Warby Parker

The founders of Warby Parker had a clear vision of the kind of company they wanted to build: a novel business model that would disrupt a long-entrenched industry. The company’s values would create a culture that the founders themselves—and, they hoped, many others—would find meaningful and even fun. Their social impact mission wouldn’t be a philanthropic afterthought but an integral part of the business’s core. Purpose and profit would be pursued simultaneously, along with a commitment to building mutually beneficial relationships with customers, partners, communities, and other key stakeholders. They debated these and other critical details two years before the company was operational or even had a name.

The case examines the founders’ original business design for Warby Parker—a holistic approach that aligned and integrated purpose, a values-based culture, and business strategy with a commitment to building trusted relationships with stakeholders. The case also explores the actions taken by leadership to preserve this design as the company scaled, adapted and, ultimately, became a public corporation.