How to Prepare a Successful Phase 1 SBIR Proposal for USSOCOM Jenny C. Servo, Ph.D. November 27, 2013 1 AGENDA • Value of submitting an SBIR Proposal • DoD Proposal Submission Instructions – Preface instructions – USSOCOM instructions – USSOCOM Topics • Important guidelines for the Technical and Cost Volumes • Proposed timeline and approach – State resources • http://archive.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/sbdc/sbdclocat or/SBDC_LOCATOR.html 2 SBIR funding • This is not a loan or equity investment • It is funding provided to conduct innovative, research and development 11/26/2013 • Phase I SBIR [concept dev.] – Typically between $70K-$150K – Typically 6-12 months – May be broken into Base & Option • Phase II SBIR [Prototype dev.] – Typically between $500K and $1M – Typically 24 months – May be broken into Base & Option • Phase 3 SBIR [Commercialization] – Private sector or non-SBIR funding – Derives from, extends, or completes an effort made under a prior SBIR funding agreement Improve your success in working with the Department of Defense 3 Solicitation 14.1 • Army, Navy, Air Force, CBS, DARPA, OSD, DHP and SOCOM • November 20, 2013 - Solicitation issued for pre-release – NOTE: USSOCOM will only accept inquiries submitted in writing through sbir@socom.mil • December 20, 2013 - DoD begins accepting proposals • January 22, 2014 - Deadline for receipt of proposals at 6:00 am ET • 1-866-724-7457 • http://www.dodsbir.net [Resource Center] 4 What does solicitation look like? 5 Phase 1 11/26/2013 Improve your success in working with the Department of Defense 6 Eligibility to submit proposals • Proposer must qualify as a small business concern [SBC] at the time of award – Usually under 500 employees, SBA size standards apply – 13 C.F.R. § 121.702 • Two-thirds of the work must be done by the proposing firm for Phase 1, in Phase 2 50% of the work must be done by proposing firms – SBIR efforts may include subcontracts with Federal Laboratories and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). A waiver is no longer required for the use of federal laboratories and FFRDCs; however, proposers must certify their use of such facilities on the Cover Sheet of the proposal. Subcontracts with other federal organizations are not permitted. – A subcontract is any agreement, other than one involving an employer-employee relationship, entered into by an awardee of a funding agreement calling for supplies or services for the performance of the original funding agreement. This includes consultants. – 7 Eligibility -continued • For both Phase 1 and Phase 2 the primary employment of the principal investigator [PI] must be with the small business at the time of the award and during the conduct of the proposed effort. – Primary employment means that more than one-half of the principal investigator's time is spent with the small business – Primary employment with a small business concern precludes full-time employment at another organization. – All R&D must be performed by the SBC and its subcontractors in the United States. – Deviations from the requirements identified above must be approved in writing by the Contracting Officer 8 Eligibility - continued • Joint ventures and limited partnerships are permitted, provided that the entity created qualifies as a small business in accordance with the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. § 631. • Small businesses that are owned in majority part by multiple venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity funds are ineligible to submit applications for opportunities in the SBIR 14.1 solicitation. – An exception to this is a small business which would still be eligible if the aggregate of all owners, and their affiliates, subsidiaries and other firms in which they invest meets the requirements of a small business concern. 9 Registrations and Certifications • Proposing firms must be registered in the DoD Submission system at:www.dodsbir.net/submission/SignIn.asp in order to prepare and submit proposals. • Before the DoD Components can award a contract, proposing firms must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). If you were previously registered in the Central Contractors Registry (CCR), your information has been transferred to SAM • If you are totally new you will need a Commercial and Government Entry (CAGE) and Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. Follow instructions on SAM website. 10 Guidelines for Phase 1 Proposal Submission • This solicitation and the electronic submission site are designed to reduce the time and cost required to prepare a formal proposal. – Since the guidance on allowable content may vary by Component, it is the proposing firm’s responsibility to consult the Component-specific instruction for detailed guidance. – A complete proposal consists of four volumes: • • • • Volume 1: Proposal Cover Sheet Volume 2: Technical Volume [20 pages] Volume 3: Cost Volume Volume 4: Company Commercialization Report 11 Phase 1 Proposal guidelines • For USSOCOM – Potential offerors shall submit all Phase I and Phase II proposals in accordance with the DoD Program Solicitation at www.dodsbir.net/solicitation. • The Technical Volume submission, exclusive of the Company Commercialization Report and the Cost Proposal, shall not exceed 20 pages. • Pages submitted in excess of the twenty (20) page limit will not be reviewed. 