Technical Advisory Boards Can Provide Secret Sauce for Startup Success
A Technical Advisory Board (also known as a Scientific Advisory Board) can provide significant advantages to your start-up business when you are in the process of seeking funding from equity investment or nondilutive funding such as SBIR/STTR grants.
Most businesses create advisory boards when there are subject areas where objective expert outsiders can enhance the strategic and technical knowledge base of the management and Board of Directors.
Experienced advisors not only bring deep subject matter expertise to extend the skills of the management team, but also help you understand your customer and your market from a different perspective. Besides the insight advisors bring, careful recruitment can also build the credibility of your technical team beyond your limited ability to hire.
If you don’t have a Technical Advisory Board established, here are a few considerations as you recruit and develop the advisory team:
- Purpose: Think carefully about why you’re establishing this Board. Recruit based on gaps in your management team’s technical expertise, aligning their interests and passions with those of your company so they will be fully engaged with your company. Read on
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USPTO Resources
Patent and Trademark Resource Centers are a nationwide network of public, state and academic libraries designated to disseminate patent and trademark information and to support the diverse intellectual property needs of the public. They make freely available a minimum 20-year back file of U.S. patents and are available to assist the pubic in the efficient use of the collection. All libraries have access to U.S. patents since 1790.
Learn more
Take advantage of the IP Awareness Assessment
Developed through the joint efforts of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and National Institute of Standards and Technology/Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST/MEP), the IP Awareness Assessment allows you to assess your intellectual property awareness. Following the completion of the assessment, you will receive a customized training material.
Get started
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Did You Know?
The FY2019 budget allocation for SBIR/STTR across all 11 participating federal agencies has increased to $3.7 billion, with approximately half of that total funded by the Dept. of Defense. Funding levels are determined by statutory requirements; agencies with over $100M in annual extramural R&D expenditures must set aside 3.2% of that amount for the SBIR program. If extramural R&D exceeds $1 billion per year, the agencies must also allocate 0.45% for the STTR program.
Source: Small Business Administration
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Solicitations
Health & Human Services-NIH/CDC/FDA Omnibus
Clinical Trials not allowed:
Clinical Trials required:
Standard close dates: Jan. 5 Apr. 5, Sept. 5
Nat'l. Science Foundation
Submission windows:
4-Mar '19 - 13-Jun '19
14-Jun '19 - 12-Dec '19
NEW!
SBIR/STTR Tips at a Clip
In addition to our
SBIR/STTR Pursuit Recorded Webinar Library which provides a variety of SBIR/STTR topics, BBCetc is developing a series of short (10-15-min.) single-topics webinars call Tips at a Clip. View them on our website or our
YouTube channel. Just added:
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Upcoming Training and Events
BBCetc Training and Meet with Federal Agency Reps
Nov. 7 - Jackson, MI
8:30am - 3:00pm - Agency Presentations:
- Ben Schrag, SBIR/STTR Program Director, National Science Foundation
- Manny Oliver, SBIR/STTR Director, Department of Energy
- Richard McNamara & Kathryn William, NAVSEA SBIR/STTR Transition Coordinators
- Jim Saber, President & CEO, NextEnergy
- Toni Brownfield, MI-SBDC, representing the Michigan Business Accelerator Fund (BAF) and Emerging Technology Fund (ETF)
SBIR/STTR Proposal Prep for DOD
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Coffee Cup Wisdom
“Make sure you pick good people to build your business with, as they’ll determine 80 percent of your success.”
Barbara Corcoran, American businesswoman, investor, speaker, consultant, author and media personality.
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Quick Q&A's
Who owns the data developed under an SBIR/STTR award?
The SBC awardee owns, and has full right and title to, the data it develops under an SBIR award. For an STTR award, the SBC and research institution must, prior to award, sign an intellectual property agreement identifying the sharing of rights to data
Can a small business participate in both SBIR and STTR simultaneously at the same or differing agencies?
Yes, but they may not perform the same or essentially equivalent work under more than one contract or grant. Collecting funds more than once for the same work is fraud.
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About BBCetc
BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting, LLC (BBCetc) works with technology-based entrepreneurs and companies across the U.S. on strategies to advance their R&D efforts to commercialization. The BBCetc team is nationally recognized for its success in helping clients secure federal funding through the SBIR and STTR programs. BBCetc services include research grant assistance, SBIR/STTR training and proposal development assistance, and grants and contract management.
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