Free Growth Audit · Federal contractors $1M+ in past performance

Three pursuits worth winning. One trap to walk away from.

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Monday Brief · Acme · Week of Apr 27

Three picks for week of Apr 27 — VA recompete + NIH corridor opening, $9.5M-$31M range. The DOJ pre-sol isn’t worth your week.

Delivered 2026-04-27 06:01 ET · Pipeline v2.0.0 · Sample

This week — three picks ranked
  1. Pick 01

    Submit Sources Sought response → VA Digital Service — DA01 — Network Infrastructure Modernization

    $48.0M–$120.0Mgrounded
    SAM.govUSAspending

    The VA posted a Sources Sought on 2026-04-17 for a network infrastructure recompete with a response deadline of 2026-05-11.

  2. Pick 02

    File task-order bid → NIH Center for Information Technology — NIH CIT — EHR Integration Support

    $8.5M–$22.0Mgrounded
    SAM.govUSAspending

    NIH CIT posted a Task Order RFQ on 2026-04-25 under the GSA MAS SIN 54151S vehicle, with a response deadline of 2026-05-15.

  3. Pick 03

    Send teaming intro → DISA Joint Force HQ DODIN — DISA JFHQ-DODIN — DevSecOps Lift, prime teaming intro

    $1.2M–$4.5Mgrounded
    SAM.govUSAspending

    DISA posted a Sources Sought on 2026-04-21 for a five-year DevSecOps lift contract under CIO-SP3-SB.

Walk away from

Walk away from the DOJ JMD cybersecurity pre-solicitation

The DOJ Justice Management Division pre-sol [5] is in your NAICS, set-aside coded Small Business, and reads relevant on the surface. Walk away.

7 numbered citations · every $ traceableNext brief — Mon 2026-05-04 06:01 ET

Sample brief · This is what every paid customer wakes up to on Monday morning.

§3.2 · Capture path

By the time the RFP posts, the win is already decided.

You found the right notice. You started drafting. Halfway through you weren’t sure whether the incumbent is beatable, whether the set-aside argument holds, or whether your past performance lands with this contracting officer (CO). You were guessing. Here’s what the audit ships instead.

Capture path · Rank 1 · Sources Sought response

Department of Veterans Affairs — VA Digital Service

DA01 — Network Infrastructure Modernization · Sources Sought

medium
Days to action
12
PoP end
2027-09-30
Revenue range
$48.00M – $120.00M
Pursuit cost
$3K
Incumbent: WESTBROOK NETWORK SERVICES LLC McLean VA 22102 USASet-aside: WOSBNAICS: 541512PSC: D307

Why now

The VA posted a Sources Sought on 2026-04-17 for a network infrastructure recompete with a response deadline of 2026-05-11. The incumbent (WESTBROOK NETWORK SERVICES LLC) held this contract since 2022 under NAICS 541512 — a $42M base award with two option periods expiring September 2027. Response to a Sources Sought costs $3,000 in BD time and opens the positioning window before the formal solicitation posts; firms that respond to the market research are statistically 2.3x more likely to submit a compliant proposal.

Why you fit · 5 points

  • —SDVOSB + WOSB dual certification — the VA goal-pressure data for WOSB at this sub-tier is flagged high (92% of target as of Q2 FY2026 SBA scorecard), making the set-aside argument structurally sound.
  • —$148.97M VA CMOP past performance anchor in NAICS 541512 — scope overlap with the network modernization requirement exceeds 78% on capability-text similarity.
  • —GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) holder under SIN 54151S — the vehicle pathway is open even if the agency pivots from a standalone IDIQ to a task order vehicle.
  • —Virginia-based place of performance: Acme's primary state matches the anticipated PoP, satisfying the geographic proximity signal that VA Digital Service historically applies to LPTA evaluations.
  • —Documented PSC D307 (IT and Telecommunications — Automated Data Processing) award history from FPDS — three prior contracts in this PSC confirm the relevancy argument without extrapolation.

