Meet Eric Roza: Executive, Founder, Entrepreneur
Incoming owner and CEO of CrossFit Inc,. Eric Roza has a tremendous amount of work in front of him. He has stated as much in his interactions with the public since the news broke last Wednesday morning — including a 5:30 AM Instagram follow-up post where he gave the community a sneak peek into the life of someone tasked with galvanizing a reeling global community.
With the initial jolt of the enthusiasm lingering from the swift change brought about by voices of many, the focus will now shift towards a plan of action and a better understanding of who Eric Roza really is — the tech entrepreneur, affiliate owner, and corporate executive — and what is it about him business-wise that has suddenly given many in the community a new hope for the future.
Roza’s educational background includes an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Michigan — sorry Ohio State fans — and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Stanford University.
- He began his career at Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm based in Boston, Massachusetts that’s considered one of the “Big Three” management consultancies.
In 2007 he founded Datalogix, a consumer data and analytics company that grew to roughly 400 employees and included an impressive portfolio of consumer-oriented companies while he operated as the CEO. The company was acquisitioned by Oracle in December of 2014 for 1.2 billion dollars.
- During this time Roza also served as an active board member of KIPP Academy in Nashville, a college-preparatory, public charter school providing education for children from Kindergarten through high school.
- He also opened CrossFit Sanitas, now a 10,000 square foot affiliate in the heart of Boulder, Colorado with then-wife and co-owner, Melissa. The gym has roughly 400 members and has been voted the fourth best CrossFit gym in the United States by Shape magazine.
- Roza stayed with Oracle as the Senior Vice President and General Manager for Oracle Data Cloud until his departure for personal reasons in July of 2019.
Since his departure Roza has stayed busy, working in a variety of roles concurrently as a board member, chairman, advisor and executive in residence for a variety of companies. He also serves as an adjunct professor teaching entrepreneurial leadership for the University of Colorado’s school of engineering.
- Roza briefly worked as the chairman for TrueCoach –– an online coaching platform and mobile application utilized by some of the most reputable training programs in the CrossFit space including Invictus, Power Monkey, Brute Strength, OPEX, and Revival Strength.
- He’s currently the executive in residence for General Catalyst, a group that invests in businesses using data, analytics, and tech. Their portfolio includes companies such as AirBnb, Snapchat, Warby Parker, Instacart, Stripe and Venmo.
Roza’s entrepreneurial and executive experience extends beyond the classical business sector, and into health care, charitable and non-profit sectors as well. He’s an active board member in the companies Sondermind, TeachUnited and Endeavor Colorado.
- Sondermind is a company whose focus is to make mental health services more “accessible, affordable, and effective.”
- TeachUnited provides tablet technology and data-driven development programs to teachers in support of rural and underserved communities.
- Endeavor Colorado is the state-specific chapter of Endeavor — a global non-profit focused on accelerating entrepreneurship. Roza is a founding board member.
It should come as no surprise then that Roza has already begun to bring a fresh perspective to the company as far as his viewpoints on tech, media, and the holistic approach to CrossFit Inc. and its many components. Discussions have already taken place about the potential for improved developments for things like a mobile app for the training department, media coverage for the sport and communication with affiliates to support them in their business endeavors.
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