For many mid-sized companies it“™s a common challenge: They“™re too big to be small and too small to be big. But where some see challenge, Scott Goss sees opportunity. As president and CEO of Preferred Systems Solutions (PSS), an information technology, engineering services, and program management company based in McLean, Va., Goss has guided PSS forward with a solid growth strategy. First came news of PSS“™s part ownership by a private equity firm, CM Equity, in the fall of 2007. Now comes news of PSS“™s acquisition of Integrated Network Systems, Inc., an IT consulting firm with clients in intelligence and defense. On the heels of PSS“™s acquisition of INSI, Goss debriefs on his CEO role, and how private equity can help small companies grow in a competitive economic climate.
EB: You were CFO of Signal Corporation. How has that background helped you as CEO?
Scott Goss: Just to backtrack: I have a background in IT, operations, and accounting. So I was involved in operations [at Signal] and led a consulting practice. I paticipated in business development meetings regularly. A lot of CFOs may not, they should. A lot of opportunities exist for CFOs to get involved with operations. For example being part of program reviews, meeting with program managers, line managers, VPs at the site, also customers. Customers, of course, want information “” financial, billing, etc. “” allowing CFOs greater visibility into the programs.