Entrepreneur Highlight: Neil Blumenthal (32)
Profile: Blumenthal, co-founder of Warby Parker, an online retailer based eyeglass shop, came up with the idea while on a hiking trip with a few of his friends while they were college students. His one friend lost his pair of glasses while on the trip, and instead of paying the astronomically high price for a new pair, his friend went an entire semester complaining about how he couldn’t see things in class. In trying to find a cheaper eyeglass alternative, Blumenthal and his friends created Warby Parker.
Warby Parker creates their glasses in house, which cuts out the middle man of manufacturers that drive costs up. Since they design and make them in house, they can make incredibly stylish eyewear at an affordable cost of $95 per frame. Warby Parker also donates a pair of glasses to someone in need around the world with every purchase.
Blumenthal attended the Wharton school of business, along with his co-founder Dave Gilboa (who was the one that lost the pair of glasses). Neil credits not only his success in business, but also his leadership abilities, to Wharton. Neil primarily focuses on employee and customer experience: making this as easy and convenient as possible, which is shown through Warby Parker’s business practices. Their at home try on allows customers to try on 5 pairs of glasses for free before placing their order. They also stress the creation of stylish glasses, because they realize how important the accessory is as a part of someone’s wardrobe and personal style. Warby Parker also generates buzz through social impact through their “Buy a pair, give a pair” program, which Neil oversaw at the eyeglass company he worked at before founding Warby Parker.
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This company is a great example of seeing a product that could be made a lot more efficiently. I have recently gone through the process of buying glasses and the entire time I kept thinking about how unnecessarily expensive all of the glasses were. I also like that the company has a charitable portion. There are so many developing countries that have very little access to eye care and so donating glasses can really help a lot of people.
I had a very similar idea for my pitch for exercise #2. I think its absurd that glasses cost so much- especially when they are so inexpensive to manufacture, and mine are always breaking. This guy has definitely found a need and a good market for his product.
Nowadays, people are so busy going between work and their social lives, that simply shopping for glasses can be a very difficult task. I think the idea of bringing the shopping experience into the consumers home for something as easy as glasses is brilliant. Glasses are a product that people will always be in need of and making the process more user friendly is always beneficial.
So Warby Parker is a unique idea. Or at least it was when it was started. Now though, there are many other businesses that compete with this company. I personally use EyeBuyDirect.com for my glasses. They have much cheaper prices, fashionable frames, and have very quick delivery. The one thing that site doesn’t do, is give you the option to “try on” frames like Warby Parker. They do have a virtual “try on” feature, but that will never be quite the same as physically wearing the glasses. I think that all of these business have taken a need and capitalized on it, but I’m interested to see which businesses last.
I first heard about this company from the NPR podcast “How I built this.” The glasses industry is a virtual monopoly controlled Luxottica. Personally, I think the prices for eyeglasses are ridiculous and why the next pair of glasses I buy will be from Warby Parker. They definitely fixed a problem I had and I can see them becoming a major player in the eyeglasses industry.
I think it’s really cool how he improved on an existing idea. He didn’t create a new product, he simply improved on the means of how we get it. I also think it’s really cool how he gives a pair of glasses with every purchase. He is using his platform for more than just financial gains, he’s using it to help others in need of his product. Overall, I think this is a great idea!