With Kozlowski, who helped bring both Etsy and Evernote to profitability as COO at both companies, settling in as CEO, Blue Apron is facing a critical turning point, during which it has to salvage its (considerably shrunken) business. Now, Blue Apron is laying out a comeback strategy. 2x return on spend, which the company reported in its earnings at the end of the first quarter of 2019. And reliance on expensive digital marketing tactics can come back to bite when 70% of acquired customers only yielded. And the unproven business model turned some potential stockholders skittish when Amazon made a $13.7 billion investment in the grocery category with the purchase of Whole Foods, which took place right before Blue Apron’s IPO.īlue Apron’s rise and fall has become a cautionary tale to other billion-dollar-valued consumer startup unicorns: Profitability may not matter to venture capitalists, but a lack of it can sink a business that’s beholden to stockholders scrutinizing quarter-by-quarter performance. What had apparently been working in Blue Apron’s favor - $200 million in venture capital and first-mover advantage - ultimately worked against it, as it became evident that going public was a strategic move not for the business itself, but for its investors who were looking for a payout. In the first quarter of 2019, its subscriber count had fallen to little more than half of what it had been at the same time in 2017: 550,000, compared to 1 million. At the end of May, it moved to pursue plans for a reverse stock split, hoping to salvage its standing on the stock market after share prices fell below $1 at the end of 2018. In two years, Blue Apron has only lost more footing as a consumer startup success story: The company has cycled through two CEOs, most recently hiring Linda Kozlowski as its third in the post in April. After raising $200 million in venture capital, Blue Apron was valued at $3 billion before it hit the stock market.

When it went public in 2017, Blue Apron’s share prices were cut to $10 a piece, below the estimated $17, which landed the company a $1.9 billion valuation.

Today, Blue Apron is more a cautionary tale than a next-generation retail success story.

Linda kozlowski blue apron