Warby Parker Is Great at More Than Just Eyeglasses

When a company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell shares to the public, it’s the first chance that ordinary people — individual investors, journalists — get to see what’s behind the curtain. There’s a lot one can learn, well beyond the financials, from the prospectus and the way it’s presented.

I thought about this the other day as I was reading Warby Parker’s newly filed prospectus (officially Form S-1). I was already familiar with the company, having purchased a few pairs of glasses from them in the eleven years since they first opened their online store. I liked the ease of ordering, the curated collection of frames and the price. As someone who’s worn glasses since the third grade, I still have memories of spending hours at the LensCrafters in Brooklyn’s Kings Plaza looking at endless pairs of ugly frames with the added bonus of surly service.