Why you might skip · 3 risks

  • —Incumbent entrenchment: WESTBROOK has held this scope for four years. Recompetes with an incumbent longer than 36 months carry a win-rate suppression of approximately 18% relative to open competitions.
  • —No direct VA Digital Service relationship on file — the positioning angle requires a CO-introduction letter before the solicitation posts, adding a dependency on outreach that may not complete in 12 days.
  • —Proposal cost: if this escalates to a full TORFP under a task order vehicle, the proposal cost rises to $25–$45K. Confirm scope is standalone before committing.

Next actions · 5 sequenced steps

  1. 1.TODAY (by 2026-04-29): Download and review the attached Sources Sought document (VA-267-26-SS-0042). Confirm scope aligns with PSC D307 and that the WOSB set-aside language is present.
  2. 2.By 2026-05-01: Draft a 3-page capability statement citing the $148.97M VA CMOP contract number, the three D307 FPDS awards, and the GSA MAS SIN 54151S vehicle. Keep the set-aside argument in the first paragraph.
  3. 3.By 2026-05-03: Send a CO-introduction letter to the contracting office listed in the Sources Sought. Attach the capability statement. Request a 30-minute capability call if the CO's calendar is open.
  4. 4.By 2026-05-08: File the formal Sources Sought response (3–5 pages max). Confirm WOSB certification is active in SAM.gov — the SAM entity refresh timestamp must be within 12 months of the response date.
  5. 5.By 2026-05-11 (deadline): Submit response by 4:00 PM ET. Retain the submission confirmation. Log the opportunity in your BD pipeline with a 90-day follow-up trigger for the solicitation posting.

Do not do · 4 traps

  • —Do not submit a generic capability statement — the evaluating CO sees 40–80 responses per Sources Sought. A generic statement scores the same as a non-response.
  • —Do not position as a "technology-agnostic partner" — specificity on the PSC D307 award history and the CMOP scope is the proof of relevancy. Vagueness reads as a weak case.
  • —Do not contact the incumbent. The FAR prohibits unsolicited teaming advances during the market research phase for set-aside acquisitions. This is a compliance risk, not a tactical call.
  • —Do not wait for the formal solicitation to begin positioning. The win probability drops approximately 40% if the first touchpoint with the CO is the proposal itself.

Positioning angle

Lead with the $148.97M VA CMOP anchor — it is the strongest relevancy proof for a network modernization scope at VA Digital Service. Pair it with the WOSB certification and the SBA goal-pressure signal to frame Acme as the compliant, performance-proven, set-aside-eligible incumbent challenger. The GSA MAS pathway belongs in the second paragraph as the vehicle backup argument, not the lead. Avoid phrases like "innovative" or "cutting-edge" — the CO is evaluating relevance to prior scope, not novelty.

Evidence · 5 traceable claims

  • VA obligated $2.14B in NAICS 541512 small-business contracts in the trailing 24 months.
    $2.14B2024-04–2026-04Source
  • Incumbent WESTBROOK NETWORK SERVICES LLC holds a $42M base contract (award date 2022-09-15, FPDS).
    $42.00M2022-09Source
  • WOSB set-aside SBA goal attainment for VA Digital Service sub-tier is 92% of FY2026 target as of Q2 SBA scorecard.
    92%FY2026-Q2Source
  • Acme past-performance anchor: $148.97M VA CMOP contract (FPDS, PSC D307, NAICS 541512).
    $148.97M2021-2025Source
  • Sources Sought response window: 14 days from posting (2026-04-17 → 2026-05-11). Market research phase — formal solicitation expected Q3 FY2026.
    2026-04-17Source

Medium confidence: strong past-performance and certification alignment, but incumbent entrenchment and absence of a CO relationship suppress the probability estimate. Sources Sought response is low-cost and high-optionality — the downside is 12 days of BD time, the upside is the solicitation pipeline.

541512 · SDVOSB + WOSB · VA — your audit runs against your own UEI and certifications.

§3.4 · Profile health · 6 dimensions

I have a vague sense of what’s weak. I don’t have a number.

You know your past performance is uneven. You know the vehicle access is limited. You couldn’t rank-order what to fix first, or tell a consultant what the score is. Here’s what the audit ships: a 0–100 score per dimension, a rationale, and a concrete corrective action with a timeline and cost estimate.

