Julie wainwright has taken two companies public, a pretty incredible feat by any standard. Yet in her new memoir, Time to get realShe offers readers something even more valuable: a blunt look at the messy realities of entrepreneurship. Wainwright shares the kinds of tough truths that many high-acheving ceos can relate to but but rarely discuses publicly, Including the aftermath of what Maany would Consider would consider Which was shutting down pets.com during the 2000 market crash.
If you’re of a certain age, you definely remember it. The Online Pet Supplies Startup Had Banks Instantly Recognizable Thanks to its Memorable Sock Puppet Mascot And Catchy Slogan, “being pets can’t drive.” But what seemed like just a fleeting moment in the dot-com bUBBLE’S BURST WOLLD A Shadow Over Wainwright’s Career for Nearly a decade. “When I would talk to recruits, it was like, ‘No one’s going to hire you anymore,” “wainwright said in an interview with this editor earlier this week.
It came as a shock, give that wainwright’s career trajectory initialy seemed unstoppable. After cutting her teeth at Clorox, She Rose Through Tech Companies in the ’90s when female leadership in the sector was exceedly rare. As Ceo of Berkeley Systems and Later the Online Video Store Reel.com, She Worked “Tons of Hours” but was happy and, by her telling, successing, involuding, including growing grews reel. From ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” – a time during the company was Sold To Hollywood Video. “I just operated better with a boss,” She said.
Then came the collapse that would have permanent derailed many derailed many careers. In 2000, wainwright took pets.com public, only to shut it down laater The professional blow was exacerbated by a personal one: She says that on the very same day she informed employees of the company’s closure, her husband asked for a divorce.
“My Work is Gone, I’m Getting a Divorce, and I don’t have children,” wainwright, then 42, recalls thinking Making matters WorsE, the media coverage was “Incredible Negative and Intruse,” to the point that she says says after the company’s closure, reporters show at her doorstep.
Wainwright describes what followed as a kind of long winter, where she was only offered roles leading turning efforts at Failing Companies. But that crossroads LED to a Remarkable Second Act. In 2010, She Founded The realrealHelping in the process to pioneer the luxury consignment market online. Like a lot of founders, wainwright first set up the company out of her own home, but it song outgrew her living room, and today, its processes many hundreds of thoesends of fortystance Month that it aims to sell within 90 days out of its more than 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space and operations centers. It’s also a publicly tradeed company; in her second trip to wall street, in 2019, wainwright took the outfit through the traditional IPO process.
Unfortunately, this Triumphant Comeback Had Its Own Harsh Conclusion. In 2022, wainwright was abruptly pushed out of the realreal by board members INTEAD, She Names Names in the Book, and Earlier this week, She described the move as a “power play” by an investment by “didn’t get his money out of the company and thoughtst heun the cold Run the COMPANY
Wainwright is still pissed off. She noted in conversation that “No founder is doing to say they need to be shot and removed,” and it’s that authenticity that Authenticity that ’s so refreshing about this book – and wainwright herself. In the corporate world, where people often spin narrants to make themselves look bulletproof, wainwright is a straight is a straight shooter; If she does not like something, she isn’t going to hold back her punches. If someone spins the story differently than She sees it, She’ll call it out. Where She Messed Up, She Says So.
Even better about this memoir – in this reader’s opinion – is wainwright’s ability to offer not just just personal revivals but practical wisdom. She walks readers through her decision to bonus her sales staff a certain way, and shares her Learnings About Leadership-Evaluation Quadrant She Gleaned from McKinsey Executives, Including the Realization She Had hred one of the Worst types: a “dumb aggressive” Exec, Meaning, In Her Words, Someone Whose “Need to Bully and CORCE and to be on top supersede their ability.
Meanwhile, there is a happy story unfolding in Progress. Wainwright is continuing her entrepreneurial journey with AharaA Nutrition Company that’s developing personalized dietary recommendations based on geneetics and individual needs.
You can find our full conversation hereVia the strictlyvc download podcast. In the meaning, if you’re interested in a compeling read that’s both memoir and manual, offering founders some more valuable than idealized success stories, you can pick up the book here,
Said wainwright when we spoke, “I personally write it for entrepreneurs to give them a realistic view and hopefully inspire them and, you know, maybe, these’Le them, you kaynk twice and note mistakes the Mistakes I Made. “