The best way to understand how contracting officers think and how they approach working with small businesses is go to the source.  Shauna Weatherly has more than 30 years working in federal procurement and now brings that expertise to the private sector. The say knowledge is power and she now shares her knowledge with her small business clients and with Randy on Small Business Set Aside.

Eileen joins Randy to talk about how to come up with methodical roadmap to building your federal business.  She talks about wandering in the “wilderness” of the federal sales landscape as she sought to sell to government customers all around the country right after 9/11.  She brings proven methods and techniques to the federal sales process to eliminate wasted time and effort.  Come along to learn how to get the top of the mountaintop. 

GovCon Guru Neil McDonnell has been working in and around government contracting for twenty five years since leaving the Army.  He was an airborne Ranger, Machine Gunner during his military service and he brings his approach of focusing on the target into the govcon world.  He is the President and Founder of the GovCon Chamber of commerce where he helps train and advise companies on how grow and scale their businesses.  He joins Randy to share some of this accumulated wisdom so you can put it to use at your company. 

Army Veteran and long-time intel analyst Brendan Huff joins the show to discuss how his company helps to make sense of disparate data, offers his views on the trends in intelligence analysis tradecraft and its ever increasing velocity.  Finally, he reminds Randy that the good and bad will come in business and keeping in mind that “this too shall pass”...will help you weather them both. 

Devon Hewitt from Potomac Law joins Randy to help small business leaders understand how to protect themselves in negotiations with big firms, key pitfalls to avoid,  and reminder that everyone is going to get knocked down at some point, so be ready and prepared to bounce back by having good representation.  If you think you can operate without a good lawyer in GovCon, this episode should make you reconsider. 

Carlos Salvat and Gabriel Cosentino join Randy to discuss their path as government contracting entrepreneurs.  Like any good friendship, it started with one trolling the other and the rest is history.  They speak to the power of their professional network as a force multiplier and how staying fast and agile has allowed them to begin scaling their business for success.  Come along for the ride on another episode of Small Business Set Aside.

Kevin is one of the busiest guys around the Beltway and Randy managed to pin him down for an hour to learn about how he “finally got a real job” in Government Contracting.   Kevin talks about his journey from finance  and onto founding multiple companies that provide deal advisory, capital, capture and proposal support to companies who work in GovCon.  He shares his insights into how companies can create durable value in the sector, offers some thoughts on where he sees the market going during these turbulent times, AND, ponders the meaning of  “purpose” and why it matters.

Longtime Beltway financial guru, Richard joins Randy to talk Private Equity and explain how it is deployed in the GovCon space and the ways in which owners might be able to leverage  it to create value and build scale. If you’ve always wondered what private equity is, this is your episode.  Come along for the ride on another episode of Small Business Set Aside.

Mark joins Randy on this episode and shares nuggets from nearly four decades of experience selling and marketing products and services in the government contracting market.  He has literally “written the book” on how to drive brand awareness and position firms for success both in the digital arena of LinkedIn and the analog method of getting in front of the right buyer early in the sales process.  Come along for the ride to learn from one of the govcon industry legends.

Carol Monroe, the CEO and founder of Red Sky, joins Randy to talk about her journey from Ecuador to the US as a child, learning program management and government contracting from the ground up, and founding Red Sky to help her government clients look beyond the horizon to plan for the future. Her “perform or perish” attitude has helped her navigate uncertainty and challenges in growing her business and in life.