Julie Wainwright
Encyclopedia
Julie Wainwright is the former CEO of the now-defunct Pets.com
and current CEO of SmartNow, a wellness
website aimed at women over 35. Wainwright was named "one of the 50 Most Influential Business women in the Bay Area by San Francisco Business Times, and was one of Microtimes' Top 100 Technology Executives for 1997". She is the author of ReBoot: My Five Life-Changing Mistakes and How I Have Moved On, a book chronicling her experiences at Pets.com and SmartNow.
Early in life, she began working for The Clorox
Company in brand management and computer software
. By age 30 she replaced Wes Boyd
as CEO of Berkeley Systems where she was instrumental by changing the company's strategy by making it a leading interactive entertainment entity. As president and CEO of the company, she had reduced a two year decline in productivity. She was among one third of the employees that were laid off from Berkeley when the company was sold to CUC in late 1996.
After this, she went on to Reel.com as the company's President, replacing founder, Stuart Skorman. After 7 months, Reel.com was sold for $100,000,000 to Hollywood Video after which she left and was replaced by Jeff Jordan, currently the President of OpenTable.com. At this time she had almost 20 years of experience with software, technology and consumer-product industries. She was immediately tabbed by Anne Winblad of Hummer Winblad Ventures to run Pets.com.
Julie Wainwright was CEO of Pets.com
, which ceased operations 268 days after its initial public stock offering and was "one of the shortest-lived public companies on record" according to Kirk Cheyfitz, author of Thinking Inside the Box: The 12 Timeless Rules for Managing a Successful Business. After shutting down Pets.com in November 2000, her husband asked her for a divorce. Wainwright has said that this was a very difficult time in her life: "I had two major life crises in the same week, one public and one private, that sent me on a journey of self-discovery
and healing I couldn’t have anticipated."
When Pets.com shut down, Wainwright was given $50,000 as a performance bonus by the board members on top of her normal $275,000 bonus and a severance package of $235,000. She then founded SmartNow.com.
In 2003 she was named president of and replaced Steve MacDonald as CEO of an online photo enhancement service called Mountain View's Bellamax, Inc. and CEO of OntheFrontier.
Pets.com
Pets.com is a former dot-com enterprise that sold pet supplies to retail customers. It began operations in February 1999 and closed in November 2000. A high profile marketing campaign gave it a widely recognized public presence, including an appearance in the 1999 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...
and current CEO of SmartNow, a wellness
Wellness
Wellness may mean:* Wellness * Wellness - The scientific meaning: health, freedom from disease.* Wellness dog and cat food, a brand used by the company WellPet* Well-being * Workplace wellness...
website aimed at women over 35. Wainwright was named "one of the 50 Most Influential Business women in the Bay Area by San Francisco Business Times, and was one of Microtimes' Top 100 Technology Executives for 1997". She is the author of ReBoot: My Five Life-Changing Mistakes and How I Have Moved On, a book chronicling her experiences at Pets.com and SmartNow.
Early in life, she began working for The Clorox
Clorox
The Clorox Company is a US-based manufacturer of various food and chemical products based in Oakland, California, which is best known for its bleach product, Clorox.- History :...
Company in brand management and computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
. By age 30 she replaced Wes Boyd
Wes Boyd
Wes Boyd is an American businessman. In 1987, he and his wife Joan Blades were the co-founders of Berkeley Systems, a San Francisco Bay area software company. After selling the company in 1997, Boyd and Blades went on to found the progressive political group MoveOn.org.-External links:...
as CEO of Berkeley Systems where she was instrumental by changing the company's strategy by making it a leading interactive entertainment entity. As president and CEO of the company, she had reduced a two year decline in productivity. She was among one third of the employees that were laid off from Berkeley when the company was sold to CUC in late 1996.
After this, she went on to Reel.com as the company's President, replacing founder, Stuart Skorman. After 7 months, Reel.com was sold for $100,000,000 to Hollywood Video after which she left and was replaced by Jeff Jordan, currently the President of OpenTable.com. At this time she had almost 20 years of experience with software, technology and consumer-product industries. She was immediately tabbed by Anne Winblad of Hummer Winblad Ventures to run Pets.com.
Julie Wainwright was CEO of Pets.com
Pets.com
Pets.com is a former dot-com enterprise that sold pet supplies to retail customers. It began operations in February 1999 and closed in November 2000. A high profile marketing campaign gave it a widely recognized public presence, including an appearance in the 1999 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...
, which ceased operations 268 days after its initial public stock offering and was "one of the shortest-lived public companies on record" according to Kirk Cheyfitz, author of Thinking Inside the Box: The 12 Timeless Rules for Managing a Successful Business. After shutting down Pets.com in November 2000, her husband asked her for a divorce. Wainwright has said that this was a very difficult time in her life: "I had two major life crises in the same week, one public and one private, that sent me on a journey of self-discovery
Journey of self-discovery
The term "journey of self-discovery" refers to a travel, pilgrimage, or series of events whereby a person attempts to determine how they feel, personally, about spiritual issues...
and healing I couldn’t have anticipated."
When Pets.com shut down, Wainwright was given $50,000 as a performance bonus by the board members on top of her normal $275,000 bonus and a severance package of $235,000. She then founded SmartNow.com.
In 2003 she was named president of and replaced Steve MacDonald as CEO of an online photo enhancement service called Mountain View's Bellamax, Inc. and CEO of OntheFrontier.
External links
- Wainwright's book on Amazon.com