Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Risk Factors
A description of the risks and uncertainties associated with our business is set forth below. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including our condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes and the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects. In such an event, the market price of our Class A common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe are not material may also impair our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
We have a limited operating history and have been growing rapidly over the last several years, which makes it difficult to forecast our future results of operations and increases the risk of your investment.
Our revenue was $167.3 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and $111.2 million and $72.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. However, you should not rely on our historical revenue growth as an indication of our future performance.
As a result of our limited operating history and our rapid growth over the last several years, our ability to accurately forecast our future results of operations is limited and subject to a number of uncertainties, including our ability to effectively plan for and model future growth.
Our revenue growth rate may decline over time. In future periods, our revenue growth could slow or our revenue could decline for a number of reasons, including slowing demand for our Digital Optimization System, increased competition, changes to technology, a decrease in the growth of our overall market, or our failure, for any reason, to manage our growth effectively or continue to take advantage of growth opportunities. We have also encountered, and will continue to encounter, risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly changing industries, such as the risks and uncertainties described in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. If our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties and our future revenue growth are incorrect or change, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our financial condition and results of operations could differ materially from our expectations, and our business could be materially adversely affected.
We have a history of losses. As our costs increase, we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to achieve and sustain profitability.
We have experienced net losses in each period since inception. We generated net losses of $75.0 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and $46.8 million and $16.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. As of June 30, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $226.6 million. We expect our costs and expenses to increase in future periods. In particular, we intend to continue to invest significant resources in:
the development of our Digital Optimization System, including investments in our research and development team, the development or acquisition of new products, features, and functionality, and improvements to the scalability, availability, and security of our platform;
our technology infrastructure, including expansion of our activities in third-party data centers that we may lease, enhancements to our network operations and infrastructure, and hiring of additional employees;
sales and marketing;
additional international expansion, in an effort to increase our customer base and sales; and
general administration, including legal, accounting, and other expenses.
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In addition, part of our business strategy is to focus on our long-term growth. As a result, our profitability may be lower in the near-term than it would be if our strategy were to maximize short-term profitability. Significant expenditures on sales and marketing efforts, expanding our platform, products, features, and functionality, and expanding our research and development, each of which we intend to continue to invest in, may not ultimately grow our business or cause long-term profitability. If we are ultimately unable to achieve profitability at the level anticipated by industry or financial analysts and our stockholders, our stock price may decline.
Our efforts to grow our business may be costlier than we expect, or our revenue growth rate may be slower than we expect, and we may not be able to increase our revenue enough to offset the increase in operating expenses resulting from these investments. If we are unable to continue to grow our revenue, the value of our business and Class A common stock may significantly decrease.
Our business depends on our current customers renewing their subscriptions and purchasing additional subscriptions from us as well as attracting new customers. Any decline in our customer retention or expansion of our commercial relationships with existing customers or an inability to attract new customers would materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In order for us to maintain or improve our revenue growth and our results of operations, it is important that our customers renew their subscriptions when existing contract terms expire and that we expand our commercial relationships with our existing customers and attract new customers. We also seek to convert customers on our free-tier, self-service option to paid subscription contracts. Our customers have no obligation to renew their subscriptions, and our customers may not renew subscriptions with similar contract periods or at all. Some of our customers have elected not to renew their agreements with us, and it is difficult to accurately predict long-term customer retention. In addition, our ability to attract new customers will depend on market acceptance of our Digital Optimization System and the successful implementation of our marketing strategy.
Our customer retention and expansion and the rate at which we attract new customers may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including our customers’ satisfaction with our Digital Optimization System; our support capabilities; our prices and pricing plans; the prices and value of competing products; reductions in our customers’ spending levels; new product releases; mergers and acquisitions affecting our customer base; or the effects of global economic conditions. We may be unable to timely address any retention issues with specific customers, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations. If our customers do not purchase additional subscriptions or renew their subscriptions, or if they renew on less favorable terms, or if we are unable to attract new customers, our revenue may decline or grow less quickly, which would materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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We expect fluctuations in our financial results and key metrics, making it difficult to project future results. If we fail to meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors with respect to our results of operations, our stock price could decline.
Our results of operations and key metrics have fluctuated in the past and are expected to fluctuate in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control. As a result, our past results may not be indicative of our future performance. In addition to the other risks described herein, other factors that may cause our results of operations or key metrics to fluctuate include:
fluctuations in demand for, or pricing of, our Digital Optimization System, including as a result of our introduction of new products, features, and functionality;
fluctuations in usage of our Digital Optimization System;
our ability to attract new customers;
our ability to retain existing customers;
customer expansion rates;
investments in new products, features, and functionality;
the timing of our customers’ purchases;
the speed with which customers are able to migrate data onto our platform after purchasing capacity;
awareness of our brand on a global basis;
fluctuations or delays in purchasing decisions in anticipation of new products, features, or functionality developed or acquired by us or our competitors;
changes in customers’ budgets and in the timing of their budget cycles and purchasing decisions;
our ability to control costs, including our operating expenses;
the amount and timing of costs associated with our cloud computing infrastructure, particularly the cloud services provided by Amazon Web Services (“AWS”);
the amount and timing of payment for operating expenses, particularly research and development and sales and marketing expenses;
the amount and timing of non-cash expenses, including stock-based compensation, goodwill impairments, and other non-cash charges;
the amount and timing of costs associated with recruiting, training, and integrating new employees and retaining and motivating existing employees;
the effects of mergers, acquisitions or strategic partnerships, and their integration;
the ability to identify and complete merger, acquisition or strategic partnership opportunities;
general economic, market, and industry conditions (including the current inflationary economic environment and rising interest rates), both domestically and internationally, as well as economic conditions specifically affecting industries in which our customers participate, and related difficulties in collections;
the potential adverse impact of climate change, natural disasters, health epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and war or other armed conflict, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on our business, operations, and the markets and communities in which we and our customers and partners operate;
the impact of new accounting pronouncements;
changes in regulatory or legal environments that may cause us to incur, among other things, expenses associated with compliance, particularly with respect to compliance with evolving privacy and data protection laws and regulations, as well as export control, economic and trade sanction, anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering laws;
the overall tax rate for our business, which may be affected by the mix of income we earn in the United States and in jurisdictions with comparatively lower tax rates, the effects of stock-based compensation, and the effects of changes in our business;
the impact of changes in tax laws or judicial or regulatory interpretations of tax laws, which are recorded in the period such laws are enacted or interpretations are issued and may significantly affect the effective tax rate of that period;
fluctuations in currency exchange rates and changes in the proportion of our revenue and expenses denominated in foreign currencies;
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changes in the competitive dynamics of our market, including consolidation among competitors or customers; and
significant security breaches of, technical difficulties with, or interruptions to, the delivery and use of our platform.
Any of these and other factors, or the cumulative effect of some of these factors, may cause our results of operations to vary significantly. If our quarterly results of operations fall below the expectations of investors and securities analysts who follow our stock, the price of our Class A common stock could decline substantially, and we could face costly lawsuits, including securities class action litigation.
We expect to continue to focus on sales to larger organizations and may become more dependent on those relationships, which may increase the variability of our sales cycles and our results of operations.
As we continue to focus on, and may become more dependent on, sales to larger organizations, we expect our sales cycles to lengthen and become less predictable. 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. Any shift in sales cycle may adversely affect our financial results. Factors that may influence the length and variability of our sales cycle include:
the need to educate prospective customers about the uses and benefits of our Digital Optimization System;
the discretionary nature of purchasing and budget cycles and decisions;
the competitive nature of evaluation and purchasing processes;
evolving functionality demands;
announcements or planned introductions of new products, features, or functionality by us or our competitors; and
lengthy purchasing approval processes.
Our increasing dependence on sales to larger organizations may increase the variability of our financial results. If we are unable to close one or more expected significant transactions with these customers in a particular period, or if an expected transaction is delayed until a subsequent period, our results of operations for that period, and for any future periods in which revenue from such transaction would otherwise have been recognized, may be adversely affected.
We recognize revenue over the term of our customer contracts. Consequently, downturns or upturns in new sales may not be immediately reflected in our results of operations and may be difficult to discern.
We generally recognize subscription revenue from customers ratably over the contracted period. As a result, a portion of the revenue we report in each quarter is derived from the recognition of deferred revenue relating to subscriptions entered into during previous quarters. Consequently, a decline in new or renewed subscriptions in a given quarter may have a small impact on our revenue results for that quarter. However, such a decline will negatively affect our revenue in future quarters. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in sales and market acceptance of our Digital Optimization System, including as a result of a general economic downturn, and potential changes in our pricing policies or rate of expansion or retention, may not be fully reflected in our results of operations until future periods. We may also be unable to reduce our cost structure in line with a significant deterioration in sales. In addition, a significant majority of our costs are expensed as incurred, while revenue is recognized over the contracted period of the agreement with our customer. As a result, increased growth in the number of our customers could continue to result in our recognition of more costs than revenue in the earlier periods of the terms of our agreements. Our subscription model also makes it difficult for us to rapidly increase our revenue through additional sales in any period, as revenue from new customers must be recognized over the applicable subscription term.
Unfavorable conditions in our industry or the global economy, or reductions in software spending, could limit our ability to grow our business and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our results of operations may vary based on the impact of changes in our industry or the global economy on us or our customers or potential customers. Our ability to grow revenue and the profitability of our business depend on demand for software applications generally. Historically, during economic downturns there have been reductions in spending on software applications and services generally as well as pressure for extended billing terms and other financial concessions. To the extent that economic conditions deteriorate, both in the United States and abroad, including as a result of inflationary pressures and the responses by central banking authorities to control such inflation, rising interest rates, debt and equity market fluctuations, diminished liquidity and credit availability, increased unemployment rates, decreased investor and consumer confidence, political turmoil, supply chain challenges, natural catastrophes and the effects of climate change, regional and global conflicts, and terrorist attacks on the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific region, or elsewhere, our customers and prospective customers may go out of business or elect to decrease their
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budgets, which would limit our ability to grow our business and materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. For example, historically high levels of inflation and rising interest rates in the United States have begun to affect businesses across many industries, including ours, by increasing the costs of labor, employee healthcare, components, and freight and shipping, which may further constrain our customers’ or prospective customers’ budgets. To the extent there is a sustained general economic downturn and our Digital Optimization System is perceived by customers or potential customers as costly, or too difficult to deploy or migrate to, our revenue may be disproportionately affected by delays or reductions in spending on software applications. In addition, our competitors, many of whom are larger and have greater financial resources than we do, may respond to challenging market conditions by lowering prices in an attempt to attract our customers, and they may be less dependent on key industry events to generate sales for their products. Further, macroeconomic uncertainty may result in an increased pace of consolidation in certain industries. If this were to occur it may result in reduced overall spending on our services, particularly if our customers are acquired by organizations that do not use our services. We cannot predict the timing, strength, or duration of any economic slowdown, instability, or recovery, generally or within any particular industry. If the economic conditions of the general economy or markets in which we operate worsen from present levels, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
If the market for SaaS applications develops more slowly than we expect or declines, our business would be adversely affected.