62/100

Overall profile health score

Solid certification posture and capability alignment. Weak spots: limited vehicle access and a thin agency-relationship footprint outside VA. Fixing both within 90 days moves the overall score above 75.

Capability Fit
75
Past Performance
68
Certifications
80
Contract Vehicles
55
Agency Relationships
58
Geographic Coverage
60
Capability Fit
75

Six documented capability clusters in NAICS 541512 (healthcare IT integration, EHR systems support, cybersecurity operations, DevSecOps, ALM, managed services) with three PSC D307 FPDS awards confirming the scope alignment. The gap: no documented AI/ML delivery track, which appears in 22% of VA NAICS 541512 RFPs posted in the past 12 months.

What moves this up

Add one AI/ML delivery case study to the GSA MAS capability statement. A single concrete project narrative with quantified outcomes (e.g., "reduced ticket resolution time 31% via ML-assisted triage") raises the capability score to 82 within 30 days.

Past Performance
68

$148.97M VA CMOP anchor is the strongest single data point. However, three of the five FPDS-documented contracts ended before 2023 — evaluators applying the FAR 15.305(a)(2) recency standard (three-year window) will discount two of them. Active references: 2 of 5.

What moves this up

Secure a new prime contract or a substantive subcontract in NAICS 541512 with a 2025–2026 period of performance. Even a $500K task order under the existing GSA MAS restores the recency count to 3 of 5, moving the score to 78.

Certifications
80

SDVOSB + WOSB dual certification is the strongest combination for VA and HHS set-aside pools. SAM.gov entity registration is current (refreshed within 90 days). No expiration risk within the 12-month window.

What moves this up

File for HUBZone certification (see Strategic Move #2). Adding HUBZone raises the score to 88 and opens 14% of VA NAICS 541512 awards that are currently inaccessible.

Contract Vehiclesweakest — fix first
55

One vehicle on file: GSA MAS SIN 54151S. Most large VA and HHS IT modernization BPAs require either Alliant 2, CIO-SP3 Small Business, or Alliant 3. Acme is not on any of these. The vehicle gap directly excludes the firm from 38% of NAICS 541512 opportunities that require an IDIQ vehicle.

What moves this up

Apply to the GSA Alliant 3 on-ramp when it opens (projected Q4 FY2026). In the interim, teaming with an Alliant 2 prime on a relevant RFP as a named subcontractor builds the track record needed for the Alliant 3 application.

Agency Relationships
58

Strong VA relationship (three known CO touchpoints, one program office reference). No documented relationship at HHS, DOD, or DHS — the three agencies that together account for 61% of small-business NAICS 541512 obligation. Agency concentration in a single department is a pipeline fragility risk.

What moves this up

One CO-introduction letter + one DSBS (Dynamic Small Business Search) profile update for HHS CMOP within 30 days establishes the first touchpoint. Moves the score to 68. A capability call within 60 days moves it to 74.

Geographic Coverage
60

Primary performance state is Virginia (80% of FPDS awards). Virginia is the top place-of-performance state for VA NAICS 541512 contracts. However, HHS and DOD awards are geographically distributed — Maryland (NIH campus), DC (Pentagon), and CONUS-wide remote delivery each appear in 30–40% of solicitations. No documented OCONUS delivery track.

What moves this up

Register a Maryland business address or add a Maryland-licensed entity (30–45 days, ~$500). This satisfies the geographic proximity signal for NIH CMOP solicitations without requiring a physical office. Moves the score to 70.

Scores compute against public FPDS, SAM.gov, and USAspending for your own NAICS + certification profile. No competitor publishes a quantified profile-health diagnostic with corrective actions on a public page.

541512 · SDVOSB + WOSB · VA — your audit runs against your own UEI and certifications.

§3.5 · Top buyers · NAICS 541512 · trailing 24 months

The buyers writing the most small-business checks in your NAICS.

The audit ranks the agencies actually obligating dollars to firms like yours over the last 24 months — by total small-business obligation, set-aside rate, and average award size. Every figure traces to USAspending. The picks in your weekly brief skew toward these buyers; the rest of the agencies are noise unless something specific changes.

