Item 1. Business.
Our Purpose
Our purpose is to help people lead healthier, happier lives by connecting the world to wellness.
This purpose defines our growth strategy and priorities. Our primary objective is growing a transaction-enabled wellness marketplace by adding high quality wellness businesses to our platform, deepening relationships with the existing businesses we serve and rapidly increasing consumer awareness, adoption and engagement.
Overview
We are the leading provider of cloud-based business management software for the wellness services industry and a rapidly growing marketplace for wellness services. As of December 31, 2017, our customers employed over
372,000
wellness practitioners serving approximately
41 million
consumers in more than 100 countries. Our integrated software and payments platform helps wellness business owners run, market and build their businesses, while engaging consumers by aggregating available classes and appointments, and enabling rapid discovery, booking and payment. Together, our cloud-based business and consumer software platform comprise a two-sided marketplace, enabling market innovations such as targeted introductory offers and dynamic pricing that simultaneously increases consumer engagement and wellness business capacity utilization.
We were founded in 2001 with a mission to leverage technology to improve the wellness of the world by addressing the vast and growing demand for wellness services by providing innovative business management software and consumer booking tools. We started as a hybrid desktop-web solution focused on yoga, Pilates and indoor cycling businesses. In 2005, we released MINDBODY Online, our software-as-a-service, or SaaS, platform, and began to scale our business into adjacent fitness categories, increasing our total addressable market and fueling growth in consumer online bookings. In 2009, we released MINDBODY Finder, enabling available classes and appointments to be aggregated for consumer search, and an open web services application programming interface, or API, that enabled other developers to build solutions on our platform. In 2013, we launched our MINDBODY Express mobile application for businesses and our MINDBODY Connect application for consumers, establishing our transaction-enabled wellness marketplace. In 2015, we redesigned MINDBODY Connect and re-released it as “The MINDBODY App,” following which we saw a substantial inflection in consumer discovery, bookings and purchases. Over the course of our history, we have consistently made significant investments in our platform to enable increased business penetration and consumer adoption of our two-sided marketplace.
Through our integrated cloud-based business management software and payments platform, we enable our customers to easily manage class and appointment schedules, staff members, client information, online bookings, inventory, payroll and retail sales - all in a cost-effective manner. We also offer advanced marketing and client retention capabilities to help businesses acquire and retain their clients, and analytics capabilities to help them strengthen their businesses and manage future growth. At the same time, we connect consumers with local businesses through the MINDBODY app, which powers a mobile interface that allows consumers to discover, evaluate, book and pay for wellness services, whether they are near their homes or traveling. The MINDBODY app also provides these consumers a unified account that allows them to: access and manage multiple wellness services with one sign-in; see their aggregated schedule and histories with multiple wellness businesses; store multiple credit cards for instant payment; read authentic consumer reviews written by people who actually attended the classes or services; find targeted introductory offers to introduce them to new wellness activities; and view and book offers for dynamically-priced classes to increase their opportunities to engage in wellness. All of this functionality is designed to encourage consumers to more actively participate in wellness and help our customers fill their classes and ultimately be more successful.
The MINDBODY Solution
Our integrated cloud-based business management software and payments platform is specifically designed to engage both wellness services businesses and consumers through a powerful two-sided marketplace. We offer business management solutions that power our customers’ transactions and interactions with consumers, connecting them with millions of people who are seeking these types of services and creating a seamless relationship between practitioners and the clients they serve. We target boutique fitness, salon, spa and integrative health businesses within the wellness services industry.
Integrated Software and Payments Platform
Our platform is continuously evolving to help our customers simplify and enhance the way they run their businesses; attract, engage and retain more consumers; increase their revenues; and focus more on what they love to do - improving people’s lives. We have developed this platform with powerful functionality that addresses key aspects of operating a wellness services business, including:
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Scheduling and Online Booking
. Our customers can give their clients the opportunity to book and pay for their next visit wherever and whenever it is most convenient, whether through the MINDBODY app, our customers’ own website or branded mobile app built by MINDBODY, integrated search engines and social media sites such as Google, Facebook, Bing and Yahoo. We offer robust features that enable many different types of scheduling that wellness businesses encounter, including:
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Appointments
. One-on-one appointments typically require preparation time before the appointment as well as off-boarding time after the appointment. Our software can manage practitioner availability as well as gaps between appointments in a time-efficient manner.
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Open classes
. Open classes offer reserved or drop-in attendance on a first-come, first-served basis. Our software can transact at different price points, send automatic check-in and cancellation confirmations and manage waitlists to optimize capacity utilization.
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Enrollments and workshops
. Enrollments and workshops are pre-registered events or series of classes with the same group of attendees. Our software offers the ability to set separate pricing outside of pre-paid packages and track absences, make-ups and various payment plans.
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Arrivals
. Many gyms allow their members to use their facilities and equipment without attending a class. Our software tracks these open-gym arrivals, allowing consumers to check-in to a gym without having a scheduled class to attend.
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Resource scheduling
. To effectively manage their day-to-day business, wellness service providers need to manage and allocate their equipment and facilities. Our software can easily track, manage and allocate equipment and facilities for the classes and services these businesses provide.
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Performance Tracking.
With FitMetrix performance tracking solutions, our customers can integrate in-studio leaderboards and workout machines, like treadmills and indoor bikes, with wearables that track heart rate and calorie burn. In addition, fitness businesses can identify in their MINDBODY software which machines are enhanced with this integration, making it possible for a client to reserve a specific machine while booking a class. As a result, FitMetrix-enabled studios provide consumers with a highly immersive experience where they can gain valuable insights into the quantifiable results of their workouts.
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Staff Management
. With our staff and resource scheduling software features, customers can keep their entire staff schedule in one place and enable staff to easily access and maintain their changing availabilities via MINDBODY for Business, our business-facing application. Our customers can also track staff substitutions, hourly and service-based payroll and commissions, all of which can be easily linked and exported to any of several popular payroll service formats, including ADP, Paychex and Exact Payroll Services.
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Client Relationship Management
. With our client relationship management features, our customers have all of their clients’ information in one place and can take advantage of powerful relationship management and engagement marketing tools. Customers can securely store their clients’ personal information in a unique profile and manage account, visit and purchase history for more effective service. Our platform also helps our customers target new consumers, keep in touch with loyal clients and offer variable, targeted promotions and discounts.
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Integrated Payment Processing
. We offer our customers integrated payment processing solutions with our software at competitive rates. Our integrated payments capability grows our customers’ revenue by allowing for convenient and secure storage of client card information, enabling seamless online booking and payment from all consumer interfaces, as well as recurring auto-payments for monthly memberships. Additionally, the integration between point-of-sale and payment processing saves customers time by linking payments authorizations and settlements to sales records, thereby eliminating the need for time-consuming and error-prone manual reconciliations. Our payments platform provides instant authorization and nightly settlement of credit card, debit card and ACH transactions. Once a sale is complete, staff can void, edit or return the sale. All client payment information is protected behind Payment Card Industry, or PCI, Level I Data Security Standards.
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Retail Point-of-Sale
. Our point-of-sale capabilities help customers earn more revenue and create a seamless omni-channel purchase experience for their clients, allowing them to sell products and services, contracts and memberships, packages, workshops and store-branded gift cards from every web and mobile interface we offer. Our point-of-sale feature tracks product inventory levels and automatically issues purchase orders when product levels reach a re-order point.
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Purchase Tracking.
Customers can sell products and services as well as memberships, monthly contracts and packages that combine products and services at their place of business and online. Customers can securely store client billing information to facilitate quicker transactions. Payments for classes or appointments can be applied before or after client check-in, and before or after the session is complete. Our point-of-sale functionality allows the assignment of staff commissions to appropriate parties.
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Inventory.
Customers can set inventory re-order points, automatically generate purchase orders and easily log arriving inventory. As a result, customers can more efficiently manage availability, calculate gross margin and monitor inventory shrinkage, among other benefits.
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Hardware Integration.
Our integration with the wireless Poynt Smart Terminal allows customers’ staff and clients a seamless, mobile payment experience, including pin-pad debit, chip-reading EMV, contactless payments, Google Wallet and Apple Pay. The Poynt Smart Terminal is loaded with MINDBODY for Business, so every transaction is fast, convenient and can be processed away from the front desk. Additionally, we offer point-of-sale hardware, such as cash drawers, receipt printers and barcode scanners, smartphone and table credit or debit card readers, as well as branded key chain tags and gift cards that our customers may desire.
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Analytics and Reporting
. We track key information that helps customers achieve their business goals, including revenue growth, contribution margin of classes, client retention rates, referral sources, return on investment for client retention campaigns and practitioner performance based on client loyalty and reviews by class or type of service. Our platform also generates reports that help our customers allocate their resources, set budgets and measure their performance against goals. Customers are empowered to identify trends and opportunities for improvement in their businesses by leveraging analytics and marketing tools to pull a variety of reports, including, among others, sales forecasts, best-selling products and services, cancellations and no-shows, staff sales commissions, client retention rates, client account balances and many more.
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Branded web
. Our branded web solution gives our customers the ability to embed their MINDBODY class and appointment schedules within their web and social sites, creating a seamless and branded online experience for their clients.
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Mobile
. Our platform enables our customers to manage their operations anytime and anywhere via a number of mobile devices and operating systems, including Mac, iOS, Android and Windows.
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MINDBODY for Business
. Our business-facing mobile app enhances our core offering by enabling our customers to easily run their business, book clients and sell products and services while on the go.
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Branded Mobile App
. Our branded mobile app offering enables our customers to have their own consumer-facing app to create a unique branded experience for their clients.
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MINDBODY App
. Our consumer app offering enables our customers to manage consumer and client interactions, including surfacing inventory, sending appointment reminders and providing updates to clients.
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MINDBODY Class Check-In.
The MINDBODY Class Check-In app helps our customers create a better consumer experience at the front desk. Clients can check themselves into class, freeing up front desk staff to help others and making it possible for instructors to start classes faster.
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Social Integration
. Our platform integrates with popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter. For example, our platform allows our customers to publish schedules on their Facebook page, enabling consumers to directly book appointments and classes via Facebook.
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Client Acquisition Dashboard
. Our customers can attribute new consumers to various acquisition channels. For example, customers can track conversion of new consumers into clients by tracking the aggregate value of their subsequent purchases, which clients purchased specific introductory offers, and the reviews generated about their business in the MINDBODY app.
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Integration with Other Cloud-based Partners
. We have built an open and extensible platform with an application programming interface, or API, that offers developers access to our inventory of classes, payments and scheduling capabilities. Approved developers can pull information from and post data to our platform and use that capability to create a variety of unique applications with custom interfaces. Our platform can be integrated with other cloud-based software that our customers may be using for critical business management tasks to extend the capabilities of our platform within a variety of focus areas such as automation, marketing, accounting, mobile and social.
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Security and Compliance
. We have consistently passed our Level I Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI DSS, audits. In addition, because we, in certain instances, collect, access, use, maintain and/or transmit protected health information in connection with providing services to customers who are subject to the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, we have certified to the Health Information Trust Alliance Common Security Framework, or the HITRUST CSF, and consistently passed our HITRUST CSF audits. Our platform is engineered to provide high reliability and availability. We continually monitor our infrastructure for any sign of failure or pending failure and we take preemptive action to minimize or prevent downtime. We maintain the reliability of our service by utilizing redundant network infrastructure, clusters that tolerate failure of individual nodes and deploying high availability server pairs. We also implement various disaster recovery measures, including full replication of hardware and data in our geographically distinct data centers, to minimize data loss in the event of a data center disaster.
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The MINDBODY App
The MINDBODY app is our consumer-facing mobile application that consumers can use to manage their wellness activities and relationships with multiple MINDBODY customers, using a unified account with a single login and multiple stored cards. Consumers can discover local wellness services using a geo-located map function, view class and appointment descriptions, schedules and real-time availability, read practitioner biographies and user reviews written by consumers who have actually attended the class or received the service, and then book and pay for their desired services in a few taps from their mobile devices. Through the app, consumers can also receive appointment reminders and check-in to classes before they arrive, receive real-time updates regarding changes in class schedules, and access their account profile to review their class visit and payment history.
Introductory Offers and Dynamic Pricing.
The MINDBODY app helps customers actively promote their businesses by surfacing targeted introductory offers and dynamically-priced classes to targeted consumers, helping to increase consumer demand for wellness services while increasing customers’ revenue and improving their profitability. Introductory offers are targeted via a proprietary recommendation engine that considers a user’s prior history, preferences and geo-location. Dynamically-priced offerings are developed and targeted by a proprietary algorithm that can offer the class to the consumer above or below our customer's standard drop-in rate, based on factors like time until class, relative demand, historical trends and other proprietary methods.
