Leveraging effective SBIR participation into important new business opportunities


Keep YOUR business out in front:
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... just as long as the name is spelled right! We recently directed a reporter with a leading Texas newspaper to an active SBIR awardee in the state. The published story was read by a local Business Angel with expertise in, and access to, an industry segment directly relevant to the firm's growth prospects. He gave them a call. Within thirty days, a fairly healthy-sized equity deal was in place - to include an active Board position for the new investor. "We couldn't buy the value-added his now being on our team has brought us" reported the firm's very satisfied president. _______ Editorial comment: We happened to know this firm quite well and could not only give the reporter the lead but some direction about the probable interest in the story. What do we know about you?

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Publicly-traded SBIR awardees

Stories about the 465 SBIR-involved firms which are Publicly Traded are in the Going Public area the and SBIR Index Chronicles.
Though it is FREE, access to these
areas requires Site Registration. For the seriously SBIR-interested, how- ever, a visit is recommended. What these firms are doing individually and collectively can make for interesting reading

Getting onto the radar screen:
Some of the most interesting stories of technical achievement and business opportun- ity occur in small (sometimes VERY small) firms - typically the type which are often SBIR-involved.
The media - print and electronic - strive to satisfy the almost insatiable appetite of the general (and investing) public, the corporate, industrial and financial communities for information about what is happening in technology in general and particularly in technology-based firms. HOWEVER, except for the high-flyers that readily grab everyone's attention, the accomplishment of most smaller firms remains largely below the radar screen.
While the usefulness of having some name recognition can be considerable - see story in box - most SBIR-involved firms have never written what would pass for a Press Release and wouldn't know how to begin to get it published. This, in part, is what the Press Box is about ... (more) .

... in the News
	Welcome Peter Witts, CPA: former DCAA Auditor	Wed May 14, 2003
	Major ALERT! ALL DOD 2003.1 Submitted Proposals in a condition of Automatic Stay. Solicitation process on hold for up to 130 days (from January 27, 2003).	Mon Mar 3, 2003
	Heavy Traffic Clogs DOD Servers: Arbitrary Decision to Disallow Late Submissions	Thu Jan 23, 2003
	SBIR Bidder's Course & Workshop	Wed Jan 15, 2003
	Is SBIR and ATP funding dropping?	Wed Jan 15, 2003
...click to see more

Below the radar (cont)
The larger, more established SBIR-players probably have people on the staff or under contract who know how to write all that down and to whom to send it. To them we say - PLEASE make sure that we are on that list of recipients. For all the rest ... okay! okay! we know

.... you don't have anyone in the firm who does this sort of stuff

.... you're too busy doing the technical work you get paid for to have time for this sort of 'puff'

.... you're an engineer/scientist - and you don't write well for the layman etc etc

All that may well be true ... but, honestly, it's really No Excuse! and - far more important - you may be missing out on potentially important business opportunities because people don't know who you are or what you can do. So, let's consider this some more.
We're on the roledex of many reporters as a potential source of those stories. Having functioned as an SBIR lead advocate in many settings from the beginning, we do know more than most -- but the truth is, while many of you are very willing to talk about what you are doing, you're often seriously reluctant to write it down.

We ALSO know that there is much more going on out there than we know and that you're telling. That said, we are well aware that for many of you, writing this up is not something you think you're good at or that you enjoy doing.

The Press Box is designed specifically to help you get out the word.
You write out the basics - we'll rework it for publication. Here's the deal:
Every time something good happens to you - or you just want to tell your story - tell it to us ... in your own words and ....in your own time. Upload through the Press Box area. Be assured that what you send us will NOT POST automatically. We will rework as necessary

to post here EITHER as a free-standing lead story somewhere on the site OR as part of a general analysis including several firms

OR - at a minimum - to include, as appropriate, in the firm's Company Profile in the Company Registry area of this site
and - not a trivial matter - to have in our comprehensive file of interesting SBIR case-studies when someone comes onto this site and/or calls our office looking for a firm just like yours.