12 Phase 1 Proposal guidelines • The electronic submission site provides a structure for providing these four sections but the proposing firm must begin entering its proposal by providing information for the Proposal Cover Sheet. After the firm saves the draft Proposal Cover Sheet, the system will assign a proposal number. Please make note of this proposal number and print it for future reference. – There is no “Submit” button. All proposals in the system at solicitation close will automatically be submitted. The proposer may add the remaining volumes or edit the Proposal Cover Sheet until solicitation close. 13 Marking Proprietary Info • • See page 18, Section 5.3 Offerors that include in their proposals data that they do not want disclosed to the public for any purpose, or used by the Government except for evaluation purposes, shall: – – • (2) – (1) Mark the first page of each Volume of the Submission with the following legend: "This proposal includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed-in whole or in part-for any purpose other than to evaluate this proposal. If, however, a contract is awarded to this offeror as a result of-or in connection with-the submission of this data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting contract. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in pages [insert numbers or other identification of sheets]"; and Mark each sheet of data it wishes to restrict with the following legend: "Use or disclosure of data contained on this page is subject to the restriction on the first page of this volume." 14 Proposal Cover Sheet (Vol. 1) • The cover sheet must include a brief technical abstract of no more than 200 words that describes the proposed R&D project with a discussion of anticipated benefits and potential commercial applications. – Do not include proprietary or classified information in the Proposal Cover Sheet. – If your proposal is selected for award, the technical abstract and discussion of anticipated benefits will be publicly released on the Internet. – Once the Cover Sheets is saved, the system will assign a proposal number. – You may edit the cover sheet as often as necessary until the solicitation closes. 15 Technical Volume [Vol. 2] Variable Explanation Type of file The Technical Volume must be a single Portable Document Format (PDF) file, including graphics. Perform a virus check before uploading the Technical Volume file. Do not lock or encrypt the uploaded file. Length The Technical Volume is limited to 20 pages. Layout Number all pages of your proposal consecutively. If a virus is detected, it may cause rejection of the proposal. Those who wish to respond must submit a direct, concise, and informative research or research and development proposal of no more than 20 pages (no type smaller than 10-point on standard 81/2" x 11" paper with one inch margins). The header on each page of the technical proposal should contain your company name, topic number, and proposal number assigned by the DoD Electronic Submission Web site when the cover sheet was created. The header may be included in the one-inch margin. 16 Content of Technical Volume • Please address in this order [See pg 19] – – – – – – – – – – – Identification and Significance of the Problem or Opportunity Phase I Technical Objectives Phase 1 Statement of Work (including subcontractor's efforts) Related Work Relationship with Future Research or Research and Development Commercialization Strategy Key Personnel [all resumes count towards page limit] Foreign Citizens Facilities/Equipment Subcontractors/Consultants Prior, Current, or Pending Support of Similar Proposals or Awards 17 Content of Cost Volume [Vol. 3] • See Details on Page 21 – USSOCOM states "Offerors must complete the cost proposal using the Cost Proposal form posted on the USSOCOM section of the www.dodsbir.net/solicitation site. • Complete the Cost Volume in the format shown in the Cost Breakdown Guidance by using the on-line cost volume form on the DoD Electronic Submission Web site. Some items in the Cost Breakdown Guidance may not apply to the proposed project. If that is the case, there is no need to provide information on each and every item. What matters is that enough information be provided to allow us to understand how you plan to use the requested funds if a contract is awarded. 18 Company Commercialization Report [Vol. 4] • This is prepared through the DoD Electronic Submission Web site • Always required – even if you have never had an SBIR award – A. Sales revenue from new products and non-R&D services resulting from Phase II technology; – B. Additional investment from sources other than the federal SBIR/STTR Program in activities that further the development and/or commercialization of Phase II technology; – C. Whether the Phase II technology has been used in a fielded DoD system or acquisition program and, if so, which system or program; – D.The number of patents resulting from the contractor's participation in the SBIR/STTR Program; – E. Growth in number of firm employees; and – F. Whether the firm has completed an initial public offering of stock (IPO) resulting, in part, from a Phase II project. 