Onvia's most valuable product turned out to be a list: which government agencies were buying what, and when. It did not start that way. Onvia began in Seattle as a one-stop online shop for firms too small to have a purchasing department. By the time it filed to go public in early 2000, it was also pointing those firms toward government. Agencies spent huge sums every year, and finding the right bid took luck and paperwork.

A Young Canadian's Marketplace

Glenn Ballman, a young Canadian entrepreneur, founded the company in 1996. He bet that the web served small businesses badly, and that they would gather in one place if someone made buying and selling easier. Over time the most valuable part of that idea was information. If a small firm knew which agencies were buying what, and when, it could compete for public contracts.

From Store to Bid Tracker

Onvia priced at $21 a share in March 2000, just before the dot-com market turned. The broad small-business marketplace did not survive the downturn. The company narrowed its focus to government purchasing data. It spent nearly two decades as a smaller public company selling that intelligence. In 2017 Deltek bought Onvia for $9 a share, about $70 million, and folded it into its GovWin service.

Cover: Fairfax Court House, Virginia, with Union Soldiers in Front and on the Roof, Mathew Brady. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a county courthouse (small business meets government).