????沒用多長時間，瓦爾比派克眼鏡公司（Warby Parker）就打造了一個聲名大噪的品牌。這家電子商務公司位于紐約，專營價格親民卻又時髦別致的眼鏡。這些眼鏡售價約100美元，而一副設計師品牌的眼鏡往往售價高達500美元。這家公司的聯合創始人尼爾?布魯曼薩爾對品牌的定位是，與Apolis/Band of Outsiders和Maison Kitsuné等高端時尚品牌比肩。但是，公司的品牌推廣靈感卻來自一類性質迥異的團體：非盈利組織。這群倡導善舉的明星慈善組織包括：“上善若水（Charity: Water）”、“看不見的孩子（Invisible Children）”、“Movember”和“許諾鉛筆（Pencils of Promise）”。

????乍一看，這似乎有點違背常識，因為這家公司在其位于SoHo的總部擁有精美的展示廳，同時還在洛杉磯和紐約東村（East Village）豪華的標準飯店（Standard Hotel）附近設有夏季的街頭流動店鋪，然而瓦爾比派克的發展史確實與非盈利組織緊密相連。布魯曼薩爾的職業生涯始于VisionSpring公司。這家非盈利公司的主要業務是對發展中國家的當地經銷商進行培訓，讓他們銷售廉價眼鏡。布魯曼薩爾認為，對創業初期的公司和社區來說，這一業務能為大家帶來雙贏。因為它能讓用戶更好地保護視力，同時又能“很有面子地”為自己買單。

????布魯曼薩爾表示，讓他敬佩有加的這個非盈利組織團體其實是一個結構松散、由企業家朋友構成的非正式交際網。幾位創始人是在系列峰會上結識的——據布魯曼薩爾說，就是去年4月的一次“海邊峰會”（Summit at Sea）——隨后他們就開始探討各種最佳實踐。布魯曼薩爾還稱，其中有幾位創始人志同道合，擁有相似的慈善目標，他們包括：“上善若水”的斯科特?哈里森、“Movember”的亞當?加羅尼、以及“許諾鉛筆”和“看不見的孩子”的幾位創始人。

????Warby Parker has built a buzzy brand in no time. The New York City-based e-tailer sells inexpensive-yet-chic eyewear, which costs about $100 a pair compared to $500 for a typical set of designer specs. Co-founder Neil Blumenthal situates the brand with the likes of labels Apolis, Band of Outsiders, and Maison Kitsuné. But the company is taking branding cues from a very different set of firms: non-profits. This "rock-star group" of do-gooders includes Charity:Water, Invisible Children,Movember, and Pencils of Promise.

????At first blush, that seems counter-intuitive for a company with a sleek showroom in its SoHo headquarters and summer pop-up kiosks at swanky Standard Hotel locations in Los Angeles and New York's East Village. But Warby Parker's own story is closely tied to non-profits. Blumenthal got his start at VisionSpring, a non-profit that trains local entrepreneurs in the developing world to sell inexpensive glasses. Blumenthal described it as a win-win for the fledgling businesses and the communities that receive access to better eye care with the added "dignity" of making their own purchases.

????The group of non-profits Blumenthal admires is part of a loose-fitting, informal network of entrepreneurial friends, he says. The founders bond at Summit Series events—Blumenthal notes last year's April "Summit at Sea" -- and talk with each other about best practices. According to Blumenthal, there's a bit of a crew of founders with similar charitable missions, including Charity:Water's Scott Harrison, Movember's Adam Garone, and the Pencils of Promise and Invisible Children founders.