Warby Parker founder launches online classes taught by business experts

A 2010 graduate of the $60,000-per-year Wharton School has developed a way to teach business essentials for free.

Jeff Raider, co-founder of Warby Parker, along with partner Andy Katz-Mayfield , launched H’University, pronounced “Hoo-niversity,” last year. The program’s purpose is “to teach college students valuable skills they wouldn’t learn in class and prepare them for the challenges and opportunities of the real world,” according to its website.

“What you learn in class should align to your first step outside of college,” founding employee at Harry’s, Erik Kimel said.

H’University is an extension of Raider’s company, Harry’s , an innovative direct-to-consumer men’s grooming brand with a social mission .

With the slogan of “get inspired, get hired,” H’University provides weekly webinars taught by business experts, as well as connections to high profile internships and job interviews . H’University was piloted this spring in New York City, with a 62.48 percent acceptance rate and a 98 percent satisfaction rating .

In hopes of complementing the classroom education of a group of selected college students, H’University offers weekly, hour-long “webinars” taught by people experienced in the business world. This fall, the faculty includes Gary Vaynerchuk of VaynerMedia, David Chang of Momofuku, Neil Blumenthal of Warby Parker, Lauren Bush of FEED Projects, Adam Braun of Pencils for Promise, Eva Chen of Lucky Magazine and Adam Grant, author of “Give and Take.”

Also offered is an optional on-campus challenge designed to apply the skills learned by participating in H’University, along with opportunities to interview for internships during both the school year and the semester. These opportunities include a network of hiring partners, such as Warby Parker, Foursquare, Gin Lane, and Michael Kors .

The time commitment is designed to be malleable to the schedule of the individual. Commitment can be as little as one hour per week, as the on-campus challenge is optional . The webinars, after being live-streamed onto the H’University website, are also archived in “H’omeroom,” an online portal where students can watch them whenever convenient .

Each of the challenges has three winners, all of whom are awarded with one-on-one interviews at their three favorite hiring partners. Five second-place winners are also chosen and offered an interview with their first choice in hiring partner. Finally, ten third-place winners are awarded an interview with an H’University hiring partner .

Most enticing of all the attributes of H’University, however, is that it is free .

“We believe that companies should do more to benefit the community,” Kimel said. “As part of our social mission to help people prepare for personal and professional success, we felt it was important to create opportunities for college students to get exposed and connected to workplaces like ours.”

“There really is no better way of gaining insight into the field of entrepreneurship,” H’University alumnus Jacob Epstein said in a H’University brochure.

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