BEST8A Podcast

In this episode, Ezekiel and Capture 411's Christy Mee walk through seven ways federal contractors can mine historical/expired RFPs to sharpen their capture strategy — from decoding Section M to spot shaping cues and make go/no-bid calls, to using the PWS to identify capability gaps and start recruiting key personnel early, reverse-engineering pricing from incumbent contract data via USAspending and SAM, and reading Section L and the Q&A for signals about page limits, bidder interest, and potential fundamental flaws in the solicitation. Along the way they use a live $22M NNSA Headquarters Support Services RFP as a working example, and close with a discussion on how deep familiarity with an agency's contracting history can turn a cold outreach into an informed, relationship-building conversation with a contracting officer.

In this episode, Leon Burns, President of Open Technology Group, shares the story of stepping into leadership of his late father's federal IT firm — a company founded in 1991 that has survived more than three decades in government contracting. Leon walks through how he started from the ground up, working help desk at the Department of Treasury before moving through operations, sales, and account management, all before taking the president role after a six-month trial period. The conversation then shifts to the current state of the federal market: the procurement slowdowns of 2025, the growing role of AI in proposal writing, and why Leon believes relationships and past performance are now more critical than ever as technical solutions increasingly become commodities. Leon closes with his vision for Open Technology Group's future, including deeper integration of AI into their delivery model and a focused push to build teaming partnerships within HHS and DOD.

Scotty Stock is a Chief Warrant Officer in the United States Army Reserve with over two decades of military experience, from fixing laundry units in Iraq to managing the classified IT architecture that keeps Army Reserve intelligence soldiers ready to fight. In this episode, Scotty breaks down how the government actually procures technology from the inside. He walks through the full cycle from articulating requirements and navigating budget processes to using contract vehicles like CHESS and ITES-3S, and explains why most procurement failures start with a poorly written statement of work.

Naveen Krishnamurthy, CEO of Riva Solutions, joins the show to trace his path from the dot-com bust to building a federal contracting firm over 17 years. He shares hard-won advice on scaling from small to mid-size, why founders shouldn't give away equity too quickly, and how to mature a delivery organization past the $30M mark. The conversation also digs into where the industry is heading — vehicle consolidation, the rise of "prove-it" procurements, and why he's betting big on AI across his business. His parting message to fellow leaders: don't sleep on it, or you'll fall behind.

Chris Wicke has spent 20+ years pricing government contracts. In this episode, he breaks down the biggest mistakes small businesses make when pricing proposals, why pricing during capture is non-negotiable, and how to build a price-to-win analysis that actually tells you something. He also shares his take on the new executive order pushing the market back toward firm fixed price — and what that means for vendors competing right now.