$9.45Btotal small-business obligation

NAICS 541512 · 2024-04-01 – 2026-04-01 · USAspending

Top federal buyers in NAICS 541512, trailing 24 months, USAspending
AgencySB obligatedSB rate
Department of Veterans Affairs$1.25B58.4%
Department of Health and Human Services$2.59B56.6%
Department of Defense$2.51B28.1%
General Services Administration$813.0M44.2%
Department of Homeland Security$917.0M39.7%
Department of Justice$348.0M51.2%
Social Security Administration$302.0M61.7%
Department of Treasury$272.0M48.5%
Department of State$185.0M43.1%
Department of Energy$263.0M35.6%

NAICS 541512 · trailing 24 months · USAspending

USAspending

Common Product/Service Codes (PSCs) by SB obligation · NAICS 541512

PSCDescriptionSB obligated
D307IT and Telecommunications — Automated Data Processing$3.24B
D302IT and Telecommunications — Systems Development$1.87B
D318IT and Telecommunications — Integrated Hardware/Software/Services$1.41B

§3.3 · Strategic plan · 90 days

Slow weeks decide next quarter.

The temptation on a slow week is to wait for the next notice. But the firms that win consistently aren’t the ones who bid the most — they’re the ones who use slow weeks to move profile work forward. Filing a HUBZone certification. Opening a second agency corridor. Getting on the right vehicle before the solicitation posts. The audit ranks those moves by expected return, costs them, and times them.

01

90-day move · Rank 1

Open a second agency corridor at HHS — $2.59B SB obligation in NAICS 541512

Rationale

HHS obligated $2.59B in small-business NAICS 541512 contracts over the trailing 24 months, at a 56.6% SB award rate across 872 awards. Acme has zero HHS past performance. The marginal cost of a cold-outreach corridor is low: one CO-introduction letter + one GSA MAS task-order submission on an existing HHS BPA. The agency goal-pressure data shows HHS is 94% toward its WOSB annual target — any WOSB-certified firm with a coherent capability statement enters the evaluation pool.

Timeline
30–45 days to first CO touchpoint; 60–90 days to pipeline entry
Expected cost
$1,500–$3,000 (capability statement refresh + CO-introduction + DSBS profile update)
Source
Section 7 — Finding & Evaluating Opportunities
02

90-day move · Rank 2

File HUBZone certification — expands set-aside eligibility for 14% of VA NAICS 541512 awards

VA awarded 14.2% of its NAICS 541512 small-business contracts under HUBZone set-asides over the trailing 12 months. Acme's registered address qualifies for HUBZone census-tract designation as of the 2020 Census update. HUBZone certification takes 60–90 days once the SBA application is complete. Filing now means the certification is active before the Q4 FY2026 VA recompete cycle, which historically produces 40–60% of annual small-business awards.

Timeline: 60–90 days to SBA certificationCost: $500–$2,500
03

90-day move · Rank 3

Submit to GSA Alliant 3 on-ramp when open — secures IDIQ vehicle access for $75B ceiling

GSA Alliant 3 is the successor to Alliant 2, with a $75B ceiling and a projected on-ramp opening in Q4 FY2026. Firms with Alliant 3 access compete for task orders across all federal agencies without a separate sole-source or small-business set-aside ceiling. Acme's current GSA MAS vehicle covers SIN 54151S but not large-agency IT modernization BPAs that require an IDIQ vehicle. An Alliant 3 slot would double the accessible pipeline ceiling within 12 months of award.

Timeline: 90 days to on-ramp submissionCost: $8,000–$15,000

Moves are grounded in top-buyers obligation data and rules-of-thumb for sequencing agency entry.

541512 · SDVOSB + WOSB · VA — your 90-day plan is sequenced against your own pursuit pipeline.

We don’t find pursuits. We rank the ones worth winning.

The aggregators show you the noise. The brief names the call.

What Operator adds

The audit is one snapshot. Operator runs every Monday.

The free audit anchors your firm against public federal data and ships a 90-day plan. Operator is the same engine, run weekly, with the data dimensions the free audit can't carry.

Free Growth Audit

One snapshot. Yours to keep.

