Second Front Logo
  • Products
  • Why 2F
  • Solutions
  • Resources
Get Started

Develop. Deploy. Defend.

The 2F Suite simplifies and accelerates every step of the software development and delivery process, including Day 2 operations and extensibility.

Explore the 2F Suite

2F Workshop

Build compliant software from the start with our toolkit for secure development.

2F Game Warden

Streamline compliance and security processes to obtain accreditation quickly.

2F Frontier

Deploy your software for drones, devices, and vehicles by air, land, and sea.

Game Warden product overview

See how you can rapidly onboard, host and deploy applications to government networks.

Download now

FedRAMP by the numbers

Unlock exclusive access to our FedRAMP By the Numbers Infographic—your front-row pass to a $12 billion federal cloud market opportunity!

Download now

Trusted. Proven. Relentless.

Leading software providers and government agencies around the world trust us to deliver secure technology.

Why 2F

About Us

We’re a public-benefit, venture-backed company delivering mission-critical software to the world’s democracies.

Careers

Join a mission-driven team advancing global security, with positions open across functions. Apply now.

Partners

We collaborate with a diverse network of mission-driven partners to broaden the reach of our solutions.

2F Game Warden is FedRAMP Class D (High) Certified

With 2F Game Warden for FedRAMP, deliver your cloud service to federal civilian agencies faster—accelerating authorization and opening federal market access.

Learn more

Solutions that empower and transform.

Whether delivering software to the public sector for the first time or needing a hand navigating the complex accreditation process, 2F is your one-stop shop.

Explore our solutions

For Commercial

  • DOD Accreditation
  • FedRAMP Certification
  • Government Cloud Hosting
  • Secure Development

For Government

  • Monitoring & Observability
  • Software Factory
  • Security Accreditation
  • SaaS Hosting
  • Edge Deployment

For International

  • UK and Europe Accreditation
  • International Software Expansion

Integrate fast tracks IL6 accreditation

See how Second Front helped Integrate fast-track IL6 accreditation and deploy to a classified environment in under 12 months—paving the way for a $25M Phase III SBIR award.

Read now

Sustainment earns DoD accreditation in 58 Days

See how Sustainment leveraged 2F Game Warden to deploy the Air Force at the speed of relevance.

Read now

Your command center for knowledge and innovation.

Strategic insights, mission-ready resources, and frontline expertise—all in one place.

Explore the 2F resources

Resources

  • Guides
  • Blog
  • Customer Stories
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Technical Documentation

Topics

  • 2F Team & Culture
  • Industry Insights
  • Products

News & Events

  • News
  • Events
  • Offset Symposium 2026

Inside the ATO Series

Through interactive virtual forums and downloadable field guides, Inside the ATO gives innovators an unfiltered, multi-voice playbook for navigating software accreditation—told directly by the operators who lived it.

Explore

Podcast

130. Building for America with Nick Maynes & Ryan Holte, QLab

Nick Maynes
Ryan Holte

10.14.2026 / 5 days ago

:
Volume
:

Subscribe and listen on your favorite platform

Share

Episode Description

Harvard offers a course called Doing Business with China. As Nick Maynes points out, there is no course for doing business with America. Meanwhile, students across Harvard and MIT are building sensors, AI, and manufacturing tech with real national security applications, and most of them have never thought of the government as a customer or a partner.

Nick Maynes and Ryan Holte started QLab to close that distance. They join Tyler Sweatt to talk about finding dual-use founders before those founders know they are dual-use, funding them without taking equity, and teaching technical builders how to sell to the government and to investors.

What’s happening on the second front

  • Why QLab takes zero equity and funds founders with non-dilutive grants so they build full time instead of taking a summer internship
  • The first perception barrier every student founder has to get past, and what national security companies actually look like: cyber, manufacturing, critical minerals
  • How to keep one demanding early customer from pulling a product into a niche that won’t scale
  • Why technical founders get about 30 seconds to make an investor curious, and how to translate SBIR wins into de-risking
  • Building for America across administrations, and why national security has to stay bipartisan

Industry Insights

Looking for more?