Our success will depend to a substantial extent on the widespread adoption of SaaS applications in general, and of SaaS applications that look to solve aspects of digital optimization. Many organizations have invested substantial personnel and financial resources to integrate traditional on-premise business software applications into their businesses, and therefore may be reluctant or unwilling to migrate to SaaS applications. It is difficult to predict customer adoption rates and demand for our Digital Optimization System, the future growth rate and size of the SaaS applications market, or the entry of competitive applications. The expansion of the SaaS applications market depends on a number of factors, including the cost, performance, and perceived value associated with SaaS, as well as the ability of SaaS providers to address data security and privacy concerns. Additionally, government agencies have adopted, or may adopt, laws and regulations, and companies have adopted and may adopt policies regarding the collection and use of personal information obtained from consumers and other individuals, or may seek to access information on our platform, either of which may reduce the overall demand for our Digital Optimization System. If we or other SaaS providers experience data security incidents, loss of customer data, disruptions in delivery, or other problems, the market for SaaS applications, including our Digital Optimization System, may be negatively affected. If SaaS applications do not continue to achieve market acceptance, or there is a reduction in demand for SaaS applications caused by a lack of customer acceptance, technological challenges, weakening economic conditions, data security or privacy concerns, governmental regulation, competing technologies and products, or decreases in spending on SaaS applications, it would result in decreased revenue and our business, financial condition, and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.
The market in which we operate is highly competitive, and if we do not compete effectively, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
The market for applications that looks to address digital optimization is fragmented, rapidly evolving, and highly competitive, with relatively low barriers to entry. As this market continues to mature and new technologies and competitors enter the market, we expect competition to intensify. We face competition from:
large companies that have greater name recognition, much longer operating histories, more established customers and commercial partners, and significantly greater resources than we do, such as larger sales forces and marketing budgets, broader distribution networks and global presence, and more mature intellectual property portfolios;
in-house software systems;
large integrated systems vendors;
smaller companies offering alternative SaaS applications; and
new or emerging entrants seeking to develop competing technologies.
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 Digital Optimization System, 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, losses, or the failure of our Digital Optimization System to achieve or maintain more widespread market acceptance, any of which could harm our business.
Our competitors vary in size and in the breadth and scope of the products and services they offer. Further, other established SaaS providers not currently focused on digital optimization may expand their services to compete with us. Many of our current and
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potential competitors have established marketing relationships, access to larger customer bases, pre-existing customer relationships, and major distribution agreements with consultants, system integrators, and resellers. Certain of our competitors have partnered with, or have acquired, and may in the future partner with or acquire, other competitors to offer services, leveraging their collective competitive positions, which makes, or would make, it more difficult to compete with them. For all of these reasons, we may not be able to compete successfully against our current and future competitors, which would harm our business. For more information about the competitive landscape in which we operate, see "Business—Competition" in our 2021 Form 10-K.
If we fail to innovate in response to changing customer needs and technology developments and other market requirements, our business, financial condition, and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.
Our ability to attract new customers and retain and increase revenue from existing customers depends in large part on our ability to enhance and improve our Digital Optimization System and to introduce new products, features, and functionality. In order to grow our business, we must develop products, features, and functionality that reflect the changing needs of customers, and we believe that the pace of innovation will continue to accelerate. The success of any enhancement to our Digital Optimization System depends on several factors, including timely completion, adequate quality testing, and market acceptance. Any new product, feature, or functionality that we develop may not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner, may contain defects, or may not achieve the market acceptance necessary to generate sufficient revenue. If we are unable to successfully develop new products, features or functionality, enhance our Digital Optimization System to meet customer requirements, or otherwise gain market acceptance, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Because our Digital Optimization System is available over the internet, we need to continuously modify and enhance it to keep pace with changes in internet-related hardware, software, analytics, and database technologies and standards. In addition, we need to continue to invest in technologies, services, and partnerships that increase the types of data processed on our platform and the ease with which customers can send data into our platform. We must also continue to enhance our data sharing and data exchange capabilities so customers can share their data with internal business units, customers, and other third parties. In addition, our platform requires third-party public cloud infrastructure to operate. We must continue to innovate to optimize our offerings for these and other public clouds that our customers require, particularly as we expand internationally. Further, the markets in which we compete are subject to evolving industry standards and regulations, resulting in increasing data governance and compliance requirements for us and our customers. To the extent we expand into the public sector and other highly regulated industries, our Digital Optimization System may need to address additional requirements specific to those industries.
If we are unable to enhance our Digital Optimization System to keep pace with these rapidly evolving customer requirements, or if new technologies emerge that are able to deliver competitive products at lower prices, more efficiently, more conveniently, or more securely than our platform, our business, financial condition, and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.
If we fail to effectively manage our growth and changes to our business over time, our business, financial condition, and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.
We have experienced and expect to continue to experience rapid growth in our business, personnel and operations, which has placed, and may continue to place, significant demands on our management and operational and financial resources. We intend to continue to invest to expand our business, personnel and operations, which may cause our margins to decline, and any investments we make will occur in advance of experiencing the benefits from such investments, making it difficult to determine in a timely manner if we are efficiently allocating our resources. As usage of our Digital Optimization System grows, we will need to devote additional resources to improving our platform’s features and functionality, developing or acquiring new products, and maintaining infrastructure performance. Even if we are able to upgrade our systems and expand our personnel, any such expansion will be expensive and complex, requiring management’s time and attention. We could also face inefficiencies or operational failures as a result of our efforts to scale our infrastructure. Moreover, there are inherent risks associated with upgrading, improving, and expanding our information technology systems. We cannot be sure that the expansion and improvements to our infrastructure and systems will be fully or effectively implemented on a timely basis, if at all. In addition, we will need to appropriately scale our internal business systems and our services organization, including customer support, to serve our growing customer base, particularly as our customer demographics change over time. Managing these changes will require significant expenditures and allocation of valuable management resources. If we fail to successfully manage our anticipated growth and change, the quality of our products may suffer, which could negatively affect our brand and reputation and harm our ability to retain and attract customers. As we continue to grow, we may need to implement more complex organizational management structures or adapt our corporate culture and work environments to changing circumstances, which could have an adverse impact on our corporate culture. Any failure to preserve our culture could harm our business, including our ability to retain and recruit personnel, innovate and operate effectively, and execute on our business strategy.
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The COVID-19 pandemic or similar outbreaks could have an adverse impact on our business and operations, and the markets and communities in which we, our partners and customers operate, and the impact of the pandemic is difficult to assess or predict.
The continued impact and ultimate duration of the COVID-19 pandemic (including the Omicron variant and any new variants or mutant strains of the virus) on the global economy and our business are difficult to assess or predict. Actual and potential impacts include:
Our customer prospects and our existing customers may experience slowdowns in their businesses, which in turn may result in reduced demand for our Digital Optimization System, lengthening of sales cycles, loss of customers, and difficulties in collections.
Our employees are working from home significantly more frequently than they did historically prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may result in decreased employee productivity and morale with increased unwanted employee attrition.
We continue to incur fixed costs, particularly for real estate, and are deriving reduced or no benefit from those costs.
We may continue to experience disruptions to our growth planning, such as for facilities and international expansion.
We have incurred and may continue to incur costs in returning to work at our offices around the world, including changes to the workplace, such as space planning, food service, and amenities.
We may be subject to legal liability for unsafe workplace claims.
Our critical vendors could go out of business.
Our in-person marketing events, including customer user conferences, have been cancelled, and we may continue to experience prolonged delays in our ability to reschedule or conduct in-person marketing events and other sales and marketing activities.
We may be required to continue to conduct or from time to time return to conducting our business on a fully virtual basis, as opposed to the mix of virtual and in-person interactions with customers and partners that our marketing, sales, professional services, and support organizations were accustomed to prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic largely resulted in favorable trends for our business, as customers were able to leverage the digital optimization of their products as sales increasingly shifted online. It can be difficult to predict customer demand, especially as customers’ priorities, resources, and economic outlook change, along with other shifting market conditions. These shifts have occurred and may in the future occur more quickly than we anticipate. For example, as stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions, and other quarantine and isolation measures are lifted, the amount of time that consumers spend interacting with digital products may normalize or decline, which could slow customer demand for our Digital Optimization System. If we are unable to respond quickly to rapidly changing market conditions and shifts in customer behavior, our business and results of operations could be harmed, and the trading price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected.
Although global economic conditions generally improved with the rollout of vaccines, business activity may not recover as quickly as anticipated, including as a result of inflationary pressures and the responses by central banking authorities to control such inflation, rising interest rates, debt and equity market fluctuations, diminished liquidity and credit availability, increased unemployment rates, decreased investor and consumer confidence, political turmoil, and supply chain challenges. Conditions may vary between countries and regions and will be subject to the effectiveness and duration of government policies, vaccine administration rates, and other factors that may not be foreseeable. Vaccines for COVID-19 continue to be administered in the United States and other countries around the world, but the extent and rate of vaccine adoption, the long-term efficacy of these vaccines, and other factors remain uncertain. We currently require employees in North America to be fully vaccinated to utilize our office space or attend in-person company events and have implemented other health and safety protocols, which have created and may continue to create additional risks and operational challenges and may require us to make additional investments in the design, implementation, and enforcement of new workplace health and safety protocols. Even if we follow what we believe to be best practices, our efforts to reopen our offices safely may not be successful and could expose our employees, partners, and customers to health risks, and us to associated liability. Furthermore, additional and/or extended governmental restrictions, new regulations, or other changing conditions could cause us to temporarily close certain of our offices. We have offered, and plan to continue to offer, a significant percentage of our employees flexibility to shift to a hybrid work arrangement, which may adversely impact the productivity of certain employees and harm our business, including our future results of operations. This may also present risks for our strategy and may present operational, cybersecurity, and workplace culture challenges that may materially adversely affect our business. It is not possible to predict with any certainty the impact that our current policies and protocols could have on our company, our workforce, and our operations. In addition, we cannot predict what policies we may determine to, or be required to, implement in the future, or the effect thereof on our business, including whether the imposition of certain policies could cause us to lose, or experience difficulties hiring, qualified personnel.
