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Superwomen with Rebecca Minkoff

Encore Episode: Jenny Fleiss, Co-founder of Rent the Runway

Superwomen with Rebecca Minkoff

Rebecca Minkoff

Society & Culture

4.8543 Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jenny Fleiss has been an entrepreneur since she was a child. Where most kids are content to simply sell lemonade by the cup, she spent her summer days figuring out how to bundle products, the best form of signage, and what location would generate the highest number of sales. That spirit stayed with her as she grew older, always finding creative ways to solve a problem, like the time she duct taped her heel on the fly. Co-founding both Rent the Runway and Jet Black, Jenny has only picked up steam since her lemonade days. Ever the entrepreneurial mind, she is constantly excited by ways of growing and adapting her businesses to the ever-changing needs of her audience. But that doesn’t mean that business solutions have to be complicated. According to Jenny, one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is learning how to work creatively with what you have. Thanks for listening! We love our listeners! Drop us a line or give us guest suggestions here, or visit https://anchor.fm/superwomen/messages on your desktop or phone to leave us a voice memo! Follow Superwomen on Instagram. Big Ideas “Passing the baton” – leaving a good team in place when stepping down from a leadership position. [10:35] Two main categories of innovation: improvements on existing products and creating new products people didn’t know they wanted. [16:21] Creating an active role for your children in your business: talking to them about what you do and inviting their opinions on things. [20:59] Links HBR After Hours Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, everyone. Today's guest is Jenny Fleiss, the co-founder of Rent the Runway, the founder of Jet Black, and as importantly, mom of three. I feel like when you become a mom of three, there's like a special medal we should get. So this is our conversation. I hope you enjoy it. Take a listen. Hi, everyone. I'm here with Jenny Flyce. Jenny Carter Flights.

0:22.0

Yes. Hi. Which one? Which one? I don't know. Jenny Carter Fleece. Okay. I'm here with Jenny Carter Fleis, the co-founder of Rent the Runway and Jet Black. Hi. Hello. I'm glad to be here. I'm glad you're here. You just got off a plane a few hours ago. That's right. I actually, I joined the Shutterfly board. So I was in California for meeting. It was fascinating. Can we talk about,

0:40.4

did you get asked today? plane a few hours ago. That's right. I actually, I joined the Shutterfly board. So I was in California

0:38.2

for a meeting. It was fascinating. Can we talk about, did you get asked to join a board? Because I have a circle of like 10 women and they drool. All they talk about is how to get on a board. I did get asked to join a board. It's an interesting one too, because obviously Shutterfly, I think is like really interesting interesting, iconic brand and, like, what is going to happen to photos and photo prints in that whole industry is really interesting.

1:01.0

But it's a leverage buyout via Apollo.

1:03.5

So we also kind of get to see a public company that's now been taken private and what we kind of do to turn that business into a supercharged growth engine.

1:12.1

Wow.

1:12.5

Yeah.

1:13.0

So let's back it up a notch now that you're on the board.

1:16.7

What did you start?

1:18.5

Okay.

1:19.1

So 10 years ago, almost exactly, my co-founder and I started Rent the Runway, which started

1:25.5

off as designer dress rentals. And now we rent just about

1:29.0

any designer product, whether it is a handbag, a pair of jeans, or a dress. And then I recently

1:35.6

co-founded Jet Black, which is personal shopping over text message. And you can order anything

1:41.1

with the ease of a text message, whether it's a paper, roll of paper towels, whether it is a gift or whether it is a designer handbag.

1:48.7

So you seem to have entrepreneurialism in your blood?

1:51.8

I think so.

1:52.9

What has it, have you always been that way?

1:55.1

I really have.

1:56.0

You know, I think as early as I can remember, I was figuring out hacks or different ways to get things done,

2:03.2

you know, duct taping a heel when it fell off my shoe or, you know. Did that work? Could you still walk?

...

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