ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
An investment in the Company's common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below and in other reports filed by the Company before investing in our common stock. Before making a decision to invest in the Company's securities, you should carefully consider the following risk factors, as well as the risks described under "Risk Factors" in any applicable prospectus supplement and the risks described in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, or any updates to our risk factors described in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
If any of these risks occur, the Company's business, operating results and financial condition could be seriously harmed, which could in turn adversely affect your investment. The market price of our securities could decline due to any of these risks, and you could lose all or part of your investment. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those of which we are currently unaware or that we deem immaterial, could also affect our business or your investment in the Company's securities.
Risks Related to the Company's Business
Our Efforts to Attract and Retain Users may not be Successful. We have experienced significant user growth over the past several years. Our ability to continue to attract users will depend in part on our ability to effectively market our service, consistently provide our users with compelling content choices, as well as a quality experience for selecting and viewing factual entertainment. Furthermore, the relative service levels, content offerings, pricing and related features of competitors to our service may adversely impact our ability to attract and retain users. Competitors include other entertainment video providers, such as Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs) and Subscription Video on Demand (SvoD) services. If consumers do not perceive our service offering to be of value, including if we introduce new or adjust existing features, adjust pricing or service offerings or change the mix of content in a manner that is not favorably received by them, we may not be able to attract and retain users. In addition, we believe that many of our users rejoin our service or originate from word-of-mouth advertising from existing users. If our efforts to satisfy our existing users are not successful, we may not be able to attract users, and as a result, our ability to maintain and/or grow our business will be adversely affected. Users may cancel our service for many reasons, including: a perception that they do not use the service sufficiently, the need to cut household expenses, selection of content is unsatisfactory, competitive services provide a better value or experience and customer service issues are not satisfactorily resolved. Membership growth is also impacted by seasonality, with the first quarter historically representing our greatest growth, also affecting the timing of our content release schedules. We must continually add new users both to replace cancelled users and to grow our business beyond our current user base. If we do not grow as expected, we may not be able to adjust our expenditures or increase our per user revenues commensurate with the lowered growth rate, such that our margins, liquidity and results of operations may be adversely impacted, and our ability to operate may be strained. If we are unable to successfully compete with current and new competitors in both retaining our existing users and attracting new users, our business will be adversely affected. Further, if excessive numbers of users cancel our service, we may be required to incur significantly higher marketing expenditures than we currently anticipate to replace these users with new users.
Operating Results are Likely to Fluctuate Significantly. We expect our operating results to fluctuate significantly in the future based on a variety of factors, many of which are outside our control and difficult to predict. As a result, period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be a good indicator of our future or long-term performance. The following factors may affect us from period-to-period and may affect our long-term performance:
• our ability to maintain and develop new and existing revenue-generating relationships;
• our ability to improve or maintain gross margins in our business;
• the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures relating to expansion of our business, operations and infrastructure;
• our ability to significantly increase our subscriber base and retain customers;
• our ability to enforce our contracts and collect receivables from third parties;
• our ability to develop, acquire and maintain an adequate breadth and depth of content via original productions, co-productions, commissions and/or licenses;
• changes by our competitors to their product and service offerings;
• increased competition;
• our ability to detect and comply with data collection and privacy regulation and customer questions related thereto in every jurisdiction in which we operate;
• changes in promotional support or other aspects of our relationships with our partners through which we make our service available, including the MVPDs and/or the vMVPDs (virtual multichannel video programming distributors), through which we offer our content;
• our ability to effectively manage the development of new business segments and markets, and determine appropriate contract and licensing terms;
• our ability to maintain and develop new and existing marketing relationships;
• our ability to maintain, upgrade and develop our website, our applications through which we offer our service on our customers' devices and our internal computer systems;
• fluctuations in the use of the Internet for the purchase of consumer goods and services such as those offered by us;
• technical difficulties, system downtime or Internet disruptions;
• our ability to attract new and qualified personnel in a timely and effective manner and retain existing personnel;
• our ability to attract and retain sponsors and prove that our sponsorship offerings are effective enough to justify a pricing structure that is profitable for us;
• the success of our program sales to other media companies;
• our ability to successfully manage the integration of operations and technology resulting from possible future acquisitions;
• governmental regulation and taxation policies; and
• general economic conditions and economic conditions specific to the Internet, online commerce and the media industry.
