Opportunities for high-technologies firms to establish a business base in the federal marketplace are considered. It is argued that a carefully planned, well-executed, comprehensive approach is required to overcome the complexity of the government's buying process. A process is suggested that the authors believe will not only help navigate around the many pitfalls, but will lead directly to the best marketing options and will establish the inside relationships needed to win new business.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>