WEBVTT - Jenny Fleiss 0:00:01.320 --> 0:00:04.160 Welcome back to another episode of Big Money Energy, the 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:06.160 greatest podcast in the history of the world, where we 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:09.719 talked to inspiring entrepreneurs to find out how they went 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:12.600 from nothing to something, What are their thoughts on money, 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:14.840 what are their thoughts on entrepreneurship, and how do they 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:18.119 build the company that they built? And today we have 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:21.880 note other than Jenny Flice who co founded a company 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:24.840 that you probably have heard of called Rent the Runway. 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.120 I know me in New York City when Rent the 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:30.040 Runway started, all of a sudden, every woman around New 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:32.600 York had like these new dresses everywhere. There are on 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.520 Instagram wearing their stuff. I'm like, damn these women into 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:37.559 buying all this clothe They know they're not buying it, 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:40.319 They're renting it because the company got invented by these 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:45.120 two amazing women that connected fashion to technology and changed 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:49.360 the world of fashion forever, changed the paradigm of how 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:53.159 people think about owning or not owning clothes for the 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:56.240 rest of time. She is a tastemaker, a trend setter, 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:59.440 and an all out total mogul who's now a better 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:02.600 capital listen our own right investing tech companies around the world. 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:06.240 I am super excited. Let's go, Jenny Flice, Welcome to 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:20.880 a new episode. I'm a huge fan and I followed 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.000 your entire career for a really really long time. And 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.840 I'm a big fan too of female founders rent their 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:27.800 one way and we can get to that, but it's 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.399 obviously huge. Every single woman in this entire office that's 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.880 ever worked for me has used it. Of my company 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:38.399 is women, and they've all they've all experienced it, they've 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:40.360 all gone through it. But then you left. You went 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:42.960 to Jet Black with Mark, who we know, and so 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.520 I'm glad he was able to make this introduction UM, 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:48.480 and now I am waiting for you to tell us 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:51.800 all live what's your next company is. There's some stuff 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:57.200 in stealth mode. Okay, this isn't public. Yeah, okay, So 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.360 first off, I do a lot in the investing side, 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:02.480 right I'm at a growth equity fund called Volition Capital, 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:05.680 so I touch a lot of different businesses and founders. 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.079 So I'm lucky to see like the full ecosystem of 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:11.360 all the exciting things going on right now. There is 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:13.680 a team that I'm super excited about that I've been 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.480 helping to form a product um and it's in the 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.800 customer service space, um, and so it's not fully ready 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:22.520 for prime time, but that is also somewhere where're going 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:25.080 to spend some time. I think customer services this like 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:29.600 forgotten industry that people are so focused in the digital 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:32.880 world of like reducing the amount of customer service interaction 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:35.360 because it saves you money and cost. But it's this 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.680 amazing opportunity to sell, to understand your customer, to have 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:42.519 that touch point, which is so rare in a digital world. 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:44.959 So it's kind of flipping that on his head and said, like, 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:47.160 what if we actually deliver like a best in class 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.320 customer service experience, use that as a differentiator, funnel the 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.400 data back to make your product and your company even better, 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:55.520 and use it as like a third party service so 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:57.760 it could be plugged in play for the next digital 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:00.440 startup to just kind of outsource their customer or service 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:02.440 and have it be best in class customer services. My 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.120 whole business. I was gonna say, you definitely understand this 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:07.440 right between the businesses that we have here. It's it's 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:08.840 a lot of our business and then we have an 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.959 education tech platform and we've been hiring customer service people 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.040 left and right, and that's a big way that that 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:18.120 business grows and salespeople join us is because it just 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:20.359 doesn't exist anywhere, and they email us and we email back, 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:22.360 or they call us and they have a question about 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:25.280 a deal or anything that we're doing, and we respond, 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:27.480 and then they talked to another agent and that person 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.160 joins and so on and so forth. It's probably next 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:34.040 to content um those two c's, right, content and customer 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.240 service almost go hand in hand and your ability to sell. Well, 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:40.560 if you think of like the initial businesses like Zappos 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:42.800 on the Internet, they had this deep understanding of how 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:45.880 important customer service was and not just like let's fix 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:47.760 your problem, but the idea of having a human touch 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:51.120 point right, So Zappos mantra was like call the number, 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:53.200 it's plastered up on the screen, they'll talk to you. 