This afternoon, Guidewire Group received news that we have been awarded a SBIR Phase II Grant from the National Science Foundation.

The award follows the Phase I grant we received in early 2010 to validate and deploy the G/SCORE ™ Startup Assessment Methodology for measuring and benchmarking early stage companies. This follow-on grant is a strong endorsement of the G/SCORE and a springboard for the commercialization of the G/SCORE SELECT software platform.

The National Science Foundation, specifically, and the federal SBIR program, generally, are arguably the most active “angel investors” in young businesses.  The SBIR program is designed to support and encourage research as it makes its way from the lab to commercialization.  A majority of grants are made to academic research teams validate concepts both technically and with potential customers, and to spin that work out into a new business.  But the SBIR program is a great tool for already-commercial businesses, providing non-dilutive funding to test significant new concepts and move them to reality.

The grant program is not for the faint of heart, however.  The process takes six or more months from proposal to acceptance, can requie a defense of the proposal, and at the Phase II level includes a business audit to insure that the government’s money is being placed with a sustainable entity.  Then the fun begins insuring compliance with government accounting and reporting rules.  Still, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of knowing your research has passed muster with a panel of experts and that you will have significant funding to develop your product for market.

I couldn’t be any more proud of my team than I am today.  Guidewire Group co-founder Mike Sigal took the early lead in learning about and engaging with the NSF.  He spearheaded the grant-writing efforts, dividing the task across the team to meet the NSF’s strict deadlines.  Jean-Rayond Naveau and Erica Lee wrestled to completion the beast with was our software alpha release.    Alice Mar, our intrepid business manager, worked with our external audit and accounting team to prepare for the business review, and ably swatted down a raft of questions and documentation requests. And along the way we had the help of some great mentors and advisors, most notably Phil Aucutt, and the NSF program manager who shepherded our proposal, Errol Arkilick.

Most importantly, this grant is a catalyst for Guidewire Group as we work to bring the tools of measurement, benchmarking, and business development support to entrepreneurs across the country and beyond.  It’s somehow fitting that in this week where the spotlight is on the Obama Administration’s efforts to spur startup growth through the StartUP America Partnership, we would receive from the government the fuel we need to be a driving force in that effort.

We are excited, humbled, and ready to get to work.

I couldn’t be more proud of my team this afternoon, after

For nearly two decades, I and my colleagues at Guidewire Group have been evaluating startup companies.  Combined, we estimate that we’ve looked at more than 20,000 startups over the years, trying to pinpoint what bodes well, and what portends a darker future for entrepreneurs creating companies and bringing new innovations to market.

Those many meetings have lead us to a surprisingly narrow set of criteria – seven actually – that prove to be strong indicators of a startup’s prospects and potential.    Over the last year, we’ve codified those criteria into what we now call the G/Score.   The G/Score is a transparent, quantitative assessment methodology designed not just to rate early-stage companies, but also to provide a diagnostic of a company’s strengths and challenges.  The G/Score is prescriptive, providing clear measurement and obvious benchmarks that a young company can aspire to achieve, and in so doing improve the likelihood of its success.

As we embark on the new year, Guidewire Group is launching what may well prove to be our biggest endeavor to date:  encode 20 years and 20,000 interviews into a rich assessment tool that will enable entrepreneurs to evaluate their business concepts, receive directed feedback about their ideas, and get advice to support their business execution. (We’ll be posting our first G/Score scorecard of a company later this week.)

We tested the G/Score concept and methodology throughout 2009 – on entrepreneurs, on large companies that work with startups, on economic and government development agencies charged with catalyzing entrepreneurship. During this process, we found one champion that we’d not quite expected: The National Science Foundation.  The Foundation is charged, through its SBIR program, with supporting tech transfer through entrepreneurship.   Thousands of researchers and entrepreneurs apply for SBIR grants each year and the NSF does an incredible job of providing real support, along with grant money, to validate and commercialize research innovations.

Their challenge, not surprisingly, is scaling their programs in order to provide real guidance and mentorship to the entrepreneurs who receive SBIR grants.

When our champion at  NSF learned about the G/Score, he encouraged us to apply for a grant ourselves, suggesting that we develop an online self-evaluation tool for entrepreneurs that would provide assessment and prescriptive direction for business improvement and acceleration.

Late in 2009, we learned that we’d received the grant to develop proof-of-concept for this self-assessment tool.   As you can imagine, we are thrilled to have the support of the NSF to further the cause of startups and technology innovation in the U.S.

It’s an exciting project, and we’re putting together a crack team of project managers and developers to turn that rich experience into an even richer prototype of the G/Score online.  As we cast our nets to put together the best team and to build the right product, we hope that we can, as always, engage the wonderful community that is the Guidewire Group network, to come along on this exciting ride.

