Jennifer Hyman

These roles helped Hyman build cross-industry insight—combining customer experience, branding, and operations.

Founding and Scaling Rent the Runway

In November 2008, Hyman had a pivotal insight: her sister was agonizing over spending thousands on a wedding dress she'd wear once. This sparked the idea of enabling women to rent designer garments rather than buy permanently.

She co-founded Rent the Runway in 2009 with Jennifer Fleiss.

Over time, under her leadership, Rent the Runway has:

• Raised over USD 525 million in capital.

• Attracted more than 11 million members (customers) and partnered with over 600 designer labels.

• Offered multiple models: single rentals, subscription memberships, and resale, backed by data, logistics, and technology.

• Made history by going public, becoming the first company with a female founder/CEO, COO, and CFO at IPO.

As CEO, Hyman steers strategic priorities across marketing, tech, product, analytics, and operations.

Leadership, Influence & Advocacy

Hyman is a vocal advocate on issues such as gender equity, parental leave, and workplace culture. In 2018, she publicly addressed the lack of paid family leave in many startups and pushed for better policies at her own company.

Her leadership style emphasizes transparency, mission alignment, inclusivity, and innovation. She has used her platform to encourage diversity in leadership and board representation.

Hyman serves on multiple boards, including Estée Lauder Companies and Zalando, and is involved in advisory groups such as the Women.nyc Advisory Board and NYSE Board Advisory Council.

She has been recognized with numerous honors:

• Fortune’s 40 Under 40 (2012)

• Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People (2019)

• Featured by Forbes, Fast Company, and other business and fashion publications.

Personality, Vision & Values

Jennifer Hyman is often described as visionary, mission-driven, energetic, and courageous in challenging norms. She combines a passion for fashion and design with >

Her values include:

• Accessibility & democratization — believing that fashion should not be exclusive but accessible.

• Sustainability & circular economy — renting reduces waste, encourages reuse, and promotes responsible consumption.

• Inclusivity & equity — she pushes for more women and underrepresented groups in leadership, venture capital, and fashion.

• Courage to confront structural problems — as seen in her public advocacy on parental leave and harassment.

Hyman aims to shift consumer behavior—not just build a rental company—but to change how culture thinks about ownership, consumption, and access.

Notable Quotes

While not as extensively documented as older business figures, here are a few insights and quotations attributed to or paraphrased from Jennifer Hyman:

• “The Closet in the Cloud” — a way she describes Rent the Runway’s mission, turning wardrobes into shared assets rather than static closets.

• She has emphasized: “I believe that fashion should be accessible, sustainable, and empowering.”

• In speaking of leadership and culture: “Leading with empathy, transparency, and mission matters just as much as product or growth.” (paraphrase)

Lessons from Jennifer Hyman’s Journey

From her career and philosophy, here are key lessons and takeaways:

1. Start from a real problem. The idea for Rent the Runway came from a lived challenge—expensive dresses worn once. Good startups often begin with a pain point.

2. Integrate mission and profit. Hyman built a business that is not just profitable but purpose-driven, focusing on sustainability and access.

3. Don’t wait for permission. She challenged conventions (fashion, VC norms, maternity policies), pushing forward with conviction.

4. Use data + operations + design. Tech, logistics, consumer insight must all align in a marketplace business.

5. Lead visibly on values. Hyman did not hide from sensitive issues (parental leave, harassment). Leadership includes speaking up.

6. Scale carefully. As Rent the Runway expanded, she diversified models (subscriptions, resale) and balanced growth with unit economics.

7. Build culture intentionally. A founder’s values permeate company ethos—her emphasis on transparency, inclusion, and mission shapes internal culture.

8. Leverage your platform. As the public face, she uses her voice to influence policy, norms, and industry practices—not just business metrics.

Conclusion

Jennifer Hyman’s path—from Harvard social sciences student to founder & CEO of a fashion-tech disruptor—reflects how insight, purpose, and persistence can reshape an industry. She bridges fashion, technology, operations, and social change in a modern entrepreneurial mold.