Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Boeing’s new COO is caught up in its latest crisis, European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde is warning against Donald Trump’s reelection, and The RealReal founder Julie Wainwright never wants to stop working. Have a lovely Tuesday!
– Work ethic. Julie Wainwright was the CEO of dotcom crash casualty Pets.com, shutting it down in 2000. In 2011, she founded online consignment store The RealReal when she was 53 years old. She took it public in 2019 and left in 2022. In mid-2023, she debuted a new startup, the personalized nutrition company Ahara.
The failure of Pets.com scared her off from founding her own startup for a while. “I regret that I didn’t take the risk earlier,” she says. Now that she has the success of The RealReal under her belt, she’s not wasting any more time.
Today, Wainwright, 66, is leading Ahara through its earliest days with physician-nutritionist cofounder Melina Jampolis. Wainwright says reporters are the only ones asking her about her age and her motivation at this stage of her career. “I have a lot of energy, and I’ll probably work for the rest of my life because I love it,” she says. “I could put energy into other things, but the payoff wouldn’t be there.”
The RealReal founder Julie Wainwright is now behind another startup, personalized nutrition platform Ahara. Courtesy of The RealReal
And yet, others (besides journalists) have a different perspective on life as a founder. Wainwright says she hears from women founders in their 40s who are reluctant to try again; they’re “worn out” from “dealing with investors and their boards.”
Over her years in business, Wainwright says she’s learned to disregard some of those dynamics. “The older you get, the more you realize that when you start a business, you know more about that business than anyone else,” she says. “I hope women find the strength to keep going and to understand that they have the power to drive their own success.”
Wainwright says Ahara’s mission—to improve people’s health and prevent disease—motivates her. A typical workday at the still-small company lasts about eight hours, compared to 12 hours working across time zones at The RealReal, she remembers. She’s raised about $10 million for Ahara.
She hopes that users of the platform improve their health and energy. And she wishes the same for female founders pondering their next act. She advises: “Don’t get so tired that you can’t move forward.”
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Emma Hinchliffe
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@_emmahinchliffe
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
– Awards season. At the Emmy Awards last night, Quinta Brunson and Ayo Edebiri took home awards for best lead and supporting actresses in a comedy—the first time Black women won in both categories in the same year. Christina Applegate earned a standing ovation as she took the stage almost three years after being diagnosed with MS. The Hollywood Reporter
– Bumpy take-off. Weeks after Stephanie Pope’s promotion to Boeing COO, the aircraft manufacturer was thrust into crisis when the door of a 737 Max 9 fell off an aircraft mid-flight. It’s a “turbulent start” for Pope in her new role now that she is widely viewed as a likely CEO successor. Financial Times
– Taking on Big Tech. European competition head Margrethe Vestager met with the CEOs of Apple, Alphabet, and Qualcomm last week after she announced a new investigation into OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft. In a post on X, the Big Tech skeptic described discussing the expansion of iOS apps outside of Apple’s app store with Apple CEO Tim Cook and questioning Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Google’s role as a default mobile browser. Reuters
– The doctor is in. Fashion and fragrance conglomerate Puig acquired Dr Barbara Sturm, the high-end skincare line founded by a German doctor of the same name. The brand, which will now join brands like Nina Ricci and Carolina Herrera under the Puig umbrella, received an investment from Oprah Winfrey last year and nods from celebrities like Kim Kardashian. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Sturm will remain a minority owner and become brand ambassador and chief product officer. Vogue Business
– Lagarde on guard. European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde called Donald Trump’s potential reelection a “threat” on a French news program last week. She specifically cited Trump’s skepticism of NATO, minimization of climate change, and insistence on tariffs during his first term in office. Fortune
– Abortion clinic NIMBYs. Abortion clinics are having a hard time opening in California, and members of the Los Angeles Abortion Support Collective say it’s because residents don’t want the attention and protests that the clinics bring. Last summer, the Beverly Hills City Council stopped plans for a new Planned Parenthood facility because of the controversy that would come with it. Politico
ON MY RADAR
A Formula E team tried using a female AI influencer to promote inclusion and diversity in racing—she lasted just two days following backlash Fortune
Is Nikki Haley running as a woman? Washington Post
No one sounds like Tems The Cut
PARTING WORDS
“I don’t feel like I have to fit inside of a box. And I felt that for a long time.”
—Writer and director Ava DuVernay on the confidence she feels after her new film Origin
The RealReal founder launched a new startup in her 60s
