Skip Farber

Skip Farber (1952–January 4, 2023) built a three-decade career as a senior executive and dealmaker in the trade-show, exhibition, and business-media industries before turning to private-equity investing. He held executive roles at leading exhibition and publishing companies including Advanstar Communications, Reed Exhibitions, Cahners Exhibition Group, and Security World Publishing. At Advanstar he served as an Executive Vice President and led dozens of acquisitions aggregating roughly $600 million in value.

Farber is best known for revitalizing the World Shoe Association (WSA) footwear and accessories trade show. He joined WSA as CEO in 2004 and re-energized its semi-annual Las Vegas events, which grew to draw on the order of 37,000 attendees. In 2006 WSA's assets were rolled into WSA Global Holdings, LLC, a privately held company he headed as Chairman and CEO alongside COO Diane Stone; the footwear exhibition business was ultimately sold to ENK International, a portfolio company of private-equity firm Forstmann Little & Co. He retired from WSA in 2009, citing health reasons.

In 2009, Farber and his son Jason Farber founded Carlin Capital Partners, an Encino, California investment firm that deploys the family's own permanent capital to acquire mature small businesses in manufacturing, industrial services, and equipment rental. The firm was designed around a long-hold, operational-improvement philosophy — explicitly rejecting a "buy and flip" mentality in favor of long-term sustainability. Farber served as co-founder and principal (later senior advisor) until his death in January 2023.

Beyond his operating career, Farber was an active industry figure and philanthropist, involved with SISO, IAEE, and American Business Media, and a frequent industry speaker. He was reported to have directed a $1 million grant to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) in 2006. He is survived by his wife Karen, children Jason and Jodi, and four grandchildren.

• Buyer, not a startup backer: Carlin acquires *control* of established, cash-flow-positive companies — it does not write seed or venture checks.
• Permanent family capital: The firm invests its founders' own money and manages no third-party funds, allowing indefinite hold periods and avoiding forced exits.
• Size band: Targets businesses generating up to roughly $5M in annual EBITDA / cash flow.
• Maturity requirement: Companies typically have 10+ years of continuous operation.
• What earns a "yes": Fragmented markets, stable/recurring customer relationships, demanding service requirements, predictable revenue, and clear opportunities to improve profitability.
• Sectors: Niche manufacturing, industrial services, equipment rental, distribution, and (historically) media/publishing/tradeshows.
• Hard exclusions (their own words): early-stage ventures, minority interests, technology-driven businesses, retail, real estate, and short-product-lifecycle companies.