Talks on how small and minority-owned businesses actually get into government contracting: from an operator who registered the SAM.gov account, earned the MBE certification, wrote the bids, won the contracts, and then built software so the next firm could do it faster. No theory without a receipt behind it.
Every year, government at every level buys more goods and services than any customer on earth, and most small firms never sell them a dollar's worth. Not because the work is beyond them, but because the system was written in a language nobody taught them. This keynote walks the room through government contracting the way an operator learned it: registration, certification, the bid, the debrief, the relationship, and the discipline of staying in the game long enough to win it. Built from the real path of a firm that went from a standing start to a certified MBE with delivered government engagements in two states.
A plain-language map of the procurement system: who buys, how they buy, and where a small firm's first realistic entry points are.
The certification stack explained honestly: what MBE, 8(a), and registration actually get you, what they don't, and the order to pursue them in.
The operating habits that separate firms that win eventually from firms that quit: bid cadence, debrief discipline, and past performance as a compounding asset.
A hands-on walk from zero to bid-ready: SAM.gov registration done right, UEI and NAICS codes demystified, certifications worth pursuing by state and city, reading a solicitation without drowning, and a live anatomy of a real small-business bid. Built for chambers of commerce, small business development centers, APEX Accelerators, and supplier diversity programs.
Practical, vendor-neutral session on what structured AI tooling can responsibly do inside a small services firm today: research, first drafts, document review, and admin load, and where human judgment must stay in the loop. No hype, no doom: a working operator's honest inventory, with live demonstrations.
Before the certifications and the software, there was a boy underneath a conference table while his mother, a business operator for more than 25 years, ran the room above. A talk about inheritance that isn't money: mentorship by proximity, the Yoruba tradition of naming a child what you intend them to become, and what it takes to carry a legacy across three continents into rooms it was never invited to. For leadership programs, heritage and culture events, and education audiences.
The 99% problem: why most small businesses never bid on government work, and what would change if they did.
From fashion week to FedRAMP-adjacent: a founder path through a luxury leather brand, a decade of enterprise IT, and a government contracting firm.
Building software for your own industry: what shipping GovBid AI, OpsTicket, and OnboardIQ taught a services founder about product.
The MBE journey, honestly: what minority business certification actually opens, what it doesn't, and how to work the difference.
| Speaker | Olufela "Lu" Fagbure, Founder & Director, IT Custom Solution LLC |
| Based | New York. Available for travel and virtual sessions. |
| Formats | Keynote (30 to 45 min), workshop (90 min to half day), panel, fireside, podcast. |
| Audiences | Small business and supplier diversity programs, chambers of commerce, procurement and industry associations, founder communities, universities. |
| A/V | Standard: lavalier or handheld microphone, HDMI for live demonstrations during workshops. |
| Emcee intro | "Our speaker is the founder of IT Custom Solution, a certified minority-owned IT firm serving government and enterprise, and the builder of the GovBid AI software suite. Please welcome Lu Fagbure." |
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