RLH Equity Partners Announces Expanded Role for Rob Rodin
RLH Equity Partners (RLH), a leading private equity firm specializing in technology-infused professional services enterprises, is pleased to announce that Rob Rodin has assumed additional leadership responsibilities at the firm. Mr. Rodin, who continues to hold the Vice Chair and Managing Director roles, was selected by RLH’s leadership team as the firm’s new Chief Executive Officer, succeeding RLH’s co-founder and Chair, Chris Lewis, in the CEO position. Mr. Lewis will continue to be fully engaged with RLH, focusing his responsibilities on the selection of, and Board service to, portfolio companies.
Rob Rodin has been a member of the RLH team for over 15 years, serving as a Strategic Advisor since 2007, as a Managing Director since 2016, and as Vice Chair since 2021. Over those many years, Rob has helped well over a dozen RLH portfolio companies create significant value through his insights on strategy, go-to-market techniques, and sales enablement, among other topics. Earlier in his career, Rob served for over 10 years as CEO and President of Marshall Industries (formerly NYSE: MI), a global industrial electronics distributor and supply chain management company with over $2 billion in sales. At Marshall, Mr. Rodin was widely recognized as a pioneer in B2B use of the internet, with Marshall winning Advertising Age’s “World’s Number One Business to Business Website” for two consecutive years and Information Week’s “World’s Number Company in the Use of Technology”. Rob brings both a tech-forward approach to building value in RLH portfolio companies and also the timeless business leadership lessons described in his second book “Free, Perfect and Now: Connecting to the Three Insatiable Customer Demands”, which has been incorporated into case studies at Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, and other leading business schools.
In his new capacity as CEO of RLH, Rodin will be responsible for overseeing the full continuum of portfolio activities, including sourcing, execution, and monitoring, as well as firm operations. Commenting on his appointment, Rob said, “I am honored and excited to take on the role of CEO at RLH. Most importantly, I am grateful for the trust and confidence placed in me by the firm’s partners and look forward to continuing to work closely with our exceptional team to deliver strong returns for our investors.”
RLH co-founder and Chair Chris Lewis commented, “Having worked with Rob for over 15 years, and having known him as a friend for several decades, I am convinced that he is exceptionally well qualified for the CEO position at RLH. He is both an outstanding leader and a great intellect. As importantly, Rob epitomizes the values of integrity, servant leadership, and fairness that have defined RLH for more than four decades. I enthusiastically look forward to continuing to be fully engaged with RLH’s investment activities and portfolio companies and supporting Rob’s leadership as CEO.”