The Pilot Trap: Why an SDVOSB Founder Refuses the VA’s Favorite Word | Michael Schmitt

He spent half a million dollars of his own money, put his platform inside the VA’s own cloud, and then told the government he didn’t want a pilot. In this Success After Service episode, a 100% service-disabled Marine explains why refusing the pilot is the whole strategy. In this Success After Service special episode of GovCon Unscripted, Mike Schmitt retired from the Marine Corps in 2004, spent years in medical devices at Medtronic, and then did something few small-business owners attempt: he self-funded a clinical toxicology lab, built his own laboratory information system, and stood it up inside the VA Enterprise Cloud through Syncly Direct so it could do imaging, lab, and AI in one place. As a 100% service-disabled veteran running an SDVOSB, he learned the federal market the hard way. In this conversation with host Chelsea Roberts, he lays out the argument at the center of his approach: the pilot-and-funding cycle rarely produces anything, so instead of asking the VA for money and two years, he arrives already built, already authorized, and sells the result. He talks through the siloed VA and its VISNs, the records gap that leaves veterans carrying binders between systems, the credibility discount a small business faces against Deloitte and Oracle, the commercial dual-use of the platform in substance-abuse testing, and why, for him, this is about veterans taking care of veterans. **Timestamps:** **00:00** Welcome and who Mike Schmitt is **01:00** From the Marine Corps and Medtronic into toxicology **02:00** Going in as a 100% service-disabled veteran (2018–2019) **03:00** Crossing the Rubicon: the MOU and interservice agreement **05:00** Building his own lab system and moving to AWS GovCloud **06:00** Syncly Direct inside the VA Enterprise Cloud **07:00** The records gap: a pregnant veteran and the PACT Act **09:00** The siloed VA and the VISNs **11:00** An agnostic platform: “Uber healthcare” **12:00** Lobbyists, the Hill, and why he walked away **13:00** The credibility discount: “if I’m not a Deloitte or an Oracle” **16:00** HIPAA and the compliance gap **20:00** Why he refuses the pilot **21:00** A nine out of ten, and the 2026 FORUM Innovation Award **23:00** Commercial dual-use: substance-abuse testing, the 97-compound panel **25:00** The heat map: reading opioid and health risk by region **29:00** Advice for transitioning veterans **31:00** Veterans taking care of veterans **33:00** How to reach Mike Resources: - Michael Schmitt's LinkedIn profile - Chelsea Roberts' LinkedIn profile Other resources: - Central Tox (Semper Fi Labs) Website - Syncly Direct Website - Email: mike@centraltox.com 🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy   Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/govconunscriptedpod/ 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61593788076719 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 JOIN OUR #govcon #community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/