Warby Parker Grabs New Investment, Closing $41.5M Round

I don't get it - warby parker seems to already be killing it, brand and mindshare wise. I could easily see them following a path similar to any number of fashion brands - closely held and reliably growing and profitable for decades.

But now, to shoot for the half a billion minimum exit in 7-8 years or less because these venture firms financial models only work one way. Since the probability of a young eyeware company organically arriving at a five hundred million dollar rain is essentially zero, it almost guaranteed they've got to plot a new course or ten. Now every decision you make has to include evaluating if it would alienate one of few potential suitors, or if it can provide growth and market numbers that would look good on a prospectus.

I'm not privy to their numbers, so maybe I am just a victim of a really good hype machine. But my impression is that they've got strong sales growth, margins that most ecommerce shops would die for, strong customer loyalty and would be profitable if you limited spending to core business and traditional customer acquisition models.

Considering how overheated the commercial bond market is (and shows no serious signs of waining) I think there's a real possibility somebody like Warby Parker could do a debt or convertible debt deal at surprisingly nice terms. You could do a lot with say $20M for 7 years at 6% and still own a company you don't hate working for at the end of it all.

Sure, conventional wisdom says it's impossible to raise for web/tech outside of the specialized PE cliques. But that truism developed in an age where a) sovereign debt paid 5% and equity markets were reliably bullish in decade based timescales.

Ecomom almost certainly could have been a reliably profitable company at some level and contribute a number of high paying american jobs to the economy. But because that's the last thing any venture investor is looking for they went down a rabbit hole of wasteful gambles where growth trumped logic.

Slick website and nice service providing first world convenience, but still Made in China.

SZDaily: "It is said that at least 60 percent of the spectacles on the earth are made in Shenzhen... At present, there are nearly 500 spectacles manufacturing companies in the city, mostly in Henggang Subdistrict, Longgang District, producing nearly 200 million pairs of spectacles a year. Ninety-five percent of their products are exported to more than 130 countries and regions, accounting for more than 70 percent of market share in Europe and about 60 percent on the global market."

http://www.szdaily.com/content/2012-07/20/content_6962497.ht...

WarbyParker: "We design our frames here in the US, then source our material (high-quality cellulose acetate) from a 150-year-old, family-owned Italian manufacturer. Our frames are then crafted in China"

http://blog.warbyparker.com/post/12789294212/i-have-a-questi...

As for the Italian manufacturer, it's likely they are referring to Mazzucchelli founded in 1849 and famous for the tortoise shell look. Well, it appears they may have outsourced acetate production to China too!

http://www.optiboard.com/forums/showthread.php/47085-Acetate...

http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/mazzucchelli-acetate...

I bought my last pair of glasses at Warby Parker, and I did really like the home try on service. You pick out your top 5 choices, and then send them to you with clear lenses in a box. You can spend an evening (up to 5 days really) trying them on and seeing which look best on you. Then you send them back and get the real pair with your prescription. They are real inexpensive as well. It was a nice "internet" experience, compared to trying things on in some random shop.

Just for my own curiosity, I'd love to know how much faster the round got to closing after rumors leaked out that Google was partnering with WP to create some Glass concepts.

When Warby Parker was first getting off the ground, the idea of buying glasses online was completely new. They've done a great job of validating the model, but now they're facing a lot of competition and I'm not sure their brand is enough to allow them to compete.

I ended up buying my two pairs of glasses from a competitor... The first pair was only $30, and that was only because I opted for a higher end lens. The second pair was a designer brand that was at a similar price point. Since the lens cost has gone down dramatically for all of the online retailers, on what basis is Warby Parker going to compete?

Glasses are an industry that is all about brand labels. For people that care about that sort of thing, they'll go buy RayBan or Gucci or whatever else over a Warby frame at a roughly similar price point. For folks that don't care about that sort of thing, they'll buy a cheaper non-name brand fram for less than the Warby price point.

Warby Parker is so interesting, not because it's a story of an eyewear company, but because it's a story of a fascinating business model by design-savvy people.

I probably wouldn't wear their glasses, but they are beyond compare to their competition in this regard.

Kinda like a Zappos for glasses, with the difference that they make their own shoes.

Pulling for these guys. Just a great David vs Goliath and they seem to have a chance making a dent.