Alex Hodgkin is a speaker, professor, investor, and ETA consultant.

Alex brings operational experience of building and scaling a business, the academic rigor of teaching at Chicago Booth, and the practical expertise of implementing EOS specifically for Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition leaders.

Contact Regarding Speaking

The EOS Implementer Who Understands ETA

Alex Hodgkin has spent his career in the trenches of entrepreneurship, capital markets, and organizational leadership, giving him a unique perspective on what it takes to transform chaos into clarity for first-time CEOs.

  • For ETA CEOs: He's lived your journey—acquiring, scaling, and transitioning leadership
  • For Investors: He speaks your language and understands board dynamics
  • For Business Schools: He bridges theory and practice with proven results

Core Expertise:

  • EOS Implementation for First-Time Operators
  • Founder Transition Management
  • Board-CEO Alignment Through Operating Systems
  • Building Accountability in Inherited Teams

Credentials at a Glance:

  • Co-founded Intrinsic LLC (grew 5x revenue, 60 employees)
  • Adjunct Professor, Chicago Booth School of Business
  • Co-creator of Booth's ETA Program ecosystem
  • Professional EOS Implementer focused on ETA
  • White paper co-author with Yale’s AJ Wasserstein

Speaking Topics and Session Options

The $5M Burden: Why First-Time CEOs Break and How EOS Prevents It

Managing $5M+ of other people's money while learning to be a CEO for the first time creates a unique psychological and operational burden that most implementers don't understand. In this presentation, Alex discusses:

  • The Psychological Load Framework. The specific mental burden of inheriting teams, managing investor expectations, and personal guarantees.
  • Compartmentalization for Sanity. How to use EOS issue management to prevent overwhelm from “the 47 problems you inherit on day one.”
  • The Delegate & Elevate Paradox. Why corporate-trained operators struggle with newfound autonomy and how EOS structures it.
  • Trust-Building Through Transparency. Using EOS rhythms to earn credibility with inherited teams who didn't choose you.

Board Dynamics: When EOS Meets Private Equity Expectations

Most EOS implementers avoid boards or treat them as separate from the operating system. Alex shows how to make EOS the bridge between boardroom strategy and frontline execution.

  • The VTO Co-Creation Process. How boards and leadership teams collaborate on vision without power struggles.
  • Ninety.io as Portfolio Intelligence. Real-time visibility into portfolio company execution without micromanaging
  • The Governance Accountability Chart. Where boards fit in EOS structure and how to prevent operational overreach.
  • Value Creation Plan Integration. Mapping PE value drivers directly into EOS Rocks and Scorecards.

The $12M Scaling Playbook: Lessons from Building and Exiting

Most EOS talks are theoretical. Alex shares the tactical reality of scaling Intrinsic from kitchen table to $12M revenue, including the mistakes, the breakthrough moments, and the successful leadership transition.

  • The Talent Engine vs. Revenue Engine. Why most firms plateau: they build great sales systems but terrible people development
  • The 5x Revenue Growth Framework. Specific inflection points where EOS tools became critical for scaling.
  • Succession Without Succession Planning. How to build a company that can run without you (and the EOS tools that make it possible).
  • The Recapitalization Decision. When and how to bring in institutional capital while maintaining culture and systems.

Founder Forensics: Diagnosing What Went Wrong and What to Keep

Every founder-led business is "duct tape and chicken wire.” Some of that infrastructure is brilliant, some is broken. Alex teaches a systematic approach to diagnosis and transition.

  • The Legacy Values Audit. How to preserve what made the business great while adding growth-oriented cultural elements.
  • People vs. Process Archaeology. Distinguishing between founder genius trapped in their head vs. actual broken systems
  • The Owner's Box Transition. Where rolling-equity founders fit post-acquisition and how to manage their psychology.
  • Healthy vs. Unhealthy Founder Dynamics. Red flags that predict difficult transitions (including the "fist fight over the VTO" story)

About Alex

Alex is a visionary leader with a proven track record in financial services and entrepreneurship. His journey is marked by strategic foresight and a commitment to fostering growth and innovation.

Alex's path began in investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney and later Headwaters MB, where he completed strategic reviews for multinational corporations and guided middle-market entrepreneurs through complex transactions. This front-row seat to business acquisitions and growth strategies laid the foundation for his entrepreneurial journey.

Alex built Intrinsic into one of the largest boutique financial services firms of its kind in the Rocky Mountain region. Under his leadership as CEO, the company:

  • Grew revenues nearly fivefold over four years
  • Expanded to 55 employees across Denver and Chicago
  • Secured a successful recapitalization in 2019 with a consortium including former Goldman Sachs partners and Madison Dearborn Partners co-founders
  • Established relationships with some of the most respected institutional investment firms in the region

In 2023, Alex successfully transitioned from day-to-day operations, remaining on Intrinsic's board while the executive team he developed continues driving growth.

The Ecosystem Builder

Parallel to building Intrinsic, Alex helped create one of the premier ETA programs in the country. Working alongside Professor Steve Kaplan at Chicago Booth, Alex co-led the launch of the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition suite of programming at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship.

In this role, he has:

  • Advised dozens of individuals through their journey from corporate roles to proven small business leaders
  • Co-founded the ETA Insider podcast, the first dedicated ETA podcast
  • Built the alumni network and ecosystem that has become a model for other business schools
  • Currently serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Senior Advisor for ETA

Insights from Implementation

Having led through acquisition through scaling to successful transition, Alex gets it.

"Without the right playbook and guidance, the stress of mounting obligations to employees, investors, and clients alike can take a toll on leadership, with dire consequences to physical health, relationships, and the business."

This realization led him to EOS implementation, where he now specializes in helping ETA operators and first-time CEOs become "best in class business athletes" through structured operating systems that bring clarity, accountability, and alignment to their organizations.

His unique value proposition is simple: he's been where his clients are going. He understands the pressure of inheriting a team you didn't hire, answering to investors while learning on the job, and building systems that can scale beyond the founder's capacity.

Current Focus & Recognition

Today, Alex serves multiple interconnected roles:

  • Professional EOS Implementer with EOS Worldwide, specializing in ETA
  • Investor at Meritage, a growth equity firm
  • Adjunct Professor at Chicago Booth

Alex holds undergraduate degrees in Economics (Claremont McKenna College) and Electrical Engineering (University of Colorado), an MBA from Chicago Booth, and is a CFA charter holder.

Contact Regarding Speaking

Thought Leadership

Exploring Business Operating Systems

Exploring How ETA CEOs and Private Equity Buyers Can Collaborate Post Acquisition