This is why I've always shied away from working with governments. In a previous life I was with a small, successful startup that wanted to sell to the Federal g

This is why I've always shied away from working with governments. In a previous life I was with a small, successful startup that wanted to sell to the Federal government. After researching it, we learned that getting on the approved vendor list would be a massive effort (relative to our available resources), so we ultimately decided not to tackle it. I suspect the reason so many government web sites suck is that those contractors "core competence" is navigating the byzantine purchasing process. Being able to write good code is far down the list of qualifications.