Rapid Response: How Warby Parker is making decisions in uncertainty, with CEO Neil Blumenthal

Masters of Scale

WaitWhat

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management, Reid Hoffman, Mindset, Diversity & Inclusion, Jeff Berman, Bob Safian, Startups

4.6 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2020

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"It's like getting hit in the face over and over and over,” says Warby Parker co-CEO Neil Blumenthal. But “crisis brings out clarity.” At Warby, planning for the future has meant leaning into the present — from physical changes in their factory and stores that ensure social distancing to optimizing online vision tests. Blumenthal shares the complex factors they consider in deciding which stores to re-open and when, and relates the human challenge of inspiring their on-the-ground factory employees — at times of increased risk. For Blumenthal, it's all about recognizing new priorities (safety) and fitting them into ongoing strategy. Interviewed by editor Bob Safian.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	COVID has impacted every part of our business and it's impacted every
0:05.8	aspect of every business. The most challenging thing about the COVID crisis has
0:11.2	been the amount of uncertainty. Businesses do not thrive in uncertainty. The
0:18.2	number one priority is the health and safety of your team and as a leader,
0:22.2	that's what I care most about. It's interesting that prior to COVID it's rare
0:27.6	that you'd ever really talk about health and safety because that was always
0:32.2	a given and now it's just been a lot more front and center because it is so
0:36.8	much at risk here. For a company like Warby Parker, how do we invest through the
0:43.3	crisis so that way we emerge stronger than ever and capture even greater
0:48.1	market share than we would have otherwise? I'm not stressed about the long-term
0:53.3	viability of Warby Parker. I'm not stressed about our ability to overcome this
0:59.0	and emerge stronger than ever. That was Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-CEO of
1:05.7	Warby Parker. Warby has been a poster child for direct-to-consumer start-up
1:10.5	success, upending the prescription glasses industry. But as Neil
1:15.5	acknowledges, the pandemic has impacted every part of their business. I'm Bob
1:20.6	Safian, former editor of Fast Company, founder of the Flux Group, and host of
1:26.3	Masters of Scale Rapid Response. I wanted to talk to Neil because Warby Parker
1:32.0	straddles two operations facing opposing pressures, a chain of 120 stores
1:38.3	that was shuttered by COVID-19 lockdown, and an online retail arm that's
1:44.0	thriving. Neil and his co-CEO, Dave Gilbaugh, find themselves rethinking
1:49.6	everything about the customer and employee experience online and off, even as
1:54.9	they struggle to determine which physical stores to reopen and when. Neil
	...

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