Corner Office

After Warby Parker, a clean shave with Harry’s

Kai Ryssdal Mar 28, 2013
HTML EMBED:
COPY
Corner Office

After Warby Parker, a clean shave with Harry’s

Kai Ryssdal Mar 28, 2013
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Most people probably don’t stop to consider their razor blades during a morning shave. It’s a chore, and a rather tedious one at that.

But Jeff Raider would like you to consider your shave a little more closely. And maybe even buy your shaving equipment from him, online. Jeff helped start Warby Parker, the company that sells eyeglasses online at lower prices than competitors. Shaving’s his new thing, at a website called “Harry’s.”

Raider says the idea for Harry’s started when a friend of his had a bad experience buying razor blades and shaving cream at a drug store. The service was terrible and the bill too high. That friend, Andy Katz-Mayfield, became his co-founder and co-CEO at the shaving company they launched earlier this month.

The two spent time designing ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing razor handles and long-lasting blades. They also came up with a line of moisturizer-laden shaving cream. That’s the full extent of what you can buy at Harry’s.

Raider’s not worried about the competition he’ll face from more established players in the shaving industry. “Lots of the dynamics that we saw at Warby Parker exists here. It’s a big market, it’s dominated by a couple of companies, they make huge products and they charge lots and lots of money for products that are difficult to make.” But Raider says he can make and sell those products for less than the big boys charge.

So does this make Raider a serial entrepreneur? Raider says he wants to stay focused on his continuing work at Warby Parker and his new gig at Harry’s for now.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.