Success in academic medicine is driven in large part by obtaining grant funding. Resources are limited even in the best of circumstances; therefore, competition is frequently fierce. Herein we outline our personal perspectives1 gained over decades of (painful) apprenticeship and mentoring as well as planning, writing, rewriting and reviewing grants. We focus on independent investigator-initiated (ie, R01, VA Merit Awards) applications, although many of the concepts are applicable to mentored or similar career development award applications and summarized in recent publications.