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Finally, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, or the easing of COVID-19-related restrictions, also may heighten other risks, including significant volatility in global markets and the trading price of our Class A common stock. The extent of the impact that COVID-19 could have on worldwide economic activity and our business in particular depends on future developments that cannot be accurately predicted at this time, such as the duration and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, future waves of COVID-19 infections (including the spread of variants or mutant strains of the virus) resulting in additional preventive measures to contain or mitigate the spread of the virus, the extent and effectiveness of containment actions, the administration, adoption, and efficacy of vaccination programs, and the impact of these and other factors on our employees, customers, partners, and vendors. If we are not able to respond to and manage the impact of such events effectively, our business will be harmed. Moreover, to the extent the COVID-19 pandemic materially adversely affects our business, financial condition, and results of operations, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, including, but not limited to, those related to our ability to expand within our existing customer base, acquire new customers, develop and expand our sales and marketing capabilities, and expand internationally.
If our security measures are breached or there is otherwise unauthorized disclosure of or access to customer data, our data, or our platform, our platform may be perceived as insecure, we may lose customers or fail to attract new customers, our reputation and brand may be harmed, and we may incur significant liabilities.
Use of our platform involves the storage, transmission, and processing of our customers’ proprietary data, including personal or identifying information of their customers or employees. Unauthorized disclosure of or access to or security breaches of our platform could result in the loss of data, loss of business, severe reputational damage adversely affecting customer or investor confidence, damage to our brand, diversion of management’s attention, regulatory investigations and orders, litigation, indemnity obligations, damages for contract breach, penalties for violation of applicable laws or regulations, and significant costs for remediation that may include liability for stolen assets or information and repair of system damage that may have been caused, incentives offered to customers or other business partners in an effort to maintain business relationships after a breach, and other liabilities. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant expenses to prevent security breaches, including deploying additional personnel and protection technologies, training employees, and engaging third-party experts and consultants. Even though we do not control the security measures of third parties who may have access to our customer data, our data or our platform, we may be responsible for any breach of such measures or suffer reputational harm even where we do not have recourse to the third party that caused the breach. In addition, any failure by our vendors to comply with applicable law or regulations could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities or others.
Cyberattacks, denial-of-service attacks, ransomware attacks, business email compromises, computer malware, malicious code, viruses, and social engineering (including phishing) are prevalent in our industry and our customers’ industries. In addition, we may experience attacks, unavailable systems, unauthorized access to systems or data or disclosure due to employee theft or misuse, denial-of-service attacks, sophisticated nation-state and nation-state supported actors, and advanced persistent threat intrusions. Electronic security attacks designed to gain access to personal, sensitive, or confidential data are constantly evolving, and such attacks continue to grow in sophistication. The techniques used to sabotage or to obtain unauthorized access to our platform, systems, networks, or physical facilities in which data is stored or through which data is transmitted change frequently, and we may be unable to implement adequate preventative measures or stop security breaches while they are occurring. We may also experience security breaches that may remain undetected for an extended period. Even if identified, we may be unable to adequately investigate or remediate incidents or breaches due to attackers increasingly using tools and techniques that are designed to circumvent controls, to avoid detection, and to remove or obfuscate forensic evidence. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may also face increased cybersecurity risks due to our reliance on internet technology and the number of our and our service providers’ employees who are (and may continue to be) working remotely, which may create additional opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities. We have previously been, and may in the future become, the target of cyberattacks by third parties seeking unauthorized access to our or our customers’ data or to disrupt our operations or ability to provide our services.
Because data security is a critical competitive factor in our industry, we make numerous statements in our customer contracts, privacy policies, terms of service, and marketing materials, providing assurances about the security of our platform including detailed descriptions of security measures we employ. Should any of these statements be untrue or become untrue, even in circumstances beyond our reasonable control, we may face claims of misrepresentation or deceptiveness by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”), state, federal and foreign regulators, and private litigants.
Further, we have contractual and legal obligations to notify relevant stakeholders of security breaches. Most jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals, regulatory authorities, and others of security incidents or data breaches involving certain types of data. In addition, our agreements with certain customers may require us to notify them in the event of a security incident or data breach. Such mandatory disclosures are costly, could lead to negative publicity, may cause our customers to lose confidence in the effectiveness of our security measures, and require us to expend significant capital and other resources to respond to or alleviate problems caused by the actual or perceived security incident or data breach and otherwise comply with the
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multitude of foreign, federal, state, and local laws and regulations relating to the unauthorized access to, or use or disclosure of, personal information. Additionally, as a result of a breach or other security incident, we could be subject to demands, claims, and litigation by private parties and investigations, related actions, and penalties by regulatory authorities. Further, if we fail to detect or remediate a security breach in a timely manner, or a breach otherwise affects a large amount of data of one or more customers, or if we suffer a cyberattack that impacts our ability to operate our platform, we may suffer damage to our reputation and our brand, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected. Further, although we maintain insurance coverage, our insurance coverage may not be adequate for data security breaches, indemnification obligations, or other liabilities. In addition, we cannot be sure that our existing insurance coverage and coverage for errors and omissions will continue to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim. Our risks are likely to increase as we continue to expand our platform, grow our customer base, and process, store, and transmit increasingly large amounts of proprietary and sensitive data.
We could suffer disruptions, outages, defects, and other performance and quality problems with our platform or with the public cloud and internet infrastructure on which it relies, which may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our business and continued growth depend in part on the ability of our existing and potential customers to access our platform at any time and within an acceptable amount of time. Our agreements with customers typically provide for service level commitments. If we are unable to meet these commitments or if we suffer unexcused periods of downtime for our platform, we may be contractually obligated to provide financial credits or extend the term of the subscription for the period of unexcused downtime, or our customers may be entitled to terminate their agreements and obtain a pro rata refund. We have in the past provided, and may in the future be required to provide, financial credits and pro rata refunds as a result of not being able to meet these commitments. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, disruptions, outages, defects, and other performance and quality problems with our platform. We have also experienced, and may in the future experience, disruptions, outages, defects, and other performance and quality problems with the public cloud and internet infrastructure on which our platform relies. These problems can be caused by a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, introductions of new functionality, vulnerabilities and defects in proprietary and open-source software, human error or misconduct, capacity constraints due to an overwhelming number of users accessing our platform simultaneously, design limitations, or denial of service attacks or other security-related incidents. The performance and availability of the cloud computing infrastructure that we use to host our platform and many of the internal tools we use to operate our business is outside our control; therefore, we are not in full control of whether we meet the service level commitments under our customer agreements. As a result, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected if we suffer unscheduled downtime that exceeds the service level commitments we have made to our customers. Any extended service outages could materially adversely affect our business and reputation.
Our Digital Optimization System is proprietary, and we rely on the expertise of members of our engineering, operations, product, and software development teams for their continued performance. It may become increasingly difficult and costly to maintain and improve our performance, especially during peak usage times and as our platform becomes more complex and our user traffic increases. 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, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We depend and rely on third-party hosted cloud services and internet infrastructure in order to operate critical functions of our business. For example, our platform and internal tools use computing, storage capabilities, bandwidth, and other services provided by AWS. If these services become unavailable due to extended outages, interruptions, or because they are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms, our expenses could increase, our ability to manage our business could be interrupted, and our processes for managing sales of and delivering our Digital Optimization System could be impaired until we are able to identify, obtain, and implement equivalent services, if we are able to do so at all. Any of these circumstances could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Any disruptions, outages, defects, and other performance and quality problems with our platform or with the public cloud and internet infrastructure on which it relies, or any material change in our contractual and other business relationships with any public cloud providers we contract with, could result in reduced use of our platform, increased expenses, including service credit obligations, and harm to our brand and reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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Real or perceived errors, failures, or bugs in our platform could materially adversely affect our business and growth prospects.
Because our platform is complex, undetected errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs may occur, especially when updates are deployed. We have discovered and expect we will continue to discover software errors, failures, vulnerabilities, and bugs in our platform and anticipate that certain of these errors, failures, vulnerabilities, and bugs will only be discovered and remediated after deployment to customers. Software errors, failures, vulnerabilities, and bugs in our platform could materially adversely affect our business and growth prospects.
Any failure to offer high-quality product support may adversely affect our relationships with our customers, our reputation, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In using our Digital Optimization System, our customers depend on our product support team to resolve complex technical and operational issues. We may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-, medium-, and long-term increases in customer demand for product support. We also may be unable to modify the nature, scope, and delivery of our product support to compete with changes in product support services provided by our competitors. Increased customer demand for product support, without corresponding revenue, could increase costs and materially adversely affect our results of operations. Our sales are highly dependent on our business reputation and on positive recommendations from our existing customers. Any failure to maintain high-quality product support, or a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality product support, could materially adversely affect our reputation, our ability to sell our Digital Optimization System to existing and prospective customers, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Incorrect or improper implementation or use of our Digital Optimization System could result in customer dissatisfaction and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We often assist our customers in implementing our Digital Optimization System (whether through us directly or a third-party implementation partner), and they may need training in the proper use of our Digital Optimization System to maximize its potential and avoid inadequate performance. If we or our implementation partners fail to train customers on how to efficiently and effectively use our Digital Optimization System or we fail to provide adequate product support to our customers, we may lose opportunities for additional subscriptions, customers may choose not to renew or expand the use of our Digital Optimization System, we may experience negative publicity or legal claims against us, and our reputation and brand may suffer. Any of these circumstances could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
If we fail to integrate our platform with a variety of operating systems, software applications, and platforms that are developed by others, our platform may become less marketable, less competitive, or obsolete, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects could be materially adversely affected.
Our customers and prospective customers expect our Digital Optimization System to integrate with a variety of software platforms, and we need to continuously modify and enhance our platform to adapt to changes in software, browser, and database technologies. We have developed our platform to be able to integrate with third-party SaaS applications through the interaction of application programming interfaces (“APIs”). In general, we rely on the fact that the providers of such software systems continue to allow us access to their APIs to enable these custom integrations. We are subject to the standard terms and conditions of such providers, or other agreements we may have with them, which govern the distribution, operation, and fees of such software systems, and which may be subject to change by such providers. As a result of limits or prohibitions by other parties, unacceptable terms, technical difficulties, our failure to recognize demand, or for other reasons, we may not successfully build, deploy, or offer the integrations needed. If we fail to offer a variety of integrations or the integrations that our customers and prospective customers expect and demand, then our Digital Optimization System may become less marketable, less competitive, or obsolete, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects could be materially adversely affected.
