Dave Gilboa

Dave Gilboa is the co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, a New York City-based lifestyle retailer of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. While the idea of its affordable designer eyewear isn’t all that new, it’s the way that Gilboa and co-founder Neil Blumenthal approached it that made it remarkable.

It all started when one of the then-college friends spent a summer squinting because he lost his eyeglasses and couldn’t afford new ones. They realized that about 2.5 billion people around the world suffer from the same problem – the result: high-quality eyewear starting at just $95. And to take it up a notch, the company also gives away one pair for each one it sells, resulting in over five million pairs of eyeglasses given away to this day.

Committed to changing the eyewear industry’s profit-centric ways, the company also sends out pairs with pre-paid return labels to people’s homes for them to try, helping expand much-needed eye care without burning a hole through pockets.

Under Gilboa and Blumenthal’s leadership, the company was able to launch “Pupil Project,” which has helped over 200,000 students in NYC who need eyeglasses, and employee-led initiatives that focus on supporting LGBTQ+ employees and other underrepresented people working in tech. And in 2015, the company was named the most innovative company in the world by Fast Company.

Before Warby Parker, Gilboa worked extensively with non-profit organizations. He is even a founding member of the Entrepreneur Board of Venture for America, which helps graduates in low-income areas become entrepreneurs. He also received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award and was recognized as part of The Next Establishment by Vanity Fair.

He holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with honors from UC Berkeley.