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.120 There was no limit, they're not measuring the time you 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:56.600 can talk to you all day, and that was the 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:59.480 cornerstone of their business. So this realization of people like 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:01.960 the further you go into the digital world of making 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:05.800 things fast and easy and transactional, the more important it 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:08.160 actually is to have that in person kind of touch 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:11.200 pointed to feel like there's an entity behind the business 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:13.080 and the product you're buying to answer your questions and 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:14.720 what have you. And I think we've really lost that. 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:16.719 So I think it's a hidden opportunity. We saw it 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:19.440 with jet Black, So jet Black personal shopping over text 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.480 message I worked on with Mark Lore at Walmart U 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.440 and versus an Amazon where you're thinking, like, this is 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:29.320 a transactional, glorified search bar, Like, what is the ability 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.360 to differentiate it's in these like touch points, these human 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:36.320 more human feeling touch points. What was something you were 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:40.760 super naive about in your early days building rent runway? 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:44.440 I mean, just one thing. Um, So, first off, I 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:46.640 think that like being naive is one of the greatest 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:50.279 gifts of being a first time entrepreneur ignorance. Yeah, like, 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:52.880 had you ever known how hard it was, you would 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:57.000 have never tried. Um. And so a couple of examples 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.320 come to mind. You know, one is Jen and I 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:02.880 built a fashion technology business with no fashion background and 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.760 really no technology background either. But would you have built 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:07.800 it had you had either of those backgrounds. I think 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:09.960 we wouldn't have had the same fresh lens on the 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.159 fashion industry that we were able to really disrupt that industry. 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:15.839 And I think on the technology and logistics we would 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.360 have been probably too intimidated by how complex what we 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:20.480 were doing was that it would have just been too 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.159 daunting to go after it. But with technology, we thought 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.120 we could like outsource tech, you know, we like put 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:27.160 our request for proposal out. We found like what we 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:29.400 thought was the best engineering team, and we're kind of like, okay, 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:31.800 like see you in two months with our tied with 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:34.080 the bow package of a website that will like launch 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:36.560 and nothing like that. Nothing works like that right in 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:38.720 the world. It's like anything that's mission critical you need 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.000 to have your hands on, you need to own. So finally, 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:43.359 like flying to Canada where this team was and realizing 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:45.800 there was really not a team and the product was 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:47.919 so far from where it should be. Was this like 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.599 very naive moment of hey, we got to figure this 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:52.799 part of the business out and be much more hands 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:56.320 on and logistics to write like the amount of dry 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:58.479 cleaning you have to do. I mean, so I ran 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:00.800 logistics for about four years of my time. It rent 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:02.599 the runway. I joked it was like the last straw 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.120 drawn because just it was hard to hire for, it 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:07.799 was complex, it was a lot of work. We initially 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:10.599 used our local dry cleaner company called Slate in the 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:12.920 West Village, and it was like I was asking him 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:15.520 about dry cleaning to learn and to understand the pricing, 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:17.599 and then I was like, hey, you have some empty space, 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:19.359 like could we store our dresses here? So for a 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:21.880 while we had like a free warehouse essentially, but we 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:24.280 gave them all of our dry cleaning business, and pretty 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:26.240 soon it was enough money that we were spending and 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.280 we were busting at the seams from this dry cleaner 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:31.279 that we needed to create our own facility. Yeah, it's 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:33.839 like Coca Cola on the bottling yeah yeah. So yeah, 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:35.599 so we have our own facility. It's actually the largest 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.800 dry cleaner in the US, possibly the world, that's debatable, 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:40.440 but we have New Jersey and now we have a 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:51.680 Dallas facility as well. A lot of people that I 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:53.680 speak to, and a lot of people who listened to this, 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.280 are either like one or two spots. They have an 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:58.560 idea that's germinating that they want to do something with 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:01.440 and so they find inspiration from your story and your 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:06.000 multiple stories, or they're starting something and they have pain points, 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:08.080 right and they're trying to figure out like, Okay, is 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:09.760 this real? Is it not real? Or I'm trying to grow, 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:12.200 trying to get to that next spot. What was a 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:14.520 and I'm sure there's thousand of them, But what's a 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:17.080 pain point that sticks out to you today that someone 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:20.600 might encounter now in the ties kind of post COVID, 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:23.040 Like you just talked about customer services, something that maybe 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:27.440 we wouldn't have thought about so intently in two thousand eighteen, 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:31.040 but now is a big, big deal, especially digitally. So 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:34.960 I actually think ironically in customer services one example, the 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:38.680 rise of digital and the efficient transactions that it enables 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:41.440 has created all these I call them like taxes of 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.360 of e commerce. So for example, the idea that we 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:48.040 have everything in our fingertips now is actually really time consuming. 