Julie Wainwright, a pioneering figure in tech and luxury resale, is once again making headlines — but this time, not for taking a company public. In her newly released memoir, Time to Get Real, Wainwright steps away from the traditional success-story narrative to deliver something rare in the world of entrepreneurship: an unvarnished account of personal failure, professional resilience, and hard-won leadership lessons.
Wainwright’s career includes remarkable achievements — she led two companies through initial public offerings, a rare feat for any founder. Yet in her memoir, she focuses not just on her victories but on the messy realities and painful setbacks that shaped her career and life.
A Cautionary Tale from the Dot-Com Crash
Wainwright first rose to prominence in the 1990s, a time when women CEOs in the tech sector were exceedingly rare. After beginning her career at Clorox, she climbed the ranks of technology companies, including leading roles at Berkeley Systems and Reel.com, where she drove revenues from $3 million to $25 million before it was acquired by Hollywood Video.
Her star appeared unstoppable — until the dramatic fall of Pets.com. The online pet supplies retailer, remembered for its sock puppet mascot and catchy slogan “Because pets can’t drive,” became a poster child for the excesses of the dot-com bubble. In 2000, Wainwright took Pets.com public, only to shut it down within the same year as the market crashed.
The collapse was not only a professional catastrophe but also a deeply personal one. On the very day she informed employees of the company’s closure, her husband asked for a divorce. In her memoir, Wainwright describes this double blow as a moment of complete collapse: no job, no marriage, and, as she candidly notes, no children. The negative media attention that followed — including reporters showing up at her doorstep — further compounded her sense of isolation.
For nearly a decade, Wainwright found herself sidelined, approached mainly for turnaround roles at failing companies, a common fate for executives associated with high-profile failures.
A Triumphant Second Act: Founding The RealReal
Wainwright’s comeback story began in 2010 when she founded The RealReal, an online luxury consignment platform, initially operating out of her living room. The venture pioneered the authenticated resale of luxury goods online, growing rapidly to encompass more than 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space, processing hundreds of thousands of items monthly.
In 2019, she led The RealReal through a traditional IPO, marking her second trip to Wall Street — and a hard-won redemption in the business world.
However, even this triumph came with a painful twist. In 2022, Wainwright was forced out of The RealReal by board members she had brought into the company. In Time to Get Real, she openly names names and describes the boardroom ouster as a “power play” by an investor frustrated with his returns. She notes that while she fully supports the company’s current CEO, who was her first hire, she remains critical of the circumstances that led to her departure.
“No founder is ever going to say they need to be shot and removed,” she commented in a recent interview, underscoring her blunt and refreshingly honest communication style.
More Than a Memoir: A Practical Guide for Entrepreneurs
Wainwright’s book is not just a retelling of events; it’s packed with valuable leadership lessons and practical insights. She shares detailed reflections on strategies she employed, such as how she designed sales bonuses and how she evaluated leadership styles based on a quadrant model she learned from McKinsey executives.
One particularly memorable lesson involves her realization that she had hired a “dumb aggressive” — someone whose drive to dominate outweighed their actual abilities — a leadership pitfall she advises others to avoid.
Throughout, Wainwright’s brutal honesty offers a contrast to the sanitized success stories typically found in the business world. Her willingness to discuss her missteps and vulnerabilities makes Time to Get Real a valuable read for anyone considering or already navigating the entrepreneurial journey.
“I personally wrote it for entrepreneurs to give them a realistic view and hopefully inspire them,” she said. “Maybe they’ll think twice and not make the mistakes I made.”
A New Chapter: Venturing into Personalized Nutrition
Wainwright’s entrepreneurial spirit is far from dimmed. She is now building Ahara, a new company focused on personalized nutrition. The company aims to deliver individualized dietary recommendations based on a person’s genetics and health needs — an ambitious project that once again puts her at the cutting edge of an emerging industry.
Why Julie Wainwright’s Story Matters
Julie Wainwright’s memoir arrives at a time when entrepreneurship is often glamorized and simplified. Her journey — from the public collapse of Pets.com to the founding and eventual IPO of The RealReal, to her latest venture with Ahara — provides a much-needed reminder that resilience, adaptability, and transparency are as crucial to leadership as ambition and vision.
For aspiring founders, Time to Get Real is both a sobering cautionary tale and a source of inspiration, offering both emotional depth and practical advice for navigating the volatile world of startups.