Working with Skylark
As a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, my mentor at the U.S. State Department had a practice of giving every outgoing fellow something he felt captured us. Mine was an engraved baseball bat that said, “Don’t stand in the way of good ideas.” I am passionate about helping scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs make their ideas real. My role is to help remove some of the obstacles in your way and figure out ways to get around or surmount the rest.
While working at DARPA, I was very lucky to get to work with a wonderful program manager named Dr. Matt Goodman. He was not afraid to go after big, hard, out there ideas that changed the world, and we were successful in pitching all of them to DARPA management (they didn’t all work — as they shouldn’t if you’re going after big, hard problems). It was an exciting and stimulating environment to work in. I remember we once had a researcher approach us multiple times to pitch his idea, and each time it didn’t really hit the mark. I was getting tired of dealing with the researcher, when Matt said, “The first idea might not be good, nor the second, or the third. But the seventh or 20th might be and I still want that idea even if it took 20 iterations to be a good one.” And he was right. Eventually we connected that researcher to one of our existing performers and his idea was a good fit within the context of that larger project. So while I can’t promise that your first idea is the right one, I can promise that I can help you hit on the right idea faster and chart paths for making that idea real.
Depending on your needs, I offer an hourly rate or per proposal rate. If you would like someone to keep an eye out on an on-going basis for relevant opportunities for your business, I offer a subscription service. I’m also available on an on-going basis to help you develop and implement your R&D strategy. Contact me for a free consultation to determine which options are best for you.
"The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, [s]he is one who asks the right questions." ~ Claude Levi-Strauss
Principal & owner
Lindsey Hillesheim
Having worked on both sides of the federal funding fence, Dr. Hillesheim brings unique perspective to identifying appropriate funding opportunities and how best to pursue them. While at Adventium Labs (a small R&D business in Minneapolis, MN), she helped bring in $30M in federal R&D funding and seeded new funding opportunities at federal agencies. Five new proposal writers won their first proposal and a sixth won on a second try. At Strategic Analysis, Inc. (in Arlington, VA) she provided technical expertise and program management assistance to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In that role, she helped her clients successfully pitch several multi-million dollar programs, evaluated technologies, wrote BAAs and SBIR/STTR topics, reviewed proposals, and assessed performers and technical progress. She has an extensive network of relationships with federal R&D program managers across many different agencies and has worked in a wide range of technical areas including: bio/medical sciences, physics, artificial intelligence, cyber security, and computer science.
Education
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
PhD, Physics (bio/medical focus)
VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY
B.S., Physics & Humanities