How To Build a $1B Dollar Smart Glasses Empire | Will Wang, Even Realities CEO

In this episode of The Jess Larsen Show on Innovation & Leadership, Jess sits down with Will Wang, Founder and CEO of Even Realities, the smart glasses company that recently raised $150 million at a $1 billion valuation.

Will shares how his experience working at Apple on the Apple Watch helped shape his belief that smart glasses could become the next major evolution in wearable technology. But after looking at the products already on the market, he saw a fundamental problem: most smart glasses felt like technology first and eyewear second. His goal with Even Realities was to build something people would actually want to wear every day, combining advanced technology with the design, comfort, and aesthetics of premium eyewear.

Jess and Will explore what it takes to build a global hardware company from the ground up. Will explains why Even Realities built its engineering operation around Shenzhen, brought in experienced European eyewear designers, and developed sales and marketing teams across different markets rather than trying to build everything from a single technology hub.

They also go deep on the economics and strategy of hardware startups, including how Will decides when to grow the team, how he thinks about product-market fit when every new hardware generation requires significant upfront investment, and why founders need to balance building for the future with staying financially grounded in the present.

Will shares some of the lessons behind growing Even Realities from fewer than 30 employees to a global team of more than 300, including why vision and talent remain his two biggest priorities. He also reveals one of the moments that convinced him the company had created something special: after launching its first generation of smart glasses, competitors including Apple and Meta began purchasing dozens of pairs to study the product.

The conversation also covers fundraising, hiring, supply chain complexity, product design, competing against technology giants, and what investors should look for before backing a hardware startup. Will explains why great hardware requires much more than an innovative prototype, and why years of experience managing suppliers, manufacturing, and global teams can become an enormous competitive advantage.

This episode is a deep dive into smart glasses, wearable technology, hardware entrepreneurship, product-market fit, fundraising, global teams, supply chains, and what it takes to build a billion-dollar company while competing with some of the biggest technology companies in the world.

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