We do not have the history with our subscription or pricing models necessary to accurately predict optimal pricing necessary to attract new customers and retain existing customers.
We have limited experience with respect to determining the optimal prices for our Digital Optimization System and, as a result, we have in the past needed, and expect in the future that we will need, to change our pricing model from time to time. As the market for our Digital Optimization System matures, or as new competitors introduce new products or services that compete with ours, we may be unable to attract new customers at the same price or based on the same pricing models as we have used historically. Pricing decisions may also impact the mix of adoption among our subscription plans and negatively impact our overall revenue. Although we occasionally upsell within contract terms based on customer needs, substantially all of our customer contracts have a subscription period of one year or longer, for which we primarily bill annually in advance with no obligation to renew. As a result, potential changes in our pricing policies, or our rate of customer expansion or retention, may not be fully reflected in our results of operations
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until future periods. Moreover, larger organizations may demand price concessions. As a result, in the future we may be required to reduce our prices, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Failure to effectively develop and expand our sales and marketing capabilities, including our relationships with channel partners, could harm our ability to increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our products and platform.
In order to increase our sales to new and existing customers, we must expand our sales and marketing operations, including our sales force and third-party channel partners, and continue to dedicate significant resources to inbound sales and marketing programs, both domestically and internationally. Our ability to increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our products will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively organize, focus, and train our sales and marketing personnel. If we are unable to increase adoption of our Digital Optimization System by new and existing customers, especially enterprise customers, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
Our efforts to develop and expand our sales and marketing capabilities will require us to invest significant financial and other resources, including in industries and sales channels in which we have limited experience to date. We may not achieve anticipated revenue growth from expanding our sales and marketing capabilities, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects may be materially adversely affected, if we are unable to hire, develop, integrate, and retain talented and effective sales personnel and global systems integrators, consultancies, and digital agencies; if our new and existing sales personnel are unable to achieve desired productivity levels in a reasonable period of time; or if our sales and marketing programs are not effective.
We may be unable to build and maintain successful relationships with our channel partners or such channel partners may fail to perform, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects.
We employ a go-to-market business model whereby a portion of our revenue is generated by sales through our channel partners, such as independent software vendors and resellers, that further expand the reach of our direct sales force into additional geographies, sectors, and industries. In particular, we have entered, and intend to continue to enter, into strategic sales distributor and reseller relationships in certain international markets where we do not have a local presence. We provide certain of our channel partners with specific training and programs to assist them in selling access to our Digital Optimization System, but there can be no assurance that these steps will be effective, and restrictions on travel and other limitations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic undermine our efforts to provide training and build relationships. In addition, if our channel partners are unsuccessful in marketing and selling access to our Digital Optimization System, it would limit our expansion into certain geographies, sectors, and industries. If we are unable to develop and maintain effective sales incentive programs for our channel partners, we may not be able to incentivize these partners to sell access to our Digital Optimization System to customers.
Some of these partners may also market, sell, and support offerings that are competitive with ours, may devote more resources to the marketing, sales, and support of such competitive offerings, may have incentives to promote our competitors’ offerings to the detriment of our own, or may cease selling access to our Digital Optimization System altogether. Our channel partners could subject us to lawsuits, potential liability, and reputational harm if, for example, any of our channel partners misrepresents the functionality of our Digital Optimization System to customers or violates laws or our or their corporate policies. Our ability to achieve revenue growth in the future will depend, in part, on our success in maintaining successful relationships with our channel partners, identifying additional channel partners, including in new markets, and training our channel partners to independently sell access to our Digital Optimization System. If our channel partners are unsuccessful in selling access to our Digital Optimization System, or if we are unable to enter into arrangements with or retain a sufficient number of high-quality channel partners in each of the regions in which we sell access to our Digital Optimization System and keep them motivated to sell access to our Digital Optimization System, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects could be adversely affected.
If our marketing strategies are not effective in attracting new and retaining existing customers, our business and ability to grow our revenues would be harmed.
We rely on our marketing strategies consisting of a combination of online and offline marketing programs such as online advertising, blogs, public relations, social media, user conferences, educational white papers and webinars, product demos, workshops, roundtables, and customer case studies, offering customers a free-tier, self-service option, and other inbound lead generation and outbound sales strategies to drive our sales and revenue. These strategies may not continue to generate the level of sales necessary to increase our revenue. If our outbound sales efforts are unsuccessful at attracting and retaining new and existing customers, we may be unable to grow our market share and revenue. If our customer base does not continue to grow through word-of-mouth marketing and viral adoption or outbound sales efforts, we may be required to incur significantly higher sales and marketing expenses in order to acquire new subscribers, which could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. In addition, high levels of customer satisfaction and market adoption are central to our marketing model. Any decrease in our customers’
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satisfaction with our products, including as a result of actions outside of our control, could harm word-of-mouth referrals and our brand.
Additionally, many customers never convert from our free-tier, self-service option to a paid subscription contract. Further, we often depend on individuals within an organization who initiate our free-tier, self-service option being able to convince decision-makers within their organization to convert to a subscription contract. Many of these organizations have complex and multi-layered purchasing requirements. To the extent that these free-tier customers do not become paying subscribers, we will not realize the intended benefits of this marketing strategy.
Sales efforts to larger organizations involve risks that may not be present or that are present to a lesser extent with respect to sales to smaller organizations.
We have experienced rapid growth in our customer base since our inception. Although our growth strategy includes acquiring new customers across industries, company size, and stages of digital maturity, we believe there is continued significant opportunity to continue to penetrate the largest global organizations. Sales to larger organizations involve risks that may not be present or that are present to a lesser extent with sales to smaller organizations, such as longer sales cycles, more complex customer requirements, substantial upfront sales costs, and less predictability in completing some of our sales. For example, enterprise customers, which we define as customers with more than 1,500 employees, may require considerable time to evaluate and test our Digital Optimization System prior to making a purchase decision and placing an order. A number of factors influence the length and variability of our sales cycle, including the need to educate potential customers about the uses and benefits of our Digital Optimization System, the discretionary nature of purchasing and budget cycles, and the competitive nature of evaluation and purchasing approval processes. As a result, the length of our sales cycle, from identification of the opportunity to deal closure, may vary significantly from customer to customer, with sales to enterprises typically taking longer to complete. During the quarter ended June 30, 2022, the average length of our sales cycle to enterprises was four to six months, as compared to one to two months to non-enterprise customers. In addition, larger organizations may demand more features and integration services. Sales to larger organizations also may increase the variability of our financial results. If we are unable to close one or more expected significant transactions with these customers in a particular period, or if an expected transaction is delayed until a subsequent period, our results of operations for that period, and for any future periods in which revenue from such transaction would otherwise have been recognized, may be adversely affected. If we fail to effectively manage these risks associated with sales cycles and sales to larger organizations, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
If we are unable to maintain and enhance our brand, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We believe that maintaining and enhancing our reputation as a differentiated and category-defining company in digital optimization is critical to our relationships 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 ensure that our platform remains reliable and secure, our ability to continue to develop high-quality software, and our ability to successfully differentiate our Digital Optimization System from competitive products and services. In addition, independent industry analysts often provide reviews of our Digital Optimization System, as well as products and services offered by our competitors, and perception of our Digital Optimization System in the marketplace may be significantly influenced by these reviews. If these reviews are negative, or less positive as compared to those of our competitors’ products and services, our brand may be adversely affected. It may also be difficult to maintain and enhance our brand in connection with sales through channel or strategic partners.
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, as we expand into new markets, and as more sales are generated through our channel partners. 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 materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our operations are international in scope, and we plan further geographic expansion, creating a variety of operational challenges.
For the year ended December 31, 2021 and the six months ended June 30, 2022, 36% and 38% of our revenue was generated outside the United States, respectively. A component of our growth strategy involves the further expansion of our operations and customer base internationally, which will require significant dedication of management attention and financial resources. We are continuing to adapt to and develop strategies to address international markets, but there is no guarantee that such efforts will have the desired effect. Our sales organization outside the United States is substantially smaller than our sales organization in the United States, and to date, only a very small portion of our sales has been driven by resellers or other channel partners. To the extent we are unable to
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effectively engage with non-U.S. customers due to our limited sales force capacity and limited channel partners, we may be unable to effectively grow in international markets.
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Our current and future international business and operations involve a variety of risks, including:
slower than anticipated public cloud adoption by international businesses;
changes, which may be unexpected, in a specific country’s or region’s political, economic, or legal and regulatory environment, including Brexit, armed conflicts, pandemics, terrorist activities, tariffs, trade wars, or long-term environmental risks;
the need to adapt and localize our Digital Optimization System for specific countries;
longer payment cycles and greater difficulty enforcing contracts, collecting accounts receivable, or satisfying revenue recognition criteria, especially in emerging markets;
new, evolving, and more stringent regulations relating to privacy and data security and the unauthorized use of, or access to, commercial and personal information, particularly in Europe;
differing and potentially more onerous labor regulations, especially in Europe, where labor laws are generally more advantageous to employees as compared to the United States, including deemed hourly wage and overtime regulations in these locations;
challenges inherent in efficiently managing, and the increased costs associated with, an increased number of employees over large geographic distances, including the need to implement appropriate systems, policies, benefits, and compliance programs that are specific to each jurisdiction;
difficulties in managing a business in new markets with diverse cultures, languages, customs, legal systems, alternative dispute systems, and regulatory systems;
increased travel, real estate, infrastructure, and legal compliance costs associated with international operations;
currency exchange rate fluctuations and the resulting effect on our revenue and expenses, and the cost and risk of entering into hedging transactions if we chose to do so in the future;
limitations on our ability to reinvest earnings from operations in one country to fund the capital needs of our operations in other countries;
laws and business practices favoring local competitors or general market preferences for local vendors;
limited or insufficient intellectual property protection or difficulties obtaining, maintaining, protecting, or enforcing our intellectual property rights, including our trademarks and patents;
COVID-19 or other pandemics or epidemics, or other global events, including the recent and developing war in Ukraine, that could decrease economic activity in certain markets, decrease use of our products and services, or decrease our ability to import, export, or sell our products and services to existing or new customers in international markets;
exposure to liabilities under export control, economic and trade sanction, anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering laws, including the Export Administration Regulations, the OFAC regulations, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), U.S. bribery laws, the UK Bribery Act, and similar laws and regulations in other jurisdictions;
increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities;
requirements or preferences for domestic products;
differing technical standards, existing or future regulatory and certification requirements, and required features and functionality;
burdens of complying with laws and regulations related to privacy and data security, including the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") and similar laws and regulations in other jurisdictions; and
burdens of complying with laws and regulations related to taxation; and regulations, adverse tax burdens, and foreign exchange controls that could make it difficult to repatriate earnings and cash.
