Capability Statement Generation
How Launch generates capability statements: the one-page (front-and-back) document that gets handed to a procurement officer or institutional buyer to make the case for hiring us. We make a new variant for almost every event — different audiences need different angles.
What a capability statement is
A capability statement is the government-procurement equivalent of a resume. It's a one-pager (sometimes front-and-back) that summarizes:
- Who Launch is (legal entity, ownership, certifications)
- What we do (the specific service line relevant to this buyer)
- Proof we can do it (past performance, contracts, client wins)
- Differentiators (certifications, NAICS codes, capacity)
- How to engage us (contract vehicles, contact info)
Done well, it's the artifact that makes someone walk out of a procurement event holding our paper and not someone else's.
Why we make a new one per event: A DES procurement officer wants to see Statewide Contract numbers and NAICS codes. A nonprofit small-business buyer wants to see who we've helped and what they think. A cannabis-industry buyer wants to see our LMC arm. One generic statement loses to a tailored statement every time.
The three standard variants we maintain
Most events fit one of these. Start from the closest variant in Drive, then tailor.
| Variant | Audience | Lead with |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing-specific | DES / WA state procurement / marketing services buyers | Statewide marketing contract, MWBE/WBE/DBE/PWSBE certs, NAICS 541613 + 541810 + 541430, marketing case studies |
| Technical Assistance | TA program prime contractors, city/county economic development offices | Past TA programs (Seattle Restored, ABC Program, Long Beach, Sound Transit, Cascadia Produce, CORE, Booth/MGM cannabis), # of businesses served, certifications |
| Small Business Support | Nonprofits, foundations, generic small-business buyers | Breadth (100+ services), advisory mix (legal/finance/HR/marketing all under one roof), DBE / WOSB / EDWOSB / SCS |
A fourth, Cannabis-specific variant exists for LMC-fronted opportunities. Use the LMC brand kit for that one, not the Launch kit.
What's on the page (every variant)
Top half (front):
- Header band: Launch Industries logo, "Capability Statement" wordmark, the audience tag (e.g., "Marketing Services" / "Technical Assistance")
- Company snapshot box: Legal name, UBI, FEIN, CAGE/UEI, year founded, headcount, HQ city
- Certifications strip: WBE/DBE/MWBE/PWSBE numbers, WOSB/EDWOSB, LGBTQBE, SCS, B-Corp (in progress) — only the certs this buyer cares about
- Differentiators: 3-5 bullets that say "this is why we're different"
Bottom half (front):
- Core competencies: 6-9 bullets, NOT a service list — capability statements
- Past performance: 4-6 named contracts/clients with one-line outcomes
- NAICS codes: the relevant 3-5, not all 11
- Contact + contract vehicles: Statewide Contract # if applicable, UBI, email, phone, website
Back side (optional):
- Case study deep-dive: one project at length (3 paragraphs + result metric)
- Insurance + bonding info: when relevant for the buyer
- Team bios: when a relationship-buyer wants to see who they'd be working with
Generation procedure
Identify the buyer + event
Get clear on three things before opening Claude:
- Who's the audience? (Specific person, specific procurement office, specific event)
- What are they buying? (Marketing services? TA delivery? Business advisory?)
- What evidence will they trust most? (Past gov contracts? Certifications? Founder credibility? Specific named clients?)
The wrong angle here wastes the next 30 minutes.
Pull the base variant from Drive
Open the closest variant in Drive (Sales → Capability Statements → Marketing / TA / SBS / Cannabis). Save a copy with the event name in the filename: Cap Statement — [Event] — [Date].pdf.
Generate the new draft with Claude
Open Claude. Upload:
- The base variant PDF
- The LIDS Design System reference (logo, color, type spec)
- Any event-specific source material (the event prospectus, the RFP, an email exchange with the buyer)
Ask Claude to:
Draft a one-page (front + back) capability statement for Launch Industries tailored to [audience]. Use the attached base variant as the structural template. Use the LIDS Design System for color and typography. Audience cares most about [the angle]. Lead with [the differentiator]. Past performance bullets should pull from these contracts: [list]. Output the page layout as HTML + inline CSS suitable for printing letter-size, or as a Canva-importable description.