19 Volume 4 • • • • • • All DoD and non-DoD Phase II projects must be reported, regardless of whether the project has any commercialization to date The system will calculate a Commercialization Achievement Index (CAI) Only firms with four or more Phase II projects that were awarded at least two years prior to this solicitation will receive a CAI score; otherwise the CAI is not applicable (see the Company Commercialization Report section of the DoD Submission Web site for more details). Firms with a CAI at the 20th percentile or below will be rated no higher than “Marginal” for this factor. This report shall only be prepared once and submitted with all your proposals for this solicitation. A report showing that a firm has received no prior Phase II awards will not affect the firm's ability to obtain an SBIR award. 20 Additional USSOCOM comments • • • • • All proposal information must be received electronically via the DOD SBIR/STTR Submission site. To submit, proceed to http://www.dodsbir.net/submission. Once registered, a company must prepare (and update) their Company Commercialization Report Data, prepare (and edit) Proposal Cover Sheets, complete the Cost Proposal form, and upload corresponding Technical Proposal(s). Paper copies will be deemed non-responsive and will not be considered. A complete electronic submission is required for proposal evaluation. An electronic signature is not required on the proposal. The DoD SBIR/STTR Submission site will present a confirmation page when a Technical Proposal file upload was received. The upload will be available for viewing on the site within an hour. It is in your best interest to review the upload to ensure the server received the complete, readable file. 21 USSOCOM evaluation criteria • • USSOCOM conducts a formal source selection process to determine which offerors should be awarded Phase I SBIR contracts. USSOCOM evaluates Phase I proposals using the evaluation criteria specified in Section 6.0 entitled “Phase I Evaluation Criteria” of the DoD SBIR Solicitation. – The soundness, technical merit, and innovation of the proposed approach and its incremental progress toward topic or subtopic solution. – The qualifications of the proposed principal/key investigators, supporting staff, and consultants. Qualifications include not only the ability to perform the research and development but also the ability to commercialize the results. – The potential for commercial (Government or private sector) application and the benefits expected to accrue from this commercialization. – Where technical evaluations are essentially equal in merit, cost to the Government will be considered in determining the successful offeror 22 Time till Decision • Across DoD, the median time between the date that the SBIR solicitation closes and the award of a Phase I contract is approximately four months. 23 Unsuccessful Offeror • An unsuccessful offeror that submits a written request for a debriefing within 30 days of being notified that its proposal was not selected for award will be provided a debriefing. – Please note that some Component-unique debriefing processes exist; in those cases, the Component debriefing instructions supersede instructions provided here. – The written request should be sent to the DoD organization that provided such notification to the offeror. – Be advised that an offeror that fails to submit a timely request is not entitled to a debriefing, although untimely debriefing requests may be accommodated at the Government's discretion. 24 SBIR Program Description • The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) seeks small businesses with strong research and development capabilities to pursue and commercialize technologies needed by Special Operations Forces (SOF) – The USSOCOM Program Executive Officers (PEOs) submitted topics to the USSOCOM SBIR Program Manager (PM) as topics that may transition to an acquisition Program of Record (PoR) or Concept of Operation (ConOps). In turn, the USSOCOM SBIR PM submitted the topics to the Department of Defense (DoD) and the DoD 14.1 SBIR solicitation. 25 Program Executive Offices 26 USSOCOM Topics in 14.1 There are seven topics in USSOCOM 14.1 • SOCOM14-001 • SOCOM14-002 • SOCOM14-003 • SOCOM14-004 • SOCOM14-005 • SOCOM14-006 Power Supply for the Tactical Assault Light operator Suit (TALOS) Advanced Transparent Armor Materials and Manufacturing Methods Advanced Opaque Armor Materials and Manufacturing Methods Hydrogen Generation from Water and Full or Partial Replacement of Petroleum Fuels in Diesel Internal Combustion Engines High Performance Marine Diesel Closed Coolant System for High Speed Combatant Craft Low Acoustic Signature Manned Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance 27 Topic Components • • • • • • • • • • Technology Area Acquisition Program Objective Description Phase 1 Phase II Phase III Dual-Use Applications References Keywords E-mail 28 Sample Topic 29 What if these topics don’t work