Managing Growth. We have expanded rapidly since we launched our subscription service in March 2020 We anticipate that further expansion of our operations will be required to achieve significant growth in our products, lines of business and user base and to take advantage of favorable market opportunities. Any future expansion will likely place significant demands on our managerial, operational, administrative and financial resources. If we are not able to respond effectively to new or increased demands that arise because of our growth, or, if in responding, our management is materially distracted from our current operations, our business may be adversely affected. In addition, if we do not have sufficient breadth and depth of content necessary to satisfy increased demand arising from growth in our user base, our user satisfaction may be adversely affected.
We are continuing to expand our operations internationally, scaling our service to effectively and reliably handle anticipated growth in both users and features related to our service and ramping up our ability to produce original content. As our offerings evolve, we are managing and adjusting our business to address varied content offerings, consumer customs and practices, different technology infrastructure, different markets for factual video content, as well as differing legal and regulatory environments. As we scale our service, we are developing technology and utilizing third-party "cloud" computing services. As we ramp up our original content production, we are building out expertise in a number of disciplines, including creative, marketing, legal, finance, licensing and other resources related to the development and physical production of content. If we are not able to manage the growing complexity of our business, including improving, refining or revising our systems and operational practices related to our operations and original content, our business may be adversely affected.
Costs and Challenges Associated with Strategic Acquisitions and Investments. From time to time, we acquire or invest in businesses, content, and technologies that support our business. The risks associated with such acquisitions or investments include the difficulty of integrating solutions, operations, and personnel; inheriting liabilities and exposure to litigation; failure to realize anticipated benefits and expected synergies; and diversion of management's time and attention, among other acquisition-related risks. We may not be successful in overcoming such risks, and such acquisitions and investments may negatively impact our business.
In addition, a significant portion of the purchase price of companies we acquire may be allocated to acquire goodwill, which must be assessed for impairment at least annually. If our acquisitions do not yield expected returns, we may be required to take charges to our operating results based on this impairment assessment process. Acquisitions also could result in dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, which could adversely affect our operating results.
Furthermore, if we do not integrate an acquired business successfully and in a timely manner, we may not realize the benefits of the acquisition to the extent anticipated. If an acquired business fails to meet our expectations, our operating results, business and financial condition may suffer. Acquisitions and investments may contribute to fluctuations in our quarterly financial results. These fluctuations could arise from transaction-related costs and charges associated with eliminating redundant expenses or write-offs of impaired assets recorded in connection with acquisitions and investments, which could negatively impact our financial results.
Certain of Our Growth Strategies are Untested, Unproven or not yet fully Developed. We intend to increase our revenues through expanding our subscriber base by, among other things, continuing to expand into international markets, expanding into the mobile video market. There can be no assurance that these international partnerships will be successful or result in our meeting revenue targets.
If We Experience Excessive Rates of User Churn, Our Revenues and Business will be Harmed. In order to increase our revenues, we must minimize the rate of loss of existing users while adding new users to our Kast subscription service. Our experience during our operating history indicates that there are many variables that impact churn, including the type of plan selected, user engagement with the platform and length of a user's subscription to date. As a result, in periods of rapid user growth, we believe that our average churn is likely to increase as the average length of subscription to date decreases. Similarly, in periods of slow user growth, we believe that our average churn is likely to decrease since our average user duration is longer. However, these estimates are subject to change based on a number of factors, including the percentage of users selecting monthly vs. annual plans, increased rates of subscription cancellations and decreased rates of user acquisition. We cannot assure you that these estimates will be indicative of future performance or that the risks related to these estimates will not materialize. Users may cancel their subscription to our service for many reasons, including, among others, a perception that they do not use the service sufficiently, or the belief that the service is a poor value or that customer service issues are not satisfactorily resolved. We must continually add new users both to replace users who cancel and to continue to grow our business beyond our current user base. If too many of our users cancel our service, or if we are unable to attract new users in numbers sufficient to grow our business, our operating results will be adversely affected. Further, if excessive numbers of users cancel our service, we may be required to incur significantly higher marketing expenditures than we currently anticipate in order to replace these users with new users.
Risks Connected with Content We Acquire, Produce, License and/or Distribute, such as Unforeseen Costs and Potential Liability. As a producer and distributor of content, we face potential liability for negligence, copyright and trademark infringement, or other claims based on the nature and content of materials that we acquire, produce, license and/or distribute. We also may face potential liability for content used in promoting our service, including marketing materials. We are devoting more resources toward the development, production, marketing and distribution of original programming. We believe that original programming can help differentiate our service from other offerings, enhance our brand and otherwise attract and retain users. To the extent our original programming does not meet our expectations, in particular, in terms of costs, viewing and popularity, our business, including our brand and results of operations, may be adversely impacted. As we expand our original programming, we have become responsible for production costs and other expenses. We also take on risks associated with production, such as completion risk. To the extent we create and sell physical or digital merchandise relating to our original programming, and/or license such rights to third parties, we could become subject to product liability, intellectual property or other claims related to such products. We may decide to remove content from our service, not to place licensed or produced content on our service or discontinue or alter production of original content if we believe such content might not be well received by our users or could be damaging to our brand.
