Michael Fox on the demise of Shoes of Prey, and how his new business survived the pandemic TueTuesday 15 updated WedWednesday 16 DecDecember 2020 at 4:49am Michael Fox's first venture capital-backed business Shoes of Prey collapsed into liquidation early last year. ( Print text only Cancel If there's one thing Michael Fox knows for sure, it's that success is not final — and failure is not fatal. A born businessman, he has spent over a decade navigating the highs and lows of the start-up sector. But after his first venture capital-backed business Shoes of Prey collapsed into liquidation in early 2019, he found himself at an unfamiliar crossroads.