How federal contracting actually works
Practical, opinionated guides for small companies selling to the U.S. government — written to be useful on the first read, with the parts nobody tells you left in.
Getting started
Programs & eligibility
Small business set-aside programs, explained
8(a), WOSB/EDWOSB, HUBZone and SDVOSB — what each actually requires, what it's worth, and which are worth certifying for.
Read guide →13 min readChoosing NAICS codes (and why size standards matter more)
The code decides which opportunities you see. The size standard attached to it decides whether you're allowed to call yourself small.
Read guide →10 min readBidding
How to read a federal solicitation
Where the answer actually is in a 200-page RFP, which sections decide whether you win, and how to triage one in fifteen minutes.
Read guide →12 min readThe bid/no-bid decision
A scoring framework for small teams, because the expensive mistake in government contracting is not losing — it's bidding on things you were never going to win.
Read guide →10 min readGrowth
Writing a capability statement that gets read
One page, thirty seconds of a stranger's attention, and four things it has to contain. Most of them get this backwards.
Read guide →8 min readBuilding past performance when you have none
The circular problem every new contractor hits — you need federal past performance to win federal work — and the five legitimate ways around it.
Read guide →10 min readSubcontracting: the underrated way in
Most first federal revenue arrives through a prime, not from the government. Here's how to find the primes and how to approach them without wasting their time.
Read guide →9 min readThen go find the work
Every open federal contract, grant and recent award we track, searchable by keyword, industry, agency and set-aside program. Free, no account.
Browse opportunities