Kim Kardashian's Once Successful Startup Is Struggling For Survival

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Kim Kardashian

"Temptation"

Fashionista and reality TV star Kim Kardashian made her first foray into business with the launch of ShoeDazzle back in 2009.

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But in 2012, the startup nearly imploded when co-founder Brian Lee left his position as CEO, PandoDaily's Erin Griffith reports.

His replacement, Bill Straus, ditched ShoeDazzle's $39.99 monthly subscription plan, which had been shipping more than 300,000 pairs of shoes to women every month. ShoeDazzle took a major hit in revenues as a result.

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Lee returned to the company in November to help save the struggling company. When Lee reclaimed the CEO title, his first move was laying off 40% of the staff. He then resurrected ShoeDazzle's business model, launching a new form of subscriptions called VIP, which Lee compares to Amazon Prime.

As PandoDaily notes, ShoeDazzle is stable, but it's not growing. In order to fuel growth, Lee says the company needs to raise more capital.

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Today, Kardashian has less of a presence at ShoeDazzle, but is still a financial partner and co-founder at the company.