Starting is always the hardest, especially on a complex task. Writing a good MBIE Endeavour proposal is in that category.

How do I usually get going? Two basic and one specific tip.

This only works if you’ve started talking to stakeholders and have a clear idea about your research. If you’re still in the self-discovery stage, I will discuss a different strategy in a later newsletter.

Tip Nr 1 Compare this round to last year’s

That is basic but important stuff. Read (and compare) all documents relevant to the grant, especially the new ones, meticulously. For Endeavour, this usually includes the Call for Proposals and Assessment Guidelines. Also, have a look at the documents that remained the same. These are often and Science Panel members, Investment plan and the Vision Matauranga booklet.

This is not only to see what changed but also to refresh my memory of Endeavour and get in the mood and mindset to write a proposal. Everyone’s busy but this time is not wasted.

Attend the MBIE roadshow or view the recording. Then, everything will make sense.

Tip: Create or update a cheat sheet for yourself with everything you want or need to remember. I have a whole wall covered in these cheat sheets for various funds and examples of ideal writing practise. Whenever I begin a new section or get confused about the proposal, I recheck.

Tip Nr 2 Make a simple plan and (Gantt) chart

I just use a simple Excel sheet. This should include all sections you need to write as well as any other work you need to complete, e.g. internet research for numbers, references, stakeholder engagement, review’s, proofreading. Insert important internal and external deadlines. Decide which order will work best for you and how long the task will take. Check it while you write.

Tip Nr 3 Start on the Science Excellence and Benefits to New Zealand section in parallel

Science Excellence is the 1^st hurdle to overcome. It is often the hardest part to get right. I ask my customers to write as much as possible for this section asap. That shows us where we are at and if all key questions are addressed. Then we progress to the more detailed sections. Sometimes the team has a (clear) idea, but we can’t define the excellence, novelty science stretch etc. well. In this scenario, I invert the usual process by quickly writing the research specifics to drill into them to see if I can extract any “nuggets”.

I strongly advise to work on the Benefits to NZ part while drafting the Science Excellence. I typically begin the research on benefits, statistics, and policies once I have the idea and the need. The reason is that I want quickly to collect a list of the research’s benefits, their expected size/importance and beneficiaries. Note that this should be much more detailed than just the “the worldwide/New Zealand market in $Bio” or “xyz policy is in place”. I try to be as specific as I can to estimate the numbers or outline why policy xyz is so important.

Doing this has two advantages:

First, it helps me to check if my present stakeholder involvement logic makes sense. For instance, if I create a device for a particular industry, I always try to reason from numbers why they would purchase it and what savings or new items they would experience because of doing so. In addition, I estimate which business, best in New Zealand, could sell how many to the industry. This often reveals that there are additional industries and/or groups that should be interested in the technology I haven’t anticipated. Sometimes I find these groups can realise even greater benefits than the original ones. I need to talk to them immediately and enlist their support.

Second, this exercise gives us a solid foundation to talk to the stakeholders and ask more specific questions about problems we encountered. Just presenting the technology and then hoping stakeholders will tell you all the needs and numbers will not work. In the best case, they can help us refine our numbers. In the worst case, they might tell us we are on the wrong path but often they can clearly explain why and what when they see the numbers/ideas. Be open for that. Since you have done the groundwork already, it is often relatively easy to dig deeper and adjust everything.