For a lot of small businesses in GovCon, the traditional contracting path can feel crowded, slow, and built for companies that already know how to navigate every corner of the system.
In this episode of #Unsolicited, our host Hope Skibitsky sits down with Chelsea Roberts, CEO of Collaborative Compositions and host of the @GovConUnscriptedUS podcast, to unpack one of the most misunderstood questions in federal growth:
Are OTAs actually opening doors for small businesses, or are companies chasing the wrong path?
Because OTAs, other transaction authorities, and nontraditional acquisition methods sound faster. They sound more flexible. They sound like they might create room for companies that do not fit the usual federal contracting mold.
But flexible does not automatically mean easy.
And access does not automatically mean readiness.
This conversation is not just about defining another GovCon acronym. It is about understanding what these pathways actually change, what they do not change, and where small businesses still need discipline, strategy, and clear positioning before they pursue them.
- Why do small businesses start looking beyond traditional FAR-based contracting paths?
- What makes OTAs attractive when the traditional market feels locked up?
- What does “outside the FAR” actually mean in practice?
- Why do people confuse flexibility with informality?
- And what should companies not assume just because they may qualify as a nontraditional contractor?
Chelsea brings more than a decade of experience helping government contractors and industry leaders build more disciplined growth systems. Her work focuses on pursuit selection, capture strategy, positioning, and helping companies stop reacting to last-minute opportunities so they can compete more intentionally.
Hope explores how those lessons apply to small businesses, acquisition teams, and teaming partners trying to understand where real leverage still exists when the traditional path feels crowded or tilted toward incumbents.
- Are small businesses blocked by the system, or are they misunderstanding the paths available to them?
- When does an OTA create real opportunity?
- When does it become a distraction?
- What does “nontraditional contractor” really mean?
- How should acquisition professionals separate real capability from novelty?
- And what still has to be true operationally, commercially, and strategically for a company to succeed?
This episode focuses on a question many GovCon leaders are quietly asking:
_When traditional contracting feels slow, crowded, or structurally tilted toward incumbents, where does real leverage still exist?_
*What You’ll Learn:*
- What OTAs are in plain English
- Why other transaction authorities are not simply shortcuts
- The difference between flexibility and lack of discipline
- Why “outside the FAR” does not mean “anything goes”
- What nontraditional contractor status actually means
- Why small businesses may misunderstand their fit for OTA pathways
- How acquisition teams should evaluate nontraditional vendors
- Why access to a pathway does not replace capture strategy, readiness, or execution maturity
- The first strategic question a small business should ask before pursuing an OTA opportunity
Sources & References:
- Collaborative Compositions - https://www.collaborativecompositions.com/
-GovCon Unscripted Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482
- Federal News Network: How 2016 NDAA transformed OTAs into key defense contracting tool - https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2025/03/how-2016-ndaa-transformed-otas-into-key-defense-contracting-tool/
- Federal News Network: DoD dispelling lingering myths about OTAs - https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contracting/2024/02/dod-dispelling-lingering-myths-about-otas/
- DoD Other Transactions Guide - https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/policy/policyvault/USA001199-23-DPC.pdf
- DFARS 212.102 Applicability - https://www.acquisition.gov/dfars/212.102-applicability
- SBA Federal Contracting Guidance - https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting
Connect with Chelsea:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsearoberts/
- Collaborative Compositions: https://www.collaborativecompositions.com/
- GovCon Unscripted: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482
If you found this conversation valuable, we recommend:
▶ EP 3: Justin Lerma, Teaching COs, Acquisition Strategy, and The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymd6IoWsv8Y&t=1s
A strong follow-on to this episode if you want to understand the other side of the equation: how contracting officers think, how acquisition strategy is shifting, and what changes in the traditional system may mean for the way government actually buys.
