Defense Innovation Funding Series: DARPA: How to Win by Making the Impossible Probable

This webinar has concluded. Download the resources here.

Overview

The ARPA model is designed for ideas that feel too early, too ambitious, or too risky for conventional funding. Yet the companies and organizations that win consistently do not just have strong science. They show a credible path to risk reduction, transition, and long-term impact.

In this session, Sam Tetlow and Dr. Geoffrey Ling will give founders and technical leaders a practical, insider view of how the ARPA ecosystem works, with a deep focus on DARPA, plus an additional view on ARPA-E and ARPA-I.

You will leave with a clearer approach to framing your program using the Heilmeier Catechism, building relationships with program managers within the context of broader defense innovation network, choosing the right mechanism, and preparing your company for diligence, execution, and follow-on capital needs after award.

Who Should Attend

• Dual-use and defense-adjacent startups pursuing DARPA programs, including BAA, ERIS, SBIR and other initiatives.
• Founders, CEOs, CTOs, Technical PIs, BD leads, and capture teams building a repeatable federal innovation motion

What We Will Cover

The ARPA model is designed to take on national-priority problems where ambition is high and uncertainty is real, using time-bounded programs, milestone-driven execution, and a ruthless focus on retiring the riskiest unknowns. Across the five ARPAs, the pattern is consistent: define an outcome that matters, decompose it into provable technical and transition risks, then fund the work that changes the probability of success. In this webinar we quickly map the ARPA ecosystem, then go deep into DARPA and touch on ARPA-E and ARPA-I as the clearest playbooks for founders, with practical engagement notes on how to position early and build credibility as you mature your interaction.

DARPA exists to prevent strategic surprise by creating it first, and it “makes the impossible probable” by insisting on clarity, speed, and dramatic risk reduction, not incremental progress. Dr. Geoffrey Ling will unpack how DARPA thinks, why it is different, how programs are designed and executed, and what impact looks like, including illustrative innovations such as early ARPANET milestones. He will also walk through how DARPA evaluates ideas using the Heilmeier Catechism, how to approach and work with program managers, and the common failure modes that kill otherwise-strong efforts: mismatched end user, vague transition, weak risk framing, unrealistic timelines, and under-scoped budgets.

Sam Tetlow will translate that perspective into an actionable funding and execution plan: how to read BAAs and topic-style solicitations for signal, how SBIR/STTR can serve as an intentional on-ramp into larger DARPA and other ARPA programs, and how to budget credibly by asking for enough money to reduce the risks that actually matter. You will also get a clear view of what to expect after award: execution cadence, stakeholder management, diligence and governance expectations, and why follow-on capital is often part of success because ARPA funding is meant to de-risk, not fully commercialize. The session closes with a concise slide on Grant Engine’s differentiators: focused expertise across dual-use, life science, and energy/infrastructure, and a structured multi-step approach with rigorous External Review, in-house primary research on what wins and why, and a track record built to support teams from SBIR through multi-million-dollar programs for companies to get well on their way towards becoming a Program of Record.

Speakers:

• Sam Tetlow, Founder & CEO of Grant Engine (bio)
• Geoffrey Ling MD, PhD, Colonel, US Army (ret)

This webinar has concluded. Download the resources here.