How competitive federal contracting really is, and where a challenger can win
The federal market spends about $755 billion a year on contracts, and most of it is hard for a newcomer to reach. Here is where the openings actually are.
Notes on winning the right work.
Government and commercial contracting, the decision behind every bid, and how proposal teams actually work. Written by the people building Paavya, with sources.
New articles every week across 9 topics.
Latest
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Commercial RFPs are not government RFPs with fewer rules
Private-sector buying is less regulated and less transparent than public procurement. Here is how evaluation, timelines, security reviews and contracts differ.
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What the federal government's AI rules mean for companies bidding to it
OMB's 2025 memos M-25-21 and M-25-22 changed how agencies buy and use AI. What a contractor should expect in solicitations, and in its own proposals.
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Paavya vs. Loopio, Responsive and GovWin: which problem each one solves
Response libraries, market intelligence and decision tools solve different problems. An honest comparison, including when another tool is the better fit.
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Product contracts vs. service contracts: what changes in the proposal
Buying a thing and buying work are evaluated differently. How specs, labor, past performance, pricing and risk shift between a product bid and a service bid.
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Why proposal software gets abandoned, and what a calmer tool does differently
Proposal tools rarely fail on features. They fail on the experience of a writer at 9pm before a deadline. Five design choices that decide whether a team keeps using one.
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Small business bidding: why the bids you decline decide your growth
A small team cannot outwork a large one on volume. Set-asides, teaming and a disciplined no-bid are how small businesses win the federal work that fits them.
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A worked example: one RFP, from first read to recorded outcome
An illustrative pursuit walked through Paavya's seven steps, showing what each step asks, what Paavya does and what the team gets. Demo data, labeled as such.
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When to walk away from a bid you have already started
The final RFP, an amendment or a lost key person can change the deal. How to reopen a bid decision mid-pursuit, and when withdrawing is the right call.
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AI for government RFP responses: real opportunities, real guardrails
Where AI helps a government contractor respond to federal and state RFPs, and the guardrails that keep it from creating compliance risk.
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A practical framework for using AI on RFPs without losing your voice or accuracy
A step-by-step way to use AI on RFP responses without sounding generic or letting something untrue reach the buyer.
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Why RFP responses devour your team's time — and where AI genuinely helps
Where proposal teams actually lose time on an RFP — repetition, context-switching, compliance and review — and the parts AI can genuinely take off their hands.
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From content libraries to AI co-writers: how RFP tools evolved
A short history of proposal software: the manual era, content libraries, response automation, AI drafting, and the decision tools that come next.
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The economics of bidding: how capacity, selectivity and quality drive win rate
Win rate is not luck. It is the product of three levers you control: how many good bids you can run, which ones you choose, and how strong each one is.
Read by topic
Each topic page collects every article on it, newest first.
- Government contractingHow federal, state and local buying works, who wins it, and where a new or smaller bidder has room.1 article
- Product and service contractsWhat changes in a proposal when the government is buying a thing, a service, or a commercial item.1 article
- AI in governmentThe rules agencies follow for buying and using AI, and what they mean for the companies bidding to them.2 articles
- Bid strategyBid/no-bid discipline, capacity and win-rate economics: deciding where a proposal team's hours go.3 articles
- Paavya comparedHow Paavya differs from the other tools proposal teams use, and when one of them is the better fit.2 articles
- Proposal team experienceHow proposal work feels from the inside, and what software should do to make it calmer and clearer.2 articles
- Commercial contractingPrivate-sector RFPs, security questionnaires and enterprise procurement, and how they differ from public bids.1 article
- Small businessSet-asides, certifications, teaming and capacity: how a small business competes without spreading itself thin.1 article
- Worked examplesA pursuit walked through end to end in Paavya, step by step. Illustrative examples, labeled as such.1 article
Bring an RFP you’re deciding on.
We’ll run it through Paavya with you: the read, the recommendation and the evidence behind it.
30 minutes, on a solicitation you choose.