Women Who Inspire Us
Internet

Julie Wainwright

Julie Wainwright is chief executive officer of Pets.com. Wainwright brings to Pets.com nearly 20 years of marketing and operations experience in the software, technology and consumer product industries. Before joining Pets.com in March 1999, Wainwright was CEO of Reel.com, where she helped establish the company as the premier video store on the Internet and grew the business from sales of $1 million to over $20 million in one year. Reel.com was subsequently sold to Hollywood Entertainment in October 1998 for approximately $100 million.

As CEO of Berkeley Systems, a pioneer in the Internet entertainment market, Wainwright was instrumental in shifting the company’s strategy from developing utilities such as After Dark screen savers to building a leading interactive entertainment entity, which resulted in the introduction of Bezerk, an award-winning online entertainment network. In addition to recruiting and restructuring the Berkeley Systems management team, Wainwright also orchestrated the launch of “You Don’t Know Jack,” the company’s irreverent quiz show game, which remains one of the best-selling CD-ROM games worldwide. Wainwright is recognized as a key player in the Internet industry and was named one of the 50 Most Influential Businesswomen in the Bay Area by San Francisco Business Times, and Microtimes’ Top 100 Technology Executives for 1997.

Wainwright began her career in the packaged goods industry at Clorox, and received her B.A. degree in General Management from Purdue University. Wainwright lives in San Francisco with her husband and two Yorkshire Terriers, Tyson and Knuckles.