Yancey Strickler
Co-founder & Former CEO of Kickstarter | Bestselling Author of This Could Be Our Future | Founder of Metalabel & Artist Corporations | Creative Economy Speaker
Jenny Fleiss
Co-Founder of Rent the Runway | General Partner, Volition Capital | E-Commerce & Entrepreneurship
Jenny Fleiss co-founded Rent the Runway, the platform that disrupted luxury retail and sparked the sharing economy in fashion. Now a General Partner at Volition Capital, she has lived every stage of the entrepreneurial journey. Audiences gain a practical playbook for building, scaling, and reinventing consumer businesses.
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Jenny Fleiss biography
Jenny Fleiss is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist best known for co-founding Rent the Runway, the platform that transformed how consumers access luxury fashion and helped establish the sharing economy as a mainstream commercial model. A Yale graduate and Harvard Business School MBA, she has built and invested in businesses across e-commerce, consumer technology, and retail innovation.
Entrepreneurship speaker Jenny Fleiss co-founded Rent the Runway in 2008 alongside Jennifer Hyman, serving as head of business development and board member through its early growth phase. Before business school, she gained strategic and financial experience at Morgan Stanley’s Strategic Planning Group and Lehman Brothers’ Asset Management Group, where she evaluated acquisitions, international expansion, and new product strategies.
From Fashion Disruption to Venture Capital
In 2017, Fleiss left Rent the Runway to co-found Jetblack, a text-based personal shopping concierge backed by Walmart, alongside entrepreneur Marc Lore. The venture explored the future of conversational commerce and premium retail personalization at scale — an early indicator of where AI-assisted shopping would head. After Jetblack, Fleiss brought that consumer depth into investing, joining Volition Capital in 2021 as a General Partner with a focus on high-growth consumer and e-commerce businesses.
Her track record has been recognized by Fortune’s “40 Under 40” and “Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs,” Forbes’s “Disruptors 2013,” Inc.’s “30 Under 30,” Fast Company’s “Most Influential Women in Technology,” and Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” New York Area regional finalist.
As a speaker, Jenny Fleiss brings the full arc of the entrepreneurial journey to any stage: from zero-to-one founding and rapid scaling, to pivoting under pressure and evaluating what separates great consumer businesses from the rest. Audiences walk away with a grounded framework for building in today’s retail and technology landscape, navigating disruption, and making bold bets with conviction. Her talks connect especially with leadership teams in consumer, retail, and technology who need both inspiration and a practical map.
Jenny Fleiss Speaking Videos
Live Chat with Rent the Runway Co-Founder Jennifer Fleiss Preview
Jenny Fleiss
Jenny Fleiss Keynote Topics
From a Harvard dorm-room idea to a publicly traded company, Fleiss traces the decisions, pivots, and hard-won lessons behind building one of the most iconic consumer businesses of the past two decades. This keynote offers leaders a candid, inside look at what it takes to challenge an entrenched industry — and the discipline required to scale without losing the founding vision.
How do you build a brand that earns loyalty in an era of infinite choice, instant delivery, and AI-powered personalization? Drawing on her experience across Rent the Runway, Jetblack, and Volition Capital's portfolio, Fleiss maps the forces reshaping consumer expectations and offers a framework for anticipating what retail, services, and digital commerce look like next.
Fleiss has navigated company-defining crossroads multiple times, from reshaping Rent the Runway's model to launching an entirely new venture in conversational commerce. This session distills a clear, practical approach to high-stakes decision-making: how to know when to stay the course, when to reframe the problem, and how to lead a team through fundamental change.
Now evaluating opportunities from the other side of the table, Fleiss shares what separates companies that attract serious capital from those that stall out. A direct and accessible session for founders, operators, and executives who want to understand how investors assess scalability, brand durability, and long-term defensibility in consumer markets.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Jenny Fleiss
Why Jenny Fleiss?
Booking Jenny Fleiss means bringing one of the most complete entrepreneurial voices to your event. She built Rent the Runway from scratch into a category-defining business, experimented at the frontier of conversational commerce with Jetblack, and now evaluates consumer businesses from the investor's chair at Volition Capital. Few speakers can credibly speak to every phase of the company-building journey with that level of personal authority. Her talks are candid, evidence-based, and directly applicable to senior audiences navigating growth, disruption, or reinvention. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check Jenny Fleiss's availability for your event.
What is Jenny Fleiss known for?
Jenny Fleiss is best known as the co-founder of Rent the Runway, the fashion rental and subscription platform she built alongside Jennifer Hyman. Launched in 2009 after the two met at Harvard Business School, Rent the Runway pioneered the concept of renting designer clothing at scale and is widely credited with helping legitimize the sharing economy in fashion. Fleiss also co-founded Jetblack, a text-based shopping concierge backed by Walmart, and later became a General Partner at Volition Capital.
What happened to Jetblack?
Jetblack was a text-based personal shopping service co-founded by Jenny Fleiss and Marc Lore (also co-founder of Jet.com) with backing from Walmart. Launched in 2018, it allowed members to order virtually anything via text message and receive same-day or next-day delivery in New York City. Walmart shut the service down in 2020 as it restructured its retail technology investments. Fleiss has spoken openly about the experience as a formative chapter in understanding what it takes to build and wind down a business with integrity.
What topics does entrepreneurship speaker Jenny Fleiss cover?
Jenny Fleiss speaks on entrepreneurship, e-commerce, consumer innovation, the future of retail, and company reinvention. Her talks draw on direct experience founding and scaling two consumer businesses, as well as her current work as a venture investor evaluating the next generation of growth companies. She is an ideal choice for conferences in retail, consumer goods, technology, and leadership, and for executive teams working through growth or transformation. Reach out to Aurum Speakers Bureau to discuss how Jenny Fleiss can be tailored to your event's theme and audience.
How to book Jenny Fleiss as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Jenny Fleiss as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Jenny Fleiss's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Jenny Fleiss or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Jenny Fleiss speaking fee?
Jenny Fleiss speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Jenny Fleiss to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Jenny Fleiss.
How can I contact Jenny Fleiss?
We only work with Jenny Fleiss on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Jenny Fleiss and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Jenny Fleiss speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Jenny Fleiss for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Jenny Fleiss for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Jenny Fleiss is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Jenny Fleiss for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
