Flying Cars and Tofu Bars
The Proposal Industry - Past, Present, and Future
Copyright © 2017 Richter & Company LLC. All rights reserved.
Randy Richter
Proposal writing circa 1985
3/17/2021
2
IBM PC
Macintosh
12 August 1981
IBM Selectric
typewriter
12 January 1984
Wang 1200 WP
forerunner to WPS
first golf ball print
head instead of
bars
iPad
Bowmar Brain
Randy’s first
high tech tool
12 June 2007
first software-based WP
1950s
“Word
Processing”
term invented by
IBM
24 April 2015
iPhone
Astrosystem
1940s
Apple Watch
3 April 2010
1960s
1970s
1980s
Federal Express
overnight delivery
Kinko’s
copier, offset press in
100 square feet
1990s
FedEx
buys
Kinkos
products
include
remote
printing
2000s
2010s
2020s
Amazon
Web
Services
here
comes the
Cloud
CERN introduces WWW
Systems
Open source software links
links 900 websites in total!
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1,000 Exabytes = 1 Zettabyte (1 Trillion Gigabytes)
1,000 Petabytes = 1 Exabyte (1 Billion Gigabtyes)
1,000 Terabytes = 1 Petabyte (1M Gigabytes)
1,000 Gigabytes = 1 Terabyte
1,000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte
1,000 Kilobytes = 1 Megabyte
1,000 Bytes = 1 Kilobyte
8 Bits = 1 Byte
CERN introduces WWW
IP traffic
CISCO PROJECTION: 3.3 Zettabytes/year
(3.3 trillion GB)
80% video
IP traffic
242 Exabytes/year
(242 billion GB)
IP traffic
348 Terabytes/year
(348 thousand GB)
links 900 websites in total!
IP traffic
180 Gigabytes/year
1940s
ARPANET
First nodes
1950s
1960s
“Internet” coined
First non-US
ARPANET use
1970s
Telenet
1980s
1990s
802.11b
(a.k.a. WiFi)
Connectivity
few users
2010s
2020s
Email
First ISP QE II sends first
private
message
Narrowband
(300 bps)
2000s
Narrowband
(56kbps)
50% of US online
Starbucks
Free WiFi
Broadband
(>56kbps)
reaches 72% of
US households
Broadband
(avg 25Mbps)
20% of US enjoys
>45Mbps
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Google
first real search engine
Microsoft Windows 3.1
Wikipedia
for most of us, our first
experience of Windows!
crowdsourced
reference
GoToMeeting
realtime
collaboration
Microsoft DOS
Text-based interface
”personal”
cloud
storage Office365
sales & proposal
automation
1950s
“Word
Processing”
term first
invented by IBM
1960s
1970s
billions and billions
served…
Dropbox
The Sant Corporation
(now Qvidian)
1940s
SaaS and Apps
subscription
based tools
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Popular Word Processing software:1
Popular Desktop Publishing software:
Software
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SM&A Process,
1982:
‘Writing the Technical Report’
Nelson, 1940
- Mod Specs,
Story Maps &
AMUS
- Defines the Thesis Sentence
‘The Anatomy of
a Win’
Beveridge, 1964.
1940s
1950s
- Proposal theme
- 1st person, active
voice
- No superfluous
words
1960s
‘Sequential Topical Organization
of Proposals (STOP)’
Tracey, Rugh & Starkey, 1962
-
Modular proposals
Text and graphics
Thematic unity within modules
Page allocations
Storyboards
Wall-based storyboard reviews
Process
‘Creating
Superior
Proposals’
Beveridge &
Velton, 1978
- Discriminators,
Aha!s, Ghosts
1970s
‘Proposal Guide, APMP’
APMP, 2012
‘Writing Business Bids &
Proposals for Dummies’
Neil Cobb & Charlie
Divine, APMP, 2016
‘Technical Marketing & Proposal
Preparation’, Hyman Silver,
H. Silver Associates, 1987
1980s
1990s
2000s
‘How to Write Winning
Proposals’, Shipley
Associates, 1985
‘The GO (Graphics Oriented)
Technique’, Hudson Patton,
Comm. Mgmt. Associates, 1979
2010s
‘Proposal
Guide’
Larry
Newman,
Shipley
Associates,
2001
- The first
recognized
standard
2020s
The
current
standards
‘Capture
Guide’
Larry
Newman,
Shipley
Associates,
2010
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Source: Benchmarks in World-Class Proposal Writing Capability, 2015 (updated 2016)
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More RFPs, less time
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Investments in tools will increase.
Machines should work.
-
People should think.
Jim Henson, The Paperwork Explosion
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Winners will rely on data.
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Losers will rely on canned content.
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Proposal
writing will
become
accepted as
an Olympic
team sport.
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Investment in training will continue
to decline.
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14
In-house
production
goes in the
outhouse.
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Pictures will replace a
thousand words.
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Where you are
will be less
important
than when.
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The future is virtual.
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The best
will beat
the rest.
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Randy Richter
Chairman
Richter & Company
Everedy Square
6 N. East Street, Suite 203
Frederick MD 21701
301/845-7300
www.RichterAndCompany.com