Julie Wainwright, who has successfully led two separate companies through IPOs, is taking a bold and candid approach in her new memoir, “Time to Get Real.” Known widely first for her early-2000s venture Pets.com, Wainwright now reveals tough lessons from the entrepreneurial trenches with disarming frankness. Her honesty is vividly illustrated as she revisits the dramatic rise and painful collapse of the online pet-supply company, which became iconic during the dot-com bubble thanks to its popular sock puppet mascot and catchy advertisements.
Wainwright chronicles the profound personal ramifications that coincided cruelly with the company’s closure: the day she announced that Pets.com was shuttering, her husband likewise revealed that he wanted a divorce. This moment marked a devastating intersection of professional turmoil and personal crisis, intensified by aggressive media scrutiny. As she recounts stoically in the memoir, media outlets even arrived at her door, eager to dissect her failure in the public eye.
Recounting the subsequent years as solitary and challenging, she describes a long period during which professional opportunities dried up, leaving only the bleak prospects of managing failing companies in need of desperate turnarounds. However, this extended period of uncertainty ultimately set the stage for a remarkable comeback. In 2010, Wainwright founded The RealReal, a pioneering online marketplace for luxury consignment goods. Initially launched from her home, the company rapidly expanded into an e-commerce powerhouse, handling hundreds of thousands of items monthly and eventually occupying over a million square feet of office and warehouse space. In 2019, she led The RealReal through a highly successful IPO, marking her second time bringing a company to public markets.
Yet, success brought new struggles. In her memoir, Wainwright candidly addresses being abruptly removed as CEO in 2022, a move orchestrated by board members whom she had personally recommended. Refusing to pull punches, she describes the ouster as a “power play” driven by an investor who, frustrated at not sufficiently profiting from his investment, thought he could manage the business more effectively.
Wainwright’s anger and disappointment still linger powerfully in her narrative, and she openly names those involved in the maneuver. It’s this refreshing honesty that makes her memoir resonate so deeply with readers accustomed to sanitized versions of leadership stories. Rather than pretending to embrace the decision, she openly values blunt reality over corporate spin.
More than simply lamenting past defeats, Wainwright’s book thoughtfully offers insights and practical guidance, gleaned through hard-won experience. From discussing sales-team incentives to evaluating management styles—especially her identification of ineffective “dumb aggressive” executives—Wainwright provides valuable lessons drawn directly from complex situations that many founders encounter, but few discuss openly.
Today, her career continues to evolve. Wainwright is currently building her next venture, Ahara, a nutrition startup aiming to offer dietary guidance tailored to individuals’ genetics and specific health needs. In her view, entrepreneurship is an ongoing journey, shaped drastically by wins and losses alike.
Ultimately, Wainwright sees “Time to Get Real” as an opportunity to share her raw truths candidly, providing readers—particularly fellow entrepreneurs—with realistic perspectives, actionable guidance, and a clear-eyed view of startup life’s unvarnished realities.