If we invest substantial time and resources to further expand our international operations and are unable to do so successfully and in a timely manner, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
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The ongoing military action between Russia and Ukraine could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
On February 24, 2022, Russian military forces invaded Ukraine, and sustained conflict and disruption in the region is likely. Although the length, impact, and outcome of the ongoing war in Ukraine is highly unpredictable, this conflict has led, and could continue to lead, to significant market and other disruptions, including instability in financial markets, supply chain interruptions, political and social instability, changes in consumer or purchaser preferences, as well as an increase in cyberattacks, intellectual property theft, and espionage.
We are actively monitoring the situation in Ukraine and assessing its impact on our business, including our business partners and customers. For example, we and various companies have voluntarily stopped seeking to increase business in Russia. Such circumstances combined with new sanctions have resulted in disruptions to our customers' businesses in the impacted regions, including, at times, their ability to pay for our services. As such, we expect a reduction in revenue from customers in the impacted regions as long as these circumstances continue.
We have no way to predict the progress or outcome of the conflict in Ukraine or its impacts in Ukraine, Russia, or Belarus as the conflict, and any resulting government reactions, are rapidly developing and beyond our control. The extent and duration of the military action, sanctions, and resulting market disruptions could be significant and could potentially have a substantial impact on the global economy and our business for an unknown period of time. Any of the above-mentioned factors could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any such disruptions may also magnify the impact of other risks described in "Risk Factors" section and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
We derive, and expect to continue for some time to derive, substantially all of our revenue from our Amplitude Analytics product.
Although we recently released our Amplitude Recommend and Amplitude Experiment products, we currently derive, and expect to continue for some time to derive, substantially all of our revenue from our Amplitude Analytics product. As such, the continued growth in demand for, and market acceptance, of Amplitude Analytics is critical to our success. Demand for Amplitude Analytics and our other products and platform functionality is affected by a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, such as continued market acceptance of our products by customers for existing and new use cases, the timing of development and release of new products, features, and functionality that are lower cost alternatives introduced by us or our competitors, technological changes and developments within the markets we serve, and growth or contraction in our addressable markets. If we are unable to continue to meet customer demands or to achieve more widespread market acceptance of our products, particularly our Amplitude Analytics product, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We invest significantly in research and development, and to the extent our research and development investments do not translate into new products or material enhancements to our current products, or if we do not use those investments efficiently, our business, financial condition, and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.
For the year ended December 31, 2021 and the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, our research and development expenses were 29%, 33%, and 21% of our revenue, respectively. If we do not spend our research and development budget efficiently or effectively on compelling innovation and technologies, our business may be harmed. Moreover, research and development projects can be technically challenging and expensive. The nature of these research and development cycles may cause us to experience delays between the time we incur expenses associated with research and development and the time we are able to offer compelling products and generate revenue, if any, from such investment. Additionally, anticipated customer demand for a product or service we are developing could decrease after the development cycle has commenced, and we would nonetheless be unable to avoid substantial costs associated with the development of any such product or service. If we expend a significant amount of resources on research and development and our efforts do not lead to the successful introduction or improvement of products that are competitive in our current or future markets, it would materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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We agree to indemnify customers and other third parties, which exposes us to substantial potential liability.
Our contracts with customers and other third parties may include indemnification or other provisions under which we agree to indemnify or otherwise be liable to them for losses arising from alleged infringement, misappropriation, or other violation of intellectual property rights, data protection violations, breaches of representations and warranties, damage to property or persons, or other liabilities arising from our platform or such contracts. Although we attempt to limit our indemnity obligations, an event triggering our indemnity obligations could give rise to multiple claims involving multiple customers or other third parties. These claims may require us to initiate or defend protracted and costly litigation on behalf of our customers and other third parties, regardless of the merits of these claims. We may not have adequate or any insurance coverage and may be liable for up to the full amount of the indemnified claims, which could result in substantial liability or material disruption to our business or could negatively impact our relationships with customers or other third parties, reduce demand for our products, and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We may require additional capital to support the growth of our business, and this capital might not be available on acceptable terms, if at all.
We do not know when or if our operations will generate sufficient cash to fully fund our ongoing operations or the growth of our business. We intend to continue to make investments to support our business, which may require us to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. Additional financing may not be available on terms favorable to us, if at all. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to invest in future growth opportunities, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. If we incur debt, the debt holders would have rights senior to holders of common stock to make claims on our assets, and the terms of any debt could restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. Furthermore, if we issue additional equity securities, stockholders will experience dilution, and the new equity securities could have rights senior to those of our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in the future will depend on numerous considerations, including factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, or nature of any future issuances of debt or equity securities. As a result, our stockholders bear the risk of future issuances of debt or equity securities reducing the value of our common stock and diluting their interests.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
Our intellectual property rights may not protect our business or provide us with a competitive advantage, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
To be successful, we must protect our technology and brand in the United States and other jurisdictions through trademarks, trade secrets, patents, copyrights, service marks, invention assignments, contractual restrictions, and other intellectual property rights and confidentiality procedures. Despite our efforts to implement these protections, these measures may not protect our business or provide us with a competitive advantage for a variety of reasons, including:
our failure to obtain patents and other intellectual property rights for important innovations or maintain appropriate confidentiality and other protective measures to establish and maintain our trade secrets;
uncertainty in, and evolution of, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and scope of protection of intellectual property rights;
potential invalidation of our intellectual property rights through administrative processes or litigation;
any inability by us to detect infringement or other misappropriation of our intellectual property rights by third parties; and
other practical, resource, or business limitations on our ability to enforce our rights.
Further, the laws of certain foreign countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not provide the same level of protection of corporate proprietary information and assets, such as intellectual property, trademarks, trade secrets, know-how, and records, as the laws of the United States. As a result, we may encounter significant problems in protecting and defending our intellectual property or proprietary rights in foreign jurisdictions. Additionally, we may also be exposed to material risks of theft or unauthorized reverse engineering of our proprietary information and other intellectual property, including technical data, data sets, or other sensitive information. Our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights in such foreign countries may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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We enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants and enter into confidentiality agreements with the parties with whom we have strategic relationships and business alliances. No assurance can be given that these agreements will be effective in controlling access to and distribution of our products and proprietary information. Further, these agreements may not prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our platform and offerings.
Further, litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property or proprietary rights, protect our trade secrets, or determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights claimed by others. Any litigation, whether or not resolved in our favor, could result in significant expense to us, divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel, and result in counterclaims with respect to infringement of intellectual property rights by us. If we are unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property or are required to incur substantial expenses defending our intellectual property rights, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We may become subject to intellectual property disputes, which are expensive to support, and if resolved adversely, may subject us to significant liability and increased costs of doing business, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
We compete in markets where there are a large number of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and other intellectual and proprietary rights, as well as disputes regarding infringement of these rights. Many of the holders of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and other intellectual and proprietary rights have extensive intellectual property portfolios and greater resources than we do to enforce their rights. As compared to our large competitors, our patent portfolio is relatively undeveloped and may not provide a material deterrent to such assertions or provide us with a strong basis to counterclaim or negotiate settlements. Further, to the extent assertions are made against us by entities that hold patents but are not operating companies, our patent portfolio may not provide deterrence because such entities are not concerned with counterclaims.
Any intellectual property litigation to which we become a party may require us to do one or more of the following:
•cease selling, licensing, or using products or features that incorporate the intellectual property rights that we allegedly infringe, misappropriate, or violate;
•make substantial payments for legal fees, settlement payments, subscription fee refunds, or other costs or damages, including indemnification of third parties;
•obtain a license or enter into a royalty agreement, either of which may not be available on reasonable terms or at all, in order to obtain the right to sell or use the relevant intellectual property; or
•redesign the allegedly infringing products to avoid infringement, misappropriation, or violation, which could be costly, time-consuming, or impossible.
Intellectual property litigation is typically complex, time consuming, and expensive to resolve and would divert the resources, time, and attention of our management and technical personnel, which might seriously harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We may be required to settle such litigation on terms that are unfavorable to us. For example, a settlement may require us to obtain a license to continue practices found to be in violation of a third party’s rights, which may not be available on reasonable terms and may significantly increase our operating expenses. A license to continue such practices may not be available to us at all. As a result, we may also be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology or practices or discontinue the practices. The development of alternative non-infringing technology or practices would require significant effort and expense. Similarly, if any litigation to which we may be a party fails to settle and we go to trial, we may be subject to an unfavorable judgment which may not be reversible upon appeal.
Further, such litigation may also result in adverse publicity, which could harm our reputation and ability to attract or retain customers. As we grow, we may experience a heightened risk of allegations of intellectual property infringement. An adverse result in any litigation claims against us could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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Our use of “open-source” software could negatively affect our ability to sell our platform and subject us to possible litigation.
We use software in our Digital Optimization System that is licensed from third parties pursuant to open-source licenses. Certain open-source software licenses require a user who distributes or otherwise makes available the open-source software in connection with the user’s proprietary software to disclose publicly part or all of the source code to the user’s proprietary software. The use and distribution of open-source software may entail greater risks than the use of third-party commercial software, as open-source licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. Additionally, certain open-source software licenses are difficult to interpret and require the user of such software to make the source code of any derivative works of the open-source code and certain related software available to third parties with few restrictions on the use or further distribution of such software by such third parties. As a result, we may face claims from others seeking to enforce the terms of an open-source license, including by demanding the release of derivative works of the open-source software and our proprietary source code that was developed or used in connection with such software. These claims could also result in litigation and require us to replace certain open-source software with proprietary software licensed under costly commercial licenses or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our platform, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. 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 use of open-source software inconsistent with our policies or licensing terms could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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Risks Related to Regulatory Compliance and Legal Matters
We are subject to government regulation, including import, export, economic sanctions, and anti-corruption laws and regulations, that may expose us to liability and increase our costs.
