How to Disrupt an Industry: Lessons from James Reinhart (ThredUp)

In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, I talk with James Reinhart, founder of the second-hand resale platform ThredUp. A history major in college, James started his career as a teacher. That might not seem like it has much to do with fashion, but, as he explains, his early education and experiences actually led him not only to be a dual degree student at Harvard’s Business and Kennedy schools, but to a long-term view of ThredUp’s power to effect real change. 

We get into the reasons why having a harder mission can be counterintuitively easier and why, as he says, “intrinsically good businesses are good for bottom lines and good for the world.” Not only did ThredUp generate 80 million dollars in revenue in the first quarter of 2024, but James has an uncanny track record of being able to accurately predict what’s going to happen ten years ahead. 

Those details alone should be more than enough to pull you in, but they’re just a fraction of what we talked about. I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation with the founder whose mission is to inspire the world to think secondhand first. 

• What it was like to be an entrepreneur at Harvard Business School before the days when everyone was doing it

• How his education background fed into his business acumen

• The value of investors who believe in you

• The advantages of having a mission that all your stakeholders are passionate about

• His experience going public and advice for founders

• Why he built a company culture around humane principles based on employee feedback

• The change he’s working towards and believes is possible

• And so much more

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Where to find James Reinhart:

• X: https://x.com/jamesreinhart 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesgreinhart 

• Facebook: ​​https://www.facebook.com/james.reinhart/

• ThredUp: https://ir.thredup.com/corporate-governance/management-team 

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Where to find Eric:

• Newsletter: https://ericries.carrd.co/ 

• Podcast: https://ericriesshow.com/ 

• X: https://twitter.com/ericries 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/ 

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow 

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In This Episode We Cover:

(00:00) Welcome to the Eric Ries Show

(00:27) Meet our guest James Reinhart

(06:04) James talks about being an entrepreneur at Harvard Business School and a dual degrees student at the Kennedy School 

(10:27) How his decision to take a teaching job after college presaged his journey as an entrepreneur

(12:53) The story of ThredUp’s beginnings, including multiple pivots

(20:24) The value of a supportive investor 

(22:00) How failure set the stage for the biggest counterintuitive pivot of all: taking on inventory

(24:42 Identifying the true customer need: convenience + economic value

(27:59) The moment when James realized the company’s power to make change

(31:18) ThredUp’s mission statement

(33:06) Being a for-profit company with social change as its purpose

(35:43) Growing in order to increase positive impact: good businesses are good for the bottom line and for the world 

(39:22) The many advantages of taking the harder path to a solution

(43:34) Protecting ThredUp’s company culture and stakeholder alignment

(45:39) ThredUp’s IPO

(48:17) Advice on going public 

(50:38) The connection between mission and long-termism

(59:35) The value of being a history major in business

(1:00:19) David Graeber’s The Dawn of Everything

(1:05:35) ThredUp’s maker days

(1:09:24) Trusting and believing in your employees

(1:12:17) How ThredUp is a pioneering user of AI

(1:14:05) James’s thoughts on the role of government in business and society

(1:17:23) The power of transcending generations

(1:20:08) Lightning round!

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Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.