Defense Tech BaseHow the course works
Every lesson below is free to read. Email delivers the same core material with examples selected for your goal, stage and product type. Choose daily, every two days or weekly. Lessons begin after you confirm your email and follow your chosen pace.
Pause or change preferences from any lesson. You are signing up for this course only, not the weekly briefing. Finishing an exercise is optional and does not block the next email.
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Lesson 1 of 5
Define a problem someone buys
Describe a buyer problem and a measurable result before choosing agencies or searching solicitations.
A useful starting point is a sentence that joins a user, a recurring problem and a result you can demonstrate. “We build AI” is a technology label. “We help maintenance planners turn approved inspection records into a prioritized repair queue” gives you something to investigate.
Separate the person who experiences the problem from the organization that purchases the work. A program team, a contracting office and a prime contractor can each play different roles. Record what you know and what still needs confirmation; a meeting with an interested user does not identify a purchasing route.
Choose a small initial use case that you can describe without assuming access, integration approval or government endorsement. Write down the evidence you can show today, such as a reproducible demonstration or relevant commercial delivery. Leave future capabilities in a separate column.
A worked example
Illustrative example: a scheduling tool has strong commercial results but no government deployment. Its brief claims those commercial results and asks which approved government workflow could support an evaluation.
Put it to work
Write a one-page problem brief with user, current process, measurable outcome, evidence and unanswered buyer questions.
- One specific user and process
- A result you can demonstrate
- Known evidence separated from future claims
Lesson 2 of 5
Build a buyer shortlist from purchasing evidence
Use past awards to generate buyer hypotheses, then verify the purchased scope and office in the original record.
Research the work being purchased, not just famous agencies or companies. Search descriptions using the problem, process and deliverable from your brief. Keep the original source link, recorded date, recipient, purchasing organization and a short explanation of why the record is relevant.
Read what the award actually bought. A research study, equipment lease and operational service can contain the same keyword but imply very different purchasing situations. A parent-agency label alone rarely gives you a useful contact. Look for a program, subagency or office that you can investigate further.
Compare several records before treating a single award as a market. Historical award totals are not available budgets, and an incumbent award is not an open opportunity. Supplement records with official forecasts, current notices and appropriate public small-business contacts. Your shortlist should explain fit and uncertainty rather than rank buyers by an invented probability.
A worked example
Illustrative example: one award buys machining research and another buys production parts. A production supplier keeps the second as stronger evidence and records the first as a separate research lead.
Put it to work
Record three plausible buyers and one piece of relevant purchasing evidence for each. Add the next question needed to confirm fit.
- Original record and date saved
- Purchased deliverable identified
- Office and next research question recorded
Lesson 3 of 5
Compare routes to the same customer problem
Choose a route by the work, customer and acquisition conditions; a route name alone does not create funding.
Put direct contracting, subcontracting, research funding and prototype agreements beside the same use case. Describe who would buy, what you would deliver and what evidence is needed to pursue each route. You may find that a prime’s existing program is a better starting point than a broad agency competition.
For a direct opportunity, inspect the current notice, attachments and actual requirements. For subcontracting, investigate the prime’s purchased work and supplier process. For SBIR/STTR or an other transaction, read the specific topic or opportunity and applicable instructions. These routes have different purposes and conditions; they are not interchangeable shortcuts.
Make the unresolved dependency visible. An interested end user might lack purchasing authority, a proposed prototype might lack a funded evaluation, or a teaming discussion might lack a defined work package. Ask for the next concrete step that would resolve that dependency. Avoid spending a full proposal effort before confirming the basic route fit.
A worked example
Illustrative example: a component supplier compares a prime-contractor work package with a government R&D topic. The first needs production evidence; the second needs a credible research plan.
Put it to work
Compare two routes with buyer, deliverable, evidence needed, registration or eligibility questions, effort and next action.
- Two routes compared against one use case
- Current official instructions consulted
- Unresolved funding or authority question named
Lesson 4 of 5
Prepare only the materials your route needs
Keep identifiers, registrations, capability evidence and solicitation requirements distinct.
Build a preparation list for your chosen route instead of collecting every certification you have heard mentioned. SAM.gov registration and a UEI are related but distinct: obtaining an identifier alone is not a complete active registration. SBA’s official getting-started resources explain basic federal contracting requirements.
Prepare an accurate capability statement with a specific offer, relevant delivery evidence, company contact and identifiers you can verify. A new company can describe a tested product or relevant team experience clearly without implying it has government past performance. Keep placeholders out of the version you share.
Create a separate requirements list from the actual opportunity or supplier onboarding instructions. Assign each requirement an owner and supporting evidence. Cybersecurity, export controls, facility access and personnel requirements should be investigated from the work and contract rather than inferred from the word “defense.” Track missing information explicitly and seek the appropriate clarification.
A worked example
Illustrative example: a software team has a UEI but has not completed registration. It records those as separate statuses and gives the buyer a capability brief without claiming registration is active.
Put it to work
Complete a capability statement draft and a preparation checklist that records requirement, evidence, owner and unresolved question.
- Company claims and identifiers verified
- Requirements tied to an actual route
- Missing evidence assigned an owner
Lesson 5 of 5
Make a go/no-go decision and a next-action plan
Pursue work when scope, evidence, delivery capacity and commercial terms support the effort; document unresolved blockers.
Read the full current notice and amendments before deciding. A title that matches your technology is not enough. Extract deliverables, response instructions, dates, evaluation requirements and known dependencies into one decision record. Keep mandatory requirements separate from preferences.
Assess what the team can actually deliver, the proposal effort, likely cash needs and unresolved commercial questions. Do not turn a bid/no-bid worksheet into a fake win-probability model. The useful output is a reasoned decision with an owner, supporting evidence and the condition that would change the decision.
Finish with a short action plan: which official question to ask, which evidence to prepare, which buyer or partner to investigate and when you will review the decision. If you decide not to bid, retain the learning and identify a smaller route that fits your present capabilities. Declining a mismatched opportunity can be a successful outcome of research.
A worked example
Illustrative example: a team holds a bid because an integration dependency remains unanswered. It prepares a clarification and a commercial demonstration rather than assuming that dependency will disappear.
Put it to work
Write a pursue, hold or decline decision with three evidence-backed reasons and your next three actions.
- Current amendments checked
- Decision backed by evidence
- Three specific next actions with owners
Questions about this course
How do I start learning government contracting?
Start with a specific product or service, find evidence of comparable purchases, and investigate who uses it, who funds it and how it is bought. This course turns those steps into five exercises.
Does registration get me a government contract?
No. Registration and identifiers support relevant transactions; they do not establish customer demand, eligibility for every opportunity or a promise of an award.
Can I take the course without email?
Yes. All five lessons are available on this page. Email adds a chosen pace and examples matched to your stage and product type.