Our Digital Optimization System is subject to U.S. export controls, including the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations and economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. These regulations may limit the export of our products and provision of our services outside of the United States, or may require export authorizations, including by license, a license exception, or other appropriate government authorizations, including annual or semi-annual reporting and the filing of an encryption registration. Export control and economic sanctions laws may also include prohibitions on the sale or supply of certain of our products to embargoed or sanctioned countries, regions, governments, persons, and entities. In addition, various countries regulate the importation of certain products, through import permitting and licensing requirements, and have enacted laws that could limit our ability to distribute our products. The exportation, reexportation, and importation of our products and the provision of services, including by our partners, must comply with these laws or else we may be adversely affected, through reputational harm, government investigations, penalties, and a denial or curtailment of our ability to export our products or provide services. Complying with export control and sanctions laws may be time consuming and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities. Although we have controls designed to prevent our services from being used in violation of such laws, we are aware of a limited number of past occasions in which persons from U.S. sanctioned countries or regions appear to have accessed our platform. We have taken measures designed to prevent such situations from reoccurring, but there can be no guarantee that such measures will be successful in every case. If we are found to be in violation of U.S. sanctions or export control laws, it could result in substantial fines and penalties for us and for individuals working for us. Changes in export or import laws, or corresponding sanctions, may delay the introduction and sale of our services in international markets, or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our services to certain countries, regions, governments, persons, or entities altogether, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We are also subject to various domestic and international anti-corruption laws, such as the FCPA and the UK Bribery Act, as well as other similar anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws and regulations. These laws and regulations generally prohibit companies and their employees and intermediaries from directly or indirectly authorizing, promising, offering, or providing payments or benefits to government officials and other recipients for improper purposes, such as to obtain or retain business improperly or secure an improper business advantage. We rely on certain third parties to support our sales and regulatory compliance efforts and can be held liable in certain cases for their corrupt or other illegal activities, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. The FCPA also requires that we keep accurate books and records and maintain a system of adequate internal controls. Although we take precautions to prevent violations of these laws, we cannot provide assurance that our internal controls and compliance systems will always prevent misconduct by our employees, agents, third parties, or business partners. Our exposure for violating these laws will increase as our international presence expands and as we increase sales and operations in foreign jurisdictions.
Violations of applicable anti-corruption laws could subject us to significant sanctions, including civil or criminal fines and penalties, disgorgement of profits, injunctions, and debarment from government contracts, as well as related stockholder lawsuits and other remedial measures, all of which could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations. Violations or allegations of violations could also result in whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, and investigations, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, and results of operations.
Our business may be affected by sanctions, export controls and similar measures targeting Russia and other countries and territories as well as other responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, governmental authorities in the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, among others, launched an expansion of coordinated sanctions and export control measures, including:
•blocking sanctions on some of the largest state-owned and private Russian financial institutions (and their subsequent removal from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (“SWIFT”) payment system);
•blocking sanctions against Russian and Belarusian individuals, including the Russian President, other politicians, and those with government connections or involved in Russian military activities;
•blocking sanctions against certain Russian businessmen and their businesses, some of which have significant financial and trade ties to the European Union;
•blocking of Russia’s foreign currency reserves and prohibition on secondary trading in Russian sovereign debt and certain transactions with the Russian Central Bank, National Wealth Fund, and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation;
•expansion of sectoral sanctions in various sectors of the Russian and Belarusian economies and the defense sector;
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•United Kingdom sanctions introducing restrictions on providing loans to, and dealing in securities issued by, persons connected with Russia;
•restrictions on access to the financial and capital markets in the European Union, as well as prohibitions on aircraft leasing operations;
•sanctions prohibiting most commercial activities of U.S. and E.U. persons in Crimea and Sevastopol;
•enhanced export controls and trade sanctions targeting Russia’s imports of technological goods as a whole, including tighter controls on exports and reexports of dual-use items, stricter licensing policy with respect to issuing export licenses, and/or increased use of “end-use” controls to block or impose licensing requirements on exports, as well as higher import tariffs and a prohibition on exporting luxury goods to Russia and Belarus;
•closure of airspace to Russian aircraft; and
•ban on imports of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal to the United States.
As the conflict in Ukraine continues, there can be no certainty regarding whether the governmental authorities in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, or other counties will impose additional sanctions, export controls, or other measures targeting Russia, Belarus, or other territories. Furthermore, in retaliation against new international sanctions and as part of measures to stabilize and support the volatile Russian financial and currency markets, the Russian authorities also imposed significant currency control measures aimed at restricting the outflow of foreign currency and capital from Russia, imposed various restrictions on transacting with non-Russian parties, banned exports of various products and other economic and financial restrictions.
Our business must be conducted in compliance with applicable economic and trade sanctions laws and regulations, including those administered and enforced by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the United Nations Security Council, and other relevant governmental authorities. We must be ready to comply with the existing and any other potential additional measures imposed in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. The imposition of such measures could adversely impact our business, including preventing us from performing existing contracts, recognizing revenue, pursuing new business opportunities, or receiving payment for subscriptions from our existing customers.
We believe we do not currently have contracts directly with the entities or businesses on the sanctions list and we currently do not have facilities or employees in Russia, Belarus, the Crimea Region of Ukraine, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, or the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic. We are reviewing and monitoring our contractual relationships with suppliers and customers to establish whether any are implicated by applicable sanctions. However, given the range of possible outcomes, the full costs, burdens, and limitations on our and our customer’s and business partners’ businesses are currently unknown and may become significant. As a result, based on the extent and breadth of sanctions, export controls, and other measures that may be imposed and related effects in connection with the conflict in Ukraine, it is possible that our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Complying with evolving privacy and other data-related laws as well as contractual and other requirements may be expensive and force us to make adverse changes to our business, and the failure or perceived failure to comply with such laws, contracts, and other requirements could result in adverse reputational and brand damage and significant fines and liability or otherwise materially adversely affect our business and growth prospects.
We are subject to numerous federal, state, local, and foreign privacy and data protection laws, regulations, policies, and contractual obligations that apply to the collection, transmission, storage, processing, sharing, disclosure, security, and use of personal information or personal data, which among other things, impose certain requirements relating to the privacy and security of personal information and other data. Laws and regulations governing privacy and data protection, the use of the internet as a commercial medium, the use of data in artificial intelligence and machine learning, and data sovereignty requirements are rapidly evolving, extensive, complex, and include inconsistencies and uncertainties and may conflict with other rules or our practices. Further, new laws, rules, and regulations could be enacted with which we are not familiar or with which our current practices do not comply.
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We may incur significant expenses to comply with the laws, regulations and other obligations that apply to us. For example, the GDPR imposes stringent data protection requirements for processing the personal data of individuals within the European Economic Area (the “EEA”), including, for example, certain disclosure requirements, limitations on retention of personal data, mandatory data breach notification requirements, and additional obligations. Non-compliance with the GDPR can trigger fines of up to the greater of €20 million or 4% of our global annual turnover. Among other requirements, the GDPR regulates transfers of personal data subject to the GDPR to third countries that have not been found to provide adequate protection to such personal data, including the United States, and the efficacy and longevity of current transfer mechanisms between the E.U. and the United States remains uncertain. For example, in 2016, the E.U. and United States agreed to a transfer framework for data transferred from the E.U. to the United States, called the Privacy Shield, but the Privacy Shield was invalidated in July 2020 by the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”). The CJEU also raised questions about whether the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (“SCCs”), one of the primary mechanisms used by companies to transfer personal data out of the EEA, complies with the GDPR. While the CJEU upheld the validity of the SCCs, the CJEU ruled that the underlying data transfers must be assessed on a case-by-case basis by the data controller to determine whether the personal data will be adequately protected. The European Commission issued revised SCCs on June 4, 2021 to account for the decision of the CJEU and recommendations made by the European Data Protection Board. The revised SCCs must be used for relevant new data transfers from September 27, 2021; existing SCC arrangements must be migrated to the revised clauses by December 27, 2022. Separately, the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office has published new data transfer standard contracts for transfers from the UK under the UK GDPR. This new documentation will be mandatory for relevant data transfers from September 21, 2022; existing standard contractual clauses arrangements must be migrated to the new documentation by March 21, 2024. As such, we will need to review existing transfers of personal data out of the EEA and the UK and put in place measures to implement the new SCCs and the UK data transfer standard contracts, subject to the applicable transition periods. Accordingly, unless we put in place such measures by the end of the applicable transition periods, any transfers by us of personal data from Europe or the UK may not comply with European data protection laws and may increase our exposure to the GDPR’s or the UK GDPR’s heightened sanctions for violations of its cross-border data transfer restrictions. Loss of our ability to transfer personal data from Europe or the UK may also require us to increase our data processing capabilities in those jurisdictions at significant expense.
Further, from January 1, 2021, companies have had to comply with both the GDPR and the UK GDPR, which, together with the amended UK Data Protection Act 2018, retains the GDPR in UK national law. The UK GDPR mirrors the fines under the GDPR, imposing fines up to the greater of €20 million (£17.5 million) or 4% of global turnover. The European Commission has adopted an adequacy decision in favor of the United Kingdom, enabling data transfers from E.U. member states to the United Kingdom without additional safeguards. However, the United Kingdom adequacy decision will automatically expire in June 2025 unless the European Commission re-assesses and renews/extends that decision, and remains under review by the Commission during this period. In September 2021, the UK government launched a consultation on its proposals for wide-ranging reform of UK data protection laws following Brexit. There is a risk that any material changes which are made to the UK data protection regime could result in the European Commission reviewing the UK adequacy decision, and the UK losing its adequacy decision if the European Commission deems the UK to no longer provide adequate protection for personal data. The relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union in relation to certain aspects of data protection law remains unclear, and it is unclear how United Kingdom data protection laws and regulations will develop in the medium to longer term, and how data transfers to and from the United Kingdom will be regulated in the long term. These changes will lead to additional costs and increase our overall risk exposure.