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.480 Like you used to be walked into a store there 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:52.680 was five types of shampoo or whatever it was, and 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:54.760 all of a sudden you can literally get access to 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:59.360 thousands international options and it creates this like analysis proalysis, 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.160 this rabbit hole where then we have to do the 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:03.480 research of which is the best and we can easily 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:05.320 spend like an hour of our time, which is our 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:09.240 most valuable commodity trying to decipher from this like all 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.160 these options, which is the best. Um so That's one 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:15.680 area that I think about. Another is like these hidden um, 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.240 these hidden costs of your time and things like returns. 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:20.680 So obviously, if you're not trying something on, you're not 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:22.960 going to the store in the first place, the odds 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.280 that you're going to get it right are a lot smaller. 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:27.280 And that could because it doesn't fit, or it could 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:29.320 be just because like you didn't actually like the product, 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:31.240 the quality wasn't good, it was the wrong you know, 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:33.720 the wrong color what you know, it's harder to tell 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:37.080 online and the process of returns right now takes a 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.760 lot of time and energy printing a label, going to 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:43.559 the hub spot to deliver and return the item. Um. 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:46.520 So there's like quite a few examples of these hidden 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:49.640 costs of time, even entering your credit card information and 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.600 your details right that that we all kind of encounter 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.840 on a daily basis. What was a career highlight for you, Well, 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:58.440 definitely co founding rent the Runway has been like this dream. 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:00.880 The day that we launched, um, we were covered in 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:02.600 the front page of the Tech section of the New 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.760 York Times, and it was when most people still had 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:10.160 physical New York Times delivered doorstep that moment, Yeah, where 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.560 I went to my own doorstep and saw it and 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.240 we were right there on the cover. And then you know, 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:16.679 going into the office that day, because we all went 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:18.760 into the office also at that moment in time and 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:20.840 like being able to jump up and down with the teammates, 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:23.640 my co founder and celebrate that special moment because a 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:26.760 lot of hard work goes into that that moment um. 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:29.200 So that that for sure was one. I mean, getting 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:31.599 our term sheet from a venture capitalist for Rent the 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:35.480 Runway was another. Getting a film before after that came 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.040 before the New York Times. Yeah, and you had a 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:41.240 publicist who helped you get that article. No, Actually it 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:45.280 was really fun entrepreneurial story where we had about thirty 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:47.600 customers when we launched Rent the Runway in like a 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:52.520 private beta launch and one of those emails natural organic Growth. 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.240 We were hustlers, like we got those email addresses through 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.960 our friends, our family, We hosted, like we would throw 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:02.280 parties for our friends if they gave us like the 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:04.720 most email addresses. We would go to the movie theater 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:07.040 lines of relevant movies like Sex in the City movie 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:09.520 and get with the clipboard like collect email address it. 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:12.959 Like we did whatever we could to get that email list. Um. 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:15.080 So when we launched to this initial group, there was 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.360 someone and then people started chattering and shared it as well. 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.200 But there was a New York Times email address on 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:23.080 the list. And we noticed this because you're kind of 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.240 if you're a good entrepreneur early on, you're paying attention 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.840 to like every customer and every piece of information. Um. 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:30.720 And so we reached out and we're like, listen, we're 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:32.360 psyched that you're a customer, Like, let us know if 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:35.000 you ever want to chat and lo and behold like 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:37.800 she did. And it was a young Newish reporter at 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:40.000 the time who came to our office and wind up 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.800 covering the story. Um, so yeah, it was she was 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:46.119 a customer. She was a customer, one of her first customers. 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:49.200 That's awesome. Yeah, it was incredible. And you know, we 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:51.200 then of course realized that if we she was a 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:53.960 tech reporter. So we saw that also and we're like, well, 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:55.480 there really aren't many women in tech, Like this was 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:57.559 a very to have a fashion article in the tech section. 0:10:57.600 --> 0:10:59.800 I think also from like a strategic buy, were like, 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:01.640 this could be really interesting, and so we were like, 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:03.679 do you want some photos, like come to our warehouse 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:05.880 and we wore like these fun dresses and stood up 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.320 on ladders in the dry cleaner warehouse. I think we 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:12.559 had enough of the strategy ourselves, combined of course, with 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:16.040 some luck and you know, proactivity to just make this happen. 