The RFP Problem (And Why I Built Something About It)
In this week's edition:
• The RFP Problem (And Why I Built Something About It)
• This Week in AI
• Tool of the Week: Bidwell
THE RFP PROBLEM (AND WHY I BUILT SOMETHING ABOUT IT)
Every business has been there. A promising RFP lands in your inbox. You look at the deadline, the 47-page questionnaire, the "please provide three case studies and your ISO certifications" requirements. Then you do the maths: is this worth the 40+ hours it'll take to respond?
Most of the time, the answer is no. Not because you can't win. Because you can't afford the time to try.
THE REAL COST
The numbers are brutal:
• Average tender response takes 20-40 hours of skilled work
• Most businesses only respond to 1 in 5 opportunities they're actually qualified for
• Professional bid writers cost £1,000+ per response
• Your competitors with bigger teams are responding to everything
This is a war of attrition that favours whoever can throw the most bodies at paperwork.
HOW AI ACTUALLY HELPS
The real breakthrough is the knowledge base approach.
Upload your past responses, case studies, policies, and credentials. The AI learns how you answer questions, in your voice, with your specific examples.
When a new tender comes in, the AI reads the documents, pulls out the questions, and maps them to your existing answers. You get a first draft in minutes. Not generic waffle. Actual drafts based on your proven, winning content.
You still make the final call. You're editing and refining rather than starting from scratch. The creative work stays with you. The tedious assembly gets automated.
THE MATHS
Traditional approach:
• 40 hours at £50/hour = £2,000 per response
• 5 tenders per quarter
• Total: £10,000 for 5 opportunities
With AI:
• 3-4 hours review at £50/hour = £150-200 per response
• 20+ tenders per quarter for the same investment
• Total: £4,000 for 20 opportunities
Same budget. Four times the opportunities.
SO I BUILT ONE
I've been banging on about this problem for months. Eventually I got tired of waiting for someone else to solve it properly, so I built something myself.
A quick confession: nobody knows how to spell or pronounce "Operosus". I've been asked to repeat it in meetings more times than I can count. So for this one, I went route one. Simple. Memorable. Bid well. Bidwell.
It's the first in a range of "well" products we're building: Bidwell for tenders, Emailwell for outreach, Contentwell for marketing, Funnelwell for lead gen. Practical AI tools that do what they say on the tin.
Check out the full review below.
THIS WEEK IN AI
ChatGPT Gets Ads
OpenAI has started showing ads in ChatGPT responses. Brands like Expedia, Best Buy, and Qualcomm are appearing after your first prompt. The "free" AI assistant just got a bit less free.
https://www.adweek.com/media/first-ads-on-chat-gpt-best-buy-expedia-qualcomm/
Google Releases Gemini 3.1 Pro
Google's latest model focuses on "advanced reasoning" for complex tasks. Now rolling out in the Gemini app and NotebookLM. The AI arms race continues.
https://blog.google/technology/ai/gemini-3-1-pro/
YouTube AI Chatbot Hits TVs
YouTube is testing its conversational AI on smart TVs and consoles. Ask questions about videos while you watch. Handy for tutorials, potentially annoying for everything else.
https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/18138167
OpenAI Poaches Instagram's Partnership Lead
Charles Porch, who helped launch Beyoncé's album on Instagram, is now heading partnerships at OpenAI. The talent war between Big Tech and AI companies is heating up.
https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence
TOOL OF THE WEEK: BIDWELL
Full disclosure: this is mine. I built it because I got frustrated with the problem described above.
WHAT IT DOES
Bidwell tackles both sides of the tender problem.
Discovery: It monitors UK tender sources around the clock (Contracts Finder, Find a Tender, sector-specific platforms) and sends daily alerts with AI-generated summaries of opportunities matching your keywords.
Response: Upload your past responses and documents to build a knowledge base. When you find a tender worth pursuing, upload the blank questionnaire and Bidwell generates first drafts based on your existing content.
KEY FEATURES
• Smart keyword matching with daily email alerts
• AI summaries so you can quickly assess relevance
• Knowledge base that learns from your uploaded content
• AI completion that generates drafts in your voice
• Export to Excel/Word for final formatting
PRICING
Three tiers:
• Tender Matching (£15/month): Discovery and alerts only
• RFP Processing (£30/month): Full AI response generation
• Full Suite (£40/month): Everything plus priority support
BEST FOR
SMEs who respond to tenders but don't have dedicated bid teams. If you're currently doing 2-3 tenders a quarter because that's all you can manage, this could help you scale to 10+ without hiring.
THE VERDICT
Obviously I'm biased. But the knowledge base approach means the AI gets better the more you use it. Try the free trial and tell me what you think.
THAT'S IT FOR THIS WEEK
Questions, feedback, tender war stories? Just reply