Rent The Runway: Jenn Hyman (2018)

How I Built This · 15 Oct 2018 · 54m

What this episode covers

Jenn Hyman, co-founder of Rent the Runway, explains how she and Jennifer Fleiss built a $100 million revenue company by renting designer dresses, starting with a pop-up at Harvard Business School and securing a pivotal meeting with Diane von Furstenberg. Hyman details the early operational challenges, including the lack of product photography and the need to raise venture capital despite facing condescending investors and sexual harassment. She also discusses the company's evolution from a fashion rental service into a technology and logistics powerhouse, managing 1,200 employees while navigating gender bias in the VC world and personal struggles with work-life balance.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies: Rent the Runway, Starwood, Nieman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, New York Times, EzPacking
Also: Diane von Furstenberg, Harvard Business School, Jennifer Fleiss, Monica Mizrachi, Solomon Mizrachi

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Rent The Runway: Jenn Hyman (2018)

What this episode covers

Most relevant to

Topics

Mentioned

Related episodes from other shows

Founder Feature: Val Emanuel of Rif Care

Founder + Funder: Fundraising, Retail Growth, and Building a Modern Hydration Brand with Alex Michaelsen of Leisure Hydration and Ryan Springer of Midnight

007: CNC Knitted Scarves & $100K Kickstarter Success, Fabienne Serrière of Knit Yak

Founder + Funder: Fundraising, Founder-Investor Fit, and Building the Next Big Breakfast Brand with Emily Groden of Evergreen and Brian Bernstein of Rich Products Ventures

Afterschool Podcast, Episode 20 - Ti Chang, 'Women in Industrial Design' Show Organizer (06/12)