To address this, the department is changing how it works with private companies. With the government spending nearly $400 billion on defense contracting in 2021 alone, innovators need to seriously consider if doing business with the DoD is worth another look.
It is no secret that adversaries are catching up to or surpassing the United States in developing several advanced technologies. To better integrate the various domains of intelligence, as well as innovate more overall, the department is shifting its focus to technological and intelligence collection capabilities that were underfunded or unfunded throughout the last 20 years’ counterterror campaigns. The Pentagon thus aims to acquire much of its future tech and innovation from the private sector.
The streamlined process
The DoD is trying to attract private companies by reevaluating both its risk calculation for acquisitions and what it means for technology to be “ready” for investment. To that end, it has established organizations like the Defense Innovation Unit; the Army’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Task Force; NavalX; and the Air Force’s Tech Connect, among others, to avoid bureaucracy and help innovators more rapidly get their inventions before DoD decision makers.
These entities are streamlining the process by embracing what Gen. James C. McConville, the Army’s chief of staff, describes as a drive-before-you-buy approach to acquisitions. This allows the department to test a promising solution against actual department challenges so it can highlight gaps to bridge and strengthen its own ideas for employing the tech. Through this more collaborative approach, businesses can field-test their solutions, familiarize themselves with the DoD’s challenges and provide it a better product. This approach ensures that both the DoD and its contractors benefit from innovative interventions.
How to pitch
The aforementioned organizations’ success depends upon their relationship with private industry. To take full advantage of the DoD’s efforts, a small business needs to perform well when it pitches its tech or solution to a decision-maker, program manager or acquisitions officer to pitch its technology or solution. Here are some key elements to consider in your planning, preparation and presentation that will help increase your chances of landing a DoD contract:
- Develop your elevator speech: This suggestion is helpful prior to any engagement, but vitally important when seeking a busy DoD representative’s attention. Develop your speech to be delivered on-demand and in under a minute. Keeping your remarks short will help when you’re delivering the same pitch multiple times a day at industry events or trade shows. If you’re connecting via email, the pitch should not exceed three or four sentences. Come with a boilerplate message that can accentuate points relevant to your audience. Your pitch should inform the government about what problem you are solving and why solving that problem is important. Engage your audience with descriptive language and conclude with an “ask,” the lack of which can sink your pitch’s prospects for further engagement.
- Conduct exhaustive research: The real work begins once you have piqued enough interest to receive a follow-up invitation. Your presentation should specifically reference the DoD’s own identified priorities, requirements or shortfalls. So, research what agency leaders and influencers declare and report in print, social media, published strategy documents and acquisition forecasts. Start your research on the DoD’s website. Broaden your search to…
Read More: Want to work with the Pentagon? Here are 8 crucial tips to successful pitching