Previous Post
Podcast
09.29.26

Industry Insights

129. Building Defense Tech, Commercial First with Luke Fischer, Co-Founder & CEO of SkyFi

Listen now

Additional Resources

Blog
10.19.26

How to select an ATO platform for your program office

Read blog

Blog
10.14.26

Compliance myths in non-traditional cloud sectors

Read blog

Events
11.12.26

Inside the ATO Webinar: Sovereign Tech, Allied Scale

Attend event

Guides
10.07.26

Field Guide v1.0 : PubSec Tips for Startups

Read more

Customer Stories
10.07.26

Inside the ATO

Read story

Blog
09.30.26

20 FY26 U.S. federal policy trends commercial ISVs need to know for FY27

Read blog

Podcast
09.29.26

129. Building Defense Tech, Commercial First with Luke Fischer, Co-Founder & CEO of SkyFi

Listen now

Blog
09.23.26

Life of a Chief Information Officer: how commercial software gets fielded faster

Read blog

Podcast
09.15.26

128. Automating the Government’s Oldest Code with Jake Sortor, Blitzy

Listen now

Podcast
09.01.26

127. AI and the Battle for the Mind with Wasim Khaled, Co-Founder and CEO of Blackbird.AI

Listen now

See All Resources

Your success is our mission.

Get Started
Second Front Logo

Join Our Team

Sign up for the 2F Newsletter

By submitting, you agree to Second Front Systems processing your information per the Privacy Policy.

Products

  • 2F Suite
  • 2F Workshop
  • 2F Game Warden
  • 2F Frontier

Resources

  • Resource Library
  • Guides
  • Blog
  • Customer Stories
  • Events
  • News
  • Podcast
  • Technical Documentation
  • Offset Symposium 2026 On-Demand

Solutions

For Commercial
  • DOD Accreditation
  • FedRAMP Certification
  • Government Cloud Hosting
  • Secure Development
For Government
  • Monitoring & Observability
  • Software Factory
  • Security Accreditation
  • SaaS Hosting
  • Edge Deployment
For International
  • UK and Europe Accreditation
  • International Software Expansion

Company

  • Contact Us
  • Why 2F
  • About Us
  • Offset Institute
  • Careers
  • Partners
  • Legal
  • Trust Center
Cyber Essentials Footer Logo Nist logo

© 2026 Second Front Systems, Inc.

Join Our Team

Cyber Essentials Footer Logo Nist logo

© 2026 Second Front Systems, Inc.

Second Front Logo
  • Products

    Develop. Deploy. Defend.

    The 2F Suite simplifies and accelerates every step of the software development and delivery process, including Day 2 operations and extensibility.

    Explore the 2F Suite

    2F Workshop

    Build compliant software from the start with our toolkit for secure development.

    2F Game Warden

    Streamline compliance and security processes to obtain accreditation quickly.

    2F Frontier

    Deploy your software for drones, devices, and vehicles by air, land, and sea.

  • Why 2F

    Trusted. Proven. Relentless.

    Leading software providers and government agencies around the world trust us to deliver secure technology.

    Why 2F

    About Us

    We’re a public-benefit, venture-backed company delivering mission-critical software to the world’s democracies.

    Careers

    Join a mission-driven team advancing global security, with positions open across functions. Apply now.

    Partners

    We collaborate with a diverse network of mission-driven partners to broaden the reach of our solutions.

  • Solutions

    Solutions that empower and transform.

    Whether delivering software to the public sector for the first time or needing a hand navigating the complex accreditation process, 2F is your one-stop shop.

    Explore our solutions

    For Commercial

    • DOD Accreditation
    • FedRAMP Certification
    • Government Cloud Hosting
    • Secure Development

    For Government

    • Monitoring & Observability
    • Software Factory
    • Security Accreditation
    • SaaS Hosting
    • Edge Deployment

    For International

    • UK and Europe Accreditation
    • International Software Expansion
  • Resources

    Your command center for knowledge and innovation.

    Strategic insights, mission-ready resources, and frontline expertise—all in one place.

    Explore the 2F resources

    Resources

    • Guides
    • Blog
    • Customer Stories
    • Podcast
    • Videos
    • Technical Documentation

    Topics

    • 2F Team & Culture
    • Industry Insights
    • Products

    News & Events

    • News
    • Events
    • Offset Symposium 2026
Get Started