for me? • Use the Topic Search Engine • http://www.dodsbir.n et/Topics/Default.as p • Example using UAV • Try synonyms 30 TPOC questions during Pre-release • Objectives of questions: – Questions should be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic’s requirements. – Proposing firms may NOT ask for advice or guidance on solution approach – Proposing firms may NOT submit additional material to the topic author. • All will accept by phone or e-mail, except SOCOM which accepts by e-mail only 11/26/2013 Improve your success in working with the Department of Defense 31 Questions After Pre-Release period • Questions are submitted by e-mail only and are posted on SITIS along with the answers • Be careful about how you pose your questions • http://www.dodsbir.net/Topics/Default.a sp – Search by topic number 11/26/2013 Improve your success in working with the Department of Defense 32 You have one month MAKING THE BEST USE OF YOUR TIME 33 Sample Schedule 11/26/2013 Improve your success in working with the Department of Defense 34 Start with activities that require the involvement of others • Get answers to question that you may have about the Topic • Get certifications and registration in order • Secure involvement of subcontractors • Get the information together in the appropriate form for the cost proposal 35 Work from the Outlines provided • Read everything associated with the solicitation topic – Acquisition Program – References • Consider the realistic costs and time associated with the solution • Review the technical proposal format • Review the evaluation criteria • Allow time for a "red team" 36 Use the DoD site • Log into the DoD site and become comfortable with it • Plan to submit your proposal two days before its due – things will always go wrong if you leave it to the last minute. 37 Use a Check list • A complete proposal consists of FOUR volumes – – – – Volume 1: Proposal Cover Sheet Volume 2: Technical Volume Volume 3: Cost Volume Volume 4: Company Commercialization Report • Read and follow all instructions contained in this solicitation, including the instructions in Section 12.0 of the DoD Component to which the firm is applying. 38 Check List • 2) Register the firm on the secure, password-protected DoD Electronic Submission Web site (http://www.dodsbir.net/submission/Sig nIn.asp) and, as instructed on the Web site, prepare the firm’s submission. 39 Check List • 3) Check that the cost adheres to the Component criteria specified and the cost on the cover sheets matches the cost in the cost volume. • 4) Check that the Project Abstract and other content provided on the cover sheets contain NO proprietary information. 40 Check List • 5) Mark proprietary information within the Technical Volume as instructed in Section 5.3. • 6) The content in the technical volume, including the option (if applicable), includes the items in Section 5.4.c. 41 Check List • 7)That the header on each page of the technical volume should contain the company name, topic number, and proposal number. (The header may be included in the one-inch margins.) • 8) The Company Commercialization Report is submitted online in accordance with Section 5.4.e. This report is required even if the firm has not received prior SBIR funding. 42 Check List • 9) Limit your Technical Volume to 20 pages. 43 Call DoD HELP LINE 1-866-724-7457 WISHING YOU WELL 44 Important Sites Tools Benefit Topic Search Engine Can search all topics at one time http://www.dodsbir.net/Topics/Default.asp DoD Solicitations http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/solicitations/sbir20141/index.sht ml SITIS – SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic http://www.dodsbir.net/sitis/ SITIS Quick Scan http://www.dodsbir.net/sitis/quick_scan.asp 11/26/2013 This particular site provides access to all solicitations on one page Once the solicitation opens, you can see Q&A here See questions that others have posted related to specific topics Improve your success in working with the Department of Defense 45 Important Sites Tools Benefit DoD SBIR/STTR Tutorial – search for Cost Contains a link to a completed form – even though it is hard to read http://www.dodsbir.net/tutorial/tutorialtext.htm#costproposal SBIR Cost Proposal http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/sb/resources/de skreference/quickref/costproposal.shtml DoD Resource Center Provides a little more information on cost proposal prep A useful jumping off point for many things https://www.dodsbir.net/ HELP desk Call and e-mail for assistance www.dodsbir.net/helpdesk 1-866-724-7457 11/26/2013 Improve your success in working with the Department of Defense 46 If the TOPIC is ITAR • International Traffic In Arms Regulation – As part of the Phase 1 proposal, the offeror shall verify the US citizen status of each employee who will participate in the technology effort – The identification of foreign national involvement in a USSOCOM SBIR topic is also needed to determine if a company is ineligible for award on a USSOCOM ITAR designated topic. A company employing a foreign national on a USSOCOM ITAR topic must possess an export license to receive a SBIR Phase I or Phase II contract 47