The MINDBODY Network
The MINDBODY Network is a fee-based marketing platform that connects our customers with local consumers via the MINDBODY app and third-party partner applications or websites. Customers who opt in to the MINDBODY Network receive greater exposure through additional promotion of their intro offers or deals on various screens throughout the MINDBODY app, as well as featured placement on third-party partner apps and/or websites including Google and Bing.
MINDBODY API Platform and Partner Ecosystem
We have enabled a rich partner ecosystem that extends the value of our software and payments platform in powerful ways. Our partners have built applications that supplement our capabilities in areas such as marketing automation, accounting, loyalty, mobile and social interactions. Several of these partners have created significant consumer-facing businesses that rely on our unique inventory of classes, scheduling and payments capabilities. All of this is enabled by our APIs, to which we grant access to approved developers and partners. We also integrate with partners that provide email marketing, customer survey, events management and other functionality to augment the capabilities of our platform for the benefit of our customers.
Software Subscription Packages
Because each of our customers is unique and at a different stage of their respective professional journeys, our software subscriptions are provided on a tiered pricing model based upon different software functionality packages. Each of these packages has been carefully crafted to meet our customers' differing needs and levels of complexity, giving them appropriate functionality to optimize their business.
Customer and Consumer Services and Support
We believe that many wellness services business owners are not technical experts and that they bear an enormous responsibility to successfully run their businesses day in and day out. Therefore, we provide end-to-end customer support, including full data conversion and import from prior systems, live onboarding and 24/7 technical support via telephone, email, in-software chat and screen sharing; in-software self-service tools; advanced professional services; and educational events. In addition, we also have a dedicated support team that is focused on ensuring that the millions of registered MINDBODY app users are having the best possible experience.
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Customer Onboarding
. We typically onboard new customers with live training sessions delivered via telephone and web conference. These trainings are supplemented by self-service setup checklists, online help materials and webinars.
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Customer Success.
To identify opportunities for greater adoption of our products and services and to further help our customers be more successful on our platform, we engage with them to better understand their business goals and objectives; provide targeted education about relevant features, products and services as well as business best practices; and develop a recommended success plan with periodic outreach to check in on their progress.
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Ongoing Customer Support
. Inclusive with our base subscription fees, we offer 24/7 customer service and support via phone, chat, emails and self-help knowledge centers. All customer service and support is provided by our in-house personnel who are invested in MINDBODY’s core values and closely connected to our Product, Technology and Experience team.
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Professional Services
. Our premium support services enable customers to access dedicated, advanced product and business operations support from software and business experts. This service is usually chosen by our higher-end small businesses and multi-location chains or franchises.
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MINDBODY University
. MINDBODY University is a multi-day advanced customer education event held multiple times per year in various destination locations around the world (
e.g.
, London, New York, San Diego and Sydney). This high-impact business conference teaches advanced software skills and best business practices that help customers increase revenues and improve their bottom line. In addition, all customers have unlimited, online access to recorded business management material derived from our MINDBODY University courses at no additional cost.
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BOLD Conference
. We provide our customers with a three-day annual user conference where they can learn best business practices and participate in networking opportunities designed to help fuel their business growth and success. Program sessions typically include key topics needed to thrive within the competitive wellness services industry market — from the latest trends in consumer marketing and social media, to selling strategies and strategic business partnerships — taught by MINDBODY team members, industry experts and fellow MINDBODY customers.
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Consumer Support.
We provide consumer support through live in-app and online chat, email, and self-service support articles.
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Key Benefits to MINDBODY’s Constituents
MINDBODY connects the world to wellness by connecting wellness practitioners with millions of consumers who are seeking these types of services. We have created a two-sided marketplace that benefits both customers and consumers by powering and enabling interactions that drive healthier businesses and healthier lifestyles.
Benefits to consumers:
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Increased Discovery and Engagement.
Our platform aggregates nearly 5 million transaction-enabled wellness class spots and wellness services per day, together with millions of class ratings and hundreds of thousands of consumer reviews written by consumers who have actually participated in a class or used a service. This creates a convenient “one-stop-shop” experience that is much easier and less time consuming for consumers than browsing through numerous disparate websites and making phone calls to schedule a class or service. The MINDBODY app further aggregates compelling introductory offers for first time visitors that encourages consumers to try new things. These benefits increase the consumer’s likelihood to repeat wellness experiences more frequently, which we believe enhances their health and happiness.
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Broadened Access to Wellness.
Our growing suite of web and mobile interfaces, as well as our consumer partnerships, surface transaction-enabled class and appointment inventory, enticing more people to adopt wellness practices. We also believe that our ability to allow consumers to more easily manage their wellness routine and consume more wellness services on a regular basis increases their engagement in wellness activities and encourages them to live a more active and full life.
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Cost Savings and Increased Availability.
We believe that
dynamic pricing will enable price-sensitive consumers, such as those who are more flexible with their time or are willing to book further in advance, to find a class they can easily afford. Conversely, less price-sensitive consumers, such as busy professionals or travelers, will be more likely to find a popular experience for which they are willing and able to pay a premium.
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Ability to Track Personal Health Data with Each Wellness Activity
. New technologies, including third-party wearable fitness trackers and mobile apps within the health and fitness category enable consumers to track various aspects of their health and fitness. As part of this trend, the MINDBODY app offers consumers the ability to track their personal health data and to monitor the effectiveness of their wellness activities. With the MINDBODY app, consumers can access their wellness activity history, such as class attendance frequency and class duration, as well as personal activity data tracked by integrated wearable devices.
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Benefits to customers and wellness practitioners:
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Increased Growth in Client Base and Revenue
. We help our customers increase their client base by taking advantage of a free business listing on the MINDBODY app, allowing them to attract a larger pool of consumers. Customers who choose to opt in to the fee-based MINDBODY Network receive greater exposure through additional promotion of their introductory offers or deals on various screens throughout the app, as well as featured placement on third-party partner apps and/or websites. Customers can also opt in to fee-based dynamic pricing, which allows them to dynamically price their inventory based on demand factors such as class times, day of the week, popularity and more.
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This helps them sell under-utilized inventory and fill their classes, while maximizing revenue by charging more for classes with the highest demand. Moreover, by having the ability to send reminders, promotions and special offers via email, text, push or in-app notifications to clients based on a record of their past interactions, customers can increase their client engagement and loyalty. We also help customers sell their products and services through a variety of channels: an online store, their website, social sites, or the MINDBODY Network thus helping them to increase their revenue opportunities.
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Mobility
. The MINDBODY app and our branded mobile apps give consumers fast and convenient access to wellness services in their local communities. The business app and class check-in app help customers manage their business and classes on the go. Customers can also utilize these mobile apps to enhance their consumer experience, offering in-app membership contract and liability waivers as well as push notifications.
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Simplified Operations
. Our business management software and payments platform allows customers and practitioners to streamline and simplify their operations. MINDBODY automates a large number of time-consuming workflows, thus reducing the administrative effort and time customers and their employees need to invest in business operations.
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Greater Focus on Clients
. By simplifying the operations of wellness businesses, we enable customers and practitioners to focus on their clients. In addition, our analytical tools provide critical insights that help customers focus on optimizing their business and achieving their goals.
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Competition
The market for business management software and payments solutions for wellness businesses, as well as wellness booking services for consumers, is highly competitive, fragmented and rapidly evolving due to technological innovations. We believe our competitors fall into the following primary categories:
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On-premise software providers and small cloud-based providers that typically focus on a specific vertical within the wellness services industry;
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Cloud-based software providers that offer generic scheduling tools with minimal customization by vertical;
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Payments services providers that offer basic scheduling tools; and
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Consumer apps and websites that offer wellness inventory at a discount or for a monthly subscription fee.
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In addition, for some small to medium-sized organizations, we compete with basic productivity tools that these organizations have adapted for scheduling and business management uses, including desktop applications (
e.g.
, Microsoft Office, Google Docs) and pen and paper for tracking and management purposes.
The principal competitive factors in our market include:
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Depth of product functionality and ease of use
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Brand recognition and reputation
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Ability to drive consumer demand via a large and rapidly growing consumer network
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Product extensibility via APIs
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Partnerships and integrations with major consumer brands
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Integration with mobile devices
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Payment processing integration
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Marketing capabilities and analytics
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Security and reliability
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We believe that we compete favorably on the factors described above. However, some of our competitors have greater financial, technical and other resources, greater name recognition and larger sales and marketing budget; therefore, we may not always compare favorably with respect to some or all of the factors above.
Our Technology
We have developed our proprietary technology platform over the last decade, with a focus on delivering industry-leading breadth and flexibility of functionality. Our platform is built API-first with a service-oriented multi-tenant architecture, making it fully extensible to our business and consumer web and mobile applications, as well as complementary technology partner integrations. Maintaining the integrity and security of our technology platform is mission critical to our business and our customers’ success.
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Reliable
. Our platform is engineered to provide high reliability and availability. Our agreements with customers typically provide for limited service level commitments. In certain circumstances, our customers may be eligible for credits if we are unable to meet these service level commitments. Our infrastructure is hosted in two dual redundant Tier 4 (the highest rating available) data centers separately located in North America. Our network operations center provides 24/7 monitoring of hundreds of sensors on all systems, including global synthetic and real user monitoring, to ensure we have complete visibility into our platform and are able to instantly respond to any potential service issue.
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Secure
. Our platform hosts a large quantity of customer data and processes a large volume of business-to-consumer transactions. We therefore maintain a comprehensive security program designed to help safeguard the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our customers’ data, which includes both organizational and technical control measures. Our platform includes a host of third-party encryption, malware prevention, firewall and intrusion detection, data loss detection and patch management technologies to protect and maintain all systems. We routinely test and review our security program. In addition, we regularly obtain third-party security audits of our technical operations and procedures covering data security including the PCI-DSS, as well as Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16, or SSAE 18, and Service Organizations Controls 2, or SOC 2, Type 1 and Type 2 Attestations.
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Scalable
. We have developed a robust and scalable platform that processes millions of queries per day. By leveraging best-in-breed technology components, server virtualization and a service-oriented architecture, we believe we can seamlessly scale our compute and storage capacity.
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Dynamic Cloud-Based Architecture
. Our software platform is powered by a dynamic cloud-based architecture that allows our customers to manage their operations as efficiently as possible, while requiring low upfront investment and no maintenance. This architecture allows for automatic software updates and rapid launch of new product features while also allowing our platform to easily scale with customers as their businesses grow.
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Our Customers
We have a diverse customer base with approximately
59,000
subscribers located in over 100 countries and territories across a variety of industries within the wellness services industry. No single customer, API partner, or technology partner represented more than 10% of our total revenue in any of fiscal
2017
,
2016
or
2015
. As of
December 31, 2017
and
2016
,
one
trade receivable represented 17% and 15% of our total accounts receivable balance, respectively.
Our Culture and Employees
Our company and employees share an exceptional corporate culture that is built upon a detailed set of core values that are reinforced throughout the Company through new hire orientation, monthly corporate wellness initiatives and annual performance appraisals. Our employees thrive in a nurturing environment that is driven by innovation, passion for health and wellness and dedication towards excellent customer experience.
As of December 31,
2017
, we had
1,426
employees. None of our employees is represented by a labor organization or is a party to any collective bargaining arrangement. We have never had a work stoppage, and we consider our relationship with our employees to be good.
Sales and Marketing
We deploy a direct sales approach driven by an outbound tele-sales team located primarily in San Luis Obispo, California with several regional offices throughout the United States, and locations in the United Kingdom and Australia. Our sales team qualifies and manages prospective and current customers, aiming to initiate, retain and expand their use of our platform over time. Our sales team partners with sales engineers to provide consultation and product demonstration to prospects to accelerate the onboarding of new customers.
Our marketing efforts are focused on generating awareness of our platform and consumer app, creating sales leads, establishing and promoting our brand, and cultivating a community of successful and vocal customers and consumers. We utilize both online and offline marketing initiatives, including search engine and email marketing, online display and print advertising, participation in trade shows, events and conferences, permission marketing, social media and media outreach, mass media and strategic partnerships and endorsements.
Our sales prospecting, lead qualification and lead development functions are performed by sales development representatives and lead acquisition specialists. Our sales and marketing headcount as of December 31,
2017
was
471
. Our sales and marketing expenses were
$71.8 million
,
$56.5 million
and
$46.3 million
for the years ended December 31,
2017
,
2016
and
2015
, respectively.
Research and Development
Our research and development organization is responsible for the ideation, research, design, development and testing of all aspects of our platform. To create a roadmap that meets the needs of our customers, we emphasize collaboration during the development process. Customers provide direct input through dialog with our customer support, product management and user experience teams, as well as our community forum and feature utilization data. We deploy new features, functionality and technologies for our platform through monthly software releases or updates to minimize disruption and deliver continuous improvement.
