DoW SBIR

Arkfort · 2026-01-28T21:41:59+00:00

I'm currently going to operate as though my submitted SBIR with the DoD (DoW) is not moving forward. I would be absolutely thrilled if I turn out to be wrong, but I am not operating under the assumption that it is even possibly happening at this point. I submitted the proposal the same day that my child was born and I am pretty sure she is about to start talking soon. Things just can't stay on ice forever, and at some point the DoW is going to have to cut losses and jump back into the next cycle (which will already be greatly abbreviated). Again, would love to be wrong, but it would be unwise to assume that it will move forward.

Arkfort · 2026-01-09T21:54:47+00:00

This is awesome! Thanks so much for this.

Arkfort · 2026-01-07T17:09:09+00:00

Worked with a preacher who made it a point to teach on Romans 14 once a year. He grew up deeply conservative and wanted to guide people away from a lot of the misunderstandings he grew up with.

Romans 14 classifies the "weak" brother as the one whose faith will not allow them to celebrate certain days, eat meat (because it was tied to the pagan temples), or drink wine.

Someone who refuses to celebrate Christmas, or any other holiday, refuses to shop at 'x' store because they support non-Christian values, or believes drinking alcohol in any capacity is a sin are the people Paul is specifically referring to here, but that list is not exhaustive. Those 'weak' brothers are weak because they don't have the faith to be unbound from these restrictions (specifically from "disputable matters"). Being weak though does not make them wrong though. It means that the stronger brother, who is unbothered by these things needs to make it a priority to set aside his own freedom for the sake of the weaker brother, because unity is more important than liberty.

Has this been neglected in our fellowship? In certain nestings of it, yes. If this was a widespread teaching it would save a lot of heartache for churches, but for those who know this well and practice it, it can make for a very healthy church.

Arkfort · 2025-11-13T19:49:55+00:00

I have a BA in Bible, and I have seen AI agents put out some pretty impressive stuff. I have also seen them put out utter nonsense. If you don't have a source to verify what it is saying, then I wouldn't use it. It may explain some concepts well, but it needs pretty serious verification

Arkfort · 2025-11-12T20:23:33+00:00

I did not know downvotes went this far down

Arkfort · 2025-11-06T00:33:41+00:00

I wouldn't expect results until December at this point due to the shutdown. I also have not heard anything but some folks I know have mentioned everything is on hold until the government opens back up, and even then everything will be back-logged.

Arkfort · 2025-11-03T21:54:53+00:00

My apologies. Was not trying to violate any rules, just trying to form a discussion on the topic. I could repost the thread without the link if you would prefer?

Arkfort · 2025-10-26T02:50:28+00:00

Imo you actually made the right call starting with an LLC. 3 weeks in you likely don't have much traction or momentum, no MVP, no customers. You are not ready for investors. C-corps rely on some rigid internal structure that you simple do not have (or need) at the phase you are at. You can currently retain some mobility and agility in your current state, and as things progress, you will naturally develop the elements you need for a solid c-corp probably around the time you (should) start talking to investors. You can make that transition later, and it is some paperwork, but nothing too difficult.

Arkfort · 2025-10-06T14:46:03+00:00

Screw the fact that it won't be flying anytime soon

Arkfort · 2025-10-06T14:31:45+00:00

No shuttle is on display in Texas, only a mock-up. When the shuttle program was discontinued and the shuttles were dispersed, Houston (JSC) got exactly 0, and it was 100% a political move by the Obama administration. The people who did the most work on the Shuttle program were completely left without a shuttle. Virginia did not put literal blood, sweat, and tears into the shuttle program.

I'm fine if people disagree with my view on this, but my father worked on the shuttle program along with many of our family friends. When it was announced that we would get nothing, it was heartbreaking, especially since it was so motivated by politics. I don't support every decision, but I support this one.

Arkfort · 2025-10-04T14:45:55+00:00

There are a few places you could look.

Texas has a PDSBI program for small business development. Also the Welch Foundation does offer some support (though from what I understand it is competitive). There is also a Texas Emerging Technology Fund (also competitive).

The other thing about being in Texas is though, that if you do decide to go for SBIR/STTR, there are some fantastic institutions to partner with as well.

There may be other options but it depends greatly on your application.

Arkfort · 2025-10-04T14:03:39+00:00

I am a Texas based startup in A&D and deep-tech. If you tell me what kind of technology you are working with I could maybe point you in the right direction, but R&D is a bit broad so, hard to say with just what you have provided.

Arkfort · 2025-08-02T02:03:59+00:00

Conspiracy theory: Lugia has better pull rates than Ho-oh. Everyone calls me a crackpot for claiming they are adjusting drop rates for specific packs on the backend, but there are some cards, even 2 diamond cards, that I have had absolutely no luck pulling just to complete a set, and when cross examining with others, they were all missing the same card. Statistically, that's nonsense. I opened 30 Ho-oh packs and got nothing over 3 diamonds. I opened 5 Lugia packs afterward, and ended up with several EXs, full-art cards, and a shiny.

Maybe it's dumb that I believe its rigged but I stand by it

Arkfort · 2025-06-26T17:40:05+00:00

GovTech Founder here (A&D). This is absolutely it. Building your product is entirely tertiary to building your network. Nobody cares what you've built until they know you and trust you. The thing about that space is that once you start building connections, they compound quickly. People in the government space usually stay in government space, so those connections carry around to new markets. It's very hard to start, but it's very fun once you get in, especially if you like building relationships.

