# James Reinhart

> James Reinhart is the co-founder and CEO of ThredUp, the publicly traded online resale marketplace he started from a too-small Cambridge closet in 2009. A former history major and charter-school operator turned operator-of-warehouses-full-of-other-people's-clothes, he has spent over fifteen years arguing that secondhand isn't a niche, it's the future of fashion.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at ThredUp
- **Organizations:** ThredUp, Beacon Education Network, Pacific Collegiate School
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A., History, Boston College, Master of Public Administration, Harvard Kennedy School, MBA, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled ThredUp into one of the world's largest online resale platforms., Led ThredUp through its Nasdaq IPO in March 2021., Built proprietary automated distribution centers for single-SKU secondhand inventory.

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Worked as a teacher after college.
- **pre-2009** — Helped develop Pacific Collegiate School and co-founded Beacon Education Network, a charter management organization serving low-income students on California's Central Coast.
- **2009** — Co-founded ThredUp while at Harvard Business School; idea sparked by a too-small Cambridge closet and a thrift store that wouldn't take his men's clothes.
- **2010-2012** — Pivoted ThredUp from peer-to-peer clothing swaps to a managed marketplace focused on children's clothing.
- **2013-2019** — Expanded ThredUp to women's apparel; built large automated distribution centers to process incoming Clean Out Bags.
- **2021-03** — Took ThredUp public on Nasdaq under ticker TDUP.
- **ongoing** — Serves as CEO and board member of ThredUp Inc.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled ThredUp into one of the world's largest online resale platforms.
- Led ThredUp through its Nasdaq IPO in March 2021.
- Built proprietary automated distribution centers for single-SKU secondhand inventory.
- Co-founded Beacon Education Network supporting low-income students.
- Named to HBS Entrepreneurship Founders & Investors profile.

## Latest updates

- **2021-03** — ThredUp begins trading on Nasdaq (TDUP).
- **2024** — Continues leading ThredUp's resale-as-a-service business serving brand partners.

## Links

- Website: https://thredup.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesgreinhart
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/jamesreinhart
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/thredup

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-reinhart
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-30