As of December 31,
2017
, we had
243
employees in our research and development organization, which is based primarily in San Luis Obispo, California. Our research and development expenses were
$35.8 million
,
$30.3 million
and
$23.1 million
, for the years ended December 31,
2017
,
2016
and
2015
, respectively.
Intellectual Property
We rely on a combination of trade secret, copyright and trademark laws, a variety of contractual arrangements, such as license agreements, assignment agreements, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality procedures and technical measures to gain rights to and protect the intellectual property used in our business.
We have also developed a patent program and a strategy to identify, apply for, and secure patents for innovative aspects of our platform and technology. We have eight U.S. patent applications pending. We also have four pending patent applications in jurisdictions outside of the United States. We intend to pursue additional patent protection to the extent we believe it would be beneficial and cost-effective.
We actively pursue registration of our trademarks, logos, service marks and domain names in the United States and in other key jurisdictions. We are the registered holder of a variety of U.S. and international domain names that include the term MINDBODY and similar variations. We use several trademarks or registered trademarks for our products and services, including “MINDBODY,” and several logos and images, such as the Enso logo, as well as the slogans “LOVE YOUR BUSINESS,” “BOOK YOUR BEST DAY. EVERY DAY.” and “CONNECTING THE WORLD TO WELLNESS.”
We also rely on certain intellectual property rights that we license from third parties, including under certain open source licenses. Though such third-party technologies may not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, we believe that alternative technologies would be available to us, if needed.
Our policy is to require employees and independent contractors to sign agreements assigning to us any inventions, trade secrets, works of authorship, developments and other processes generated by them on our behalf and agreeing to protect our confidential information. All of our key employees have done so. In addition, we generally enter into confidentiality agreements or have confidentiality provisions in our agreements with our vendors and customers. We also control and monitor access to, and distribution of, our software, documentation and other proprietary information.
Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy our products and use information that we regard as proprietary to create products and services that compete with ours.
Some license provisions protecting against unauthorized use, copying, transfer and disclosures of our products may be unenforceable under the laws of certain jurisdictions and foreign countries. In addition, the laws of some countries do not protect proprietary rights to as great of an extent as the laws of the United States, and many foreign countries do not enforce these laws as diligently as government agencies and private parties in the United States. To the extent that we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our products and misappropriation of our proprietary information may increase.
We expect that software and other solutions in our industry may be increasingly subject to third-party infringement claims as the number of competitors grows and the functionality of products in different industry segments overlap.
Seasonality
We believe there are significant seasonal factors that may cause us to record higher revenue in some quarters compared with others. We believe this variability is largely due to our focus on the wellness services industry, as many of our customers experience an increase in demand for their services in the first quarter of each year due to consumers becoming more motivated to pursue health and fitness goals in the new year. However, this seasonality may not be fully evident in our historical business performance because of our significant growth. If our revenue growth rate slows, we expect that the seasonality in our business may become more pronounced and may cause our operating results to fluctuate in the future. In addition, as we attempt to expand the number of our customers and consumers, we may see changes to this pattern of seasonality.
Segments
We have one operating and reporting segment consisting of various products and services that are all related to our integrated cloud-based business management software and payments platform for the wellness services industry. For our revenue, net loss and total assets, see our Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Geographic Information
Financial information about geographic areas is set forth in Note 12 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For a discussion of the risks attendant to foreign operations, see the information in Part 1, Item 1A: “Risk Factors” under the caption “Our international sales and operations subject us to additional risks that can adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.”
Government Regulation
As a service provider to our customers, we must comply with a number of federal, state and international laws and regulations regarding security, data protection and the privacy and protection of consumer data that affect companies conducting business on the Internet. In addition, in connection with providing online scheduling services for certain customers, we may be subject to specific compliance obligations under HIPAA and similar state laws that govern the collection, use, protection and disclosure of personally identifiable information. HIPAA imposes specific requirements regarding data privacy and security on covered entities (providers, health plans and health care clearinghouses); business associates (entities that may perform services for covered entities, pursuant to which they may access personal information); and business associates’ subcontractors, including us. There may be civil and criminal penalties, as well as contractual ramifications, for violating HIPAA.
Corporate Information
We were organized as a California limited liability company in February 2001 and converted into a California corporation in October 2004. We were reincorporated in Delaware in March 2015. Our principal executive offices are located at 4051 Broad Street, Suite 220, San Luis Obispo, California 93401, and our telephone number is (877) 755-4279. Our website address is https://www.mindbodyonline.com, and our investor relations website is http://investors.mindbodyonline.com. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website, does not constitute part of and is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our website are intended to be inactive textual references only.
Unless expressly indicated or the context requires otherwise, the terms “MINDBODY,” “company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K refer to MINDBODY, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and, where appropriate, its wholly owned subsidiaries. The Enso design logo, “MINDBODY,” as well as the slogans “LOVE YOUR BUSINESS,” “BOOK YOUR BEST DAY. EVERY DAY.” and “CONNECTING THE WORLD TO WELLNESS” are trademarks or registered trademarks of MINDBODY. Other trademarks and trade names referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of their respective owners. Except as set forth above and solely for convenience, the trademarks and tradenames in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are referred to without the ® and ™ symbols, but such references should not be construed as any indicator that their respective owners will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their rights thereto.
Available Information
We file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act. The public may obtain these filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s, or SEC, Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549 or by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC also maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information that we file with the SEC electronically. We make available on our website, free of charge, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC.
We webcast our earnings calls and certain events we participate in or host with members of the investment community on our investor relations page of our website located at investors.mindbodyonline.com. Press releases and corporate governance information, including our board committee charters, code of business conduct and ethics and corporate governance guidelines, are also available on the investor relations page of our website.
Executive Officers of MINDBODY
The following table provides information regarding our executive officers as of February 22, 2018:
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Name
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Age
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Position
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Richard Stollmeyer
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52
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Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors
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Michael Mansbach
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50
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President
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Brett White
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55
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Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
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Kimberly Lytikainen
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51
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Chief Legal Officer, Secretary and Compliance Officer
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Kunal Mittal
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39
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Chief Technology Officer
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Mark Baker
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51
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Chief Revenue Officer
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Richard Stollmeyer
. Mr. Stollmeyer is a founder and has served as our chief executive officer and as chairman of our board of directors since October 2004. He also served as our president from October 2004 to June 2017. Mr. Stollmeyer holds a B.S. degree in Political Science and Russian Language, with a concentration in International Relations, from the United States Naval Academy.
Michael Mansbach
. Mr. Mansbach has served as our president since June 2017. From November 2015 to February 2017, Mr. Mansbach served as president of Blue Jeans Network, Inc., a cloud-based video communications company. From September 2014 to September 2015, Mr. Mansbach served as the chief executive officer of PunchTab, Inc., an engagement and insights platform. From November 2004 to April 2014, Mr. Mansbach served in various senior management roles with the software-as-a-service division of Citrix Systems, Inc., a provider of business mobility and security software, including as vice president, customer care from November 2013 to April 2014; vice president and general manager, global sales and client services from December 2007 to November 2013; and vice president, enterprise marketing and business development from November 2004 to December 2007. Mr. Mansbach received his B.A. degree in French Language and Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his M.A. degree in International Economics, European Area Studies, from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University.
Brett White
. Mr. White has served as our chief financial officer since July 2013 and our chief operating officer since July 2016. From January 2008 to July 2013, Mr. White served as chief financial officer at Meru Networks, Inc., a provider of Wi-Fi solutions. From November 2005 to December 2007, Mr. White served as chief financial officer at Fortinet, Inc., a provider of network security solutions. Mr. White holds a B.A. degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Kimberly Lytikainen
. Ms. Lytikainen has served as our chief legal officer since January 2017, our corporate secretary since March 2015, and our compliance officer since June 2015. Ms. Lytikainen previously served as our general counsel from July 2014 through December 2016. From June 2013 to July 2014, Ms. Lytikainen served as associate general counsel at Pivotal Software, Inc., a provider of computer software and services. From April 2006 to June 2013, Ms. Lytikainen served as vice president, assistant general counsel at NVIDIA Corporation, a visual computing company. Ms. Lytikainen holds a B.A. degree in Political Science and Government from Florida State University, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University.
Kunal Mittal
. Mr. Mittal has served as our chief technology officer since June 2016. From November 2015 to May 2016, Mr. Mittal served as our senior vice president of technology. From July 2008 to November 2015, Mr. Mittal served as executive director of enterprise technologies at Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., a global entertainment company. Mr. Mittal holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Beloit College and an M.S. degree in Software Engineering from Walden University.
Mark Baker
. Mr. Baker has served as our chief revenue officer since February 2018. From January 2017 to January 2018, he served as the executive vice president of global sales at Symphony Talent, LLC, a recruitment marketing SaaS platform company. From July 2014 to April 2016, Mr. Baker served as senior vice president, global sales, at Urban Airship, Inc., a SaaS mobile marketing platform company. From April 2010 to May 2014, Mr. Baker served in senior management roles with the Citrix Online division of Citrix Systems, Inc., a provider of business mobility and security software, providing SaaS-based collaboration and support solutions, including as vice president and general manager of sales and service - Americas from April 2010 to June 2013, and as vice president of global sales, SaaS division from June 2013 to May 2014. Mr. Baker holds a B.S. degree in Business, with an emphasis in Marketing, from Portland State University.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in our Class A common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risks, together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our financial statements and related notes, before making a decision to invest in our Class A common stock. Any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition and could cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline, which would cause you to lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business
We have a history of losses, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future. In addition, our revenue growth rate may not sustain the levels experienced in recent years.
We have incurred a net loss in each year since our inception, including a net loss of
$14.8 million
, $23.0 million and $36.1 million in the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. We have expended and expect to continue to expend financial and other resources on, among other things:
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continuing the development of, and ongoing improvements to, our platform, including research and development investments in our technology infrastructure, the development or acquisition of new products, features and functionality and improvements to the scalability, availability and security of our platform;
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•
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strategic acquisitions;
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•
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sales and marketing expenses, including personnel, lead generation and consumer advertising expenses;
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•
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expenses related to international expansion in an effort to increase our customer and consumer base; and
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•
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general and administrative expenses, including legal, regulatory, accounting and other expenses related to being a public company.
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If we expend more resources on growing our business than currently anticipated or if we encounter unforeseen operating expenses, difficulties, complications and other unknown factors, we may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability and our operating results and business would be harmed.
For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, our revenue was
$182.6 million
, $139.0 million and $101.4 million, respectively, representing a
31%
and 37% growth rate, respectively. Our historical revenue growth rates are not necessarily indicative of future growth, and we may not achieve similar revenue growth rates in future periods.
If we fail to increase market acceptance of our platform, enhance and adapt our platform to changing market dynamics and customer preferences, or keep pace with technological developments, our business, results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects would be adversely affected.
We derive, and expect to continue to derive, a majority of our revenue and cash inflows from our integrated cloud-based business management software and payments platform for the wellness services industry. As such, market acceptance of this platform is critical to our success. Our ability to attract new customers and increase revenue from existing customers depends in part on our ability to enhance and improve our existing platform and to introduce new and innovative features, products and services, including features, products and services designed for a mobile user environment. Demand for our platform is affected by a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, such as the timing of development and release of new products, features and functionality by our competitors, technological change, consumer preferences and growth or contraction in our addressable market.
To grow our business, we must develop features, products and services that reflect the changing nature of business management software and expand beyond our core scheduling and point-of-sale functionality to other areas of managing relationships with our customers and consumers. For example, in 2013, we expanded our platform to include MINDBODY Connect (now the MINDBODY app), in 2015 we introduced the MINDBODY Marketing Platform (now the MINDBODY Network), and in 2017 we introduced dynamic pricing. The success of these and any other enhancements to our platform depends on several factors, including timely completion, adequate quality testing and sufficient customer or consumer demand. Any new feature, product or service that we develop may not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner, may contain defects and/or may not achieve the market acceptance necessary to generate sufficient revenue. If we are unable to successfully develop new and innovative features, products or services, meet the demands and expectations of our customers and consumers for features, products and services that meet their needs and are easy to use and deploy, or enhance our existing platform to meet customer requirements, our ability to achieve widespread market acceptance of our platform will be undermined, and our business, results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects will be adversely affected.
