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Feb 2020
25m 21s

Scrappiness is a Virtue: Jenny Fleiss Co...

Rebecca Minkoff
About this episode

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!

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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

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