About Six Figure Set-Aside
What this is
Six Figure Set-Aside is a free weekly newsletter that curates federal, state, and prime contractor opportunities reserved for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs and VOSBs welcome). Every issue includes 8-12 hand-picked opportunities, plus plain-language primers on certification, Sources Sought responses, NAICS codes, and the other parts of federal contracting that take real time to learn.
The goal is simple: save SDVOSB owners hours of manual filtering on SAM.gov each week, and explain the parts of the system that aren't explained well anywhere else.
The honest version of how this started
Most About pages tell you the founder grew up around veterans, or has a family member who served, or felt called to serve the community. I'm not going to do that, because it wouldn't be true.
Here's the actual story. I went looking for a small business idea — something niche, something underserved, something I could build on the side. I researched a number of spaces. The federal contracting market for veteran-owned businesses kept coming up: large in dollar terms, surprisingly underserved by quality information, full of confusing acronyms and rules that nobody explains in plain English.
I started reading. I kept reading. Somewhere along the way, the project stopped being just a business idea and started being something I actually cared about. The more I learned about how Sources Sought responses shape set-asides, how the Rule of Two works at the VA, how many SDVOSBs are losing time and contracts to bad information, the more it felt like there was real work worth doing here. Not because I was uniquely qualified to do it — but because the gap was real and someone needed to.
So I decided to try, and I decided to do it honestly. I'm a civilian. I haven't served. I don't have a federal contract. I'm not going to dress this up as something it isn't. What I have is the time and attention to do the slow research work that makes federal contracting make sense — and a real commitment to making this useful for the people who actually need it.
If the origin makes you skeptical, I respect that. The work itself will have to earn the trust. I'd rather you judge me on whether the curation is good and the primers are useful than on a backstory I made up.
What I am and what I'm not
I am:
A civilian researcher and curator
Someone who has spent significant time learning federal contracting rules, set-aside categories, and the SAM.gov ecosystem
The person who reads, filters, and writes everything you receive in this newsletter
Committed to keeping the educational content (primers, explainers) free, forever
I am not:
A veteran
A federal contractor
A lawyer
A certified counselor
An expert who can advise you on your specific business situation
For situational advice — whether to pursue a particular opportunity, how to write a winning proposal, whether your firm qualifies for a specific certification — your nearest APEX Accelerator or VBOC is the right resource. They're free, they're trained, and they actually know your industry. I'll point you to them throughout the newsletter, because they're the right answer for things that fall outside what I can usefully do.
The work this newsletter does is curation, research, and translation. None of those require being a veteran. They require time, careful attention, and a commitment to accuracy — and I bring all three.
Here's what that looks like in practice. Every week, I sit with SAM.gov and dig through hundreds of contract opportunities so you don't have to. I skip the DLA spare-parts noise, the awarded notices that can't be bid, the deadlines too short to take seriously. I read solicitations and pull out what matters. I write primers that explain things like the VA Rule of Two and the SBA certification process in plain English, with sources cited, so you can verify everything I tell you.
You won't get insider knowledge from me, because I don't have it. What you'll get is a careful weekly digest from someone who treats your time like it matters, points you to the real experts when situational advice is needed, and won't waste your inbox. That's the trade. I think it's a fair one, and I'm betting subscribers will agree.
What I won't do
A few commitments I want on the record:
I won't tell you what specific contracts to bid on. I'll surface opportunities. The decision is yours, in consultation with people qualified to help you evaluate them.
I won't sell your data. Subscriber emails are used for the newsletter and nothing else.
I won't manufacture urgency or use fear-based marketing. No "limited time" tactics, no "you're missing out" emails, no inflated claims about what subscribers will earn.
I won't pretend to have credentials I don't have. If I research a topic, I'll cite what I read. If I don't know something, I'll say so.
I won't ignore criticism. If the work has problems, I want to hear it. Reply to any newsletter issue and I'll read it.
How to reach me
Email: [email protected]
I read everything, even if I can't always reply quickly. If you've spotted an error, have feedback, want to share an opportunity I missed, or want to push back on something I've written — please do. The newsletter gets better when readers tell me where it falls short.
If you're with a VBOC, APEX Accelerator, or veteran business organization and you want to talk about how the newsletter might be useful to your clients, I'd genuinely value that conversation. No pitch. Just a conversation.
— Rex Founder, Six Figure Set-Aside