• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

IBM’s CEO disagrees with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s disdain for texting in meetings: ‘Telling people they can't use their technology would be weird’

2

Richard Branson double-booked his own job interview. The candidate stuck in traffic with him for 2.5 hours is now Virgin's CEO

3

Tech billionaires and executives like Evan Spiegel and Peter Thiel are publicly shielding their children from the products that made them rich

1

IBM’s CEO disagrees with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s disdain for texting in meetings: ‘Telling people they can't use their technology would be weird’

2

Richard Branson double-booked his own job interview. The candidate stuck in traffic with him for 2.5 hours is now Virgin's CEO

3

Tech billionaires and executives like Evan Spiegel and Peter Thiel are publicly shielding their children from the products that made them rich
MPWMost Powerful Women

A Male VC Once Called Rent the Runway’s Pitch ‘Adorable’

By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 9, 2017, 11:05 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Rent the Runway might have raised a $60-million funding round last month, but cash didn’t always flow to the female-founded company.

Speaking to Recode‘s Kara Swisher on the “Recode Decode” podcast, the clothing rental startup’s CEO Jennifer Hyman recalled the difficulty of her early days of fundraising, during which one investor called her and co-founder Jennifer Fleiss’s pitch “adorable.”

“He took my hand in his after the pitch and said, ‘You know, this is just adorable. You must be so excited, you’re going to have all these amazing dresses to wear all the time, it’s going to be so fun for you!'”

The episode occurred while the co-founders were raising capital for their series A round, said Hyman, at which point the startup already had 200,000 users on the Rent the Runway platform and what Hyman describes as”unbelievable metrics.”

“I was in a state of shock. I didn’t understand if it was a joke,” she said.

Subscribe to the Broadsheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the world’s most powerful women.

Hyman noted that the anecdote illustrates a larger trend: Female founders need much more hard data to get venture capital funding than male founders, who can get by with “a PowerPoint and a dream.”

Meanwhile, she said, “I have to come in with 15 spreadsheets.”

Research from Female Founders Fund provides some insight into just how rare it is for women-led startups to land VC funding. For instance, of the more than 200 Bay Area startups that received series A funding in 2015, just 8% were led by women.

Last month, Hyman told Recode that, after raising its most recent round (a series E), the company’s associated valuation is seen as a “significant step up” from the $520 million one that it earned when it raised $60 million in 2014.

The startup is now profitable on an EBITDA basis and had revenues of over $100 million last year, Recode reported last month.

About the Author
By Valentina Zarya
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in MPW


Most Popular

Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

    Latest in MPW


    Most Popular

    © 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
    FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.