Seattle-based e-bike maker Rad Power Bikes named Kathi Lentzsch as its new CEO.
Lentzsch previously ran Bartell Drugs as CEO before the company sold to Rite-Aid in 2020. She also led companies including Gump’s and Elephant Pharmacy, and held exec roles at Enesco, Pottery Barn and World Market.
Lentzsch replaces Phil Molyneux, the former Sony president who stepped down after leading Rad for more than two years.
Rad has gone through multiple rounds of layoffs over the past several years while dealing with several lawsuits and recalls.
Last week GeekWire reported on a round of layoffs that the company described as part of a “strategic pivot to support a more significant focus on physical retail, which required downsizing our teams involved in the direct-to-consumer business,” according to a spokesperson.
Rad saw big demand amid the pandemic as more people bought e-bikes. The company was valued at $1.65 billion in 2021, according to PitchBook, making it one of a handful of “unicorn” startups in the Seattle region at the time.
“Rad Power Bikes is at an inflection point, shifting from a direct-to-consumer model to a more retail-focused approach, and it’s an incredible time to come on board,” Lentzsch said in a statement.
Other key personnel changes across the Pacific Northwest tech industry:
— Andrew Nilsen was named vice president of marketing at Seattle startup Crowd Cow, a meat and seafood online marketplace that won Startup of the Year honors at the GeekWire Awards in 2018. Nilsen was previously a senior director at Chewy and Zillow Group, and spent eight years in the insurance industry.
— Barry Crist, a longtime Seattle tech leader, was named interim CEO at Perth, Australia-based software company Buildkite. He replaces Keith Pitt, who announced last week he was stepping down. Crist, former CEO and board chair of Chef, became board chair at Perth last year. Buildkite CMO Jay Wampold is also based in Seattle.
— Erik Blachford, the former CEO at Expedia, joined the board of Hipcamp, a San Francisco startup that helps people discover and book campsites. Blachford is also on the board of Seattle real estate giant Zillow Group.