In addition to the European Union and United Kingdom, a growing number of other global jurisdictions are considering or have passed legislation implementing data protection requirements or requiring local storage and processing of data or similar requirements that could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our platform, particularly as we expand our operations internationally. Some of these laws, such as the General Data Protection Law in Brazil, or the Act on the Protection of Personal Information in Japan, impose similar obligations as those under the GDPR. Others, such as those in Russia, India, and China, could potentially impose more stringent obligations, including data localization requirements. If we are unable to develop and offer features that meet legal requirements or help our customers meet their obligations under the laws or regulations relating to privacy, data protection, or information security, or if we violate or are perceived to violate any laws, regulations, or other obligations relating to privacy, data protection, or information security, we may experience reduced demand for our Digital Optimization System, harm to our reputation, and become subject to investigations, claims, and other remedies, which would expose us to significant fines, penalties, and other damages, all of which would harm our business. Further, given the breadth and depth of changes in global data protection obligations, compliance has caused us to expend significant resources, and such expenditures are likely to continue into the future as we continue our compliance efforts and respond to new interpretations and enforcement actions.
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The data protection landscape is also rapidly growing and evolving in the United States. As our operations and business grow, we may become subject to or affected by new or additional data protection laws and regulations and face increased scrutiny or attention from regulatory authorities. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the "CCPA") became effective on January 1, 2020. The CCPA requires companies that process information on California residents to make certain disclosures to consumers about their data collection, use, and sharing practices, allows consumers to opt out of certain data sharing with third parties and exercise certain individual rights regarding their personal information, provides a new private right of action for data breaches, and provides for penalties for noncompliance. Additionally, the California Privacy Rights Act (the "CPRA") was recently passed in California. The CPRA will impose additional data protection obligations on covered businesses, including additional consumer rights processes, limitations on data uses, new audit requirements for higher risk data, and opt outs for certain uses of sensitive data. It will also create a new California data protection agency authorized to issue substantive regulations and could result in increased privacy and information security enforcement. The majority of the CPRA provisions will go into effect on January 1, 2023, and additional compliance investment and potential business process changes may be required. Similar laws have been passed in Virginia, Colorado, and Utah and have been proposed in other states and at the federal level, reflecting a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. The enactment of such laws may have potentially conflicting requirements that would make compliance challenging.
Furthermore, the FTC and many state Attorneys General continue to enforce federal and state consumer protection laws against companies for online collection, use, dissemination, and security practices that appear to be unfair or deceptive. For example, according to the FTC, failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal information secure can constitute unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce in violation of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The FTC expects a company’s data security measures to be reasonable and appropriate in light of the sensitivity and volume of consumer information it holds, the size and complexity of its business, and the cost of available tools to improve security and reduce vulnerabilities. There are a number of legislative proposals in the United States, at both the federal and state level, and in the European Union and more globally, that could impose new obligations in areas such as e-commerce and other related legislation or liability for copyright infringement by third parties. We cannot yet determine the impact that these future laws, regulations, and standards may have on our business.
Although we work to comply with applicable laws, regulations and standards, our contractual obligations, and other legal obligations, these requirements are evolving and may be modified, interpreted, and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with one another or other legal obligations with which we must comply. Any failure or perceived failure by us or our employees, representatives, contractors, consultants, collaborators, or other third parties to comply with such requirements or adequately address privacy and security concerns, even if unfounded, could result in additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, and adversely affect our business and results of operations. In addition, if our practices are not consistent, or viewed as not consistent, with legal and regulatory requirements, including changes in laws, regulations and standards or new interpretations or applications of existing laws, regulations, and standards, we may also become subject to audits, inquiries, whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, or criminal or civil sanctions, all of which may harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Any future litigation against us could be costly and time-consuming to defend.
We may become subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, such as claims brought by our customers in connection with commercial disputes or employment claims made by our current or former employees. Litigation might result in substantial costs and may divert management’s attention and resources, which might materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Insurance might not cover such claims, might not provide sufficient payments to cover all the costs to resolve one or more such claims, and might not continue to be available on terms acceptable to us (including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements). A claim brought against us that is uninsured or underinsured could result in unanticipated costs, potentially having a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, we cannot be sure that our existing insurance coverage and coverage for errors and omissions will continue to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim.
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Risks Related to Tax and Accounting Matters
We face exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.
We conduct transactions, particularly intercompany 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 Digital Optimization System, and we expect to significantly expand the number of transactions with customers for our Digital Optimization System that are denominated in foreign currencies. In addition, a portion of our operating expenses are incurred outside the United States, denominated in foreign currencies, and subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly changes in the Euro, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Singapore Dollar, and Japanese Yen. In addition, our international subsidiaries maintain net assets denominated in currencies other than the functional operating currencies of these entities. Accordingly, changes in the value of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar can affect our revenue and results of operations due to transactional and translational remeasurements. As a result of these foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, it could be more difficult to detect underlying trends in our business and results of operations. To the extent that fluctuations in currency exchange rates 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.
In addition, our international subsidiaries maintain net assets denominated in currencies other than the functional operating currencies of these entities. Accordingly, changes in the value of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar can affect our revenue and results of operations due to transactional and translational remeasurements. As a result of these foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, it could be more difficult to detect underlying trends in our business and results of operations. To the extent that fluctuations in currency exchange rates 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.
Our global operations and structure subject us to potentially adverse tax consequences.
We generally conduct our global operations through subsidiaries and report our taxable income in various jurisdictions worldwide based upon our business operations in those jurisdictions. A change in our global operations could result in higher effective tax rates, reduced cash flows, and lower overall profitability. In particular, our intercompany relationships are subject to complex transfer pricing regulations administered by taxing authorities in various jurisdictions. The relevant revenue and taxing authorities may disagree with positions we have taken generally, or our determinations as to the value of assets sold or acquired or income and expenses attributable to specific jurisdictions. If such a disagreement were to occur, and our position was not sustained, we could be required to pay additional taxes, interest, and penalties, which could result in one-time tax charges, higher effective tax rates, reduced cash flows, and lower overall profitability of our operations.
In addition, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has initiated a base erosion and profit shifting project that seeks to establish certain international standards for taxing the worldwide income of multinational companies. As a result of these developments, the tax laws of certain countries in which we do business could change on a prospective or retroactive basis, and any such changes could increase our liabilities for taxes, interest, and penalties, and therefore could materially adversely affect our cash flows, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards may be limited.
Under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and corresponding provisions of state law, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” which is generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in its equity ownership by certain stockholders over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards (“NOLs”) to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. We have completed a Section 382 study and have determined that none of the operating losses will expire solely due to Section 382 limitations. However, we may experience ownership changes as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership, some of which may be outside of our control. Such change could limit the amount of NOLs that we can utilize annually to offset future taxable income or tax liabilities. Subsequent ownership changes and changes to the U.S. tax rules in respect of the utilization of NOLs may further affect the limitation in future years. In addition, at the state level, there may be periods during which the use of NOLs is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed.
Changes in our effective tax rate or tax liability may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions. The determination of our worldwide provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities requires significant judgment by management, and there are many transactions where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. We believe that our provision for income taxes is reasonable, but the ultimate tax
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outcome may differ from the amounts recorded in our condensed consolidated financial statements and may materially affect our financial results in the period or periods in which such outcome is determined.
Our effective tax rate could increase due to several factors, including:
changes in the relative amounts of income before taxes in the various jurisdictions in which we operate that have differing statutory tax rates;
changes in tax laws, tax treaties, and regulations or the interpretation of them, such as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), and proposed legislation;
changes to our assessment about our ability to realize our deferred tax assets that are based on estimates of our future results, the prudence and feasibility of possible tax planning strategies, and the economic and political environments in which we do business;
the outcome of current and future tax audits, examinations, or administrative appeals; and
the effects of acquisitions.
Any of these developments could materially adversely affect our results of operations.
In addition, we may be subject to income tax audits by many tax jurisdictions throughout the world, many of which have not established clear guidance on the tax treatment of SaaS-based companies. Although we believe our income tax liabilities are reasonably estimated and accounted for in accordance with applicable laws and principles, an adverse resolution of one or more uncertain tax positions in any period could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations for that period.
We could be required to collect additional sales or indirect taxes or be subject to other tax liabilities that may increase the costs our customers would have to pay for our products and materially adversely affect our results of operations.
We currently collect and remit applicable sales and indirect taxes and other applicable transfer taxes in jurisdictions where we, through our employees or economic activity, have a presence and where we have determined, based on applicable legal precedents, that sales or licensing of our products are classified as taxable. We do not currently collect and remit state and local excise, utility user and ad valorem taxes, fees, or surcharges in jurisdictions where we believe we do not have sufficient “nexus.” There is uncertainty as to what constitutes sufficient nexus for a state or local jurisdiction to levy taxes, fees, and surcharges for sales made over the internet, and there is also uncertainty as to whether our characterization of our products as not taxable in certain jurisdictions will be accepted by state and local tax authorities.
An increasing number of states have considered or adopted laws that attempt to impose tax collection obligations on out-of-state companies. Additionally, the Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. et al (“Wayfair”), that online sellers can be required to collect sales and use tax despite not having a physical presence in the buyer’s state. In response to Wayfair, or otherwise, states or local governments may adopt, or begin to enforce, laws requiring us to calculate, collect, and remit taxes on sales in their jurisdictions. A successful assertion by one or more states requiring us to collect taxes where we presently do not do so, or to collect more taxes in a jurisdiction in which we currently do collect some taxes, could result in substantial tax liabilities, including taxes on past sales, as well as penalties and interest. The imposition by state governments or local governments of sales tax collection obligations on out-of-state sellers could also create additional administrative burdens for us, put us at a competitive disadvantage if they do not impose similar obligations on our competitors, and decrease our future sales, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Our reported financial results may be adversely affected by changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported results of operations and could affect the reporting of transactions already completed before the announcement of a change.
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If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies prove to be incorrect, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” within this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, and equity, and the amount of revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant estimates and judgments involve those related to revenue recognition, deferred commissions, valuation of our stock-based compensation awards, including the determination of fair value of our common stock, valuation of goodwill and intangible assets, accounting for income taxes, and useful lives of long-lived assets, among others. Our results of operations may be materially adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our Class A common stock.
If our goodwill or intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.
We review our intangible assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Goodwill is required to be tested for impairment at least annually. An adverse change in market conditions, particularly if such change has the effect of changing one of our critical assumptions or estimates, could result in a change to the estimation of fair value that could result in an impairment charge to our goodwill or intangible assets. Any such charges may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
Our stock price has been, and in the future, may be, volatile, and could decline significantly and rapidly.