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.760 Were you spending marketing dollars yet at the time? Not really. 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.439 I mean I think that for for rent the Runway, 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:25.840 up until a few years ago, we were like plus 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.400 organic word of mouth. The big insight for us was, 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.000 you know, when you're at an event, the natural conversation 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:33.920 started for a woman is you look great? What are 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.360 you wearing? Right? That's how most women start, like break 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:38.280 the ice. If we could own that moment and have 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.280 someone say thanks, like I rented the runway, that would 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:44.000 be everything. You would answer a questions like what's round 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:46.040 the runway? How does it work? What if I spill wine? 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:48.680 What if it doesn't come or doesn't fit? And because 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:50.280 it was such a new behavior at the time, we 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:54.000 needed that trust and that you hear it from a friend, right, 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:55.560 you hear it from someone at a party. And so 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.240 we really invested in our brand. If anything, um so 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:00.720 not the traditional digital marketing, but yeah, making sure they 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.920 are packaging our website looks beautiful and aspirational, that we 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:08.520 had beautiful designer addresses, yes, and that the customer experience 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.000 was really good. So our customer service team, I mean 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.360 initially was us answering the calls and stuff, but we 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:16.480 tried to just nail that customer experience and you also 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:19.839 really nailed and you might tell me I'm totally wrong 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:21.800 with this and said, no, Ryan, that was a massive issue. 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:25.720 But like I don't ever remember when you started, um 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:28.640 there being an issue with the fact that people were 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:31.440 renting dresses and not owning them. Like there wasn't a 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.679 social issue, right, there was. There was no ego attached 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:36.080 to it, because like if you think about it now, 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:37.719 if you go twenty years ago and you're gonna pitch 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.439 that idea, it's like, no, I want to own my clothes, right, 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:43.400 that shows that I make enough money to be able 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:47.680 to do that and bypassed that wall. That wasn't. Yeah, 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:49.600 that was not a given and was something we were 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.400 nervous about and that the designer partners we worked with 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:54.880 were also nervous. And I'm sure because at the time, 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.160 you know, we launched two thousand and nine, many designer 0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:00.480 brands were just starting to sell online let a interest 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:04.280 someone else to rent their products, pre owned products, and 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.320 so that was a lot to triangulate, and we definitely 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:09.679 didn't know if customers would think this was like ikey, 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:11.800 like how would they perceive it? Um. I think the 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:14.560 tail ones have really been at our favor and we 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:16.040 were kind of a little bit ahead of the game 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:18.680 and able to be a part of adjusting consumer behavior. 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.280 Sustainability has been a big piece of this mix too. 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.280 Write like, we've always been a sustainable concept, the idea 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.840 that if you rent and you buy less, it makes sense, 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:30.120 you know, it saves waters so many pieces from a 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.480 sustainability perspective, but customers really care now and when we 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:36.160 ask the main reasons people rent, that's now one of 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:42.120 the top three reasons. Yeah, Like because there's there's stat 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.520 that at least half the stuff in your closet you 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.120 really don't wear more than once or twice. And then 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:48.960 I feel bad for my clothes that I don't wear. 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:51.839 They're not getting a turn. I do feel all that. 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:53.800 I feel like we all kind of feel bad, right 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:58.240 Like I have I have like seventy suits. You don't 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.040 need that many suits. You would think I don't, um, 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:03.080 but I do. I do have a lot of suits, 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:06.400 and I built a new house around our closet. Um. 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:08.480 That was like the one thing we designed first, right, 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:10.719 it was to have like the greatest closet. You're such 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:13.520 a close I'm not really, I just wear a lot 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:16.880 of suits, um, and so I and I do feel bad, 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:18.439 like if I walk by a suit I haven't worn 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.080 in a little while, Like sometimes I'll whisper and say, like, 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.240 I'm sorry, going to give it a spin. Yeah kind of. 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:25.320 I think that's so so true and right, And I 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:27.480 think that in my head, Yeah, I hear you, yeah, 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:29.000 because I don't know, maybe because I saw a toy 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:30.640 story like a long time ago, and I'm like, I 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:32.520 wonder if my suits talk to each other, and like Ryan, 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.600 it's aware us anymore. Like the coloring is so cute 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:38.880 and so funny, and like, you know what in your industry, 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:42.880 clearly like presentation is first impression, impression if you're not 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:46.160 carefully And so that was actually a big piece of 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:48.840 Round the Runway in the sense that like we know 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:52.600 that as women, the way you look determines how you act, 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.200 how you feel, like the brand that you put out there. 