From a frustrating experience losing a pricey pair of glasses on a backpacking trip, Warby Parker co-CEO Dave Gilboa helped build a multi-billion dollar eyewear empire.
In 2008, Gilboa lost a $700 pair of Prada eyeglasses on a backpacking trip just before starting an MBA program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. There, he met classmates — Neil Blumenthal, Andy Hunt and Jeff Raider — who understood his frustration., a pioneering direct-to-consumer brand that's sold millions of pairs of glasses, both online and in 269 brick-and-mortar stores across the U.S. and Canada.
The simple strategy should push the company to a place of profitability and stability that has eluded so many of its compatriots, industry analysts say — probably as soon as next year. "We did pour our life savings in to get the business off the ground," says Gilboa. Bootstrapping the business meant running it out of Blumenthal's apartment instead of an office, and not taking any salaries.wrote about its launch, with GQ referring to it as "the Netflix of eyewear." The articles published just as Warby Parker's website went online, and the business was quickly overrun with orders.
"This year, we'll open 40 stores, and we can plan to continue on that cadence for years to come," Blumenthal says.Warby Parker's revenue has consistently grown each year, yet the 14-year-old company remains unprofitable. Blumenthal and Gilboa point to an adjusted EBITDA figure —, "adjusted EBITDA" means excluding a series of non-recurring costs, charitable donations and tax-related expenses from the company's bottom line — of $52.
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