Specific Topics and Open Topics are VERY different things within the SBIR/STTR program, and understanding the core differences is vitally important to your success with either…
Just like apples and oranges, they are both fruits that come from a tree, and eventually must be picked by someone to consume, but that’s where the similarities end. Specific Topics are the original form of the SBIR/STTR program dating back decades. The entire plan for all SBIR/STTR phases is mapped out from the start by the Gov/Mil customer with the need. It truly is the unique nail searching for its specific hammer. Open topics on the other hand, are something very different. The Open Topics are in many senses the inverse of Specific Topics, where the hammer goes searching for its applicable nail. The core idea behind Open Topics is that there exist products that could provide a capability to Government or Military users that those potential users don’t know they need, and this program allows businesses to pitch these products to the Gov/Mil. When starting from the solution and working backwards to the need, it’s easy to understand why it is much more difficult to find product market fit, let alone a single customer with all the necessary funding to fully build out and/or acquire the product.
So, which should you pick, and why does that matter? It matters because there are very distinct structural differences that drive varying advantages and disadvantages in each Topic type. Picking the right type of Topic type is crucial to your success. For example, if you can easily find or already have a interested Gov/Mil sponsor with dedicated funding for the RDT&E of your project, and a commitment to the necessary acquisition in Phase 3 (for example, think things that would make great TACFI’s or STRATFI’s later on), then definitely go Open Topic. The reason being you don’t have to suffer the direct competition from other companies for the same requirement, and a proposal that solid would easily beat out many other weaker Open Topic submissions without funding commitments. If you don’t have any potential customers, or even an idea of where to go looking for sponsors or supporters, then you would be infinitely better off going after Specific Topics where everything is already there for you. All you would have to deal with is the direct competition relative to the unique requirement(s) of your chosen topic.
Remember these topic types aren’t right or wrong in general, but rather a better or worse fit for your individual situation. Are you picking the right type of fruit from the tree?
