Most owners start thinking seriously about a sale when a buyer calls. By then, the decisions that shape price and terms have usually been made, or left unmade, years earlier.
That gap ran through nearly every session at the Smart Business Dealmakers D.C. Capital Region conference on September 17, 2026. I served on the host committee and joined the family business panel, which FOCUS co-presented with HB Wealth.
The room was filled with a cross-section of owners, advisors, and attorneys – lots of energy and desire to share lessons learned from those experienced in M&A and interest in learning by owners considering an exit. One of the topics that was discussed on stage and in the breakroom was the proposed changes to the Small Business size standards by the SBA. In a region dominated by Government and Defense companies, this topic and its potential impact on M&A was front and center. Here is what each session set out to tackle, and what it means if you own a privately held company in this region.
Are You Really Ready to Sell?, presented by Jensen McComas and Wells Fargo Advisors, opened the day with a blunt premise: a sale involves far more than the transaction, and readiness can begin years before signing and run well past closing. Moderator William McComas of Jensen McComas led a panel of Matt Brady (Willow Creek Partners), Peter Russo, Jr. (Wells Fargo Advisors) and Tai Truong, co-founder of SecuriGence.
The session was framed around the questions owners should be asking two to three years before an exit. That window matters because the things buyers pay for, such as clean financials, a management team that runs without the founder, and documented processes, take that long to build. You cannot assemble them during diligence.
GovCon Deal Readiness, presented by McDonald Hopkins and Potomac Allied, went straight at the issues that make government contractors different from other sellers. Tom Springer of Potomac Allied moderated Kathryn Doran (McDonald Hopkins), Tanice “TK” Gonsalves (Silca), Ashish Khot (TechnoMile) and Stuart Lawson (Potomac Allied Capital).
The session’s agenda named the pressure points directly: contract transferability, recertification, security clearances, compliance, key personnel and socio-economic status. Each one can look minor on paper and then stall a deal in diligence. A set-aside contract that cannot follow the business to a large buyer, or a facility clearance tied to a person who plans to leave, changes what a buyer will pay and how the deal gets structured.
This is the work our Government and Defense team does with clients well before a process starts. If you hold small business set-asides, the earlier you map which revenue survives a change of control, the stronger your negotiating position.
The Art of the Acquisition, presented by Aprio and Fulton Bank, flipped the lens to the buyer’s side of the table. James Jones of Fulton Bank moderated Michael Chelena (Aprio Advisory Group), Timm Hwang (FVLCRUM Funds) and Travis Mack, chairman and CEO of Saalex Corporation, who has led more than 11 acquisitions since founding the company in 1999.
The panel brought strategic, private equity, advisory and lending views together on how experienced acquirers source deals, test strategic fit, set value and decide when to walk away. Owners rarely hear that conversation. It is worth hearing, because every risk a disciplined buyer is trained to spot is a risk you can address, or at least explain, before they find it.
The midday keynote, Building Octo: From Startup to Strategic Exit, was a one-on-one between Smart Business chief content officer Dustin Klein and Mehul Sanghani. Sanghani built Octo over 17 years into a federal technology company that IBM acquired in 2023 for nearly $1.3 billion, which the conference describes as the largest acquisition in IBM Consulting history.
The conversation covered the full arc: high growth, a private equity partnership, preparing for a strategic exit, post-acquisition integration and life after the sale. Sanghani now runs Greycore Ventures, a defense technology investment firm. For a room full of GovCon founders, his story is a reminder that an exit is a transition into a next chapter, and that chapter deserves as much planning as the deal.
From Success to Significance, presented by Basswood Counsel and T.M. Wealth Management, asked what an owner wants the money to do once it arrives. Thomas Seneca of TM Wealth Management moderated Ryan Hebert (Bear Peak Consulting), Tunde Kehinde (EagleSport Holdings), Hazvinei Mugwagwa (Basswood Counsel) and Amit Puri, CEO of Kurtek, who sold his previous company, Ingenicomm, in 2017.
The mix on stage was deliberate: a serial entrepreneur, a deal lawyer, a wealth manager and executives who have sold businesses and given back. The premise behind that lineup is that the structure of a deal, and the planning around it, determines how much of the proceeds you keep and what you can do with them afterward. Those decisions belong at the start of a process, not after the letter of intent.
I joined the family business panel, which FOCUS co-presented with HB Wealth. Kelly Nowottnick of HB Wealth moderated, and I sat alongside Michael Barnhart, founder and former CEO of SecuriGence, and Ryan Frederic, president of Ten One Aerospace.
The starting point was simple: the best path on paper is not always the one that works in practice. Family relationships, history, communication styles and different expectations all shape decisions about growth, succession, outside capital or a sale. The same is true for founding partners who have built a company together and think of each other as family.
Kelly shared a statistic that 75% of all business owners, 12 months after selling their company, were either dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied. Ryan was pretty blunt – he said if everyone was honest, it was probably 100%. But that is OK because many owners don’t or can’t properly prepare for such a drastic change to identity and lifestyle. In my experience, owners that talk to their fellow owners and their advisors, plan for the future and start laying a framework while preparing for a sale experience more satisfaction and less conflict. Agreement among owners on timing, roles after closing and what the business should become is as much a part of exit readiness as clean financials.
The final session, Driving Value From The Start, presented by J.P. Morgan and Versatility, closed the loop on the day. Dustin Klein moderated Kristen Barr (Versatility), Annie Lan (Egis Capital Partners), Jonathan Sterlin (J.P. Morgan) and David Wallis (NewConnect).
The session focused on the levers that turn strategy into measurable results: operations, leadership, technology, governance and commercial growth. Investors use those levers after they buy. Owners can pull the same ones before a sale and keep more of the value they create, rather than leaving it on the table for the next owner to capture.
Six sessions, six angles, one shared message: the owners who get the outcomes they want begin preparing long before they plan to sell. If an exit is anywhere on your horizon in the next three to five years, the useful question is not whether you are ready today. It is which of these gaps you can close while you still control the timeline.
If you own a government services or business services company and want to talk through where you stand, I’m glad to have that conversation.
Barry Calogero
Managing Director
Managing Director
Whether you’re exploring a sale, raising capital, or simply want an outside perspective on where your business stands, our bankers are ready to listen. Reach out to start a confidential conversation with the FOCUS team.