Claude can produce either:
- HTML/CSS for browser print to PDF (preferred for fast iteration)
- Canva-importable description for finer design control
- Markdown body if you want to lay out the page yourself in InDesign / Figma
Review the draft for accuracy
This is the step that matters most. Claude will confabulate cert numbers, NAICS codes, and contract dates if it doesn't have them in context. Cross-check against:
- The Company Info page (canonical for UBI, FEIN, CAGE/UEI, certs)
- The Active Government Contracts table in Supabase (canonical for past contracts)
- The actual cert certificates in Drive → Certifications
If anything's wrong, fix it in Claude's draft before exporting. Never publish a capability statement with a hallucinated cert number.
Get the print PDF
If HTML/CSS: print to PDF from Chrome at letter size, no margins, no headers/footers. Verify both sides print cleanly on the front-and-back template.
If Canva: import the description, lay out, export PDF.
Internal review
For new audiences or new event types, run the draft by Monica before printing. For repeat events with a known variant, an experienced consultant can self-approve.
Print and save
- Print run for the event: standard is 25 copies on heavy stock (110lb or above), color, both sides
- Save the final PDF in Drive → Sales → Capability Statements → Past Variants, named with event + date
- Add a row to the Supabase
capability_statementstable: variant, audience, event, date, link to PDF, count printed
Variant content cheat sheet
Below: the specific differentiators to lead with by variant.
Marketing-specific variant
- WA DES Statewide Contract for marketing services
- WBE/DBE certs (CRP 35% set-aside, WBE 35% set-aside, etc.)
- Studio mix: brand, web, SEO, paid, content, creative direction — under one roof
- Named past marketing clients: highlight any government, university, or major nonprofit work
- NAICS: 541613 (Marketing Consulting), 541810 (Advertising Agencies), 541430 (Graphic Design), 541511 (Custom Web Design)
Technical Assistance variant
- Roster of TA programs: Seattle Restored / Seattle RSJI, ABC Program, Long Beach, Sound Transit, Cascadia Produce / Snow Valley senior centers, CORE Sacramento, Booth/MGM cannabis subcontract
- Total small businesses served (running count from Airtable)
- Languages spoken in-house + on contractor bench
- Certifications relevant to TA RFPs: DBE, MWBE, WOSB, SCS
- NAICS: 541611 (Management Consulting), 611430 (Management Training)
Small Business Support variant
- Breadth: legal, finance, HR, marketing, technology — all under one roof
- 100+ specific services available
- The cross-discipline advisory model (vs hiring 5 vendors)
- DBE/WOSB/EDWOSB/SCS/LGBTQBE certifications
- Founder bio: Monica Colgan, multidisciplinary background
- Pricing approachable: flat-rate options starting at $1,500
Cannabis-specific (LMC variant)
- LMC arm + brand
- Existing cannabis-industry contracts (Booth subcontract, WA Cannabis TA Program)
- Industry-specific expertise: SAW licenses, social equity programs, BLS variations
- Use LMC brand kit, not Launch corporate kit
Common mistakes to avoid
- Too many NAICS codes: 3-5 max per statement. Listing all 11 dilutes focus.
- Generic "Why Choose Us": cut every line that could apply to any consulting firm. Replace with specifics.
- Cert numbers as text only: if you can fit the cert badge / logo, do it. Buyers scan for the badge before reading the number.
- Past performance without outcomes: "We supported the Seattle Restored program" is weak. "Supported 38 small businesses across the Seattle Restored program, with 92% reaching the 6-month survival mark" is strong. If the metric isn't in our records, ask the prime.
- Old contact info: the email + phone block is the easiest thing to leave stale. Always verify on the day of print.
Distribution rules
- At events: bring 25, expect to hand out 10-15
- After an event with a strong contact: follow up with the same capability statement attached as PDF, even if you handed them paper (so they can forward it)
- For an RFP response: capability statement goes in the proposal package, even if the RFP doesn't require it
- For a cold pitch: capability statement goes in the second email, not the first
Templates and where they live
- Drive → Sales → Capability Statements → Master Variants/ — current base templates
- Drive → Sales → Capability Statements → Past Variants/ — historical for reference
- Supabase
capability_statementstable — registry of every variant generated, by event
Related: Company Info is the canonical source for cert numbers, UBI, FEIN, NAICS codes. DES Event Procedure covers how to use the capability statements in a procurement event setting.
v1 draft. The exact LIDS color tokens and font specs live in the design system, not this doc. Last updated 2026-05-27.