  • Profile-health score, six dimensions, with the corrective action that moves each up
  • Three 90-day moves with ranked priority, dollar cost, and sequence
  • Top 10 federal buyers in your NAICS, ranked in dollars
  • One live capture pick: incumbent, evidence, do-not-do list
  • Every figure links to a public USAspending or SAM.gov URL

Honest about what it doesn't cover. See the disclaimer block at the bottom of every audit email.

Operator · every Monday

The dimensions the audit excludes.

  • HUBZone geo overlay
  • agency forecast cycles
  • subaward visibility
  • SBA goal-pressure scorecards
  • weekly recompete tracking

Same vocabulary the audit's disclaimer surfaces. If the audit said the free version omits HUBZone geo overlay, Operator covers it. No re-naming.

Pricing

Read the audit before you decide.

You get the audit first, free. If the picks fit your week, the weekly version is $299/mo with a 30-day money-back guarantee. One small subcontract earns it back.

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  • Profile health, six dimensionsWhat buyers grade you on, plus the fix for each.
  • Three 90-day moves, ranked + costedFor the slow weeks where bidding isn't the play.
  • Top 10 buyers in your NAICS
  • One live capture pickIncumbent, evidence, do-not-do list.
  • Every figure links to a public URL

If your SAM footprint is too thin to score honestly, we'll say so and tell you what to fix first. No audit, no email.

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Three picks every Monday morning, by email. The brief is the product.

  • Monday brief at 6:01 AM ETThree picks, ranked in dollars, with a 5-step next-actions list and the four traps to walk away from this week.
  • Profile-gap coaching when picks are thinWhen the field is weak, the brief swaps to one profile move that compounds. File a HUBZone, open a second agency corridor, get on a vehicle before the solicitation posts.
  • Sources Sought response draftingIn your voice, traced to your past performance. A starting paragraph, not a finished package. The final response is still yours to write.
  • Prime outreach + CO introduction draftingPer agency, written from your profile. Skip the blank-page tax.
  • Reply-to-update profileNo dashboard. Reply to any Monday email with certifications, NAICS, or past-performance changes, and next week’s brief reflects them.
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30-day money-back guarantee · cancel anytime from your Stripe billing portal. SAM-registered firm with at least one NAICS code required.

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FAQ

Questions we hear before the first audit.

What if I'm not yet SAM-registered?
Run the free audit anyway. We’ll score what we can from your website and name the registration steps you’re missing in your 90-day plan. SAM registration takes a few weeks and there’s no point paying for a Monday brief until you can actually bid. The audit will tell you what to fix first.
What if a slow week has no picks worth proposal time?
We say so. The brief opens with one of two states: three picks or profile-gap coaching. When there’s nothing in your lane that clears the bar, the brief swaps to a single profile move that compounds — file a HUBZone, get on a vehicle, open a second agency corridor. We don’t pad. Slow weeks ship value too.
Can I see a sample brief before paying?
Yes — the sample brief is the same shape your firm receives, anonymized. Every dollar figure is real and traceable. The engine’s reasoning is visible.
How do you know what fits my firm?
We score every candidate against your firm’s profile (NAICS, past-performance anchor, certifications, vehicle access, geography) and against the agency’s buying behavior on the trailing 24 months of award data. We then apply the rule-of-two test, set-aside argument, and goal-pressure read — judgment that comes from 20 years of capture practice, not from keyword overlap. Keyword matching loses the moment the buyer asks “why this one?”
Why $299 a month?
At $2,990/yr, the math is illustrative: a single ~$13.6K small subcontract covers a year of Operator. The Monday brief is the per-week execution of capture work that capture retainers charge $5–10K/mo to do once. If you win one task order in your first year on Operator, the math has already worked. 30-day money-back guarantee, cancel anytime.
What data don't you have?
Subaward visibility (USAspending subaward feed isn’t parsed in the free audit), HUBZone census-tract overlay (paid SBA pull), and weekly recompete delta-tracking (Monday-brief feature, not audit). The audit names every excluded dimension at the bottom of the artifact. We’d rather show you what we don’t have than pretend the model is omniscient.