Office Hours #841: Scaling Smarter: Growth, Acquisitions, and Building Brands That Last

Patrick Rodgers is an accomplished entrepreneur, business coach, and Managing Partner of Elkridge Advisors, where he helps small and mid-sized companies scale faster through a blend of organic growth and strategic mergers and acquisitions. With nearly two decades of hands-on M&A experience and over $250M in completed transactions, Patrick is known for making sophisticated acquisition strategies accessible to business owners who want to grow without building an internal M&A team. His approach combines disciplined strategy, favorable deal structuring, and real-world execution, grounded in his own experience acquiring and operating companies across service and healthcare industries. Shawn Walchef is a restaurant owner turned media visionary who transformed his BBQ business into a powerful content and storytelling brand reaching millions. By building a full-scale media studio inside his company and hosting a weekly podcast featuring top founders and leaders, Shawn gained a rare cross-industry perspective on growth, leadership, and innovation. Guided by his philosophy, “Be the Show, Not the Commercial,” he applies storytelling to marketing, partnerships, and culture while openly sharing lessons around mental health, entrepreneurship, and fatherhood. Adam Wexler was the Founder of PrizePicks, the largest paid fantasy sports platform. A career entrepreneur, he's known for resilience and customer-first innovation. He now focuses on vision, leadership, and many new ventures. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.