What you provide. What we build.

A clean division of labor keeps a submission on schedule. Your team owns the science and the facts; we own the structure, compliance, and scoring strategy. This checklist lays out exactly what we'll need from you — so nothing stalls the work — and exactly what we author from it.

Start these now — before anything else

Federal registrations are the most common cause of a missed deadline. Validation can take one to three weeks or more, so begin the day we engage. We'll guide every step, but only your firm can execute and certify these.

Confirm eligibility: U.S. for-profit, 500 or fewer employees, majority U.S.-owned
Register at SAM.gov and obtain your UEI and CAGE code
Register in the SBA Company Registry (get your SBC Control ID)
Set up portal access: Login.gov → DSIP (DoD) or Grants.gov + PAMS (DOE)
Make legal name & address match exactly across SAM.gov, SBIR.gov, and the portal
Identify your Principal Investigator and confirm availability

Mismatched names or a late UEI are the two errors that most often sink an otherwise-fundable application.

TIER 01

SBIR Readiness Sprint

3–5 days

You provideThe starting facts

A plain-language summary of your technology and the problem it solves
Any feasibility evidence to date — test data, prototypes, prior results, publications
Target agency or topic(s) of interest — or we'll help identify the best-fit open ones
Your current registration status (from the list above)
Principal Investigator name and availability

We deliverYour decision package

Solicitation-fit assessment against open topics
A clear go / no-go recommendation
Proposal outline mapped to the agency's scoring criteria
Eligibility & registration gap-check with a punch list
A roadmap and timeline to a Phase I submission

TIER 02

Phase I Proposal Package

3–5 weeks

You provideThe science & the facts

The technical approach and innovation — how it works, why it's feasible
Technical objectives, tasks, and expected results (your R&D substance)
PI and key personnel: names, bios/CVs, roles, qualifications
Company data: legal name, UEI, CAGE, EIN, ownership %, employee count, any prior SBIR/STTR awards
Cost inputs: labor rates & hours, subcontractors/consultants, equipment, indirect rates, quotes
Foreign disclosure: any foreign ownership, affiliations, or talent agreements (federally mandated)
Relationships for any partner / subcontractor letters of support (we draft; you confirm)
Firm-level training & certifications only you can complete and sign (e.g., DoD Fraud/Waste/Abuse training)
The authorized official who will certify and sign the submission

We author & ownStructure, compliance, scoring

Technical narrative — structured, sharpened, and mapped to the evaluation criteria (you supply the science; we make it score)
Commercialization plan, built from your market and business inputs
Cost volume and budget justification, structured from your numbers
Full compliance pass to the specific solicitation — required volumes, page limits, format, file naming
Reviewer-psychology and scoring optimization
Assembly of the complete, submission-ready package in the agency portal (DSIP / PAMS)

A note on your target agencies

DoD submits through DSIP as separate volumes — cover sheet, technical, cost, commercialization report, supporting documents, and Fraud/Waste/Abuse training. DOE requires a mandatory Letter of Intent several weeks before the full application; no LOI on file means no review. We manage both timelines — just know DOE's clock starts earlier.

Every solicitation differs, and the fastest way to be disqualified is to miss one of its specific format rules. We always build to the live BAA/FOA — never a template. (SBIR/STTR was reauthorized through 2031; the rules keep evolving, and we track them.)

On the DoD side, that path carries a cybersecurity-compliance gate most founders underestimate — read the CMMC primer →