Operations & back office for DoD and IC companies

Founders build the product and win the work. We build the company around it.

Bluestone Insights helps DoD and IC companies, from stealth to scale, professionalize their operations and prepare for investment or exit — and supports PE sponsors with operational diligence and integration. Led by a TS/SCI-cleared operator who has built these programs from scratch.

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Where defense and IC companies stall

The problems nobody sees until someone looks closely.

The founder is the operating system

Product and sales are strong. Contracts, finance, HR, and program management live in one person's head. Buyers see it — and price it in.

A pipeline nobody can see

No CRM discipline, no forecast, no pipeline review. Growth depends on one person's memory and calendar.

Numbers a buyer won't trust

Accounting that isn't DCAA-ready, indirect rates nobody can explain, and contracts no one has read since they were signed.

Compliance that won't survive scrutiny

Clearance, foreign-ownership, CMMC, and export-control gaps that surface in diligence — or on the next recompete.

Who we work with

From stealth to scale.

Our focus is the defense and intelligence community. We also work with commercial and dual-use companies through a network of relationships across that market, backed by established delivery partners in enterprise transformation and CMMC — so engagements can scale well beyond a single operator. The work changes with the company's stage. The goal doesn't: an operation that holds up when customers, auditors, and buyers look closely.

Stealth

Get the foundation right before the first government contract — clearance strategy, ownership structure, and compliance that won't need rebuilding later.

Startup

Stand up contracts, HR, finance, and program management as headcount and awards grow — without slowing down the founders.

Mid-sized

Professionalize what was built on the fly, close the gaps a buyer would find, and position the company for investment or exit.

Large & PE-backed

Diligence, integration, and add-on acquisitions — bringing new assets up to the platform's standard fast.

What we do

Build it right. Then make it worth investing in.

Most defense, IC, and GovCon companies are built on product or sales. The operating infrastructure — PMO, sales operations, finance, contracts, HR, and compliance — is what a buyer actually pays for. Most companies hire five firms to build it and spend their own time coordinating them. We're one accountable team that builds all of it, so it works together.

Professionalize the operation

PMO & Program Operations

Program management infrastructure and operating rhythm — governance cadence, reporting structure, site and program leadership, and the ops backbone sponsors expect but founder-led companies rarely have in place.

Sales Operations & Growth

Stand up the CRM, pipeline stages, and forecasting; set the weekly pipeline-review cadence; build proposal and capture operations. Then we help you hire the sales operations lead to run it — and stay on until they own it.

Finance & Contracts

DCAA-compliant accounting systems, indirect rates, contracts administration, subcontract structuring, and the financial reporting a board or buyer will trust.

HR & Cleared Recruiting

HR policy and compliance, payroll and benefits, onboarding, and a cleared recruiting pipeline that keeps pace with new awards.

Security & Compliance

CMMC, FCL and FOCI mitigation, cleared-facility buildout and DCSA engagement, insider threat, and export control — plus fractional FSO support from our network and cleared outside-director service for FOCI-mitigated boards.

Embedded Operating Executive

When the company needs an operator, not a report: an interim or embedded executive who owns the functions until a permanent leader is in place.

Position for exit

Exit Readiness

Find what a buyer's diligence will find — before they do. Close the operating and compliance gaps that turn into price cuts, escrow, and delays.

Investor & Buyer Readiness

Understand what VC investors and PE sponsors in defense and the IC look for, and get the operation ready for that scrutiny. Where it helps, we share relationships across the investor and operator community.

Sponsor-Side Diligence & Integration

For sponsors on the other side of the table: pre-LOI compliance and operating-gap assessments, 100-day integration planning, and post-close risk mitigation.

Selected work

What it looks like in practice.

Client names are withheld. In this market, most clients prefer it that way.

Defense software company · Advisory retainer

Building a route to the federal market

A software company with a product built for defense and federal users had strong technology but no clear path to government revenue.

Built the federal go-to-market thesis and pricing model
Designed a services-led operating model to generate revenue while longer government sales cycles play out
Evaluated growth options, including partnerships and acquisition, to accelerate market entry
Weekly advisory to leadership

Result: a defined route to market and the operating model to support it.

Dual-use compliance SaaS · Embedded executive

One seat, the whole back office

A commercial compliance platform moving into the federal cloud market needed operating leadership it couldn't yet hire as a team.

Sole operating owner across product, government contracts, capture, and financial controls
Stood up the PMO and operating cadence
Built the HR function from scratch: HRIS implementation and integration, benefits, policies, and recruiting
Set up the full back office to support federal work
Led the transition toward federal cloud and cybersecurity requirements

Result: a complete operating backbone, built and run by one accountable operator instead of a team of vendors.

“Bluestone doesn't hand us a list of problems. They tell us which ones matter, in what order, and how to fix them, because they've run these functions themselves. It's like having a COO on call.”

CEO, security company

“Bluestone saved us months of wrong turns. They've been inside companies at every stage, and they know what breaks before it breaks.”

CEO, AI developer-tools startup

“Every founder in this market should have a team like Bluestone in their corner.”

CEO, stealth-stage company

How we work

We don't write reports. We do the work.

Most advisors hand you a findings deck and leave. We stand up the PMO, sales operations, finance, HR, and security functions — and run them until your team can. Senior-led, with vetted specialists. No junior bench learning on your dime.

Fixed-scope sprint

Two to eight weeks. A defined question and a defined deliverable — a readiness diagnostic, a diligence sprint, a 100-day plan.

Build and operate

We stand up the function — systems, policies, and people — and run it until your team owns it.

Advisory retainer

A standing cadence with leadership. Senior judgment on call, without a full-time hire.

Fractional and board seats

An interim operating executive, a fractional FSO from our network, or a board or advisory board seat.

Every engagement starts with a 30-minute call and a written scope. Fixed fees where the scope is fixed; monthly where it isn't.

About

John W. Scharer, Jr.

Founder & Managing Partner · Active TS/SCI

John is a defense and GovCon operations executive. As VP of Corporate Operations & Security at Descartes Labs Government, he built the facility clearance, FOCI, DCAA, and CMMC programs from scratch and served as FSO and Insider Threat Program Senior Official through the company's acquisition by a private equity firm. He has built and led sales and program operations teams across defense and intelligence programs.

Before that, he held program and operations roles at DHS, General Dynamics, Sotera Defense, BAE Systems, and Management Concepts, and later served as a contract COO, laying the operational groundwork for a private equity capital raise. He has taken programs from Phase I through Phase III, doubled a program's size in a single year, and led programs valued at more than $100M.

Connect with John on LinkedIn

He posts a weekly operator's take on defense and IC companies there.

Scaling, integrating, or preparing for what's next?

Thirty minutes is usually enough to know whether there's a problem worth solving. Tell me a little about where things stand and I'll follow up directly — or book a time below.

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Bluestone Insights provides operational and compliance advisory services. It is not a registered broker-dealer, investment adviser, or law firm; it does not solicit investors, negotiate or execute transactions, or provide legal, investment, or securities advice.