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Julie Wainwright has taken two fellowship public , an incredible exploit by any criterion . Yet in her new memoir , “ clock time to Get Real , ” she provide lector something even more valuable than a sort of victory lap : a look at the mussy reality of leaders . Wainwright divvy up tough the true that many high - attain CEO can relate to but rarely discourse publicly , include the aftermath of what many would consider her first major reverse , which was shutting down Pets.com during the 2000 market collapse .
If you ’re of a certain age , you definitely think back it . The online deary supplies startup had become like a shot recognizable thanks to its memorablesock puppet mascotand catchy shibboleth , “ Because pets ca n’t push back . ” But what seemed like just a fleeting moment in the dot - com bubble ’s fit would cast a shadow over Wainwright ’s career for well-nigh a decade . “ When I would peach to recruiter , it was like , ‘ No one ’s going to hire you any longer , ’ ” Wainwright said in an consultation with this editor in chief before this hebdomad .
It come as a impact , given that Wainwright ’s life history trajectory initially seemed unstoppable . After cutting her teeth at Clorox , she rose through tech troupe in the ‘ 90s when female leading in the sphere was exceedingly rarefied . As CEO of Berkeley Systems and later the online video store Reel.com , she solve “ tons of minute ” but was happy and , by her telling , bring home the bacon , including growing Reel.com ’s revenue from $ 3 million to $ 25 million — a time during which the company wassoldto Hollywood Video . “ I just operated better without a boss , ” she said .
Then came the collapse that would have permanently jump many careers . In 2000 , Wainwright took Pets.com populace , only to keep out it down later that same class during the dot - com bubble burst . The professional blow was exacerbated by a personal one : She says that on the very same day she informed employees of the troupe ’s closure , her hubby asked for a divorcement .
“ My work is gone , I ’m getting a divorcement , and I do n’t have child , ” Wainwright , then 42 , recalls think as she face what feel like total sprightliness flop . Making matters worse , the medium coverage was “ incredibly damaging and intrusive , ” to the point where she say days after the fellowship ’s shutdown , reporter showed up at her doorsill .
Wainwright distinguish what come after as a sort of tenacious winter , where she was only put up roles lead change of mind efforts at go wrong companies . But that crossroads run to a remarkable 2nd act . In 2010 , she foundedThe RealReal , helping in the process to pioneer the luxury consignment market online . Like a lot of founders , Wainwright first set up the caller out of her own home , but it shortly outgrew her life room , and today , it processes many hundreds of thousands of dissimilar opulence items each calendar month that it aims to trade within 90 days out of its more than 1.2 million hearty foot of warehouse blank space . It ’s also publicly trade ; in her 2d slip to Wall Street , in 2019 , Wainwright took the outfit through the traditional initial offering outgrowth .
regrettably , this comeback has its own abrasive chapter . In 2022 , Wainwright was abruptly pushed out of The RealReal by board members she had commend — another twist she does n’t shy away from share . Instead , she names epithet in the book , and earlier this week , she described the move as a “ great power play ” by an investor who “ did n’t get his money out of the companionship and think he could execute the company best . ”
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Wainwright — who amply supports the company’scurrent CEO(she was the company ’s first hire ) — is still miff . She noted in conversation that “ no father is ever going to say they need to be bourgeon and removed , ” and it ’s that honestness that piddle the leger — and Wainwright herself — so refreshing . In the collective world , where people often spin narratives to make themselves look unshakable , Wainwright is a straight shooter . If she does n’t wish something , she is n’t going to hold her clout . If someone spins the story differently than she visit it , she ’ll call it out . Where she messes up , she say so .
Even better about this memoir — in this proofreader ’s opinion — is Wainwright ’s power to offer not just personal revelations but also practical wisdom . She walk lector through her decision to bonus her sales staff a certain way , and deal her learnings about a leading - valuation quadrant she gleaned from McKinsey executives , including the realization she had hired one of the worst types : a “ dense aggressive , ” meaning , in her words , someone whose “ need to bully and coerce and to be on top supersede their abilities . ”
There ’s also an interesting new chapter unfolding . Wainwright is continuing her entrepreneurial journeying withAhara , a nutrition fellowship that ’s grow individualize dietary recommendations based on genetics and individual needs .
you’re able to come up our full conversationhere , via TechCrunch ’s StrictlyVC Download podcast . In the interim , if you ’re interested in a read that ’s almost equal parts memoir and manual , offering founders something much more worthwhile than idealize success tale , you could pick up the bookhere .
Said Wainwright when we spoke , “ I personally write it for entrepreneurs to give them a realistic perspective and hopefully breathe in them and , you bonk , maybe they ’ll intend twice and not make the mistakes I made . ”
