FOCUS
HOW WE GOT STARTED
VENTURE
55
FORTUNE.COM // JUNE .1 .19
Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal
are cofounders and co-CEOs of
Warby Parker—the eyewear company that
disrupted the industry by drastically lowering
prices for stylish frames. It now operates more
than 90 physical stores in the U.S. and Canada
and is reportedly valued at $1.7 billion.
DAVE GILBOA: Both my parents are doctors.
I wanted to make a positive impact on the
Dave Gilboa
(left) and Neil
Blumenthal at
Warby Parker’s
Manhattan
showroom
in April.
WARBY PARKER IN HINDSIGHT
How a group of Wharton MBA students took on Big Eyewear and made a difference. Interview by Dinah Eng
world, and I thought it would be helpful to
learn about business. But after working in
financial services for a while, I decided to go
simultaneously for a master’s in biotechnol-
ogy at the University of Pennsylvania and an
MBA at Wharton. I thought I’d find a scientist
working on something great and help to com-
mercialize it.
NEIL BLUMENTHAL: My mom was a nurse, and
my dad was a CPA. I went to a small Quaker
PHOTOGRAPH BY REBECCA GREENFIELD