In addition, because our platform is available over the Internet, we need to continuously modify and enhance our platform to keep pace with changes in Internet-related hardware, software, communications and database technologies and standards. If we are unable to respond in a timely and cost-effective manner to these rapid technological developments and changes in standards, our platform may become less marketable, less competitive, or obsolete, and our operating results will be harmed. If new technologies emerge that are able to deliver competitive products and applications at lower prices, more efficiently, more conveniently or more securely, such technologies could adversely impact our ability to compete. Our platform must also integrate with a variety of network, hardware, mobile and software platforms and technologies, and we need to continuously modify and enhance our products and services to adapt to changes and innovation in these technologies. Any failure of our platform to operate effectively with future infrastructure platforms and technologies could reduce the demand for our platform. If we are unable to respond to these changes in a cost-effective manner, our platform may become less marketable, less competitive or obsolete, and our operating results may be adversely affected.
Our business depends substantially on our customers renewing, upgrading, or expanding their subscriptions to our platform and our ability to sell subscriptions to a large number of new small and medium-sized businesses on a consistent basis and in a cost-effective manner. Any decline in the rate at which customers renew, upgrade, or expand their subscriptions could harm our future operating results.
The vast majority of our subscription revenue is derived from subscriptions to our platform that have monthly terms, with some larger customers on longer term contracts. For us to maintain or improve our operating results, it is important that our customers renew, upgrade and/or expand their subscriptions. Our retention rate may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including our customers’ satisfaction with our platform, accessibility of our platform, our customer support, our prices, the prices of competing software systems, system uptime, network performance, data breaches, mergers and acquisitions affecting our customer base, the effects of global economic conditions and the strength of our customers’ businesses. If our customers do not renew and/or expand their subscriptions or renew but shift to lower priced software subscriptions, our revenue may decline and we may not realize improved operating results from our customer base.
In addition, even if our market grows as expected, our business depends on our sales team’s ability to sell subscriptions to a large number of new small and medium-sized businesses on a consistent basis, with each sale constituting only a small portion of our overall revenue. To achieve this type of customer growth and expansion in a cost-effective manner, it is crucial that our platform is easy to use and implement and remains accessible to our customers through our distribution channels without the need for excessive post-sale customer support. If we are unable to sell a large volume of subscriptions on a consistent basis, if we are forced to incur excessive costs to provide post-sale customer support, or if we are unable to retain, upgrade, or expand offerings to our existing customers, our business, results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects will be adversely affected.
If pricing for our software subscriptions is not acceptable to our customers, our operating results will be harmed.
We have, from time to time, increased the price of our software subscriptions and may do so again in the future. For example, we have implemented several price increases over the past few years, including most recently in February 2018 for some of our software levels. We believe these increases have caused and may continue to cause customers to leave our platform, and such increases may also have reduced, and in the future may reduce, the number of new customers adopting our software. We cannot guarantee that new or existing customers will adopt or renew subscriptions at our current prices. Additionally, in the future we may further refine our tiered pricing model and our software levels, and/or increase pricing. Such further changes may cause customers to migrate to lower level offerings or leave our platform entirely, which would adversely affect our customer numbers, and could adversely affect our revenue, gross margin, profitability, financial position and cash flow.
If our network or computer systems are breached, unauthorized access to customer or consumer data is otherwise obtained, or denial-of-service attacks occur, our platform may be perceived as insecure, we may lose existing customers or fail to attract new customers, and we may incur significant liabilities.
Use of our platform, including some of our third-party applications, involves the storage, transmission and processing of our customers’ proprietary data, including personal or identifying information regarding their clients or employees. As a result, unauthorized access to, security breaches of, or denial-of-service attacks against our platform could result in the unauthorized access to or use of, and/or loss of, such data, as well as loss of intellectual property or trade secrets.
If any unauthorized access to our systems or data, security breach, or significant denial-of-service attack occurs or is believed to have occurred, our reputation and brand could be damaged, we could be required to expend significant capital and other resources to alleviate problems caused by such actual or perceived breaches or attacks and remediate our systems, and we could be exposed to a risk of loss, litigation or regulatory action and possible liability, some or all of which may not be covered by insurance, and our ability to operate our business may be impaired. We have in the past and may in the future experience denial-of-service attacks against our platform. If potential new customers or existing customers believe that our platform does not provide adequate security for the storage of personally identifiable or sensitive information or its transmission over the Internet, they may not adopt our platform or may choose not to renew their subscriptions to our platform, which could harm our business. Additionally, actual, potential or anticipated attacks may cause us to incur increasing costs, including costs to deploy additional personnel and protection technologies, train employees, and engage third-party experts and consultants. Our errors and omissions insurance policies covering certain security and privacy damages and claim expenses may not be sufficient to compensate for all potential liability. Although we maintain cyber liability insurance, we cannot be certain that our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all.
Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. We may also experience security breaches that may remain undetected for extended periods of time.
Because data security is a critical competitive factor in our industry, we make statements in our privacy policies and terms of service, through our certifications to privacy standards, and in our marketing materials, describing the security of our platform, including descriptions of certain security measures we employ. Should any of these statements be untrue, become untrue, or be perceived to be untrue, even if through circumstances beyond our reasonable control, we may face claims, including claims of unfair or deceptive trade practices, brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, state, local or foreign regulators (
e.g.
, a European Union-based data protection agency) or private litigants.
Because our platform can be used to collect and store personal information, domestic and international privacy and data security concerns could result in additional costs and liabilities to us or inhibit sales of our platform.
Our customers can use our platform to use, collect and store personal or identifying information regarding their employees and clients. Federal, state and foreign governments and agencies have adopted laws and regulations concerning the collection and use of personally identifiable information obtained from their residents or by businesses operating within their jurisdiction. The costs of compliance with and other burdens imposed by privacy-related laws, regulations and standards may limit the use or adoption of our platform, reduce overall demand for our platform, lead to significant fines, penalties or liabilities for noncompliance, or slow the pace at which we close sales transactions, any of which could harm our business. Moreover, if our employees fail to adhere to adequate data protection practices around the usage of our customers' data, it may damage our reputation and brand.
We also expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws, regulations and industry standards concerning privacy, data protection and information security in the United States, the European Union and other jurisdictions, and we may not be able to predict the impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business. For example, in April 2016, the EU Parliament formally adopted the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which supersedes existing EU data protection legislation, imposes more stringent EU data protection requirements, and provides for greater penalties for noncompliance. The GDPR will be effective in May 2018. Complying with the GDPR has caused us to incur operational costs and divert attention from other operational priorities. Our efforts to bring practices into compliance before the effective date of the GDPR may not be successful. Additionally, in July 2016, the European Union and the United States adopted a new framework for legitimizing trans-Atlantic data flows, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. Uncertainty remains as to whether the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and other legal mechanisms for the lawful transfer of data from the European Union to the United States will withstand legal challenges, whether from regulators or private parties. If one or more of the legal bases for transferring data from Europe to the United States is invalidated, it could affect the manner in which we provide our services or adversely affect our financial results. Moreover, if our privacy and data policies and practices, are, or are perceived to be, insufficient, customer demand for our platform could decline, and our business could be negatively impacted.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and numerous state attorneys general are also applying federal and state consumer protection laws to enforce regulations related to the online collection, use and dissemination of personally identifiable information and other data. Some of these requirements include obligations on companies to notify individuals of security breaches involving particular personal information, which could result from breaches experienced by us or our service providers. For example, our solutions must conform, in certain circumstances, to requirements set forth in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which governs the privacy and security of protected health information. Through the provision of online scheduling services to certain of our customers, we may collect, access, use, maintain and transmit protected health information in ways that may be subject to certain of these laws and regulations.
Additionally, because we process a significant portion of our payments through debit or credit cards and enable our customers to engage in payments through our service, we are contractually required to maintain Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI DSS, compliance as part of our information security program. We also may be bound by additional, more stringent contractual obligations relating to our collection, use and disclosure of personal, financial and other data. If we cannot comply with or if we incur a violation of any of these regulations or requirements, we could incur significant liability through fines and penalties imposed by credit card associations or other organizations or breach of contracts with our payment processors, either of which could have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and operating results.
Finally, in March 2017, the U.K. government invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to initiate the process to leave the European Union, which follows the results of the referendum in June 2016 in which the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The impact of the foregoing on data and privacy regulations in the United Kingdom remains uncertain.
We may find it necessary to change our business practices or expend significant resources to modify our software or platform to adapt to new laws, regulations and industry standards concerning these matters. We may be unable to make such changes and modifications in a commercially reasonable manner or at all. Any failure to comply with federal, state or foreign laws or regulations, industry standards or other legal obligations, or any actual or suspected security incident, may result in governmental enforcement actions and prosecutions, private litigation, fines, penalties or adverse publicity and could cause our customers to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business.
Interruptions or performance problems associated with our technology and infrastructure may adversely affect our business and operating results.
Our continued growth depends in part on the ability of our existing and potential customers and consumers to access our platform at any time and within an acceptable amount of time. Our platform is proprietary, and we rely on the expertise of members of our engineering, operations and software development teams for our platform’s continued performance. In addition, we depend on external data centers to host our applications. While we control and have access to our servers located in our external data centers, we do not control the operation of these facilities. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, disruptions, outages and other performance problems related to our platform due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, introductions of new functionality, human or software errors, delays in scaling our technical infrastructure if we do not maintain enough excess capacity and accurately predict our infrastructure requirements, capacity constraints due to an overwhelming number of users accessing our platform simultaneously, denial-of-service attacks or other security-related incidents. For example, we have been the subject of denial-of-service attacks that have rendered our core software inaccessible for several hours. In addition, from time to time we experience limited periods of server downtime due to server failure or other technical difficulties. In some instances, we may not be able to identify the cause or causes of these performance problems within an acceptable period of time. It may become increasingly difficult to maintain and improve our performance, especially during peak usage times and as our platform becomes more complex and our user traffic increases due to, among other things, a growing number of customers and consumers originating from and demanding service in a greater number of countries. If our platform is unavailable or if our users are unable to access our platform within a reasonable amount of time, or at all, our business would be adversely affected and our brand could be harmed. In the event of any of the factors described above, or certain other failures of our infrastructure, customer or consumer data may be permanently lost. Moreover, our agreements with customers typically provide for limited service level commitments. Our customers may be eligible for credits if we are unable to meet these service level commitments. If we experience significant periods of service downtime in the future, we may be subject to claims by our customers against these service level commitments. To the extent that we do not effectively address capacity constraints, upgrade our systems as needed, and continually develop our technology and network architecture to accommodate actual and anticipated changes in technology, our business and operating results may be adversely affected.
Real or perceived errors, failures, or bugs in our platform could adversely affect our operating results and growth prospects.
Because our platform is complex, undetected errors, failures, vulnerabilities or bugs may occur, especially when updates are deployed or if there are issues with our secure access management procedures. Our platform is often used in connection with computing environments with different operating systems, system management software, equipment and networking configurations, which may cause errors in or failures of our platform or other aspects of the computing environments. In addition, deployment of our platform into complicated, large-scale computing environments may expose undetected errors, failures, vulnerabilities or bugs in our platform. Despite testing by us, errors, failures, vulnerabilities or bugs may not be found in our platform until after it is deployed to our customers or consumers. We have discovered, and expect to discover in the future, software errors, failures, vulnerabilities and bugs in our platform, and we anticipate that certain of these errors, failures, vulnerabilities and certain bugs can only be discovered and remediated after deployment to customers. Real or perceived errors, failures or bugs in our platform could result in negative publicity, loss of or delay in market acceptance of our platform, loss of competitive position or claims by customers for losses sustained by them. In such an event, we may be required, or may choose for customer relations or other reasons, to expend additional resources in order to help correct the problem and or repair goodwill with our customers.
Our payments platform is a core element of our business, and any failure to grow and develop our payment processing activities, or to anticipate changes in consumer behavior, could materially and adversely affect our business and financial results.
Our payments platform is a core element of our business. For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, our payments platform generated
39%
, 39% and 37% of our total revenue, respectively. Our future success depends in large part on the continued growth and development of our payments platform. If such activities are limited, restricted, curtailed or degraded in any way, or if we fail to continue to grow and develop such activities, our business may be materially and adversely affected.
The continued growth and development of our payments platform will depend on our ability to anticipate and adapt to changes in consumer behavior. For example, consumer behavior may change regarding the use of payment types, including the relative increased use of cash, ACH, crypto-currencies, card-based transactions, and other emerging or alternative payment methods and payment systems that we or our processing partners do not adequately support or that do not provide adequate commissions to Independent Sales Organizations such as us. Any failure to timely integrate emerging payment methods (
e.g.,
Alipay, Bitcoin or other crypto-currencies) into our software, anticipate consumer behavior changes, or contract with processing partners that support such emerging payment technologies could cause us to lose traction among our customers, resulting in a corresponding loss of revenue, in the event such methods become popular among their consumers.
Our payments platform is subject to U.S. and international rules and regulations, some of which are still developing. If we fail to comply with such rules and regulations or if new laws, rules or practices applicable to payment systems restrict our ability to collect fees from our payments platform, our financial results could be materially and adversely effected.
