Episode 130- Neil Blumenthal on How to Build a Purpose-Driven Team

Is your team on a mission or simply going through the motions? Neil Blumenthal is the co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, a mission-driven brand…

Episode 130- Neil Blumenthal on How to Build a Purpose-Driven Team

Is your team on a mission or simply going through the motions? Neil Blumenthal is the co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, a mission-driven brand…

Is your team on a mission or simply going through the motions? Neil Blumenthal is the co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, a mission-driven brand that has revolutionized the eyewear industry while focusing on social impact. Named “the most innovative company in the world” by Fast Company, Warby Parker provides high quality prescription eyewear at a fraction of the price. For every pair of glasses sold, a pair is distributed to someone in need through the Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program. Neil was named a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum and one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company. In our conversation today, we talk about how a business can scale, be profitable, and do good in the world.

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“You can do well and do good.”

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Show Notes

The founding story of Warby Parker (1:56)
How Warby Parker successfully launched with a waiting list of 20,000 (4:50)
The social mission of Warby Parker (11:16)
Warby Parker’s social enterprise model and the “buy a pair, give a pair” program (14:04)
How Warby Parker measures its social impact (16:16)
Warby Parker’s core values and culture (17:43)
Neil’s approach to leadership (19:14)
How he keeps a good pulse on the organization (20:00)
Finding opportunities for growth (24:12)
Understanding the complexity of the customer journey (25:52)
Why Warby Parker doubled down on physical retail in the midst of the pandemic (28:09)
Anticipating the needs of the future (30:09)
Lessons from high-performance athletes that we can apply to optimize our own performance (34:18)

Resources / People Mentioned

Warby Parker
Most Innovative Companies (Fast Company)
World Economic Forum
100 Creative People in Business (Fast Company)
The Wharton School
VisionSpring
Dave Gilboa, Warby Parker co-founder & co-CEO
Andrew Hunt, co-founder of Warby Parker
Jeff Raider, co-founder of Warby Parker
Jack Kerouac, writer
Eyeglasses for school kids boost academic performance
Rachel Blumenthal, entrepreneur
Rockets of Awesome
Whoop
Eight Sleep
Roger Federer, tennis player
Ted Lasso (TV series)
Michael Jordan, basketball player
Tom Brady, NFL player

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