Several high-level policymakers from the U.S. Defense and Intelligence Communities shared their urgent need for help to meet the U.S. Government’s language requirements in March earlier this year at the LISA Global Strategies Summit in Foster City, California (available to LISA members here). To monitor the progress being made, the Globalization Insider recently interviewed three people who participated in the panel, including Joel Ross, VP for Defense & Intelligence Services at Basis Technology.

In part 1 of his interview, Joel highlights the similarities between business development with the U.S. Government and a trip to Las Vegas to play blackjack! He explains how small companies need to reset their expectations developed in the commercial sector, prior to going after Government business. He then outlines the daunting challenge that small companies will face in this new arena. He offers very specific advice on the best way to build a business relationship with the U.S. Government and provides insight into the role of the Large Government Contractors.

A typical conversation between the U.S. Government agency and a new vendor:
 
 
Agency: We like what you’ve done, we have the money, we’ll do it. However, you will have to wait six months, though, due to budgetary reasons.
SME: O.K. We can do that.
 
(Six months pass.)
 
Agency: Please send us your API.
SME: O.K. Here it is.
Agency: Ooops, we don’t have the right engineer to implement this at the moment.
SME: Not to worry. We can implement it for you.
Agency: Then we’ll have to create a separate contract for services.
SME: How about if we implement it for free?
Agency: Well, no, we can’t accept it for free. We have to pay you for your services.