How 4 Business Students Took on the Eyewear Industry [VIDEO]

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When four friends met in business school and discovered they shared a common problem — an aversion to paying hundreds of dollars for eyeglasses — they realized there was a business opportunity in it. The group founded Warby Parker, an innovative startup that aims to revolutionize how people buy eyeglasses. Warby sells directly to the public, via their website, allowing them to bypass retailers and sell their frames and lenses for $95.

Check out our interview with Dave Gilboa, Warby Parker’s CEO and learn how the company is disrupting the eyewear industry, similar to the way Netflix crashed the video rental market. Dave also talks about some of the company’s early growing pains, including having to put 20,000 customers on a waiting list and why Google shut down his company’s email servers.

Disclosure: Host Dave Lerner is an investor in Warby Parker.

Thanks to Mike Brown, Jr. for hosting our shoot at AOL Ventures.

Follow Venture Studio, in association with Mashable, which is brought to you by Square1 Bank. The show is hosted by Dave Lerner, a 3x entrepreneur and angel investor. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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[gogoblender 3,068]

This is happening,good! I keep getting dismayed by exorbitant eyeglass prices, with fancy stores that sell them looking like upscale couturier clothes emporiums.

 

Bring back cheap eyeglasses!

 

 

gogo