| Course | SUST 5003 Building Better Businesses: Social Entrepreneurship in Action |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Social entrepreneur and venture profile |
| Length | 1,310 words, about 5 pages plus title and reference pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | American College of Education |
| Program | M.S. in Organizational Leadership |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for SUST 5003 Module 1
From VisionSpring to 323 Stores: A Profile of Warby Parker's Founders and Their Social Venture
Student Name
American College of Education
SUST5003: Building Better Businesses: Social Entrepreneurship in Action
Module 1 Assignment
Instructor Name
September 4, 2028
Introduction
Warby Parker is one of the best-known examples of a company built with a social mission from its first day. Founded in 2010, it sells glasses, contact lenses and eye exams in the United States and Canada, and for every pair of glasses or sunglasses it sells, a pair is distributed to someone in need (Warby Parker Inc., 2026). This paper profiles the venture and two of its co-founders, Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, who have led it as co-chief executives since its founding. It defines social entrepreneurship, describes the problem the company addresses, the founders' backgrounds, the business model and giving program and the results, and then weighs how much of the company's impact story outside evidence can confirm.
What Social Entrepreneurship Means
Researchers have defined social entrepreneurship in several ways. One widely cited account treats it as a process of putting resources together in new ways in order to spark social change or meet unmet social needs (Mair & MartÃ, 2006). Santos (2012) offered a sharper distinction: social entrepreneurs focus on creating value for society, especially where problems are neglected by markets and governments, rather than on capturing as much of that value as possible for themselves. Santos also argued that social entrepreneurs tend to seek sustainable solutions rather than temporary relief. These ideas provide a lens for judging whether, and how far, Warby Parker fits the label.
The Problem
The company's 2021 prospectus stated that about 2.5 billion people around the world need glasses but do not have access to them (Warby Parker Inc., 2021). The cost of missing glasses is not only personal. In a randomized trial among tea pickers aged 40 and older in Assam, India, workers given free near glasses increased the weight of tea they picked by 5.25 kilograms per day more than a control group, a 21.7 percent relative gain in productivity, and their income was tied to that output (Reddy et al., 2018). Glasses cost about $10 per person to provide in that trial, which suggests a large return for a small expense.
The Founders
Blumenthal and Gilboa met as classmates in business school at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Their backgrounds differed. Before founding Warby Parker, Blumenthal served as director of VisionSpring, a nonprofit social enterprise that trains low-income men and women to start businesses selling affordable glasses to people living on less than $4 a day, and which became the company's primary giving partner. Gilboa, who studied bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley, worked at the consulting firm Bain and Company and at the merchant bank Allen and Company (Warby Parker Inc., 2021). The pairing joined direct experience of the problem with commercial and financial training.
The Commercial Idea
The business began as a digitally native, vertically integrated brand: the company designs glasses in-house in New York and sells directly to customers, avoiding the traditional chain of brand licensors, wholesalers and retailers. The prospectus described this as a way to build direct relationships with customers and offer quality products at reasonable prices. Prices start at $95 for frames with prescription lenses (Warby Parker Inc., 2026). In 2020, glasses produced 95 percent of net revenue (Warby Parker Inc., 2021). The low price was itself part of the social argument, since high prices are one reason people go without glasses, but the main social program is separate from the product.
Buy a Pair, Give a Pair
The giving program ties distribution to sales: for every pair sold, a pair goes to someone in need. The prospectus described two models. In the social entrepreneurship model, which accounts for most distribution, partners such as VisionSpring train local people to give basic eye exams and sell glasses at very low prices. In the direct donation model, the company works with organizations and agencies to give glasses and care for free; its Pupils Project, created in 2015, provides free vision screenings, eye exams and glasses to schoolchildren in New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia and other cities (Warby Parker Inc., 2021).
Growth and Financial Results
By the end of 2025, Warby Parker operated 323 stores, had 2.69 million active customers and employed 4,036 people, 2,275 of them full time. Net revenue rose 13.0 percent to $871.9 million, with average revenue per customer of $324. Gross margin was 54.0 percent. The company reported net income of $1.6 million for 2025, after net losses of $20.4 million in 2024 and $63.2 million in 2023, and an accumulated deficit of $685.6 million. Contact lenses produced 11.1 percent of revenue and eye exams 6.4 percent (Warby Parker Inc., 2026). The venture is large and growing but only recently profitable.
Formalizing the Mission
In June 2021, shortly before its shares began trading, Warby Parker elected to become a public benefit corporation under Delaware law. Its charter names two public benefits: providing access to products and services that promote vision and eye health, and working toward positively affecting the communities where it operates. Under that law, the board has to weigh these benefits and the people its conduct affects alongside what shareholders gain financially. The company has published an annual impact report since 2018, benchmarked against GRI and SASB standards, and uses it as the benefit report Delaware requires at least every two years (Warby Parker Inc., 2026).
Do the Founders Fit the Definition?
Measured against the research, the answer is mostly yes, with qualifications. The founders addressed a problem neglected by markets in low-income communities, and the main giving model supports local sellers rather than only handing out glasses, which fits the emphasis on sustainable solutions (Santos, 2012). Blumenthal's prior work at VisionSpring shows a commitment that predates the company. Yet Warby Parker is also a conventional growth business in most respects, selling to customers who can pay, and much of its value is captured by shareholders, including the founders, who held about 48 percent of voting power at listing (Warby Parker Inc., 2021).
