The two secrets to managing a fast-growing business, according to the former CEO of Pets.com

Julie Wainwright has had a fascinating career.

In the 1990s, she ran Berkeley Systems, which published the hit CD-ROM game "You Don't Know Jack"; sold a company called Reel.com for $100 million; and then famously led the notorious dot-com-era bust Pets.com.

Or, as she summed it up at tonight's Code Commerce Series event in Las Vegas: Two "nice wins" and one "big bomb."

Now Wainwright is the CEO and founder of The RealReal, a designer e-commerce consignment marketplace that is a real business and is on, as Wainwright says, the "path toward profitability."

How, then, to survive the roller-coaster ride of a fast-growing company? Wainwright told the Code Commerce audience that it comes down to two things.

"You have to relinquish your own power," she said. "You have to hire really good people that know more than you do and give them a lot of authority and responsibility and accountability."

"That’s really number one."

And two?

"The hardest thing to do is focus on the most important thing and let everything else slide. That’s where I see when people make mistakes."

One more bonus tip: "You have to let go. You can’t be a control freak, because you’ll drive yourself crazy," she said. "Be very clear about what trade-offs you’re making, because you can’t be all things to all people during that time."

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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