E29 – Inside Look on Selling Tech to the Pentagon

Don’t miss our newsletter! Mike and Jake host John Ferry to discuss the ins & outs and the highs & lows of trying to sell tech to the Pentagon, and the US government—how it really works. Warning: We had a ton of fun—maybe a bit too much. This episode is full of spicy takes and unvarnished thoughts and opinions based on 15+ years of experience and scar tissue. Hang on for a ride deep down the rabbit hole of govcon and fedtech nerdiness, but we make it out ok at the end—discussing the next AI vs. AI front. For those interested in #defense #military #business #technology #nationalsecurity ---- Links • Sign up for our ⁠amazing newsletter⁠! • Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠! • Jake Chapman X (@vc) • Mike Benitez (LinkedIn) • John Ferry (LinkedIn) • Rogue.com ---- Follow us on... • ⁠Instagram⁠ • ⁠Facebook⁠ • ⁠X (Twitter)⁠ • ⁠LinkedIn⁠ • ⁠Website⁠ ---- Show Notes (01:10) John Ferry (08:30) coming out of the shell (10:52) selected not funded (wtf!) (11:22) confessions of a SBIR scorer (14:06) GovCon Merit Badges (17:57) SBIR “consultants” (19:50) SBIR mills (21:56) founder horror story (26:05) John’s creative process (29:48) PowerPoint Ranger (32:43) change the industry vs change yourself (34:17) the same, but also never easier (43:38) play the game, roll the dice (44:50) pump those numbers up! (cost plus) (46:06) recent fixed-price pushback (50:42) using AI to write government proposals (54:57) AI vs AI proposal writing/scoring (1:00:10) outro