Young tech professional & entrepreneur pursuing GovCon

I want to secure government contracts for cloud, software and AI development under my LLC. Where do I begin? THANK YOU!

ABOUT ME
Colorado, US. 21 year-old female. Black and Latina. Solo founder supported by partner’s income. Owner of cloud and AI consulting firm that has focused on legal tech (S-corp founded last year, no active clients). Owner of SaaS platform (construction tech in beta testing phase). These are 2 separate entities. Not interested in defense or military contracts.

I’m sharing this demographic data because I know it’s relevant to certain business classifications within GovCon.

SKILLS
4 years IT experience
Cloud engineering.
AI engineering.
Solutions architecture.
Machine learning operations.

HELP
It’s my objective to break into GovCon. Months ago, I signed up for SAM.gov, thinking I’d be a prime candidate for available projects. Since then, I’ve learned just how thick the barrier to entry is.

I have signed up for BidNet and ColoradoVSS as well. I constantly receive email notifications of RFIs posted that match the scope of work I’m able to do, but feel so inaccessible to me.

QUESTIONS
Are buyers averse to solo founders? Do you need a team to be awarded contracts?

Do you need prior GovCon experience to be awarded your first project?

Do you need to have a product already built in order to bid on RFIs?

What makes a good RFI response?

How much do demographic classifications matter in the awarding process?

Do I have to become a subcontractor under a prime in order to get experience in GovCon before going after projects of my own?

What is the path to my first contract?