Warby Parker Goes to Washington

Warby Parker, which now has more than 40 employees and more than $1 million in revenue, is subject to laws

Warby Parker, which now has more than 40 employees and more than $1 million in revenue, is subject to laws that vary state-by-state. “Dispensing eyeglasses is not that complicated and even if it were complicated, there should be uniform rules,” co-founder Neil Blumenthal told the New York Times. The designer eyeglasses distributor sent Mr. Blumenthal to Washington last month to be a face for entrepreneurship, and what he heard didn’t inspire much confidence. “It might be too much to ask Washington to help with entrepreneurship when they can’t even get the basics right, like maintaining a decent credit rating,” he said.

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He had high praise for the Bloomberg administration, which is listening to complaints and problem-solving, he said. Not so much for the U.S. Congress. One senator, for example, didn’t know what a web developer was. “I was pretty surprised at the lack of mastery,” Mr. Blumenthal said.

Considering the lip service that President Barack Obama paid to the internet and entrepreneurship during his State of the Union address back in the winter–“Did Obama just watch The Social Network?” a friend asked during our SOTU drinking game–it’s pretty depressing to hear that some congressmen are still at the level of having aides check their email. Remember when Ted Stevens, arguing against network neutrality, described how “an internet” sent by his staff did not reach him for five days because, like the Q train, it had been delayed by traffic ahead? Ha, ha! That was really funny. And terrifying.

Warby Parker Goes to Washington