#1416 How Warby Parker founder built a unicorn

Long before starting Mixergy, I lived in New York, where I grew up. I remember going to Austin Street in Queens to buy glasses back when I wore glasses. I thought that by going into the local store and picking out the different brands and shelling out hundreds of dollars. I thought that I was actually picking the company I liked the best. It turns out I was wrong. It turns out it was company that not only made all the glasses in the store but actually owned the store. Well, today’s guest noticed that too and said, “Hey, there’s probably a better way. We don’t have to have this one monolith. We could create our own brand, charge less, and have glasses that are cooler available to be bought online.” By doing that, he build what is considered a unicorn, one of these highly valued companies. I invited him here to talk about how he did it. His name is Neil Blumenthal. He is the cofounder of Warby Parker. It’s a vertically integrated lifestyle brand that’s working to transform the optical industry.

Neil Blumenthal is the cofounder of Warby Parker, a vertically integrated lifestyle brand that’s working to transform the optical industry.

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