Exclusive: Initialized Capital hires Rent the Runway's Jennifer Fleiss
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Left to right: Brett Gibson, Jennifer Fleiss, Jen Wolf. Photo: Initialized Capital
Initialized Capital has hired Rent the Runway co-founder Jennifer Fleiss as its newest partner.
Why it matters: She's the first senior investment hire the firm has made since co-founder Garry Tan's stepped back to run Y Combinator a year ago.
Details: Fleiss, who was most recently a venture partner at Volition Capital, is joining the firm's growing New York office. She'll be investing in early-stage startups in sectors like e-commerce, logistics, health tech, and artificial intelligence applications, among other areas.
- After leaving Rent the Runway in 2017, she was CEO of Walmart's Jetblack, a personal shopping service it eventually shut down in 2020.
- In addition to being an angel investor and startup advisor, she's also on the boards of Lanvin, Rent the Runway, and Shutterfly.
What they're saying: "I think we're in a really exciting time," says Fleiss, speaking about the current market. She rattled off a wide-ranging list of investment areas she finds interesting.
- She notes that she co-founded Rent the Runway during a downturn (in 2009), and that the tougher fundraising conditions can be "a forcing function" for startups.
The big picture: Fleiss joined the firm as the result of a search process to hire a new senior investor to fill out its team, per managing partner Brett Gibson.
- Initialized's criteria for its new hire: a background as a founder (or similar role) that gives the partner credibility in dispensing advice, and a track record as a good investor.
Zooming in: It may be a new chapter for Initialized Capital, with all three founders now having stepped back. Yet the firm's connection to Tan and Y Combinator remain, says Gibson, who worked at YC before joining Initialized in 2017.
- Not only is Tan still a partner at the firm (and even attended its annual general meeting earlier this Fall), but Initialized continues its very active investment in YC companies, as it's done from the start.
Yes, but: The firm is making some changes, notably a renewed focus on seed investing.
- While it had raised an opportunity fund in 2021, Gibson says this won't be part of its approach going forward. The firm isn't raising yet, but one source tells me the next cycle is expected for 2024.
- And while its roots remain in the Bay Area, the pandemic showed the firm it could become more bicoastal, since managing partner Jen Wolf has been based in NYC since the start.
- "We could very easily fill a happy hour in New York or San Francisco," says Gibson.
The bottom line: The importance of firm leadership succession is not to be underestimated.
Editor's note: The story has been corrected to note that Fleiss is currently on the board of Rent the Runway (not Party City), and Jen Wolf is a managing partner (not general partner).
