Stacy L ChinFounder, KeepYourEquity · I get the government to write you checks

Why SBIR reviewers don’t give a 💩about the MDs & PhDs on your team…

19 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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In this concise monologue, Stacy L. Chin warns founders that a team heavy with MDs and PhDs—impressive on paper—can be a red flag for Phase 2 SBIR reviewers if it lacks commercialization expertise. She explains that Phase 1 funding is judged on technical proof of concept, whereas Phase 2 funding is judged on the ability to move the technology toward market, which involves managing regulatory, manufacturing, reimbursement, and commercialization risks. Consequently, the team that secured Phase 1 is not automatically the right team for Phase 2. Founders should restructure their Phase 2 team around the specific execution milestones required for market entry, ensuring they have personnel responsible for the identified risks, so reviewers see a realistic path to commercialization.

Chapters

3 MDs, 2 PhDs, and 0 commercialization people. On paper, an incredible Phase 2 team, but to an SBIR reviewer, a potential red flag. Here's what most founders miss when preparing a Phase 2 SBIR application. The team that gets you your Phase 1 award isn't necessarily the same team that will get you your Phase 2. Why? Because Phase 1 is about proving your technology works, and then Phase 2 is about proving that you can move that technology towards the real-world use. And if your biggest risks are regulatory, manufacturing, reimbursement, or commercialization, and you have no one on your team responsible for that in Phase 2, that's really bad because reviewers in Phase 2 aren't just evaluating your technology, they're evaluating whether your team can execute and actually bring that to market. So for you, don't build your Phase 2 team around who got you to Phase 1. Build it around the next milestone in your Phase 2.