Hardware Podcasts

Rent The Runway: Jenn Hyman

How I Built This · 7 Aug 2017 · 54m

What this episode covers

Jenn Hyman, co-founder of Rent the Runway, explains how she and Jennifer Flice launched a platform to rent designer dresses, starting with a bold pitch to Diane von Furstenberg and a $1.75 million seed round. Hyman details the operational challenges of building a logistics-heavy technology company, including managing inventory, photography, and a massive dry-cleaning operation, while navigating significant gender bias and sexual harassment from early investors. The company grew to $100 million in annual revenue and nearly six million users by focusing on the emotional value of fashion and diversifying its capital sources. In a postscript, Dustin Hogard of Wazoo Survival Gear describes designing the Cash Belt, a survival tool integrated into a wearable belt, through custom manufacturing and a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and founders before launch

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Rent the Runway, Starwood, Nieman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Wazoo Survival Gear
Products
Cash Belt
Also
Diane von Furstenberg, Harvard Business School, U.S. Bank

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