When I was nine or ten years old I got my first set of glasses. Like many kids at the time, I was embarrassed to wear them and was often referred to as “four eyes”. In fact, one of my very first and few fights was when someone picked on me for wearing glasses.
Today, thanks largely to the upstart billion dollar business Warby Parker, wearing glasses is cool. Heck, there are people wearing glasses with only clear glass (plastic) in them – what a world!
Warby Parker. In 2008 four MBA students at the Wharton School in Philadelphia were doing a business project. One of the students, Dave Gilboa, left his expensive glasses on a plane. He then asked one of his other project team members, Neil Blumenthal, why glasses are so expensive. Blumenthal had worked for a non-profit organization, Vision Spring, which delivers glasses to poor populations in developing countries.
As Blumenthal began to answer that question, the group was inspired and a project was born – start an online eyeglasses business with prices that start under $100 and give eyeglasses to those in need. Their marketing strategy and mission was now clearly focused.
Blumenthal knew that a global company named Lexollica made most of the world’s eyeglasses – similar production lines in single factories manufacture inexpensive and high-end glasses right next to each other. The project team had their source.
In a short amount of time the team developed the project’s website and launched the business. According to their interview on NBC, their professor approved the project, but was lukewarm on its prospects. However, within a few months they got a positive mention in GQ Magazine and orders exploded. They all told about watching orders explode on their smartphones while sitting in class.
Enter Karlie Kloss. Until researching this story I had never heard of Karlie Kloss. K
loss is a young, famous model, who also is very committed to helping improve the world and puts energy into it. One non-profit important to her is Edible Schoolyards, which teaches children mostly in urban areas how to raise and eat healthy food. Kloss was attracted to Warby Parker’s mission and agreed to join forces. So now there is a Karlie Kloss line of glasses at Warby Parker and the company now supports Edible Schoolyards.
Source of Name Warby Parker. Like many people, I was curious about where the name came from. According to their website, “In May 2009, our co-founder Dave was wandering around the New York Public Library when he stumbled into an exhibition about Jack Kerouac. The four of us had long been inspired by Kerouac, who spurred a generation to take the road less traveled. The exhibit included some of Kerouac’s manuscripts, drafts, and journals. In one of the journals, Dave noticed two characters with interesting names: Warby Pepper and Zagg Parker. We combined the two and came up with Warby Parker.”
Warby Parker is now a billion dollar business and they have given away well over a million pair of eyeglasses to people in need. It is a great entrepreneurial story that teaches us several lessons. Here are my four:
- It shows us opportunities are everywhere, you just have to be able to “see” them.
- It shows us how to ask the right question and explore the answer.
- It shows us how to embed mission into our strategy so as to attract Millennial buyers.
- It shows us, once again, how the clever use of the Internet is changing industry structure.
Most importantly, Warby Parker has made it cool to wear glasses. Hopefully “four-eyed” children everywhere are now the envy of their peers!