To the extent we do not accurately anticipate costs or mitigate risks, including for content that we obtain but ultimately does not appear on or is removed from our service, or if we become liable for content we acquire, produce, license and/or distribute, our business may suffer. Litigation to defend these claims could be costly and the expenses and damages arising from any liability or unforeseen production risks could harm our results of operations. We may not be indemnified against claims or costs of these types and we may not have insurance coverage for these types of claims.
Payment Processing Risks. Our users pay for our service using a variety of different payment methods, including credit and debit cards, gift cards, direct debit and online wallets. We rely on third parties to process payment. Acceptance and processing of these payment methods are subject to certain rules and regulations and require payment of interchange and other fees. To the extent there are disruptions in our payment processing systems, increases in payment processing fees, material changes in the payment ecosystem, such as large re-issuances of payment cards, delays in receiving payments from payment processors and/or changes to rules or regulations concerning payment processing, our revenue, operating expenses and results of operation could be adversely impacted. In addition, the recent military invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other nations on Russia, Belarus and certain Russian organizations and individuals may disrupt payments we receive for distribution of our content in Russian territories. In certain instances, we leverage third parties such as our MVPDs and other partners to bill subscribers on our behalf. If these third parties become unwilling or unable to continue processing payments on our behalf, we would have to find alternative methods of collecting payments, which could adversely impact user acquisition and retention. In addition, from time to time, we encounter fraudulent use of payment methods, which could impact our results of operation and if not adequately controlled and managed could create negative perceptions of our service.
If We Fail to Maintain or, in Newer Markets Establish, a Positive Reputation with Consumers Concerning Our Service, Including the Content We Offer, We may not be Able to Attract or Retain Users, and Our Operating Results may be Adversely Affected. We believe that a positive reputation with consumers concerning our service is important in attracting and retaining users who have many choices when it comes to where to obtain video entertainment. To the extent our content is perceived as low quality, offensive or otherwise not compelling to consumers, our ability to establish and maintain a positive reputation may be adversely impacted. To the extent our content is deemed controversial or offensive by government regulators, we may face direct or indirect retaliatory action or behavior, including being required to remove such content from our service, and our entire service could be banned and/or become subject to heightened regulatory scrutiny across our business and operations. In light of the recent military invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other nations on Russia, Belarus and certain Russian organizations and individuals, our contracts to sell and distribute our content to Russian distributors in Russian territories may cast us in a negative light with consumers, governmental authorities, business partners or other stakeholders and injure our reputation. Furthermore, to the extent our marketing, customer service and public relations efforts are not effective or result in negative consumer reaction, our ability to establish and maintain a positive reputation may likewise be adversely impacted. Lastly, to the extent we suffer any security vulnerabilities, bugs, errors or other performance failures, our ability to establish and maintain a positive reputation may be adversely impacted. With newer markets, we also need to establish our reputation with consumers and to the extent we are not successful in creating positive impressions, our business in these newer markets may be adversely impacted.
Risks Associated with the Company's eSports and Gaming Business
Licensing. Currently, other than business and operations licenses applicable to most commercial ventures, the Company is not required to obtain any governmental approval for its business operations. There can be no assurance, however, that governmental institutions will not, in the future, impose licensing or other requirements on the Company. Additionally, as noted below, there are a variety of laws and regulations that may, directly or indirectly, have an impact on the Company's business.
Privacy Legislation and Regulations. While the Company is not currently subject to licensing requirements, entities engaged in operations over the Internet, particularly relating to the collection of user information, are subject to limitations on their ability to utilize such information under federal and state legislation and regulation. In 2000, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act required that the collection of identifiable information regarding users of financial services be subject to stringent disclosure and "opt-out" provisions. While this law and the regulations enacted by the Federal Trade Commission and others relates primarily to information relating to financial transactions and financial institutions, the broad definitions of those terms may make the businesses entered into by the Company and its strategic partners subject to the provisions of the Act. This, in turn, may increase the cost of doing business and make it unattractive to collect and transfer information regarding users of services. This, in turn, may reduce the revenues of the Company and its strategic partners, thus reducing potential revenues and profitability. Similarly, the Children On-line Privacy and Protection Act ("COPPA") imposes strict limitations on the ability of Internet ventures to collect information from minors. The impact of COPPA may be to increase the cost of doing business on the Internet and reducing potential revenue sources. The Company may also be impacted by the US Patriot Act, which requires certain companies to collect and provide information to United States governmental authorities. A number of state governments have also proposed or enacted privacy legislation that reflects or, in some cases, extends the limitations imposed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and COPPA. These laws may further impact the cost of doing business on the Internet and the attractiveness of Live Current's inventory of domain names.
