Productization for federal contractors.
Field notes and cost breakdowns on GovCon services-to-product transformation. Long-form, specific, no fluff.
Selling software to the federal government: which contract vehicle
There is no best vehicle for selling software to the federal government. There is a portfolio, and the choice depends on six inputs. A dated comparison of every route that matters, including the 2026 changes that broke most online advice.
How to read your own SAM entity record
A SAM entity record is not one number. It is four identifiers, assigned by four different organizations, each answering a different question. Here is the map.
How long does SAM registration actually take?
SAM registration itself is fast. Everything that has to be true before you can submit is the slow part, and the longest lead-time item is usually outside the government. Here is the order, the gates, and the clock that starts before you think it does.
What it costs to productize a federal service
Most productization budgets count the visible costs and miss the two that decide the outcome: the founder's time and the delay. Three scenarios, each line itemised, with arithmetic you can recompute.
Which FedRAMP certification class do you need? A, B, C or D
FedRAMP now certifies by class. Start at Class A unless you handle controlled data or a named customer requires more. The three tests that decide it, and why the old impact levels do not translate exactly.
How much does FedRAMP actually cost in 2026?
FedRAMP now certifies by class. Class A is a SOC 2 plus package work, about $90,000 to $100,000 in third-party cost. Class C is $170,000 to $200,000 plus a year of engineering. The ranges, and the test before you spend.
How to productize a government contract
The first question is not what to sell. It is whether you own it. A guide to the data rights test, the six stages, and the scoring method that decides which piece of delivery work becomes a product.
The contract archaeology checklist: finding productizable IP in your delivery history
Every federal services firm over three years old is sitting on $500K-$5M of productizable IP. They just can't see it. Here's the six-section contract archaeology checklist that surfaces it — drawn from the HARBOR Harvest stage.
Can you productize an SBIR? A realistic framework for Phase III commercialization
The SBA's benchmark for commercializing a Phase II award is $100,000 in sales or investment, and a single services contract clears it. That is why Phase III commercialization needs a different business model than the one that won the award.
The real valuation gap: why federal services firms sell for 0.8x revenue
Federal IT services firms trade at 0.8-1.2x revenue. Software platforms in the same market trade at 3-5x. The gap is structural, not cultural — and it compounds every year you stay pure-services.