Payment processing is subject to extensive regulation in the United States and other countries where we operate, and presents a wide range of risks. We may encounter increased regulatory scrutiny and new regulatory compliance requirements brought about by evolving laws, rules and regulations. Some of the payment processing activities on our platform are subject to price controls within the United States and other countries, and may be subject to an increase of price controls, including controls limiting the amount we are allowed to charge customers for processing transactions. In addition, certain countries limit payments-related activities by foreign companies, including by restricting the transfer of funds out of such countries. Changes in the laws, rules or practices applicable to payment systems such as VISA, MasterCard or American Express, among others, including changes resulting in increased costs that we or our customers must pay, may force changes to our payments platform that could adversely affect our business.
If we incur an actual or perceived breach to our payments platform, we may incur significant liabilities and our brand and reputation may be damaged.
We may suffer an attack on our payments platform that results in a breach of consumer cardholder data. We maintain payment records of our customers and consumers on our payments platform, and we are a potential target for hackers and other parties attempting to steal card data via cyber-attacks or other means. As we increase our consumer base and our brand becomes more widely known and recognized, we may become more of a target for these malicious third parties. If we experience any actual or perceived data breach as a result of third-party actions, employee negligence or error, or malfeasance, whether or not resulting in the unauthorized acquisition of or access to cardholder data, we could incur significant liability, our business may suffer and our brand and reputation may be damaged. We could be required to pay extensive fines and costs related to any such data breach, including costs incurred to replace cards and cardholder information and provide security monitoring services, and we could lose future sales and customers, any of which could harm our business and operating results. Such fines and costs could become due soon after such breach and exceed the amount of cash available to us, thereby impacting our ability to operate our business. In addition, a data breach or failure to comply with rules or regulations of payment systems could also result in the termination of our status as a registered Independent Sales Organization / Merchant Service Provider, thereby dramatically impairing our ability to continue doing business in the payments industry.
We are subject to risks related to our reliance on third-party processing partners to perform our payment processing services.
We depend on our third-party processing partners to perform payment processing services. Our processing partners may go out of business or otherwise be unable or unwilling to continue providing such services, which could significantly and materially reduce our payments revenue and disrupt our business. A number of our processing contracts require us to assume liability for any losses our processing partners may suffer as a result of losses caused by our customers, including losses caused by chargebacks and consumer or customer fraud. We have in the past and may in the future incur losses caused by chargebacks and fraud. In the event of a significant loss by our processing partners, we may be required to remit a large amount of cash following such event and, if we do not have sufficient cash on hand, may be deemed in breach of such contracts. In addition, our customers may be subject to quality issues related to products or services provided by our third-party processing partners or we may become involved in contractual disputes with our processing partners, both of which could impact our reputation and adversely impact our revenue. Certain contracts may expire or be terminated, and we may not be able to replicate the associated revenue through a new processing partner relationship for a considerable period of time.
We have initiated and expect to continue to initiate new third-party payment relationships or migrate to other third-party payment partners in the future. The initiation of these relationships and the transition from one relationship to another could require significant time and resources. Due to non-solicitation obligations under our existing contracts, establishing these new relationships may be challenging. Further, any new third-party payment processing relationships may not be as effective, efficient or well received by our customers and consumers, nor is there any assurance that we will be able to reach an agreement with such processing partners. Our contracts with such processing partners may be less lucrative. For instance, we may be required to pay more for payment processing or receive a less favorable revenue arrangement from our payment processing partners. We may also experience the termination of revenue streams due to such migrations or be subject to claims relating to any disputes that could arise as a result of migrations.
We may undertake to directly perform certain payment processing services and expand the scope of payment processing services we provide, which may require a significant investment of time and resources, and expand our exposure to potential liabilities.
In the future, we may undertake to directly perform certain payment processing services that we currently depend upon our processing partners to perform, expand the scope of payment processing services we provide, offer additional payment processing services or otherwise undertake additional responsibilities and liabilities related to such payment processing services. For example, in the future, we may undertake to act as a registered payment facilitator or payment service provider of the payment systems, providing merchants with a suite of services, including payment processing and funding and accepting payments as the merchant of record on behalf of other merchants. As part of our dynamic pricing functionality, we have undertaken to act as a payment service provider and the merchant of record for those dynamically priced classes booked on our mobile applications, and we may undertake to expand our role as a payment service provider to other areas of our platform. Any of these endeavors could require a significant investment of time and effective management of resources before presenting any potential upside for us, and may dramatically expand the scope of our potential contractual liability or exposure in the event of a lawsuit. Further, we may fail to effectively execute in performing such an expansion of services.
The market for business management software is intensely competitive, and if we do not compete effectively, our operating results could be harmed.
The market for business management software for the wellness services industry is fragmented and rapidly evolving, with relatively low barriers to entry. We face competition from in-house developed software systems, other software companies, and traditional paper-based methods. Our competitors vary in size and in the breadth and scope of the products and services they offer. In addition, there are a number of companies that are not currently direct competitors but that could in the future shift their focus to the wellness services industry and offer competing products and services. Some of these companies, such as Intuit and Square, have or may in the future acquire greater financial and other resources than we do and could bundle competing products and services with their other offerings or offer such products and services at lower prices as part of a larger sale. There is also a risk that certain of our current business partners could terminate their relationships with us and use the insights they have gained from partnering with us to introduce their own competing products. Many of our current and potential competitors have greater name recognition, established marketing relationships, access to larger customer bases and pre-existing relationships with customers, consultants, system integrators and resellers. Additionally, some potential customers in the wellness services industry, particularly large organizations, have elected, and may in the future elect, to develop their own business management software. Certain of our competitors have partnered with, or have acquired or been acquired by, and may in the future partner with or acquire, or be acquired by, other competitors to offer services, leveraging their collective competitive positions, which makes, or would make, it more difficult to compete with them. Moreover, we may also face competition from wellness booking services for consumers, or other consumer app or website companies, particularly as we grow our consumer brand and awareness.
Our competitors may be able to respond more quickly and effectively than we can to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards or customer requirements. With the introduction of new technologies, the evolution of our platform and new market entrants, we expect competition to intensify in the future. Pricing pressures and increased competition generally could result in reduced sales, reduced margins, increased churn, reduced customer retention, further losses or the failure of our platform to achieve or maintain more widespread market acceptance, any of which could harm our business. For all of these reasons, we may fail to compete successfully against our current and future competitors, and if such failure occurs, our business will be harmed.
Failure to effectively expand our sales and marketing capabilities could harm our ability to increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our platform.
Increasing our customer base and number of active consumers, upgrading and expanding services to our existing customers, and achieving broader market acceptance of our platform will depend, to a significant extent, on our ability to effectively expand our sales and marketing operations and activities, including internationally. We are substantially dependent on our marketing organization to generate a sufficient pipeline of qualified sales leads and on our direct sales force to close new customers. From
December 31, 2016
to
December 31, 2017
, our sales and marketing organizations decreased from
493
to
471
employees. We plan to expand our direct sales and account development specialist workforce, both domestically and internationally. We believe that there is significant competition for experienced sales professionals with the sales skills and technical knowledge that we require. Our ability to achieve significant revenue growth in the future will depend, in part, on our success in recruiting, training, and retaining a sufficient number of experienced sales professionals. New hires require significant training and time before they achieve full productivity, particularly in new sales segments and territories. Our recent and planned hires may not become productive as quickly as we expect, and we may be unable to hire or retain sufficient numbers of qualified individuals in the future in the markets where we do business. We cannot predict whether, or to what extent, our sales will increase, our existing customers will upgrade or expand their usage of our platform as we invest in our sales force, or how long it will take for sales personnel to become productive. If our marketing organization does not generate a sufficient pipeline of qualified sales leads and our direct sales force is unable to close customers, our business and future growth prospects could be harmed.
Any failure to offer high-quality customer support may adversely affect our relationships with our customers and our financial results.
In deploying and using our platform, our customers depend on our 24/7 customer support team to resolve complex technical and operational issues, including ensuring that our platform is implemented in a manner that integrates with a variety of third-party platforms. We may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in customer demand for customer support or to modify the nature, scope and delivery of our customer support to compete with changes in customer support services provided by our competitors. Increased customer demand for customer support, without corresponding revenue, could increase costs and adversely affect our operating results. Our sales are highly dependent on our business reputation and on positive recommendations from our existing customers. Any failure to maintain high-quality customer support, or a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality customer support, could adversely affect our reputation and brand, our ability to sell our platform to existing and prospective customers, our business, operating results and financial position.
Our quarterly results may fluctuate for various reasons, and if we fail to meet the expectations of analysts or investors, our stock price and the value of your investment could decline substantially.
Our quarterly financial results may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control. If our quarterly financial results fall below the expectations of investors or any securities analysts who follow our stock, the price of our Class A common stock could decline substantially. Some of the important factors that may cause our revenue, operating results and cash flows to fluctuate from quarter to quarter include but are not limited to:
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our ability to attract new customers, retain and increase sales to existing customers and satisfy our customers’ requirements;
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the mix of our customer base, including the concentration of high value subscribers;
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the volume of transactions processed on our payments platform;
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the adoption of our fee-based dynamic pricing marketing services by our customers and consumers;
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significant security breaches, technical difficulties or interruptions to our platform and any related impact on our reputation;
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the variability of revenues derived from our partners;
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the number of employees added;
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the rate of expansion and productivity of our sales force;
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the entrance of new competitors in our market, whether by established companies or new companies;
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changes in our or our competitors’ pricing;
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the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures related to the expansion of our business, including our sales force, and expenses related to the development or acquisition of technologies or businesses;
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new pricing models, products, features or functionalities introduced by us or our competitors;
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the timing of payments by customers and other payment processing partners and payment defaults by customers or other payment processing partners;
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litigation, including class action litigation, involving our company, our services or our industry;
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general economic conditions or declines in consumer interest in the wellness industries that we serve, either of which may adversely affect either our customers’ ability or willingness to purchase additional subscriptions, delay a prospective customer’s purchasing decision, reduce the value of new subscription contracts or affect customer retention;
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changes in the relative and absolute levels of customer support we provide;
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changes in foreign currency exchange rates;
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extraordinary expenses such as litigation or other dispute-related settlement payments;
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the impact of new accounting pronouncements; and
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the timing of the grant or vesting of equity awards to employees.
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Many of these factors are outside of our control, and the occurrence of one or more of them might cause our revenue, operating results and cash flows to vary widely. As such, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our revenue, operating results and cash flows may not be meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance.
If we fail to effectively manage our growth in a manner that preserves the key aspects of our corporate culture, our business and operating results could be harmed.
We believe that our corporate culture fosters innovation, creativity and teamwork. However, as our organization grows, we may find it increasingly difficult to maintain the beneficial aspects of such culture, and the failure to do so could adversely impact our ability to retain and attract the kind of employees necessary for our future success. If we are unable to manage our anticipated growth and change in a manner that preserves the key aspects of our culture, the quality of our products and services may suffer, which could adversely affect our brand and reputation and harm our ability to retain and attract customers.
We depend on our executive officers and other key employees, and the loss of one or more of these employees or an inability to attract and retain highly skilled employees could adversely affect our business.
Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our executive officers and other key employees, including our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Richard Stollmeyer. We rely on our leadership team in the areas of research and development, operations, security, marketing, sales, support, general and administrative functions, and on individual contributors in our research and development and operations. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, changes in our executive management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives, which could disrupt our business. We do not have employment agreements with our executive officers or other key personnel that require them to continue to work for us for any specified period, and, therefore, they could terminate their employment with us at any time. The loss of one or more of our executive officers, especially our Chief Executive Officer, or other key employees, could have an adverse effect on our business.
In addition, to execute our growth plan, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for these personnel in the locations where we maintain offices is intense, especially in the San Luis Obispo area, where our headquarters is located, due in part to the relatively close proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area. We have from time to time experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, difficulty in hiring and retaining employees with appropriate qualifications. In some cases, we have recruited employees from the San Francisco Bay Area and other regions with a greater supply of managerial, sales and engineering talent, and in such cases, we have sometimes found it necessary to offer compensation packages that were larger than would have been necessary if no relocation had been required. We also outsource some of our research and development to India, which requires compliance with security protocols. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have and are located in areas in which sales and engineering talent is more readily available. Moreover, job candidates and existing employees often consider the value of the equity awards they receive in connection with their employment. If the perceived value of our equity awards declines, our ability to recruit and retain highly skilled employees may be adversely impacted. If we hire employees from competitors or other companies, their former employers may attempt to assert that these employees have breached their legal obligations, resulting in a diversion of our time and resources. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our business and future growth prospects could be adversely affected.
