The front door to defense and national security.
We help defense tech companies sell to the Pentagon, hire cleared talent, and get from pilot to production.
Five ways through the door.
Media and publications
Research reports, op-eds by Noah Sheinbaum, and data on how the Pentagon buys technology.
Read everythingCrossing the Valley podcast
Lessons from the people who crossed the valley of death.
Episode 97
Why SpaceX Outsourced 95% of Its Wire Harnesses
Episode 96
Defense Unicorns
Rob Slaughter, CEO and co-founder
Episode 95
Smack Technologies
Andrew Markoff, CEO and co-founder
Episode 94
A Replicator retrospective
Dr. Kathleen Hicks, former Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Aaron Sherman
Episode 93
Minimum useful products
Adam Warmoth (Chariot Defense) and Ross Fubini (XYZ Venture Capital)
Episode 92
Conductor AI
Zachary Long, CEO, and Eric Schwartz, COO
Episode 91
Integrate
John Conafay, CEO and founder
Episode 90
Friends don't let friends start drone companies
Josh Giegel, CEO and founder
Research
What 859 companies told us about selling to the Pentagon.
- 43%
- said a program officer is the most helpful introduction. 27% said end users.
- 47%
- have never received a government license or certification.
- 67%
- would accept Government-Purpose Rights to their IP. 24% would insist on restricted rights.
Op-eds and reading.
Breaking Defense
Mar 20243 areas the DoD should fix to rapidly integrate new tech
Jeff Decker and Noah Sheinbaum. A survey of more than 800 companies shows that access, clarity, and trust matter as much as funding.
Breaking Defense
Sep 2023For Replicator to succeed, the government must stay out of the production business
Jeff Decker and Noah Sheinbaum. From aircraft to transistors, the Pentagon wins when it creates demand and lets industry build. Replicator should follow that history.
Harvard Business Review
Jul 2023How Software Companies Can Enter the U.S. Defense Market
Jeff Decker and Eric Li. Why now is the time for software founders to look at defense, and a plan for selling to the government while raising money.
Who runs Frontdoor.
Noah Sheinbaum learned defense tech from the bottom up. He consulted for the primes, did strategy and design work for the federal government, and was one of the first business hires at Rebellion Defense.
He started Frontdoor Defense because the industry is hard to break into without insider connections. He hosts Crossing the Valley, writes the Defense Tech Jobs newsletter, and publishes research with Jeff Decker of Stanford University's Tech Transfer for Defense program.
Questions we get asked
What is Frontdoor Defense?
Frontdoor Defense helps companies and people get into defense and national security. We give go-to-market support and advisory to defense tech companies and investors, run Defense Tech Jobs, host the Crossing the Valley podcast, and publish research on how the Pentagon buys technology.
Who is Frontdoor Defense for?
Founders selling to the Department of Defense for the first time, commercial companies with a product the military needs, investors who back defense tech, and people who want a job in national security.
How do I start selling to the Department of Defense?
Start with the problem, not the contract. Find the mission and the program office that owns it, confirm there is a budget line, then pick the contract path that fits (SBIR, OTA, CSO, or a direct award). Our go-to-market support covers each of these steps.
What is the valley of death in defense?
The valley of death is the gap between a prototype or pilot contract and a production contract. Many companies win early R&D money but never get funded at scale, because no program office has planned or budgeted to buy the product. Our Crossing the Valley podcast tells the stories of companies that made it across.
Tell us what you are building.
Send a short note about what you make and where you are stuck.