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- I think if someone has made the effort

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to seek you out, to approach you,

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probably been creative
in the way to get to you,

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that often means they've
got this really hungry

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go-getter mentality that has
driven them to approach you

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and be a part of what you're working on.

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I'm Jenny Fleiss, the CEO
and co-founder of Jetblack

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and co-founder of Rent the Runway.

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(hypnotic electronic music)

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As an entrepreneur, I do
typically draw from pinpoints

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in my own life to innovate.

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So starting Rent the Runway,
I was a woman in my 20s,

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had lots of events that I was going to,

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and wanted great outfits
without breaking the bank.

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And now I'm a busy mom with three kids

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and thinking about time-saving tools

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is the number one priority

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and so we evolved Jetblack
as personal shopping

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over text message to take
the mental to-do list

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that I think every parent,
probably every person,

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carries with them

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and let you just dump
it onto a text message

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and have someone do your shopping for you.

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Some of the biggest challenges
in starting Jetblack

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after having built Rent the
Runway as a successful business

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is trying to recreate the same
level and caliber of talent

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and culture that we
had at Rent the Runway.

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We had an incredibly magical founding team

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at Rent the Runway that
was hugely responsible

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for the success and the
growth that we've seen.

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Attracting the right type
of talent to a business,

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especially an early-stage
business, is critical.

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The best way is when talent
comes to you, honestly.

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Some of the best talent that we hired,

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both at Rent the Runway
and now at Jetblack,

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has sought us out in a very proactive way.

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I think the next thing is
just being really thoughtful

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about how you interview candidates

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and the cultural attributes
that you hire for.

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One thing that's very important to me

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is hiring talent that
is also very flexible.

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They're flexible in terms of
what their role might entail,

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which means they're humble enough

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to roll their sleeves up if need be

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and get on the phone with the customer,

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if that's what matters.

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They're able to wear many different hats

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and always just prioritize the
biggest impact they can have

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on a day-to-day basis.

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And so creating that sense of ownership

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within your culture is critical

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and finding employees who
have that self-starter,

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go-getter, and ownership
mentality is really important.

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One interview question I love to ask is

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on a scale from one to ten,

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how lucky do you consider yourself?

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And what we're looking for

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is someone who says a nine or a ten

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and their reason is because
luck is incredibly arbitrary.

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It's perception, right?

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And so if you have someone
who thinks they're very lucky,

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they're typically a very optimistic person

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and being in a startup
is all about optimism.

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It's finding the lemonade from the lemons

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and making every failure
a learning opportunity

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and seeing opportunity in
the difficult conversations

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that you have with a consumer or investor

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and plowing forward to inspire the team.