– about us –

Who We Are

Matthew Dean is the founder of Scare the Bear (STB) Capital.

Matthew Dean is the founder of Scare the Bear (STB) Capital and frequent speaker on the topic of Govcon small business growth and maturity. STB focuses on non-controlling investments in, and consulting services for, lower middle market government contracting (GovCon) businesses. The approach is to bring capital plus “been there, done that” experts that focus on 12 STB valuation drivers, with goal of mentoring company leadership, reducing risk and improving enterprise maturity and value.

Prior to Scare the Bear, Matt founded and led Markon Solutions from start up in 2007 through consistent growth up to 270 employees and then a successful exit to a private equity-backed consulting company, Anser Advisory, in September 2021. As part of Anser Advisory’s executive team, Matt served as Chief Operating Officer supporting the acquisition and integration of 6 additional companies before Anser was acquired by Accenture LLP in 2023.

As an advisor to Scare the Bear Capital portfolio companies Matt focuses on improving the maturity of the business, reducing risk and ultimately increasing the enterprise value. The specific areas of support include:

  • Working with each companies leadership team to position them in demonstrating their ability to scale the business and lead the next phase of growth after an acquisition.
  • Helping implement an incentive compensation program that is consistent with how buyers want to structure compensation of key talent.
  • Developing a growth strategy to be presented to a buyer that warrants a premium valuation.
  • Working with the executive team to successfully navigate the M&A process through connections to industry buyers and experts that will support the transaction.

Sherif Wahby is the founder of BOAB Ventures. BOAB Ventures is a boutique recruiting firm focused on supporting rapidly growing companies. BOAB Ventures helps their clients with a wide range of recruiting services ranging from full life cycle recruiting support for operations and client delivery teams to executive and board recruitment.

Prior to BOAB Ventures, Sherif was the Senior Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Anser Advisory. During his time with Anser Advisory, Sherif oversaw a nationwide team of recruiters and partnered with the executive leadership team to execute on aggressive growth plans including the acquisition and integration of six companies. The rapid growth and integration success eventually led to Accenture’s acquisition of Anser Advisory. Prior to Anser Advisory, Sherif led Talent Acquisition efforts for Markon Solutions and built world class construction management, engineering management and SETA teams supporting customers in the Defense and Intelligence Community as well as Engineering teams across the globe for the Department of State. Sherif’s time prior to Markon included over 10 years of domestic and international experience running a boutique recruitment firm supporting customers in the DCMA, the Silicon Valley and the Middle East as well as four years in recruiting and business development roles with a company that was acquired by KFORCE.

As an advisor to Scare the Bear Capital portfolio companies, Sherif focuses on developing and executing integrated recruiting strategies that enables portfolio companies to successfully attract and hire top talent. Sherif and his team work to create a best-in-class talent acquisition capability that positions companies to design and adopt innovative processes and tools. The specific areas of support include but are not limited to:

  • Working with portfolio company leadership to co-create a talent acquisition strategy that achieves an aggressive growth agenda and accelerates enterprise value;
  • Enhancing the employer brand and creating a strategy for the company to stand out from its competition by implementing social media recruitment strategies that focuses on a wide array of DEI initiatives;
  • Developing strong relationships with the leadership team to gather a deep understanding of the business for planning and developing the talent acquisition strategy;
  • Partnering with internal teams to develop integrated talent strategies to attract, grow, and retain top talent from both external and internal market.

Bryan Mabry is the founder of Vehementia, LLC, an advisory firm focused on helping their clients in the venture capital, national security, cyber, and defense sectors grow with assessment, investment, and management advisory services.

After a 14-year career in government service in the US Intelligence Community and Department of Defense, Bryan has served as Director of Special Projects at a Fortune 200 firm of 80,000 employees operating in over 150 countries. Mr. Mabry was responsible for the strategic direction of operations through the identification of new business areas and non- traditional mission support opportunities to a number of commercial clients, federal agencies, and special operations elements of the U.S. military.