If we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, then our business, operating results and financial condition may be adversely affected.
We believe that maintaining and enhancing our reputation as a differentiated and category-defining business management software company serving the wellness services industry and consumers through a two-sided marketplace is critical to our relationship with our existing customers and to our ability to attract new customers. The successful promotion of our brand attributes will depend on a number of factors, including our marketing efforts, our ability to continue to develop high-quality software, and our ability to successfully differentiate our platform from competitive products and services.
The promotion of our brand requires us to make substantial expenditures, and we anticipate that the expenditures will increase as our market becomes more competitive and as we seek to expand our platform. To the extent that these activities yield increased revenue, this revenue may not offset the increased expenses we incur. If we do not successfully maintain and enhance our brand, our business may not grow, we may have reduced pricing power relative to competitors, and we could lose customers or fail to attract potential customers, all of which would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Unfavorable conditions in our industry or the global economy or reductions in information technology spending could limit our ability to grow our business and adversely affect our operating results.
Our operating results may vary based on the impact of changes in our industry or the global economy on us or our customers. The revenue growth and potential profitability of our business depend on demand for business management software generally and for business management software serving the wellness services industry in particular. Historically, during economic downturns, there have been reductions in spending on information technology as well as pressure for extended billing terms and other financial concessions. The adverse impact of economic downturns may be particularly acute among small and medium-sized businesses, which comprise the vast majority of our customer base. If economic conditions deteriorate, our current and prospective customers may elect to decrease their information technology budgets, which would limit our ability to grow our business and adversely affect our operating results.
Our financial results may fluctuate due to increasing variability in our sales cycles resulting from, among other things, an expansion of the focus of our sales efforts to include larger organizations.
We plan our expenses based on certain assumptions about the length and variability of our sales cycle. These assumptions are based upon historical trends for sales cycles and conversion rates associated with our existing customers, many of whom to date have been small to medium-sized organizations. As we expand our sales efforts to include larger organizations, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur higher costs and longer and more unpredictable sales cycles. With larger organizations, the decision to subscribe to our platform may require the approval of more technical personnel and management levels within a potential customer’s organization than we have historically encountered, and if so, these types of sales would require us to invest more time educating these potential customers. In addition, larger organizations may demand more features and integration and customer support services. We have limited experience in developing and managing sales strategies for larger organizations and in successfully onboarding larger organizations as new customers. As a result of these factors, these sales opportunities may not prove to be successful or may require us to devote greater research and development, sales, customer support and professional services resources to individual customers, resulting in increased costs and reduced profitability, and will likely lengthen our typical sales cycle, which could strain our resources. Moreover, these larger transactions may require us to delay recognizing the associated revenue we derive from these customers until any technical or implementation requirements have been met, and larger customers may demand discounts to the prices they pay for our platform.
Other factors that may influence the length and variability of our sales cycle include but are not limited to:
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the need to educate prospective customers about the uses and benefits of our platform;
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lead generation, including both inbound and outbound;
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the discretionary nature of purchasing and budget cycles and decisions;
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the competitive nature of evaluation and purchasing processes;
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evolving functionality demands;
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announcements or planned introductions of new products, features or functionality by us or our competitors; and
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lengthy purchasing approval processes, particularly among larger organizations.
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If we are unsuccessful expanding sales to larger organizations, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, if we are unable to close one or more expected significant transactions with customers in a particular period, or if one or more expected transactions are delayed until a subsequent period, our operating results for that period, and for any future periods in which revenue from such transactions would otherwise have been recognized, may be adversely affected.
Our future performance depends in part on our reliance on third-party platforms to distribute our mobile applications, and support from our partner ecosystem.
We rely on third-party distribution platforms, including the Apple App Store and Google Play, for distribution of our mobile applications. We are subject to these platform providers’ standard terms and conditions for application developers, which govern the promotion, distribution and operation of applications on their platforms. If we violate, or if a platform provider believes that we have violated, its terms and conditions, the platform provider may, at its discretion, discontinue or limit our access to their platform. We are currently in the process of operationalizing changes to our branded mobile apps offering to comply with Apple’s recent changes to its terms of service. These platform providers have broad discretion to change their terms and conditions at any time, with or without notice to application developers, and to interpret their respective terms and conditions in a manner that limits, eliminates or otherwise interferes with our ability to distribute our mobile applications through their platforms. If Apple or Google took any of these steps to limit or otherwise interfere with our business, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We also depend on our partner ecosystem to create applications that will integrate with our platform. This presents certain risks to our business, including:
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our API’s security standards could limit integration possibilities for our apps with partners’ products;
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these applications may not meet the same quality standards that we apply to our own development efforts (including, among other things, data and privacy protections), and to the extent they contain bugs or defects, they may create disruptions in our customers’ use of our platform or adversely affect our brand;
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we do not currently provide substantive support for software applications developed by our partner ecosystem, and users may be left without adequate support and potentially cease using our platform if our partners do not provide adequate support for these applications;
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our partners may not possess the appropriate intellectual property rights to develop and share their applications;
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our relationship with our partners may change, particularly those partners who contribute or who have contributed more significantly to our revenue or demand for our platform, which could adversely affect our revenue and our results of operations;
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some of our partners may use the insight or access to data that they gain from integrating with our software and from information publicly available to develop competing products or product features; and
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our partners may establish relationships with, or functionality to offer to, our customers that diminish or eliminate the need or desire for our API platform.
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Since many of these risks are not within our control, any new standards or requirements by these third-party developers or platforms could adversely affect our business, thereby reducing our revenue or increase our operating costs and adversely affecting our growth prospects.
We have in the past completed acquisitions, and we may in the future acquire or invest in companies. Such acquisitions and investments divert our management’s attention and may in some cases result in additional dilution to our stockholders. In addition, we may be unable to integrate the acquired businesses and technologies successfully or achieve the expected benefits of such acquisitions.
We have in the past acquired companies, including our acquisition of HealCode LLC in 2016, Lymber Wellness, Inc. in 2017 and FitMetrix in 2018, and we may in the future evaluate and consider potential strategic transactions, including acquisitions of, or investments in, businesses, technologies, services, products and other assets in the future. We also may enter into relationships with other businesses to expand our platform, which could involve preferred or exclusive licenses, additional channels of distribution, discount pricing or investments in other companies.
Any acquisition, investment or business relationship may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. In particular, we may encounter difficulties assimilating or integrating the businesses, technologies, products, personnel or operations of the acquired companies, particularly if the key personnel of the acquired company choose not to work for us, their software is not easily adapted to work with our platform or we have difficulty retaining the customers of any acquired business due to changes in ownership, management or otherwise. The pursuit of potential acquisitions, whether or not they are consummated, may also disrupt our business, divert our resources and require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for development of our existing business. Moreover, the anticipated benefits of any acquisition, investment or business relationship may not be realized and/or we may be exposed to unknown risks or liabilities.
Negotiating these transactions can be time-consuming, difficult and expensive, and our ability to complete these transactions may be subject to approvals that are beyond our control. Consequently, these transactions, even if announced, may not be completed. For one or more of these transactions, we may:
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issue additional equity securities that would dilute our existing stockholders;
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use cash that we may need in the future to operate our business;
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incur large charges or substantial liabilities, whether known or unknown, associated with the acquisition;
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encounter difficulties maintaining relationships with customers and partners of the acquired business;
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encounter difficulties incorporating acquired technologies and rights into our platform, providing access and rights to our internal systems and of maintaining quality and security standards consistent with our reputation and brand;
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incur debt on terms unfavorable to us or that we are unable to repay;
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encounter difficulties retaining key employees of the acquired company, integrating diverse software codes or business cultures or coordinating organizations that are geographically diverse and that have different business cultures;
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incur impairment charges related to potential write-downs of acquired assets or goodwill;
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incur acquisition-related costs, which would be recognized as current period expenses; and
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become subject to adverse tax consequences, substantial depreciation or deferred compensation charges.
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The occurrence of any of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business operations and financial results.
Real or perceived inaccuracies in our key, user and other metrics may harm our reputation and negatively affect our business.
The numbers for certain of our key, user and other metrics, including, among others, active consumers, registered users of our applications and number of wellness practitioners employed by our customers, are calculated using internal company data based on the activity of customer and consumer accounts. While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable estimates for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring usage of our platform, usage of specific features of our platform, and user information across large online and mobile populations around the world. For example, we estimate that approximately
41 million
active consumers used our platform during the two years ended
December 31, 2017
. In calculating this number, we have attempted to avoid duplicative counting of consumers by identifying consumers who may have used our platform through different customers. However, in certain cases, a single consumer may have transacted with multiple customers under slightly different names, in which case there is a chance that we have counted the same consumer more than once. Given the challenges inherent in identifying whether a single consumer has engaged in transactions on our platform under different names, we do not have a reliable way of identifying the precise number of consumers using our platform. We are continuing to invest in our systems and controls to improve the precision and reliability of our metrics. If third parties, including investors and analysts, do not perceive our metrics to be accurate, or if we discover material inaccuracies in our metrics, we may be subject to liability and our reputation may be harmed, which could negatively affect our business and financial results.
Our international sales and operations subject us to additional risks that can adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
In the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we derived
19%
, 17% and 16%, respectively, of our revenue from customers located outside of the United States. We are continuing to expand our international operations as part of our growth strategy. We currently have sales personnel and sales and customer support operations in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Our sales organization outside the United States is substantially smaller than our sales organization in the United States. We believe our ability to convince new customers to subscribe to our platform or to convince existing customers to renew or expand their use of our platform is directly correlated to the level of engagement we obtain with the customer. To the extent we are unable to effectively engage with non-U.S. customers due to our limited sales force capacity, we may be unable to effectively grow in international markets.
Our international operations subject us to a variety of additional risks and challenges, including:
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compliance with foreign privacy, information security and data protection laws and regulations and the risks and costs of non-compliance;
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differing technical standards, existing or future regulatory and certification requirements and required features and functionality;
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requirements or customer requests for localized software and licensing programs, and localized language support;
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increased management, travel, infrastructure and legal compliance costs associated with having international operations;
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uncertainty regarding the expected departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union;
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increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities;
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longer payment cycles and difficulties in enforcing contracts, collecting accounts receivable or satisfying revenue recognition criteria, especially in emerging markets;
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requirements or preferences for domestic products;
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economic conditions in each country or region and general economic uncertainty around the world;
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compliance with laws and regulations for foreign operations, including anti-bribery laws (such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or the FCPA, the U.S. Travel Act, and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010), import and export control laws, tariffs, trade barriers, economic sanctions and other regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to sell our platform in certain foreign markets, and the risks and costs of non-compliance;
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heightened risks of unfair or corrupt business practices in certain geographies and of improper or fraudulent sales arrangements that may impact our financial results and result in restatements of our consolidated financial statements;
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fluctuations in currency exchange rates and related effect on our operating results;
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difficulties in repatriating or transferring funds from or converting currencies in certain countries;
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communication and integration problems related to entering new markets with different languages, cultures and political systems;
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differing labor standards, including restrictions related to, and the increased cost of, terminating employees in some countries;
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the need or customer requests for localized language support;
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reduced protection for intellectual property rights in some countries and practical difficulties of enforcing rights abroad; and
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compliance with the laws of numerous foreign taxing jurisdictions, including withholding obligations, and overlapping of different tax regimes.
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Any of these risks could adversely affect our international operations, reduce our international revenue or increase our operating costs, adversely affecting our business, operating results, financial condition and growth prospects.
Compliance with laws and regulations applicable to our international operations substantially increases our cost of doing business in foreign jurisdictions. We may be unable to keep current with changes in government requirements as they change from time to time. Failure to comply with these regulations could have adverse effects on our business. In many foreign countries, it is common for others to engage in business practices that are prohibited by our internal policies and procedures or U.S. or other regulations applicable to us. Although we have implemented policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with these laws and policies, there can be no assurance that all of our employees, contractors, partners and agents will comply with these laws and policies. Violations of laws or key control policies by our employees, contractors, partners, or agents could result in delays in revenue recognition, financial reporting misstatements, enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, fines, civil and criminal penalties, damages, injunctions, other collateral consequences, or the prohibition of the importation or exportation of our platform and services and could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We are subject to anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws with respect to our operations and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to criminal and/or civil liability and harm our business.
We are subject to the FCPA, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and possibly other anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit companies and their employees and third-party intermediaries from authorizing, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or benefits to recipients in the public or private sector. We use third-party representatives to sell our products and services abroad. In addition, as we increase our international sales and business, we may engage with additional business partners and third-party intermediaries to sell our products and services abroad and to obtain necessary permits, licenses and other regulatory approvals. We or our third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these third-party intermediaries, our employees, representatives, contractors, partners and agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities.
