[robertha]

Custom database product for EPA, seemed like a good fit. While I have no connections to EPA, I do some collaborative work with bio-engineering department at a university in Chicago, I'm a data scientist/developer/have a small team, I thought I'd try dipping my toes in something new.

[gbacon]

Any technical people you were able to have discussions with in preparing your bid would be good places to start with follow-on conversations.

An acquaintance with a setup similar to yours does well with a virtuous cycle of rolling SBIR and STTR results into his commercial products, which fuel more SBIR wins. He also does lots of legwork in the form of hand delivering white papers he’s written in office calls with customers and potential customers during site visits.

People do business with people — particularly those we like, know, and trust — not companies and agencies. Find someone whose headache you can make go away. Keep the conversation moving.

This is a patient person’s game. Sometimes you’re planting seeds that will bloom later.