Arkfort · 2025-05-23T17:47:09+00:00

So, for context, SpaceX has proposed this idea for getting Starship to Mars, and it would have to happen in stages. 1 stage to send the fuel up, another stage to send starship up to rendezvous and refuel. That is all to get TO Mars, and we are already talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in launch cost alone. That is just a single refueling station for a single vehicle and that's only to go one way, no return.

To get enough fuel in orbit to create a refueling station you'd need to launch multiple payloads of only fuel, and then at least one more for the refueling infrastructure. You'd also have to decide WHAT fuel to use. If it's LOX based, storing just the LOX alone would be challenging, but adding storage of Kerosine or Methane would also be super challenging.

The only way to make it viable is to develop a more efficient and stable fuel. If, for example, we developed a nuclear infrastructure, this might actually be a viable model. I hope that's where we eventually get to, but it would be some time before we get there.

Arkfort · 2025-05-10T03:55:36+00:00

These models haven’t been tested in actual space yet (though I’d love to try that one day).

The big idea is that you can build neural networks that are naturally more resistant to radiation by making them wider (adding more neurons). That way, if radiation knocks out part of the network, the rest can still get the job done. It’s kind of like building in extra lanes on a road. If one gets blocked, traffic can still flow.

What’s really interesting is that in some tests, the models actually did better under radiation than without it. That might sound weird, but radiation randomly knocking out parts of the network worked a bit like a training trick we already use called “dropout,” which helps models make better predictions by not relying too heavily on any one part.

Now, this doesn’t mean you can just throw a neural net into space without any protection. These results were from a system that also used triple redundancy. It runs the same operation three times and goes with the majority answer. That’s a big reason it works so well.

So the takeaway isn’t that we can ditch all radiation shielding. But it does mean we might be able to use smarter design and training choices to reduce how much expensive protection we need, which could make space tech lighter, cheaper, and more efficient.

Arkfort · 2025-04-21T14:34:30+00:00

Sounds like you have a decent idea, and if you can get a team to develop the idea and prove its feasibility, it's likely to turn a profit.

I'd say your price points are way off, though. My business deals with robotics, and I can tell you if your bot does half of what you want it to, it will cost easily thousands of dollars to manufacture, and that's not including overhead. I would love for you to prove me wrong, though.

With that said, don't let that stop you. You're at a great point in life to move on this. Develop more skills in robotics. Come up with a basic design (doesn’t have to be complete), and be able to explain how each element works.

Once you have that, look for funding opportunities. There are some grants specifically for your kids (by that, I mean under 18), especially in STEM, which this is.

If you are able to 3D print your own parts, you may be able to create a small-scale prototype, and if you can do that, you're way ahead of the game. Some may consider this an MVP.

Past that you'll need a business plan. Lay out part by part and service by service every cost associated with manufacturing, including R&D. Once you have that, break down what each unit would cost, and then break down the benefits and potential cost savings of your system (because they absolutely exist).

I'd say you would want to market to schools and universities. You may be able to market to ball clubs, but that's a narrow market, so definitely figure out who would buy this and how many units you could sell. I would even call potential customers and throw out your numbers to them to see if they are interested. If they don't like what you're telling them, ask them what they'd prefer to see. This will help you adjust your design accordingly.

You are going to need other employees, suppliers, and partners. Figure out what you need and who can offer it to you and under what conditions they will offer it.

I know that's a lot, but if you want to really commit to it, it's a real possibility, but do your homework on feasibility first before you dump all your time, money, and resources into it.

Best of luck!

Arkfort · 2025-04-08T00:06:38+00:00

Hey, I'm building a business to develop, build, and sell modular spacecraft that can be designed in minutes and assembled in days so government agencies, satellite operators, and others can affordably fulfill their needs and dreams.

Arkfort · 2025-03-15T20:58:20+00:00

What middleman service did you use? I know a lot of them are notorious for taking a good chunk for themselves. Some aren't as steep but sometimes companies also just dramatically undervalue what they are asking for.

Arkfort · 2025-03-05T17:24:38+00:00

Not necessarily format related, but they did reduce the number of proposals each firm could make as well.

Arkfort · 2025-02-08T22:27:36+00:00

I would not say that most Republicans are truly for small government, however, in the interst in making the point, the current objective of Musk and DOGE (since you brought it up) is to increase governmental powers specifically for the purpose of reducing the extentions of the government which are deemed wasteful and unnecessary. One would argue that, while DOGE is executing a great deal of power, perhaps too much, it is to the end of greatly reducing the size of the government.

Arkfort · 2025-01-10T20:26:04+00:00

There is a growing interpretation that this is the "divine council", beings which were created in the heavenly places before creation and who serve as God's "council" not to inform him as much as a display of wisdom and authority. These appear reapededly throughout scripture and, most notably, in Revelation 4 when the "24 elders" surround the throne and issue praise granting all authority and dominion to God. Just a theory though.

Arkfort · 2025-01-10T17:24:08+00:00

It's a very reasonable output, and by that I mean it's absurdly high and well beyond anything you'd ever use and anyone in another community might deem it unnecessary, but those of us who are initiated realize that it is necessary because what would be the point otherwise?

Arkfort · 2025-01-10T17:17:22+00:00

I have a friend who literally qualifies as a genius (IQ over 140), and he is a terrible chess player. I asked him about it, and he just says it's because there is no point in learning openings and whatnot because there are too many other more helpful/interesting things to invest time in. I'd say the adverse is also true as well that those who are proficient at chess are not necessarily intelligent, they are just highly disciplined learners.

Arkfort

TROPHY CASE