Advertising Regulations. In response to concerns regarding "spam" (unsolicited electronic messages), "pop-up" web pages and other Internet advertising, the federal government and a number of states have adopted or proposed laws and regulations which would limit the use of unsolicited Internet advertisements. While a number of factors may prevent the effectiveness of such laws and regulations, the cumulative effect may be to limit the attractiveness of effecting and promoting sales on the Internet, thus reducing the value of the Company's advertising driven revenue model.
There are currently few laws or regulations that specifically regulate communications or commerce on the Internet. However, laws and regulations may be adopted in the future that address issues such as user privacy, pricing and the characteristics and quality of products and services. For example, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 sought to prohibit transmitting various types of information and content over the Internet. Several telecommunications companies have petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to regulate Internet service providers and on-line service providers in a manner similar to long distance telephone carriers and to impose access fees on those companies. This could increase the cost of transmitting data over the Internet. Moreover, it may take years to determine the extent to which existing laws relating to issues such as intellectual property ownership, libel and personal privacy are applicable to the Internet. Any new laws or regulations relating to the Internet or any new interpretations of existing laws could have a negative impact on Live Current's business and add additional costs to doing business on the Internet.
Competition. The Company competes with many companies possessing greater financial resources and technical facilities than itself in the B2C (business-to-consumer) market as well as for the recruitment and retention of qualified personnel. In addition, some of these competitors have been in business for longer than us and may have established more strategic partnerships and relationships than the Company.
Dependence on One or a Few Major Customers. The Company does not currently depend on any single customer for a significant proportion of its business. However, as the Company enters into strategic transactions, the Company may choose to grant exclusive rights to a small number of parties or otherwise limit its activities that could, in turn, create such dependence. The Company, however, has no current plans to do so.
Patents, Trademarks and Proprietary Rights. On November 16, 2007, the Company filed a trademark application with the US Patent & Trademark Office ("USPTO") for the mark "LIVE CURRENT". A certificate of registration was issued on October 14, 2008 and the mark was assigned registration number 3,517,876.
The Company will consider seeking further trademark protection for its online businesses; however, the Company may be unable to avail itself of trademark protection under United States laws. Consequently, the Company will seek trademark protection only where it has determined that the cost of obtaining protection, and the scope of protection provided, results in a meaningful benefit to the Company.
Market Acceptance. Both SPRT MTRX and Trivia Matrix are new products in a product-abundant gaming market and there is no guarantee that they will be accepted by the market. In addition to acceptance, should they be accepted, there is no guarantee that they will maintain their popularity in a notoriously fickle gaming market.
Suspension of Live, Professional Sports. SPRT MTRX relies on live, professional sports to provide game content. Without live professional sports, SPRT MTRX will be forced to change its business model. This could possibly include developing artificial intelligence induced content. There could be significant costs associated with this change and there is no guarantee that it would meet with public acceptance.
Risks Related to the Company's Securities
Additional financing will be required. The Company anticipates that it will require significant additional financing to fund its proposed business development plans. The costs of developing the Company's platforms is anticipated to be substantially greater than the Company's existing financial resources, and the Company anticipates that it will require substantial financing to develop and operate its businesses over the next 12 months.
If the Company is unable to obtain additional financing when needed, the Company may not be able to complete its business development plans or its business could fail. The Company will scale back its development plans depending upon its existing financial resources.
The Company's ability to obtain future financing will be subject to a number of factors, including the variability of the global economy, investor interest in our planned business projects, and the performance of equity markets in general. These factors may make the timing, amount, terms or conditions of additional financing unavailable to the Company. If the Company is not able to obtain financing when needed or in an amount sufficient to enable us to complete our programs, the Company may be required to scale back its business development plans.
Additional financings that are equity financing will dilute existing stockholders. The most likely source of future financing presently available to the Company is through the sale of shares of its common stock. Issuing shares of common stock, for financing purposes or otherwise, will dilute the interests of existing stockholders.
