How this works, where my lane begins and ends, and how I protect what you share.
Use one. They're free, and they're the right place for registrations, certifications, and locating solicitations — the building blocks, and you need them. Their charter is procurement: getting you contract-ready. Mine is project funding, which is a different application, a different reviewer, and a different case to make. Bring me in once the building blocks are in place.
Most grant developers write to a specification someone else owns. I spent forty years accountable for technology programs in military, medical, energy, and aerospace — writing the proposal, then delivering the work I'd promised. That teaches you to write only what the project can carry. An overpromised Phase I still has to be executed, and a failed one costs you that agency for years.
Client work runs only on commercial-tier AI under business terms that don't train on your inputs — never the consumer apps most people picture. You decide what's shared; the novel core of an invention rarely needs to enter a tool at all. And a mutual NDA sits under the engagement before any material changes hands.
Three questions. First, has the company defined the boundaries of its technical risk — the specific unknown that Phase I funding would resolve? That's what SBIR/STTR exists to fund; it's the test almost everything turns on, unless the work is tied to a specific bid or requirement. Second, is there a real connection to the agency's mission? Reviewers fund work that answers a need they already have. Third, the mechanics — eligibility, registrations, timeline — actually work. Clears all three, it's worth the work. Doesn't, I'll tell you that, and what would have to change.
Plan on four to six weeks. Most of it is SAM.gov entity validation, where the government matches your legal name and address against third-party records; a mismatch sends you back to the start. You also need a UEI, and for SBIR/STTR a listing in the SBA Company Registry for your SBC Control ID. The steps run in sequence, and nobody can expedite them. Start the day you decide to pursue federal funding, not the day you find a solicitation.
A federal no-go doesn't mean no funding. University institute partnerships, state agency programs, and other non-federal paths are sometimes the better fit for where a technology actually is — and I'll help you identify the ones worth pursuing. The point is funding that fits, not forcing the application.
No, and I'm clear about where my work ends. I build the proposal and the IP and commercialization strategy; licensed professionals finalize claims, confirm structure, and sign anything requiring a license. I work alongside them and cut their billable hours. I don't replace them.
No one honestly can, and anyone who promises otherwise is selling something. What I control is whether your application is competitive, compliant, and built the way reviewers score, and whether it's worth submitting at all. That's why I work on fixed fees, not contingency: you pay for the build and the judgment, not a bet on the outcome.