Scott Shea

Scott Shea Profile Photo

M&A Advisor

Scott has entrepreneurial grit running through his DNA. After graduating in business from Texas Christian University in 2005, he joined his family’s four-generation company. Scott’s exceptional leadership skills and operational mindset were instrumental in driving his family’s legacy business to unprecedented performance, eventually leading to a 9-figure exit. Scott experienced firsthand the day-to-day grind and mixed emotions a family and enterprise go through during an acquisition.

In 2011, Scott’s love of numbers, relationships, and entrepreneurship organically led him to start his own private wealth practice, focusing on advising and consulting business owners. His entrepreneurial background and reputation as a champion advisor to his business owner clients created a perfect fit when he joined Final Ascent's deal team in 2022.

After accumulating his own dealmaking experience, Scott eventually acquired a welding company that was once part of his family’s legacy business.

Scott and his wife, Amanda, reside in South Louisiana with their three sons. Scott is also our firm’s scratch golfer. When he needs to quiet his mind, he finds solace on the fairway.

Sept. 21, 2026

Building Toward an Acquisition From Day One with Kelly Hebert

A bootstrapped founder who planned her exit before writing a line of code explains how customer discovery, discipline on features, and three rebuilds kept an acquisition in view.
Sept. 14, 2026

What Every Founder Gets Wrong About Building With AI with Justin Obney

Obney AI CEO Justin Obney cuts through the hype: AI is systems that execute your intent, and founders win by picking one tool and operationalizing it, not by endless tinkering.
Sept. 7, 2026

The Deal Behind Sports Betting, NIL, Revenue Sharing, and the Portal with Charles Hanagriff

A 33-year Baton Rouge broadcaster explains how sports betting, NIL, revenue sharing, and the transfer portal turned college athletics into a deal-making business that private equity now wants in on.
Aug. 31, 2026

Where Allocators and Dealmakers Actually Meet with Rip Reeves

Institutional Investor CEO Rip Reeves explains how global capital really moves, why insurers, endowments, and family offices invest so differently, and whose door GPs should knock on.
Aug. 24, 2026

From Folding Towels for Nick Saban to Owning a Bank with Scott Gaudin

Currency Bank CEO Scott Gaudin left a secure job mid-pandemic, raised $30M from 143 shareholders to buy a bank charter, and quadrupled it in five years. Here's the math behind it.
Aug. 17, 2026

Playing Offense or Defense With Your Company's Value with Ben Vance

Should you grow your business or protect it? The answer depends on one number — and most owners don't know theirs. In this episode, Joshua Wilson and co-hosts Scott Shea (FA Mergers) and Jeremy Beyt (CEO, ThreeSixtyEight) sit down with Ben Vance, CPA, Director at Faulk & Winkler, who brings nearly 20 years in business valuation, transaction advisory, and family office work. Ben unpacks the difference between "playing offense" and "playing defense" with enterprise value, why the legacy bil...
Aug. 10, 2026

We're Not a Construction Company, We're a People Company — Lenny Lemoine

LEMOINE founder Lenny Lemoine on growing a small-town family lumberyard into a 1,500-person firm, partnering with Bernhard Capital, and selling without selling out.
Aug. 3, 2026

The Hidden Asset Smart PE Firms Protect at All Costs with Jeffrey Koonce

Bernhard Capital partner Jeffrey Koonce on what private equity values beyond EBITDA, why the highest offer rarely wins, and why founders who roll equity tend to come out ahead.
March 30, 2026

He Buys Companies Everyone Else Is Running From — Nate Moore

Nate Moore of Moore Consulting on building a 700-person platform by acquiring distressed childcare and home care businesses — what turnaround buyers look for, and the leadership framework behind every successful turnaround.
Dec. 8, 2025

Behind the Scenes of Middle Market Deals: A Roundtable with FA Mergers

The FA Mergers team — Jude David, Scott Shea, and Chase Kenner — on common mistakes sellers make in M&A, why inflated valuations kill deals, and what to demand from your sell-side advisor.
Nov. 10, 2025

From Courtside to C-Suite: Collis Temple III on Legacy, Leadership & Letting Go

Collis Temple III on the athlete to business owner transition — going from LSU basketball and a career-ending injury to running a utility company built on championship leadership.
Nov. 6, 2025

Building & Buying: How S1 Technology Scaled Fast with Strategy, Culture, and Grit

Jeremy Roth and Hunter Harrison of S1 Technology on scaling an MSP through acquisitions — recurring revenue, EOS, and growing a 45+ employee Inc. 5000 platform across 30+ states.
Oct. 27, 2025

Poker, Psychology, and Preparing to Sell Your Business

Scott Shea on the psychology of selling your business — how poker shapes negotiation, why sellers sabotage their own exits, and how to create real buyer competition.
Guest: Scott Shea