The Department of Defense (DoD) began a Mentor Protégé (M-P) Pilot Program when Senators Nunn and Perry came together in the 90's to address the excuses of the large Prime contractors who said they could not find enough capable small business to satisfy the requirements of mandatory small business subcontracting plans. The M-P program has seen its ups and downs through the years especially in the area of budgets. Even so, several years after the DoD M-P program became a recognized success many other agencies developed their own version of a mentor protégé program. The biggest difference is that the DoD Program had the reimbursable component which was very appealing to the large prime contractors.

Whether it is a formal agreement facilitated by a government agency or just a well developed informal relationship, Mentor Protégé programs are a benefit to both large and small firms in competition for contract awards. These relationships are as close to a business "marriage" as one can get. The successful ones are built on mutual trust and respect for each other's services and contributions in the relationship. Where many programs have gone astray is when a small firm links up with a large firm and they both offer the same products or services. The small firm wants to grow up to be like the big guy and the large guy hopes they sell more of what they provide by way of a small business advantage. The relationships or agreements which seem to hold the most promise are those that are made up of two firms that need each other's products or services and have a "go to market" strategy that benefits each other over the long term and in multiple scenarios involving both government and large commercial contracts.