fund TSI's push into new technologies and new markets such as air-driven technology for aircraft flaps.
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Teolis' example and manage spin-offs if the opportunity to do so emerges. Box 6-6 highlights verbatim survey responses which indicate that spin-offs and other similar ventures have emerged out of SBIR-funded companies.
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substantial follow on funding." Box 6-7 provides verbatim examples from survey responses of NSF SBIR awards providing validation of research efforts and technologies. CAPACITY BUILDING -- HUMAN CAPITAL It is obvious that SBIR funding can be used in part to provide small companies with necessary equipment, but interviews and survey responses revealed that the human capital effects can be more important.
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The wide range of ways in which the SBIR program provided critical funding is, however, best captured in the words of survey respondents, because this was the single impact that generated the most textual responses. See Box 6-9 for verbatim survey responses on how NSF SBIR awards constituted critical funding.
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In many cases, companies struggled to find the right fit between their technical ideas and market needs; often the solution required re-engineering their products, adapting existing approaches, or even starting again after discovering a core technical expectation was simply wrong. Box 6-10 provides verbatim survey responses from NSF SBIR award recipients who found that the awards helped them traverse a complex path of innovation.
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" "Albeit in markets unexpected from the start, the SBIR program has given our company a chance to prove the technology and develop several commercially viable prototypes with anticipated revenue in the near future." AGENCY MISSION Although it does not use the SBIR program in the same way that DoD and NASA use it to procure technology, NSF also has specific missions, such as supporting science, engineering and mathematics education and adding to the science and engineering knowledge base. The following comments by survey respondents illustrate some of the agency mission-related activities supported by the SBIR program, with an emphasis on social benefits: • Education.
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A connection may also be increased in some cases between NSF SBIR award recipients and non-university types of research institutes. The Divergence case study revealed that Divergence "has had a close relationship with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center since 2001.
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Dr. DiBello at WTRI said that the initial NSF SBIR award in 2000 was successful in part because the NSF program officer was familiar with the relevant academic work.
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At the time of the interview, Divergence was looking at world markets for corn seed BOX 6-12 Program Directors: Verbatim Survey Responses "In particular, our program director and the NSF program were extremely sup portive during all stages of our project." "Advice from Program Officer was very influential and helpful. Funds came at a critical time." "Commercialization education/coaching was very valuable because we did not have full time business personnel on the team at the time of the phase I." "In my experience the SBIR program and NSF's program in particular also provide valuable business education and coaching to small companies that help them navigate the difficulties in building successful businesses."
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Box 6-13 gives verbatim survey responses pertaining to NSF's SBIR commercialization focus. 4 Correspondence, May 26, 2015.
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Moslehi of IFOS noted that some NSF program directors do not entirely appreciate the challenges involved in developing highly innovative technologies for emerging markets. Unlike other agencies, which have an end use in mind related to their own needs and are therefore happy with a working system for their use, NSF struggles to demonstrate a wider impact and consequently expects broader commercial success.
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said that one recent NSF reviewer completely misunderstood and therefore torpedoed a Divergence proposal. Reviewer comments included five misstatements and one
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. Funding Gaps Data regarding funding gaps are considered in more detail in Chapter 4.
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He also noted that the commercialization prospects of a well-funded company should not be compared to one that is bootstrapped (growing organically) and that it is a need of SBIR funding to reduce technology risks.
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In particular, IST sees the need for more flex ibility on when the company must acquire matching funds. Currently, fund ing has to be obtained during the exact 18-month period from the start of the Phase II award -- the last point of reasonable application for Phase IIB.
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said that NSF focuses too much on a limited market -- NSF SBIR topics in her area, for example, have become increasingly focused on testing and electronic student records (which are not topics of interest to LIM)
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