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.080 When we launched social media was hotter, you know, I 0:14:58.080 --> 0:14:59.640 mean now it's hotter than ever, but it was very 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:01.600 much on the rise. So the idea that you are 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:03.880 also putting a photo out there into the world that's 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:06.680 going to be this forever indelible like print of who 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.080 you are. You're sharing your brand. But then the way 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.320 it makes you feel, right, You're like I can take 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:13.400 on the world. And the brand that we built for 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:16.360 in the runway was around female empowerment and self confidence, 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:19.400 the idea that, like, your dress is not just an outfit, 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:21.440 it's how you feel and how you're going to take 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:23.400 on the day. So New York Times article comes out, 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:27.960 Were you prepared for the rush that came right after that? Lost? No, 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.200 But we knew enough to think about. We were always 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:34.880 going back to the customer experience, right, and so we 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.120 knew as customers ourselves, right, we were women in our 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.120 twenties launching the business. If we came to that site 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:43.080 and there wasn't a great selection of dresses of product, 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:45.680 that it would be a terrible experience. So we knew 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:47.240 that couldn't happen. And so what did we do. We 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:49.440 paid a lot of attention to waiting to launch until 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:52.600 we had a great beautiful website, great designer dresses in 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:56.360 enough sizes, some amount of quantity. And then we put 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:58.240 up a gate on our website, meaning that we only 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:00.560 let a certain number of people in, which really let 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:03.480 us control the traffic and demand. It also created took 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.040 away from the like rental could be down market. It 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:08.760 made it more like an exclusive thing. Yeah, and we 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:10.960 were coming up the tail winds of Guilt Group, who 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:13.080 who did the same thing. They had like this gated site. 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:17.120 They made shopping at a discount cool and exclusive and luxury. 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.480 So we drafted off of that and it let us 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:23.160 really control the experience customers had. So we stopped letting 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:25.520 people in. You know, we let in some every day, 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:26.840 but we tried to do it in a way that 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:29.400 we could manage. Um, and we were still figuring out 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.120 kinks and bugs as we grew. Um. There was the 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.480 second day we had the idea that you could get 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.280 a second size for free. So we didn't know we 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.360 knew people would have concerns oversizing, and so we're like, okay, 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:40.920 if you rent a size six, you get a size 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:43.120 eight for free. Like as we let customers do that, 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:45.000 and all of a sudden we saw no one was 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.120 renting a second size. We're like, it's free, Like why 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.040 wouldn't people do this? And we dug into it and 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:53.240 our chech was broken around like enabling you to show 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:55.560 move someone did this, and so what do we do? 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:58.840 We called everyone who had rented, because a couple hundred 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.560 people and it's not that it's not possible, and we're like, hey, 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.120 so excited, you're one of our first customers. Just want 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:06.800 to confirm the details of your order. And so it's 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.159 moments like that where you're kind of like drinking from 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.320 a fire hose. You're just trouble to figure it out. 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:14.280 You cover your ass, like yes, you figure it out. 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:16.919 And there was so many moments like that where, you know, 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.920 photographing our first stresses. It was like a week before 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.119 launch and the developers are like, okay, now we need 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:25.399 to load the photos and I'm like okay, great, Like 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:27.840 the designers give us photos and it's like no, no, 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:30.520 like we have to run a photo shoot. We're like 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:32.919 we have to run a photo shoot, like and then retouching, 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:34.679 like we had never done this. We didn't know what 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:36.240 this was. We didn't have a placebook, and so you 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:38.560 pull all this stuff together in like forty eight hours. Right, 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:41.439 another example of you knew how hard and all the 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:43.240 things you had to do, like you probably wouldn't have 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.960 done it, and you started with a co founder, yes, 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:49.959 and relationships are always hard, yes, right? How was that 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:52.479 kind of doing it together at the beginning, And it's 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:54.920 the two of you where their struggles as you grew 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:56.720 and as it was like Okay, I'm gonna handle logistics, 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:58.359 but I don't really want to. Could you do this? 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:01.440 And then the company grows and grows and grow. Yeah. 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:03.840 So I think it's first off, a lot more fun 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:08.640 like doing something with a team or co founder. It's 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:11.720 just more enjoyable how you spend your day to day. So, um, 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:13.960 it helps in terms of the complement of skill sets. 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:17.960 And for sure Jen is big picture strategic visionary thinker 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:20.120 much in the way Mark Laura is as well. Um, 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:21.520 and I'm like, how do you get from point A 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.159 to point B? So we recognize and respected in one 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.440 another those skill sets, and so I think the same 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:27.959