Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World

Adam Grant opens Originals with an anecdote about four students who “set out to revolutionize an industry” (20). Their company was pitched to Grant in 2009, and he declined—this became his biggest financial regret. Dissatisfied with the high cost of eyewear, these students sought to imitate shoe and clothing retailer Zappos’s business model by selling glasses online for a fraction of their usual price. Each purchase would include a donated pair to someone in a developing country. Other parties told the students that their idea was unrealistic. Despite the four students’ lack of background in retail, fashion, and technology, they sold out in the span of a month. Positive media attention poured in, and the new company, Warby Parker, moved to the top of the “world’s most innovative companies” list (20)—with previous list-toppers including Apple and Nike. By the end of its first year, the company donated over 1 million pairs of glasses and garnered “over $1 billion” in value (20). Grant’s desire to understand his mistake in declining to invest in Warby Parker is what drives the book.

Grant defines “original” as both adjective and noun: It is the “source of something,” or something “of singular or unique character [.