For nearly two decades, I and my colleagues at Guidewire Group have been evaluating startup companies.  Combined, we estimate that we’ve looked at more than 20,000 startups over the years, trying to pinpoint what bodes well, and what portends a darker future for entrepreneurs creating companies and bringing new innovations to market.

Those many meetings have lead us to a surprisingly narrow set of criteria – seven actually – that prove to be strong indicators of a startup’s prospects and potential.    Over the last year, we’ve codified those criteria into what we now call the G/Score.   The G/Score is a transparent, quantitative assessment methodology designed not just to rate early-stage companies, but also to provide a diagnostic of a company’s strengths and challenges.  The G/Score is prescriptive, providing clear measurement and obvious benchmarks that a young company can aspire to achieve, and in so doing improve the likelihood of its success.

As we embark on the new year, Guidewire Group is launching what may well prove to be our biggest endeavor to date:  encode 20 years and 20,000 interviews into a rich assessment tool that will enable entrepreneurs to evaluate their business concepts, receive directed feedback about their ideas, and get advice to support their business execution. (We’ll be posting our first G/Score scorecard of a company later this week.)

We tested the G/Score concept and methodology throughout 2009 – on entrepreneurs, on large companies that work with startups, on economic and government development agencies charged with catalyzing entrepreneurship. During this process, we found one champion that we’d not quite expected: The National Science Foundation.  The Foundation is charged, through its SBIR program, with supporting tech transfer through entrepreneurship.   Thousands of researchers and entrepreneurs apply for SBIR grants each year and the NSF does an incredible job of providing real support, along with grant money, to validate and commercialize research innovations.

Their challenge, not surprisingly, is scaling their programs in order to provide real guidance and mentorship to the entrepreneurs who receive SBIR grants.

When our champion at  NSF learned about the G/Score, he encouraged us to apply for a grant ourselves, suggesting that we develop an online self-evaluation tool for entrepreneurs that would provide assessment and prescriptive direction for business improvement and acceleration.

Late in 2009, we learned that we’d received the grant to develop proof-of-concept for this self-assessment tool.   As you can imagine, we are thrilled to have the support of the NSF to further the cause of startups and technology innovation in the U.S.

It’s an exciting project, and we’re putting together a crack team of project managers and developers to turn that rich experience into an even richer prototype of the G/Score online.  As we cast our nets to put together the best team and to build the right product, we hope that we can, as always, engage the wonderful community that is the Guidewire Group network, to come along on this exciting ride.

Sometimes, maybe too often, I don’t realize what I think about an issue, topic, or trend until I’m asked about it.  That was certainly the case this week when Tech Policy Central’s founder Natalie Fonseca asked for my views on technology policy in the new administration.     Tech Policy Central is an outgrowth of the Tech Policy Summit, an annual event entering its third year that “brings together prominent leaders from the private and public sectors to examine critical policy issues impacting technology innovation and adoption in the United States and beyond.”   The event’s speakers are a Who’s Who of policy makers, technology executives, and elected officials.

As a lead up to the Summit in March 23-25, 2009 in the San Francisco Bay Area, Natalie has been polling her Advisory Board members (click here for her Q&A with Craig Newmark), and yesterday was my turn to respond to her questions.  I’d not put much though to tech policy in the context of the current economy, so Natalie’s questions sparked some thinking.

Here’s the Q&A:

Tech Policy Central: When it comes to promoting technology innovation, what do you think the top priorities should be for the next Administration and Congress?

Chris Shipley: Programs that promote and support entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are the driver of the technology economy, particularly in difficult times. They build the companies, hire the workers and create new value.

I’d like to see the National Science Foundation’s business development grants program expanded for technology innovation and tech transfer. The funding, relative to viable ideas/need, is remarkably little. I’d like to see investment in regional Innovation Centers. I’d like to see tax credits for entreprenerus who take personal risk to start their companies.

TPC: You meet with hundreds of entrepreneurs from around the world every year. Based on your conversations with those innovators and your own travels abroad, do you believe that Silicon Valley is in danger of losing its competitive edge in the global economy?

CS: I think Silicon Valley is learning that the global market is spawning innovation in every corner; that Silicon Valley doesn’t have a lock on great technology invention and innovation.  Still, the Valley remains the epicenter of innovation.  Foreign technology companies believe that they must come to the U.S., generally, and Silicon Valley, specifically, in order to grow their company and capture significant market share worldwide. Silicon Valley’s wealth of expertise, capital and experience is a magnetic pull for non-U.S. companies, and I believe it will continue to be in the foreseeable future.

TPC: If you were to name one tech policy area where you’d like to see greater federal government involvement, what would it be?

CS: Broadband digital infrastructure is critical to the economic competitiveness of the United States. And, as importantly, it bridges the divide in the U.S. between those who have and those who have not. Access to information is and will continue to be a tremendously valuable currency.  Investment in universal access to broadband infrastructure is an investment in a wide array of health and human services, including education, anti-poverty programs, public safety, crime prevention and the like.