Baked by Melissa’s founder was fired at 24. Two decades later, she’s ‘so freaking thrilled’ to step down as CEO

In a world of protein-maxxing and fiber-counting, it’s hard to remember a time when a baked good itself could be a fad.

But a decade ago, people underwent a frenzy for cupcakes. Adults would line up around the block for cupcakes that came out of vending machines; a company selling jumbo cupcakes with custard filling IPO’d at $13 a share, and people raced to buy a sheet of miniature tie-dye cupcakes for $45. The frenzy was so massive, the cupcake boom moved 669 million units in a single year, but like an overdone cupcake in the oven, it deflated just as quickly as it went up. Crumbs went from a Nasdaq darling to bankrupt in three years. Sprinkles, the brand that inven...