Case Study

Securing $750K in Research Funding From Scratch, Then Saving $100K Shipping Two Prototypes

A fourth concurrent thread during the PhD years: building the business case for defense research funding from nothing, then delivering two prototypes on time, under budget, and $100K under cost.

Senior Product Manager, Joint Special Operations Command January 2014 to December 2017 Defense command, Tampa, FL Federal & DefenseProgram Building
$750K
Research funding secured from scratch
$100K
Saved launching two prototypes under budget
2
Prototypes shipped on time and under budget

Situation

A defense command wanted UX and mobile innovation applied to its own operations. No existing budget, no mandate. This ran as a fourth concurrent thread during the PhD years, alongside doctoral research and industry UX work at Amazon and Sonos. Nobody releases funding on the strength of an idea alone.

What I Built

  • Secured $750K in research funding, designing the business case and product strategy for UX and mobile innovation from scratch, with no existing program to point to as precedent.
  • Launched two prototypes on time and under budget, saving $100K while meeting the compliance and client standards a defense engagement requires.
  • Optimized monetization experiments in small-scale marketplaces, improving conversion and informing ARPU growth strategies, product-led growth thinking applied inside a defense command.
  • Conducted market and competitive analysis to guide roadmap prioritization and surface growth opportunities the command hadn't evaluated before.
  • Carried this as a fourth concurrent thread alongside full-time doctoral research and industry UX engagements at Amazon and Sonos, without any of it slipping.
No existing budget or mandate Business case built from scratch $750K secured Prototype 1 Prototype 2

ON TIME, UNDER BUDGET, $100K SAVED

No budget existed until the case was made. Both prototypes shipped on time, under budget, and $100K under cost.

The Hardest Problem

Getting a defense command to release real research funding against a case with no existing program to point to, while running this as one of four concurrent commitments during the PhD years. The pitch had to stand on its own logic. There was no prior track record inside this specific command to lean on.

Outcome

$750K in research funding secured from nothing. Two prototypes delivered on time, under budget, and $100K under cost, meeting the compliance and client standards a defense engagement requires, without any of it displacing the doctoral research and industry UX work running in parallel.

Skills Demonstrated

Defense product strategy, research funding and business case development from zero, product-led growth and monetization experimentation, market and competitive analysis, delivery under compliance constraints, concurrent program execution.

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