Questions About Impact
The impact evidence deserves care. The figure of more than 20 million pairs distributed counts outputs, not outcomes such as improved earnings or schooling (Warby Parker Inc., 2026). The prospectus cited VisionSpring's own estimates that glasses improve productivity by 35 percent and monthly income by up to 20 percent (Warby Parker Inc., 2021); those are a partner's estimates, not independent findings. The Assam trial offers stronger, independent support for the general claim that glasses raise productivity (Reddy et al., 2018), although it studied one population of older tea pickers. A careful profile should present company figures as claims and tie outcomes to independent research where possible.
Lessons for Leaders
Three lessons stand out. First, a founder's earlier experience can shape a venture's social design; the choice of a partner that builds local businesses reflects Blumenthal's nonprofit background. Second, tying giving to each sale makes the mission visible to customers and employees and keeps it from being an afterthought, though it also links giving to sales volume rather than to need. Third, formalizing a mission through legal status and regular reporting creates accountability that outlasts the founders' personal commitment, a question later modules take up in comparing benefit and conventional corporations.
Conclusion
Warby Parker's founders built a commercial eyewear company and a giving program side by side, drawing on one founder's experience leading a nonprofit social enterprise. By 2025 the company had become a profitable business with more than 300 stores, and its program had distributed more than 20 million pairs of glasses. It fits the research definition of social entrepreneurship in its focus on a neglected problem and its support for local sellers, while remaining a conventional growth company in other respects. Its impact claims are best read alongside independent evidence. The next module examines the innovation and strategic thinking behind its approach.
References
Mair, J., & MartÃ, I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight. Journal of World Business, 41(1), 36-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.09.002
Reddy, P. A., Congdon, N., MacKenzie, G., Gogate, P., Wen, Q., Jan, C., Clarke, M., Kassalow, J., Gudwin, E., O'Neill, C., Jin, L., Tang, J., Bassett, K., Cherwek, D. H., & Ali, R. (2018). Effect of providing near glasses on productivity among rural Indian tea workers with presbyopia (PROSPER): A randomised trial. The Lancet Global Health, 6(9), e1019-e1027. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30329-2
Santos, F. M. (2012). A positive theory of social entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Ethics, 111(3), 335-351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1413-4
Warby Parker Inc. (2021). Prospectus (Form 424B4). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1504776/000162828021019236/warbyparkerinc424b4.htm
Warby Parker Inc. (2026). Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1504776/000150477626000006/wrby-20251231.htm
The SUST 5003 Module 1 assignment instructions
The first SUST 5003 paper usually asks you to profile a social entrepreneur and the venture they built. Expect to define social entrepreneurship with research, then explain the social problem, the founder's background and motives, the business model and how the venture creates social value. Most prompts reward using primary documents, such as annual reports, filings or benefit reports, rather than news features. Report results with figures and judge impact claims critically, separating outputs from outcomes. Connect the profile to course concepts throughout, and cite every source, including filings, in APA 7. Choose a venture with enough public information, such as a company that files with the SEC or publishes a benefit report, so your figures can be checked.
Inside the SUST 5003 Module 1 example
The sample opens with two research definitions, one stressing social change and one separating value creation from value capture. A randomized trial from India shows what missing glasses cost workers. The founders' backgrounds come from the prospectus, including one founder's years leading VisionSpring. The direct-to-consumer model, the giving program's two distribution models and the Pupils Project follow. FY2025 results, public benefit status and impact reporting come from the 10-K. A critical section separates company and partner estimates from independent evidence. Lessons for leaders close the paper and point toward the next module on innovation. Figures are dated, so readers can tell which come from 2021 and which from 2025.
Where the points sit in the SUST 5003 Module 1 rubric
Venture profiles are graded on depth, evidence and judgment. Graders expect social entrepreneurship to be defined from scholarly sources, an explanation of the social problem with evidence and a profile of the founder that connects background to choices. Strong papers describe the business model and social program precisely, report results with figures from primary sources and test impact claims rather than repeating them. Applying the definition to the case is often credited. Profiles built on marketing copy or news stories, and papers that treat outputs as outcomes, tend to score lower. Applying a research definition to the case, and saying where the venture fits it and where it does not, shows judgment rather than admiration.
SUST 5003 Module 1 help from the desk
Choosing a venture with good public data and writing about it without sounding like a press release are the two hardest parts of this paper. We can help with both, from finding filings and benefit reports to framing impact claims carefully. Let us know which social entrepreneur interests you, or ask us to suggest one, and send the prompt; a writer will draft a profile grounded in primary documents and research. Ventures in health, education, food, housing and consumer goods all work. You can expect the finished paper within two days. If you need a venture outside eyewear, we can suggest options in food, apparel, finance or health with good public filings.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official American College of Education document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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SUST 5003 Module 1 questions, answered
What does SUST5003 Module 1 usually ask for?
Module 1 of SUST5003 usually asks you to profile a social entrepreneur and their venture, explaining the problem, the model and the results with evidence.
Is Warby Parker a social enterprise?
It is a public benefit corporation with a giving program built into its model, though in most respects it operates as a conventional growth company; a good paper weighs both.
What is the difference between social entrepreneurship and corporate giving?
Social entrepreneurship puts solving a social problem at the center of the venture's design, while corporate giving is typically separate from how the business makes money.
Where can I find a free SUST 5003 Module 1 sample paper?
This page has one: a profile of Warby Parker's co-founders and venture, from VisionSpring to 323 stores, $871.9 million in revenue and over 20 million pairs distributed.
Where should I find data on a social venture?
Public companies' 10-K filings and prospectuses on SEC EDGAR, benefit or impact reports and independent research on the problem the venture addresses.