Sharon Heaton, the founder of sbLiftOff and a leading small business, growth strategies and M&A SME, talks with Kelly Kunkle about the software industry. Kelly is a new M&A advisor at sbLiftOff focused on technology, from software to SaaS, robotics and more.

Topics covered:

● Strategic buyers and software roll-ups

To connect with Kelly, visit his LinkedIn page here.

To connect with Sharon Heaton, visit her LinkedIn page here.

If you liked listening to this episode, view our GovCon M&A page here. To view all of our podcast series, visit our podcast page.

Sharon Heaton, the founder of sbLiftOff and a leading small business, growth strategies and M&A SME, talks with Christine Williamson about the GAUGE Report (Government compliance, Accounting, Utilization, Growth, Efficiency), the annual review of government contracting put out each year by CohnReznick and Unanet. This year’s GAUGE Report,  titled “Mastering Resource Planning and Project Execution,” emphasized improving “utilization.”  This year’s report also includes a survey from February and March in which GovCon business owners and executives relay their thoughts on the significant changes to government contracting in 2025.

Topics covered: 

View the GAUGE report here.

To connect with Christine, visit her LinkedIn page here.

To connect with Sharon Heaton, visit her LinkedIn page here.

Sharon Heaton talks with Brad Palmer about growing a GovCon company and selling it. A successful entrepreneur, Brad built B3 and planned the sale of his company in advance.

Topics covered: 

To connect with Brad, visit his LinkedIn page here.

To connect with Sharon Heaton, visit her LinkedIn page here.

If you liked listening to this episode, view our GovCon M&A page here. To view all of our podcast series, visit our podcast page.

Sharon Heaton talks with Joseph Dalton of Arsenal Enterprise Capital about what’s new with aerospace and defense. A successful veteran who grew a company and sold it he says GovCon isn’t going away. Today Arsenal invests in public and private lower middle market companies that offer the government new capacities to defend against evolving threats. 

Topics covered: 

To connect with Joseph, visit his LinkedIn page here.

To connect with Sharon Heaton, visit her LinkedIn page here.

If you liked listening to this episode, view our GovCon M&A page here. To view all of our podcast series, visit our podcast page.

Sharon Heaton talks with investor Matt Dean, the founder of Scare the Bear (STB) Capital, who is focused on non-controlling investments in lower middle market GovCon businesses. Hear what Matt thinks buyers are thinking about today’s churning GovCon M&A market.

Topics covered: 

To connect with Matt, visit his LinkedIn page here.

To connect with Sharon Heaton, visit her LinkedIn page here.

If you liked listening to this episode, view our GovCon M&A page here. To view all of our podcast series, visit our podcast page.

Sharon Heaton talks with legendary banker Joe Humphries of Atlantic Union, who brings decades of experience in GovCon M&A. Joe gives advice to sellers about planning and provides perspective on how today’s changes, from DOGE cuts to agency configurations, fit into a history of ever evolving federal procurement appetites. Hear what Joe has to say about what banks see as good M&A opportunities today, including “the benefit of chaos.” 

Topics covered:

Sharon Heaton talks with M&A advisor and software expert Shaunna Balady – a woman who has completed over 100  transactions totaling over $20 billion in enterprise value across 5 continents. Shaunna also helped grow and recently sell a GovCon software services firm. She donates most of her earnings to favorite charities, doing good by doing well. Hear what this amazing software and SaaS expert has to say about the future of GovCon M&A.

Topics covered:

Sharon Heaton talks with GovCon leader Bob Eisminger who founded Knight Point Systems and sold it for an impressive sum. A graduate of West Point, Bob used his knowledge of the military to grow his GovCon company. Realizing that as a VAR, Knight Point systems wouldn’t be worth more than a low multiple of profits, Bob pivoted. As a managed services provider with a $1.2 billion backlog on its books, the company looked very different. Hear what this successful veteran entrepreneur says about the journey from business idea to growth through sale:

Topics covered:

A serial entrepreneur since his boyhood in India, Gautam Ijoor founded AlphaOmega in 2016. An agile supplier of DevSecOps, cloud engineering and cybersecurity solutions, the company has grown 40% year after year. In 2020 Gautam decided to bolt on a robotics firm, Confiance Group.  This January, 2025, he closed two new acquisitions on the same day. Hear what a successful tech entrepreneur says about smart buys in the GovCon sector.

Topics covered:

Learn more about OrangeSlices AI here.

Winning at GovCon M&A requires providing unique value to government agencies. Cos DiMaggio, a successful serial entrepreneur, shares his tips on science, technology and disruption. Cos founded The Tauri Group with two colleagues and focused on critical areas of homeland security, national defense, resilience, and rapid capability development. Cos’s growth strategy? Compressing the distance between developers and users. Tauri was acquired by LMI. Hear what a successful tech entrepreneur says about his M&A journey:

Topics covered:

Learn more about OrangeSlices AI here.