Noncompliance with anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, other enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, significant fines, damages, other civil and criminal penalties or injunctions, suspension and/or debarment from contracting with certain persons, the loss of export privileges, reputational harm, adverse media coverage and other collateral consequences. If any subpoenas or investigations are launched, or governmental or other sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal litigation, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially harmed. In addition, responding to any action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees. Enforcement actions and sanctions could further harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Certain of our operating results and financial metrics may be difficult to predict as a result of seasonality.
We believe there are significant seasonal factors that may cause us to record higher revenue in some quarters compared with others. We believe this variability is largely due to our focus on the wellness services industry, as many of our customers experience an increase in demand for their services in the first quarter of each year due to their clients becoming more motivated to pursue health and fitness goals in the new year. Our rapid growth rate over the last couple years may have made seasonal fluctuations more difficult to detect. In addition, as we attempt to expand the number of our customers and consumers, we may see changes to this pattern of seasonality. If our rate of growth slows over time, seasonal or cyclical variations in our operations may become more pronounced, and our business, results of operations and financial position may be adversely affected.
Our business and growth depend in part on the success of our strategic relationships with third parties, including payments partners, API platform partners and technology partners.
We depend on, and anticipate that we will continue to depend on, various third-party relationships in order to sustain and grow our business. We are highly dependent upon partners for certain critical features and functionality of our platform, including data centers and third-party payment processors supporting our payments platform. Failure of these or any other technology providers to maintain, support or secure their technology platforms in general, and our integrations in particular, or errors or defects in their technology, could materially and adversely impact our relationship with our customers, damage our reputation and brand, and harm our business and operating results. Any loss of the right to use any of this hardware or software could result in delays or difficulties in our ability to provide our platform until equivalent technology is either developed by us or, if available, identified, obtained and integrated.
Identifying, negotiating and documenting relationships with strategic third parties such as payments partners, API partners and technology partners requires significant time and resources. In addition, integrating third-party technology is complex, costly and time-consuming. Our agreements with these partners are typically limited in duration, non-exclusive and do not prohibit them from working with our competitors or from offering competing services. Our competitors may be effective in providing incentives to third parties to favor their products or services or to prevent or reduce subscriptions to our platform. In addition, our partners could develop competing products or services.
Our third-party partners may also suffer disruptions or weakness in their businesses unrelated to the relationships with us that could cause declines in their business performance. Such occurrences could be harmful to our financial results and cause our stock price to decline.
If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining our relationships with these strategic third parties, our ability to compete in the marketplace or to grow our revenue could be impaired and our operating results could suffer. Even if we are successful, we cannot assure you that these relationships will result in improved operating results.
We depend and rely upon SaaS technologies from third parties and on technology systems and electronic communication networks that are supplied and managed by third parties to operate our business, and interruptions or performance problems with these technologies may adversely affect our business and operating results.
We rely heavily on hosted SaaS applications from third parties in order to operate critical functions of our business, including sales automation and pipeline management, billing and order management, customer support, access to our API, IT support, enterprise resource planning, payroll and financial accounting services. If these services become unavailable due to extended outages or interruptions, security vulnerabilities or cyber-attacks, including prolonged denial-of-service attacks, or because they are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms, our expenses could increase, our ability to manage finances could be interrupted and our processes for managing sales of our platform and supporting and communicating with our customers could be impaired until equivalent services, if available, are identified, obtained and implemented, all of which could adversely affect our business.
Our ability to provide services and solutions to our customers also depends on our ability to communicate with our customers through the public Internet and electronic networks that are owned and operated by third parties. In addition, in order to provide services on-demand and promptly, our computer equipment and network servers must be functional 24 hours per day, which requires access to telecommunications facilities managed by third parties and the availability of electricity, which we do not control. A severe disruption of one or more of these networks, including as a result of utility or third-party system interruptions, could impair our ability to process information, which could impede our ability to provide services to our customers, harm our reputation, result in a loss of customers and adversely affect our business and operating results.
We are subject to risks related to litigation, including, among others, intellectual property , commercial and employment claims and regulatory disputes.
From time to time we may become involved in legal proceedings or be subject to claims, lawsuits (whether class actions or individual lawsuits), government investigations and other proceedings involving alleged infringement of third-party patents and other intellectual property rights, or commercial, corporate and securities, privacy, accessibility, marketing and communications practices, labor and employment, wage and hour and other matters. Our future success depends in part on not infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others. From time to time, we may receive claims from third parties, including our competitors that our platform and underlying technology infringe or violate a third-party’s intellectual property rights, and we may be found to be infringing upon such rights. We may be unaware of the intellectual property rights of others that may cover some or all of our technology. Any claims or litigation could cause us to incur significant expenses and, if successfully asserted against us, could require that we pay substantial damages or ongoing royalty payments, prevent us from offering our platform, or require that we comply with other unfavorable terms. We may also be obligated to indemnify our customers or business partners in connection with any such litigation and to obtain licenses, modify our platform or refund subscription fees, which could further exhaust our resources. In addition, we may incur substantial costs to resolve claims or litigation, whether or not successfully asserted against us, which could include payment of significant settlement, royalty or license fees, modification of our platform or refunds to customers of subscription fees. Even if we were to prevail in the event of claims or litigation against us, such claims or litigation could be costly and time-consuming and divert the attention of our management and other employees from our business operations.
Our use of “open source” software could adversely affect our ability to sell our platform and subject us to possible litigation.
We use open source software in our platform and expect to continue to use open source software in the future. We may face claims from others claiming ownership of, or seeking to enforce the terms of, an open source license, including by demanding release of the open source software, derivative works or our proprietary source code that was developed using such software. These claims could also result in litigation, require us to purchase a costly license or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our platform, any of which would have a negative effect on our business and operating results. In addition, if the license terms for the open source software we utilize change, we may be forced to reengineer our platform or incur additional costs. Although we have implemented policies to regulate the use and incorporation of open source software into our platform, we cannot be certain that we have not incorporated open source software in our platform in a manner that is inconsistent with such policies.
Any failure to protect our intellectual property rights could impair our ability to protect our proprietary technology and our brand.
Our success and ability to compete depend in part upon our intellectual property. We currently have twelve pending patent applications, but there is no guarantee that such applications will result in issued patents. We primarily rely on copyright, trade secret and trademark laws, trade secret protection and confidentiality or license agreements with our employees, customers, partners and others to protect our intellectual property rights. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property rights may be inadequate.
To protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect these rights. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time-consuming and distracting to management, and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our failure to secure, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could adversely affect our brand and adversely impact our business.
We may not be able to secure additional financing on favorable terms, or at all, to meet our future capital needs.
We have funded our operations since inception primarily through equity financings, loan facilities, financing agreements for software and license maintenance and subscription payments by our customers for use of our platform. For instance, in May 2017, we completed a follow-on public offering in which we issued and sold 5,060,000 shares of our Class A common stock at a public offering price of $27.95 per share. In the future, we intend to continue to make investments to support our business growth, and we may require additional capital to respond to business opportunities, challenges, acquisitions, or unforeseen circumstances. We may not be able to timely secure additional debt or equity financing on favorable terms, or at all. Any debt financing obtained by us could involve restrictive covenants relating to financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. If we raise additional funds through further issuances of equity, convertible debt securities or other securities convertible into equity, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution in their percentage ownership of our company, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our Class A common stock. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us, when we require it, our ability to continue to grow or support our business and to respond to business challenges could be significantly limited.
Our loan agreement contains operating and financial covenants that restrict our business and financing activities.
Borrowings under our loan agreement with Silicon Valley Bank are secured by substantially all of our assets, including our intellectual property. In addition, borrowings under our loan agreement are based on a percentage of our monthly recurring revenue for the prior months, up to $20 million, with an accordion feature that allows for additional borrowings under our loan agreement in an aggregate amount of $20 million, upon our request and subject to certain conditions. If our revenue declines, our ability to draw under the loan agreement could be adversely affected or if we were to draw under the loan agreement, a decline in our revenue could force us to repay all or a portion of the outstanding loan earlier than we may have originally anticipated.
Our loan agreement also restricts our ability to, among other things:
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sell or otherwise dispose of our assets;
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make material changes in our business;
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enter into a transaction in which stockholders who were not stockholders immediately prior to such transaction own more than 40% of our voting stock after giving effect to such transaction;
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consolidate, merge with, or acquire other entities;
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incur additional indebtedness;
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create liens on our assets;
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pay dividends or make other distributions on our capital stock;
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enter into transactions with affiliates; and
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pay off or redeem subordinated indebtedness.
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These restrictions are subject to certain exceptions. The operating and financial restrictions and covenants in the loan agreement, as well as any future financing agreements that we may enter into, could restrict our ability to finance our operations and to engage in, expand or otherwise pursue business activities and strategies that we or our stockholders may consider beneficial. Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control, and future breaches of any of these covenants could result in a default under the loan agreement.
The loan agreement also contains customary events of default, subject to cure periods for certain defaults, including, among others, payment defaults, covenant defaults, the occurrence of a material adverse change in our business, defaults relating to certain legal processes affecting our assets or business, insolvency and bankruptcy defaults, cross-defaults to other material indebtedness, material judgment defaults and material misrepresentations. Future defaults, if not waived, could cause all of the outstanding indebtedness under our loan agreement to become immediately due and payable and would permit Silicon Valley Bank to terminate all commitments to extend further credit and exercise remedies against the collateral in which we granted Silicon Valley Bank a security interest.
If we do not have or are unable to generate sufficient cash available to repay our debt obligations when they become due and payable, either upon maturity or in the event of a default, we may not be able to obtain additional debt or equity financing on favorable terms, if at all. This could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition and our ability to operate and continue our business as a going concern.
We face exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.
We conduct transactions in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. While we have primarily transacted with customers and vendors in U.S. dollars, we have transacted in foreign currencies for subscriptions to our platform and expect to significantly expand the number of transactions with customers for our platform that are denominated in foreign currencies in the future. As a result of such foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, it could be more difficult to detect underlying trends in our business and results of operations. In addition, to the extent that fluctuations in currency exchange rates, including, any fluctuations resulting from uncertainties relating to the expected departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, cause our results of operations to differ from our expectations or the expectations of our investors, the trading price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected.
We do not currently maintain a program to hedge transactional exposures in foreign currencies. However, in the future, we may use derivative instruments, such as foreign currency forward and option contracts, to hedge certain exposures to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. The use of such hedging activities may not offset any or more than a portion of the adverse financial effects of unfavorable movements in foreign exchange rates over the limited time the hedges are in place. Moreover, the use of hedging instruments may introduce additional risks if we are unable to structure effective hedges with such instruments.
We may be subject to additional tax liabilities in connection with our operations or due to future legislation, each of which could materially impact our financial position and results of operation.
We are subject to federal and state income, sales, use, value added and other taxes in the United States and other countries in which we conduct business, and such laws and rates vary by jurisdiction. We do not collect sales and use, value added and similar taxes in all jurisdictions in which we have sales, based on our belief that such taxes are not applicable. Certain jurisdictions in which we do not collect sales, use, value added or other taxes on our sales may assert that such taxes are applicable, which could result in tax assessments, penalties and interest, and we may be required to collect such taxes in the future.
Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. We generally conduct our international operations through wholly owned subsidiaries and report our taxable income in various jurisdictions worldwide based upon our business operations in those jurisdictions. Our intercompany relationships are subject to complex transfer pricing regulations administered by taxing authorities in various jurisdictions. These determinations are highly complex and require detailed analysis of the available information and applicable statutes and regulatory materials. In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain.
Although we believe our tax practices and provisions are reasonable, the final determination of tax audits and any related litigation could be materially different from our historical tax practices, provisions and accruals. If we receive an adverse ruling as a result of an audit, or we unilaterally determine that we have misinterpreted provisions of the tax regulations to which we are subject, there could be a material effect on our tax provision, net income or cash flows in the period or periods for which that determination is made, which could materially impact our financial results. Further, any changes in the taxation of our activities, including recent changes in U.S. tax laws, may increase our worldwide effective tax rate and adversely affect our financial position and results of operations. In addition, liabilities associated with taxes are often subject to an extended or indefinite statute of limitations period. Therefore, we may be subject to additional tax liability (including penalties and interest) for a particular year for extended periods of time.
Our ability to use our net operating losses to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.