The Company's stock price is volatile. The stock markets in general, and the stock prices of Internet companies in particular, have experienced extreme volatility that often has been unrelated to the operating performance of any specific public company. The market price of the Company's Common Stock is likely to fluctuate in the future, especially if the Company's Common Stock is thinly traded. Factors that may have a significant impact on the market price of the Company's Common Stock include:
(a) actual or anticipated variations in the Company's results of operations;
(b) the Company's ability or inability to generate new revenues;
(c) increased competition;
(d) government regulations, including Internet regulations;
(e) conditions and trends in the Internet industry;
(f) proprietary rights; or
(g) rumors or allegations regarding the Company's financial disclosures or practices.
The Company's stock price may be impacted by factors that are unrelated or disproportionate to its operating performance. These market fluctuations, as well as general economic, political and market conditions, such as recessions, interest rates or international currency fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of the Company's Common Stock.
The Company does not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. The Company has never paid cash dividends on its Common Stock and has no plans to do so in the foreseeable future. The Company intends to retain earnings, if any, to develop and expand its business.
"Penny Stock" rules may make buying or selling the Company's Common Stock difficult, and severely limit its market and liquidity. Trading in the Company's Common Stock is subject to certain regulations adopted by the SEC commonly known as the "penny stock" rules. The Company's Common Stock qualifies as penny stocks and are covered by Section 15(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which imposes additional sales practice requirements on broker/dealers who sell the Common Stock in the aftermarket. The "penny stock" rules govern how broker-dealers can deal with their clients and "penny stocks". For sales of The Company's Common Stock, the broker/dealer must make a special suitability determination and receive from you a written agreement prior to making a sale to you. The additional burdens imposed upon broker-dealers by the "penny stock" rules may discourage broker-dealers from effecting transactions in The Company's Common Stock, which could severely limit their market price and liquidity of its Common Stock. This could prevent you from reselling your shares and may cause the price of the Common Stock to decline.
Lack of operating revenues. The Company has limited operating revenues and is expected to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Management has assessed the Company's ability to continue as a going concern and the financial statements included with this registration statement includes disclosure that there is a substantial doubt as to the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. The audit report of the Company's principal independent accountants for the years ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 includes a statement regarding the uncertainty of the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. The Company's failure to achieve profitability and positive operating revenues could have a material adverse effect on its financial condition and results of operations and could cause the Company's business to fail.
No assurance that forward-looking assessments will be realized. The Company's ability to accomplish its objectives and whether or not we are financially successful is dependent upon numerous factors, each of which could have a material effect on the results obtained. Some of these factors are in the discretion and control of management and others are beyond management's control. The assumptions and hypotheses used in preparing any forward-looking assessments contained herein are considered reasonable by management. There can be no assurance, however, that any projections or assessments contained herein or otherwise made by management will be realized or achieved at any level.
Uncertainty due to Global Outbreak of COVID-19. In March of 2020, the World Health Organization declared an outbreak of COVID-19 to be a global pandemic. The COVID-19 has impacted a vast array of businesses through the restrictions put in place by most governments internationally, including the USA federal government as well as provincial and municipal governments, regarding travel, business operations and isolation/quarantine orders. At this time, it is unknown to what extent the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak may have on the Company as this will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and that cannot be predicted with confidence. These uncertainties arise from the inability to predict the ultimate geographic spread of the disease, and the duration of the outbreak, including the duration of travel restrictions, business closures or disruptions, and quarantine/isolation measures that are currently, or may be put, in place world-wide to fight the virus. While the extent of the impact is unknown, the COVID-19 outbreak may hinder the Company's ability to raise financing for exploration or operating costs due to uncertain capital markets, supply chain disruptions, increased government regulations and other unanticipated factors, all of which may also negatively impact the Company's business and financial condition.
FOR ALL OF THE AFORESAID REASONS AND OTHERS SET FORTH AND NOT SET FORTH HEREIN, AN INVESTMENT IN OUR SECURITIES INVOLVES A CERTAIN DEGREE OF RISK. ANY PERSON CONSIDERING INVESTING IN OUR SECURITIES SHOULD BE AWARE OF THESE AND OTHER FACTORS SET FORTH IN THIS REPORT AND IN THE OTHER REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS THAT WE FILE FROM TIME TO TIME WITH THE SEC AND SHOULD CONSULT WITH HIS/HER LEGAL, TAX AND FINANCIAL ADVISORS PRIOR TO MAKING AN INVESTMENT IN OUR SECURITIES. AN INVESTMENT IN OUR SECURITIES SHOULD ONLY BE ACQUIRED BY PERSONS WHO CAN AFFORD TO LOSE THEIR TOTAL INVESTMENT.