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FOX SELF-CERTIFIES INTO EVERY SET-ASIDE SAM OFFERS, QUALIFIES FOR NONE OF THEM
June 3, 2026 | The Less Formal Debriefing
One firm checks every eligibility box on every bid. It meets none of them. It feels very competitive. THE SET-ASIDE LANE. Finn found a lane with less traffic. He does not qualify for it. He is already in it. Finn the Fox does not break rules. He finds the door the rules forgot to lock. He calls himself whatever the door requires. Today he is running a small business. On the next bid he is a HUBZone firm. By Friday he is service-disabled, woman-owned, and 8(a). His headquarters is a rented mailbox in a strip mall. Box 14. He lists…
I ignored two of the three pieces of advice. Fear does that.
June 1, 2026 | Company News
A few years back I found myself in a room listening to a guy named Josh present on prospecting for government sales. He was good. Really good. So I did something I don't normally do. I asked if he'd take a call. He said yes. When I told him what I was struggling with, he gave me three things: Build your pipeline. Speak publicly. Write a book. I heard the first one. The other two I filed under "not for me." That wasn't wisdom. That was fear dressed up as humility. Since then I've coached many more businesses, spoken at…
VETS26
May 28, 2026 | Events
Most people prepare for a conference by charging their phone and hoping for the best. That is not a strategy. That is a coin flip with a lanyard. On Monday, June 1st, we are running a pre-conference workshop at NVSBC #VETS26. 7 Operational Tactics for Conference Success. Seven specific moves. Before, during, and after the event. The kind nobody puts on the agenda. Walk in with a plan, and a conference stops being a hallway full of small talk. It becomes a pipeline. While you are there, swing by @RSM Federal in Booth 703. Good people who know this game.…
WEASEL CHARGES SMALL BUSINESSES FOR FREE SAM REGISTRATION, CALLS IT A “MEMBERSHIP”
May 28, 2026 | The Less Formal Debriefing
One firm discovered the federal portal costs nothing. So it built a business on the fear that it doesn’t. THE REGISTRATION QUEUE. The registration is free. Grifter found a way to charge for it anyway. Grifter the Weasel does not consider this a scam. He considers it a service. The service is sending you an email that looks like SAM sent it. SAM did not send it. Grifter sent it. From a laptop. In a folding chair. He has built an entire business on the gap between what SAM costs and what people will pay out of fear. His…
How Smart Companies Win Government Contracts Reaches #1 on Amazon
May 21, 2026 | Company News
The book hit #1 in its category on Amazon in its first week. I wrote it because the book I needed 20 years ago did not exist. No shortcuts, no theory, just the strategy, positioning, and execution that actually wins federal contracts. Built on 20 years of real wins and real losses. Thank you to everyone who bought a copy, shared it, and told a friend. You made this happen. The announcement was picked up by EIN Presswire and syndicated nationally. You can read the full release here: https://www.einpresswire.com/article/914071452/earnest-s-how-smart-companies-win-government-contracts-reaches-no-1-in-its-category-on-amazon If you have not grabbed your copy yet, here is where…
LOCAL SQUIRREL REFRESHES SAM.GOV FOR EIGHTH HOUR AWAITING 8(a) PROGRAM HE IS NOT IN
May 21, 2026 | The Less Formal Debriefing
Dash Capital pursues seven set-asides it does not qualify for, ignores 200 it does THE SET-ASIDE LINE. Dash the Squirrel of Dash Capital was observed Tuesday at his desk, refreshing the SBA certification portal once every forty seconds, waiting for the 8(a) Business Development Program to start approving new applicants again. He has been doing this since August. He is not in the 8(a) program. He has never applied. Dash’s desk is buried under printed sources sought notices, sorted by no system anyone can identify, each one stickered with the phrase “HOT LEAD” and a date in 2024. “I just…
LOCAL PORCUPINE INFORMS SAM HE WILL NOT BE QUOTING A PRICE, NOW OR EVER
May 13, 2026 | The Less Formal Debriefing
Quillby, 61, says new fixed-price rule is “a personal attack on my entire filing system” THE PROPOSAL ROOM — Quillby Pemberton, a porcupine and longtime owner of a three-person professional services firm registered in SAM since the second Clinton term, was found Tuesday on top of a filing cabinet, glaring at a printed copy of an executive order he refused to acknowledge by name. The order, signed April 30, makes fixed-price contracts the default when selling to SAM. Cost-reimbursement contracts now require written justification. The administration cited $120 billion obligated on cost-reimbursement consulting contracts last year as the reason. Quillby…
The first bottleneck in most government sales pipelines is the founder.
April 28, 2026 | Business Development
Not the schedule. Not the buyer. Not the proposal. You. We've seen it for 20 years. The founder is researching, writing, calling, teaming, and quoting. The pipeline grows until the founder runs out of hours, then it freezes. Time is finite. 24 Hours in a Day 365 Days in a Year. You can't create more. Pick one thing this week that is not yours anymore. Hand it off, even imperfectly. That is one thing we help our clients. Transitioning from working in the business to working on the business Schedule a strategy call with me. Bring your bottlenecks. I’ll give…
Conferences go beyond the agenda
April 20, 2026 | Uncategorized
The agenda is the decoy. Most people sit through the panels, collect a tote bag, and fly home thinking they worked the conference. The real stuff happens in the hallway. The coffee line. The bar at 9pm when a contracting officer mentions something their agency has been quietly struggling with for eight months. We've seen clients land meetings at breakfast that would've taken six months to schedule cold. Show up early. Stay late. Skip a session if you have to. The agenda tells you where to sit. It doesn't tell you where the work gets done. On Monday June 1st,…
One exhausted hero does not win government contracts.
April 15, 2026 | Uncategorized
A functioning team does. We have all seen it. One person carrying the entire proposal is like the world’s strongest man hauling a couch up three flights of stairs. Impressive. Unnecessary. Someone is going to pull something. Sustainable teams win. Check your bench this week. Stay strategic.
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