As of December 31, 2017, we had federal and state net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, of $118.0 million and $103.0 million, respectively, due to prior period losses, which, subject to the following discussion, are generally available to be carried forward to offset our future taxable income, if any, until such NOLs are used or expire. Our federal NOLs begin to expire in the year ending December 31, 2025, and our state NOLs started to expire in 2016 for the earliest net operating loss layers. In general, under Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its NOLs to offset future taxable income. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. During the year ended December 31, 2015, we completed an analysis under Section 382 of the Code through December 31, 2014, and determined that we experienced multiple ownership changes during this period which will limit future utilization of NOL carryforwards. U.S. federal NOLs of approximately $430,000 are expected to expire due to limitations under Section 382 and, as such, have not been reflected in the NOL carryforward above. Future changes in our stock ownership, some of which are outside of our control, could result in additional ownership changes under Section 382 of the Code. Furthermore, our ability to utilize NOLs of companies that we have acquired or may acquire in the future may be subject to limitations. There is also a risk that due to regulatory changes, such as suspensions on the use of NOLs, or other unforeseen reasons, our existing NOLs could expire or otherwise be unavailable to offset future income tax liabilities. For these reasons, we may not be able to realize a tax benefit from the use of our NOLs, whether or not we attain profitability
Changes in laws and regulations related to the Internet or changes in the Internet infrastructure itself may diminish the demand for our platform, and could have a negative impact on our business.
The future success of our business depends upon the continued use of the Internet as a primary medium for commerce, communication and business applications. Federal, state or foreign government bodies or agencies have in the past adopted, and may in the future adopt, laws or regulations affecting the use of the Internet as a commercial medium. Changes in these laws or regulations could require us to modify our platform in order to comply with these changes. In addition, government agencies or private organizations have imposed and may impose additional taxes, fees or other charges for accessing the Internet or commerce conducted via the Internet. These laws or charges could limit the growth of Internet-related commerce or communications generally, or result in reductions in the demand for Internet-based platforms and services such as ours. In addition, the use of the Internet as a business tool could be adversely affected due to delays in the development or adoption of new standards and protocols to handle increased demands of Internet activity, security, reliability, cost, ease-of-use, accessibility and quality of service. The performance of the Internet and its acceptance as a business tool has been adversely affected by “viruses,” “worms” and similar malicious programs, and the Internet has experienced a variety of outages and other delays as a result of damage to portions of its infrastructure. If the use of the Internet is adversely affected by these issues, demand for our platform could decline.
Catastrophic events may disrupt our business.
Our corporate headquarters are located in San Luis Obispo, California, and we utilize data centers that are located in North America. Key features and functionality of our platform are enabled by third parties that are headquartered in California and operate or utilize data centers in the United States. Additionally, we rely on our network and third-party infrastructure and enterprise applications, internal technology systems, and our website for our development, marketing, operational support, hosted services and sales activities. The west coast of the United States contains active earthquake zones, both Northern and Southern California have experienced devastating wildfires, and Southern California has recently experiences significant flooding. In addition, the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is located a short distance from San Luis Obispo. In the event of a major earthquake, hurricane or other natural disaster, or a catastrophic event such as a nuclear disaster, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, cyber-attack, war or terrorist attack, we may be unable to continue our operations and may endure system interruptions, reputational harm, delays in our app development, lengthy interruptions in our platform, breaches of data security or data integrity and loss of critical data, all of which could have an adverse effect on our future operating results.
We are subject to governmental economic sanctions and export and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets or subject us to liability if we are not in compliance with applicable laws.
As a U.S. company, we are subject to U.S. export control and economic sanctions laws and regulations, and we are required to export our technology, software, products and services in compliance with those laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations and economic embargo and trade sanction programs administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. U.S. economic sanctions and export control laws and regulations prohibit the shipment of certain products and services to countries, governments and persons targeted by U.S. sanctions. While we are currently taking precautions to prevent doing any business, directly or indirectly, with countries, governments and persons targeted by U.S. sanctions and to ensure that our business management software is not exported or used by countries, governments and persons targeted by U.S. sanctions, such measures may be circumvented.
Furthermore, if we export our technology, hardware or software, the exports may require authorizations, including a license, a license exception or other appropriate government authorization. Complying with export control and sanctions regulations for a particular sale may be time-consuming and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities. Failure to comply with export control and sanctions regulations for a particular sale may expose us to government investigations and penalties, which could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
If we are found to be in violation of U.S. sanctions or export control laws, it could result in fines or penalties for us and for individuals, including civil penalties of up to $250,000 or twice the value of the transaction, whichever is greater, per violation, and in the event of conviction for a criminal violation for willful and knowing violations, fines of up to $1 million and possible incarceration for those responsible could be imposed against employees and managers. In addition, we may lose our export or import privileges and suffer reputational harm.
In addition, various countries regulate the import of certain encryption technology, including imposing import permitting and licensing requirements, and have enacted laws that could limit our ability to offer our platform or distribute our platform or could limit our customers’ ability to implement our platform in those countries. Changes in our platform or future changes in export and import regulations may create delays in the introduction of our platform in international markets or prevent our customers with international operations from deploying our platform globally. Any change in export or import regulations, economic sanctions or related legislation, or change in the countries, governments, persons, or technologies targeted by such regulations, could result in decreased use of our platform by, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our platform to, existing or potential customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our platform or limitation on our ability to export or sell our platform would likely adversely affect our business operations and financial results.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of allowing those stockholders who held our capital stock prior to the completion of our initial public offering, including our executive officers, employees and directors and their affiliates, to limit your ability to influence the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control.
Our Class B common stock has ten votes per share, and our Class A common stock has one vote per share. Stockholders who held shares of our Class B common stock as of
December 31, 2017
, including, among others, our executive officers, employees and directors and their respective affiliates, collectively held approximately
47.5%
of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock as of such date. Because of the ten-to-one voting ratio between our Class B common stock and Class A common stock, the holders of our Class B common stock will collectively continue to have significant influence over our management and affairs and over all matters requiring stockholder approval. These holders of our Class B common stock may have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. The effect of this dual class structure may have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change in control of our company, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their capital stock as part of a sale of our company and might ultimately affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Significant individual holders of our Class B common stock include our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Richard Stollmeyer. If, for example, Mr. Stollmeyer retains a significant portion of his holdings of shares of our Class B common stock for an extended period of time, he could control a significant portion of the voting power of our capital stock for the foreseeable future. In addition, Mr. Stollmeyer holds an irrevocable proxy to vote certain shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock held by certain of our stockholders. As a board member, Mr. Stollmeyer owes a fiduciary duty to our stockholders and must act in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of our stockholders. As a stockholder, Mr. Stollmeyer is entitled to vote his shares in his own interest, which may not always be in the interests of our stockholders generally.
Anti-takeover provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover attempt.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions which could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by our board of directors. Among other things, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions:
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establishing a classified board of directors whose members serve staggered three-year terms;
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authorizing “blank check” preferred stock, which could be issued by our board of directors without stockholder approval and may contain voting, liquidation, dividend and other rights superior to our common stock;
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limiting the liability of, and providing indemnification to, our directors and officers;
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limiting the ability of our stockholders to call and bring business before special meetings;
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requiring advance notice of stockholder proposals for business to be conducted at meetings of our stockholders and for nominations of candidates for election to our board of directors;
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controlling the procedures for the conduct and scheduling of board of directors and stockholder meetings; and
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authorizing two classes of common stock, as discussed above.
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These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in our management.
As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prevents certain stockholders holding more than 15% of our outstanding capital stock from engaging in certain business combinations without approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of our outstanding common stock not held by any such stockholder.
Any provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our capital stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our Class A common stock.
An active trading market for our Class A common stock may not be sustained.
Our Class A common stock is listed on The NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “MB.” However, we cannot assure you that an active trading market for our Class A common stock will be sustained. Accordingly, we cannot assure you of the liquidity of any trading market, your ability to sell your shares of our Class A common stock when desired or the prices that you may obtain for your shares of our Class A common stock.
The market price of our Class A common stock may be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Prior to our initial public offering, there had been no public market for shares of our Class A common stock. The market price of our Class A common stock since our initial public offering has been and may continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control and may not be related to our operating performance. Factors that could cause fluctuations in the market price of our Class A common stock include the following:
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price and volume fluctuations in the overall stock market from time to time;
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volatility in the market prices and trading volumes of technology securities;
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changes in operating performance and stock market valuations of other technology companies generally or those in our industry in particular;
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sales of shares of our Class A common stock by us or our stockholders;
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failure of securities analysts to maintain coverage of us, changes in financial estimates by securities analysts who follow us, or our failure to meet these estimates or the expectations of investors;
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the financial projections we may provide to the public, any changes in those projections or our failure to meet those projections;
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announcements by us or our competitors of new products or services;
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the public’s reaction to our press releases, other public announcements and filings with the SEC;
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rumors and market speculation involving us or other companies in our industry;
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actual or anticipated changes in our operating results or fluctuations in our operating results;
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actual or anticipated developments in our business, our competitors’ businesses or the competitive landscape generally;
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litigation involving us, our industry or both, or investigations by regulators into our operations or those of our competitors;
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developments or disputes concerning our intellectual property or other proprietary rights;
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announced or completed acquisitions of businesses or technologies by us or our competitors;
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political, economic and regulatory developments in the United States or other geographies;
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new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to our business;
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changes in accounting standards, policies, guidelines, interpretations or principles;
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any significant change in our management; and
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general economic conditions and slow or negative growth of our markets.
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In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.
Future sales of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Class A common stock.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Class A common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. As of
December 31, 2017
, we had
43.0 million
shares of Class A common stock and
3.9 million
shares of Class B common stock outstanding. All outstanding shares of Class A common stock are freely tradable without restrictions or further registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, except for any shares held by our affiliates as defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act and subject in some cases to our insider trading policy.
In addition, shares of our capital stock (including those shares of our capital stock issued upon exercise of outstanding options to purchase shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock or upon settlement of outstanding restricted stock units) may be freely sold in the public market upon issuance and once vested, subject to other restrictions provided under the terms of the applicable plan and/or the award agreements, and except for any options or restricted stock units held by our affiliates and subject to our insider trading policy. Certain of our existing stockholders are also entitled under contracts providing for registration rights, to require us to file registration statements covering the sale of their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders. Any sales of securities by these stockholders, or the expectation that such sales may occur, could have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult for you to sell shares of our Class A common stock.
The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management’s attention and affect our ability to attract and retain qualified board members.
As a public company, we incur significant legal, financial, and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and are required to comply with the applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the listing requirements of the NASDAQ Stock Market, and other applicable securities rules and regulations and corporate governance requirements. Continuing to comply with these rules and regulations may increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly, and increase demand on our systems and resources. In addition, our management and personnel must divert attention from operational and other business concerns to devote time to these requirements, which could harm our business and results of operations. Although we have already hired additional employees to comply with these requirements, we may need to hire even more employees in the future, which would increase our costs and expenses.
Being a public company and these new rules and regulations have made it more expensive for us to maintain director and officer liability insurance, and in the future we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified executive officers and members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee and compensation committee.
In addition, as a result of our disclosure obligations as a public company, we have reduced strategic flexibility and are under pressure to focus on short-term results, which may adversely impact our ability to achieve long-term profitability.
If our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, it may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our Class A common stock could decline.
As a public company, we are required to design and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal controls. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that we assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and furnish a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, which must be attested to, and reported on, by our independent registered public accounting firm. During such assessment, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert that our internal controls are effective. As a result, we may need to undertake various actions, such as implementing new internal controls and procedures and hiring accounting or internal audit staff. Our remediation efforts may not enable us to avoid a material weakness in the future.
If material weaknesses or control deficiencies occur in the future, and we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our auditors are unable to attest to management’s report on the effectiveness of our internal controls, we may be unable to report our financial results accurately or on a timely basis, which could cause our reported financial results to be materially misstated and result in the loss of investor confidence or delisting and cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline. As a result of such failures, we could also become subject to investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are listed, the SEC, or other regulatory authorities, and become subject to litigation from investors and stockholders, which could harm our reputation, financial condition or divert financial and management resources from our core business.
If securities or industry analysts cease publishing research or reports about us, our business, our market or our competitors, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our Class A common stock, the market price of our Class A common stock and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our Class A common stock is influenced by the research and reports that securities or industry analysts may publish about us, our business, our market or our competitors. If any of the analysts who cover us adversely change their recommendations regarding our Class A common stock or provide more favorable recommendations about our competitors, the market price of our Class A common stock would likely decline. If any of the analysts who cover us were to cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the market price of our Class A common stock and trading volume to decline.
We do not expect to declare any dividends on our Class A common stock in the foreseeable future so any returns will be limited to changes in the value of our Class A common stock.
We do not anticipate declaring any cash dividends on our Class A common stock in the foreseeable future. In addition, our existing loan agreement with Silicon Valley Bank imposes restrictions on our ability to pay dividends. Consequently, investors may need to rely on sales of our Class A common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment. Investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase shares of our Class A common stock.