Bryan was called back to federal service in 2018 where he served as Acting Vice President of the Department of Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an innovative and independent US foreign assistance agency that is helping to lead the fight against global poverty.

He has served as a Director with a UK-based technology start-up and saw the company from proof of concept/angel investment raise through series A fundraise, and presently serves on the Board of an emerging technology company focused on leveraging data and intelligence via proprietary AI to support government and commercial clients.

As an advisor to Scare the Bear Capital portfolio companies Bryan focuses on helping companies find and validate market fit with government clients and the leveraging/expanding of their networks to maximize value.

Specific areas of support include:

  • Working with each companies’ leadership team to understand their government and commercial clients’ acquisition authorities, timelines, and procurement models with an emphasis on maximizing options for creative and expedited procurement.
  • Educating companies on their competitive landscape, and through leverage of a highly developed industry and government network, identify opportunities for partnership and teaming to gain market share.
  • Conducting due diligence on potential M+A targets for validation of pipeline and viability in their respective sectors.
  • Working with the executive team to explore potential acquirers or capital sources during prospective sale or fundraising exercises.

Zarrar Husain is the CEO of ITCON Services, LLC. Over the past 16 years, ITCON has been providing federal government customers with premier technology solutions, delivering enduring impact through integrity, creative problem-solving, and a focus on empowering diverse perspectives. ITCON works with federal agency clients to help solve mission challenges in the areas of digital transformation, cloud services, cybersecurity, and contact center solutions. ITCON has been successful in obtaining CMMI and ISO level certifications that provide further confidence with their clients in the quality of support the team is able to provide. Prior to ITCON, Zarrar was the VP of Federal Civilians programs for Planned Systems International.

Zarrar founded ITCON in 2008 as an IT services small disadvantaged business that has been extremely successful in executing a strategy to help transition the company into a thriving $30M revenue business solving many federal government agency challenges. Zarrar partnered with Scare the Bear Capital to bring his specific areas of expertise in support of companies looking to grow their IT services business or execute a strategy for successful graduation from the 8A program. Specific areas of support include:

  • Developing strategies that help clients successfully exit the 8A program as a mature and valuable business
  • Working with the companies’ technology teams to develop innovative solutions and services that differentiate the business from other similar businesses
  • Creating partnership opportunities within the federal civilian market
  • Supporting leadership in the formation of joint ventures to expand contract opportunities

 

Mike DeFede is the founder of Periscope Federal, which focuses on business and executive consulting for DoD and IC companies. Mike brings a unique perspective, having led significant growth at large, medium, and start-up companies alike. Trained as a BD and Business Operations Executive at Lockheed Martin’s Corporate HQ and IC businesses, Mike’s $150M+ portfolio included 20+ programs across multiple agencies. At a Mid-Tier contractor, Mike completed a full turnaround of a red portfolio increasing Award fees by 30+ points and growing the business 25%. In 2017, Mike founded start-up Intelligent Shift (IS) and ran it full-time. After rapid growth, IS sold in 2020 to gain investment and continued to grow 35% year over year.

Mike’s experience has driven business growth, whether proposal-based, organic, or M&A. As a Business Development Professional across the IC, Mike has supported over 100 Full and Open competitions in every role, from writer to Capture Manager to Account Executive. As an experienced founder, small business executive, and leader of a successful exit, Mike is now a Scare the Bear Advisor and focuses on supporting organic growth for small businesses to expand value or prepare for a sale.  Specific areas of support include:

● Working with leadership to create a business development pipeline that supports scaling the business and
is attractive to future investors/buyers
● Supporting the long-term growth strategy to present to a buyer that helps them understand the potential
to scale
● Executive coaching
● Using his network to create additional business opportunities
● Taking advantage of experience starting and growing a small business that sold at a premium to advise on
leadership and operational changes or improvement