The trading price of our Class A common stock has fluctuated substantially and may fluctuate substantially in response to numerous factors in addition to the ones described in the preceding risk factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:
•actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition, results of operations, or operating metrics and those of our competitors;
•changes in our projected operating and financial results or our failure to meet these projections;
•failure of securities analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of us, changes in financial estimates by any securities analysts who follow our company, or variance in our financial performance from expectations of securities analysts;
•changes in the pricing of our Digital Optimization System;
•changes in the anticipated future size or growth rate of our addressable markets;
•changes in laws or regulations applicable to our Digital Optimization System;
•announcements by us or our competitors of significant business developments, acquisitions, or new offerings;
•significant data breaches, disruptions to, or other incidents involving our platform;
•our involvement in litigation;
•changes in our board of directors, senior management, or key personnel;
•the number of shares of our Class A common stock made available for trading;
•future sales of our Class A common stock by us or our stockholders;
•the trading volume of our Class A common stock;
•changes in the anticipated future size and growth rate of our market;
•general economic, market, and industry conditions, including economic slowdowns, recessions, inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, financial market fluctuations, and reduced credit availability;
•other events or factors, including those resulting from war (including the recent and developing war in Ukraine), incidents of terrorism, pandemics (including the COVID-19 pandemic), elections, or responses to these events; and
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•whether investors or securities analysts view our stock structure unfavorably, particularly our dual-class structure and the concentrated voting control of our executive officers, directors, and their affiliates.
In addition, stock markets with respect to newly public companies, particularly companies in the technology industry, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the stock prices of these companies. Stock prices of many companies, including technology companies, have fluctuated in a manner often unrelated to the operating performance of those companies. In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future, which could result in substantial expenses and divert our management’s attention.
Our principal stockholders have the ability to influence the outcome of director elections and other matters requiring stockholder approval.
As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, our directors, executive officers, and holders of more than 5% of our capital stock and their affiliates collectively beneficially own, in the aggregate, shares representing a substantial majority of the voting power of our outstanding Class A and Class B common stock. These stockholders currently have, and likely will continue to have, considerable influence with respect to the election of our board of directors and approval or disapproval of all significant corporate actions. The concentrated voting power of these stockholders could have the effect of delaying or preventing a significant corporate transaction, such as a merger or other sale of our company or our assets. This concentration of ownership limits the ability of other stockholders to influence corporate matters and may cause us to make strategic decisions that could be adverse to the interests of other stockholders.
The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with our existing stockholders, executive officers, directors, and their affiliates, which limits your ability to influence the outcome of important transactions and to influence corporate governance matters, such as electing directors, and to approve material mergers, acquisitions, or other business combination transactions that may not be aligned with your interests.
Our Class B common stock has five votes per share, whereas our Class A common stock, which is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, has one vote per share. Because of the five-to-one voting ratio between our Class B common stock and our Class A common stock, the holders of our Class B common stock are able to exercise considerable influence over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or other sale of our company or our assets, even if their stock holdings represent less than 50% of the outstanding shares of our capital stock, until the date that is six months following the date on which no founder is an employee or director of our company (unless a founder has rejoined our company during such six-month period), when all outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will convert automatically into shares of a single class of common stock. This concentration of ownership limits the ability of other stockholders to influence corporate matters and may cause us to make strategic decisions that could involve risks to you or that may not be aligned with your interests. This control may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Further, future transfers by holders of our Class B common stock will generally result in those shares converting into shares of our Class A common stock, subject to limited exceptions, such as certain transfers effected for tax or estate planning purposes. The conversion of shares of our Class B common stock into shares of our Class A common stock will have the effect, over time, of increasing the relative voting power of those holders of Class B common stock who retain their shares in the long term. As a result, it is possible that one or more of the persons or entities holding our Class B common stock could gain significant voting control as other holders of Class B common stock sell or otherwise convert their shares into Class A common stock.
In addition, while we do not expect to issue any additional shares of Class B common stock, any future issuances of Class B common stock would be dilutive to holders of Class A common stock.
We cannot predict the impact our dual class structure may have on the market price of our Class A common stock.
We cannot predict whether our dual class structure, combined with the concentrated control of our stockholders who held our capital stock prior to the listing of our Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market, including our executive officers, employees, and directors and their affiliates, will result in a lower or more volatile market price of our Class A common stock or in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. For example, certain index providers have announced restrictions on including companies with multiple class share structures in certain of their indices. In July 2017, FTSE Russell and Standard & Poor’s announced that they would cease to allow most newly public companies utilizing dual or multi-class capital structures to be included in their indices. Under the announced policies, our dual class capital structure would make us ineligible for inclusion in any of these indices. Given the sustained flow of investment funds into passive strategies that seek to track certain indexes, exclusion from stock
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indexes would likely preclude investment by many of these funds and could make our Class A common stock less attractive to other investors. As a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected.
None of our stockholders are party to any contractual lock-up agreement or other contractual restrictions on transfer. Sales of substantial amounts of our Class A common stock in the public markets, or the perception that sales might occur, could cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline.
In addition to the supply and demand and volatility factors discussed above, sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock into the public market, particularly sales by our directors, executive officers, and principal stockholders, or the perception that these sales might occur in large quantities, could cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline.
None of our securityholders are subject to any contractual lock-up or other contractual restriction on the transfer or sale of their shares.
Moreover, assuming the availability of certain public information about us, (i) non-affiliates who have beneficially owned our common stock for at least six months may rely on Rule 144 to sell their shares of common stock, and (ii) our directors, executive officers, and other affiliates who have beneficially owned our common stock for at least six months will be entitled to sell their shares of our Class A common stock subject to volume and other limitations under Rule 144 and various vesting agreements.
In addition, we have filed registration statements to register all shares subject to options and RSUs outstanding or reserved for future issuance under our equity compensation plans. As of June 30, 2022, we had options outstanding that, if fully exercised, would result in the issuance of 17,620,837 shares of Class A common stock, as well as 6,475,393 shares of Class A common stock subject to RSU awards.
Accordingly, these shares will be able to be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to applicable vesting requirements and compliance by affiliates with Rule 144.
Further, certain of the holders of our common stock have rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to file registration statements for the public resale of the Class A common stock issuable upon the conversion of shares of our Class B common stock into shares of our Class A common stock or to include such shares in registration statements that we may file for us or other stockholders. Any registration statement we file to register additional shares, whether as a result of registration rights or otherwise, could cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline or be volatile.
Our issuance of additional capital stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our equity incentive plans, or otherwise will dilute all other stockholders.
We expect to issue additional capital stock in the future that will result in dilution to all other stockholders. We expect to grant equity awards to employees, directors, and consultants under our equity incentive plans and issue shares of our Class A common stock under our employee stock purchase plan. We may also raise capital through equity financings in the future. As part of our business strategy, we may acquire or make investments in companies, products, or technologies and issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition or investment. Any such issuances of additional capital stock may cause stockholders to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the per share value of our Class A common stock to decline.
We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future and, as a result, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our Class A common stock.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not intend to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Accordingly, you 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 your investment.
We are currently an “emerging growth company,” but commencing December 31, 2022, we will no longer be an “emerging growth company” and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will no longer apply to us.
We are currently an emerging growth company but, because the market value of our Class A common stock that was held by non-affiliates exceeded $700 million as of the last business day of our second fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2022, we will no longer qualify for such status commencing December 31, 2022 and we will be a large accelerated filer. As a large accelerated filer, we will be
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subject to certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that have not been applicable to us as an emerging growth company. These requirements include:
compliance with the auditor attestation requirements in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting;
compliance with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor's report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements;
full disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements; and
compliance with the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
In addition, we will no longer be able to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards and will be required to comply with the effective dates for new or revised accounting standards that are applicable to public companies.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management, and limit the market price of our Class A common stock.
Provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that:
authorize our board of directors to issue, without further action by the stockholders, shares of undesignated preferred stock with terms, rights, and preferences determined by our board of directors that may be senior to our Class A common stock;
require that any action to be taken by our stockholders be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting and not by written consent;
specify that special meetings of our stockholders can be called only by our board of directors;
establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting, including proposed nominations of persons for election to our board of directors;
establish that our board of directors is divided into three classes, with each class serving three-year staggered terms;
prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors;
provide that our directors may only be removed for cause;
provide that vacancies on our board of directors may be filled only by a majority of directors then in office, even though less than a quorum; and
require the approval of our board of directors or the holders of at least 66 2/3% of our outstanding shares of voting stock to amend our bylaws and certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation.
These provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally, subject to certain exceptions, prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an “interested” stockholder. Any of the foregoing provisions could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A common stock, and they could deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that you would receive a premium for your shares of our Class A common stock in an acquisition.
Claims for indemnification by our directors and officers may reduce our available funds to satisfy successful third-party claims against us and may reduce the amount of money available to us.
Our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that we will indemnify our directors and officers, in each case to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law.
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In addition, as permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated bylaws and indemnification agreements that we have entered into with our directors and officers provide that:
we will indemnify our directors and officers for serving us in those capacities or for serving other business enterprises at our request, to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. Delaware law provides that a corporation may indemnify such person if such person acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and, with respect to any criminal proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe such person’s conduct was unlawful;
we may, in our discretion, indemnify employees and agents in those circumstances where indemnification is permitted by applicable law;
we are required to advance expenses, as incurred, to our directors and officers in connection with defending a proceeding, except that such directors or officers shall undertake to repay such advances if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to indemnification;
the rights conferred in our amended and restated bylaws are not exclusive, and we are authorized to enter into indemnification agreements with our directors, officers, employees, and agents and to obtain insurance to indemnify such persons; and
we may not retroactively amend our amended and restated bylaw provisions to reduce our indemnification obligations to directors, officers, employees, and agents.
While we have procured directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policies, such insurance policies may not be available to us in the future at a reasonable rate, may not cover all potential claims for indemnification, and may not be adequate to indemnify us for all liability that may be imposed.
Our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide for an exclusive forum in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware for certain disputes between us and our stockholders, and that the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act.
Our restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws provide that: (i) unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, the federal district court of the State of Delaware) will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for: (A) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (B) any action asserting a claim for or based on a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers, other employees, agents, or stockholders to us or our stockholders, including, without limitation, a claim alleging the aiding and abetting of such a breach of fiduciary duty, (C) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our current or former directors, officers, other employees, agents, or stockholders arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our certificate of incorporation or bylaws or as to which the Delaware General Corporation Law confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or (D) any action asserting a claim related to or involving us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine; (ii) unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder; (iii) the exclusive forum provisions are intended to benefit and may be enforced by us, our officers and directors, the financial advisors to any offering giving rise to such complaint, and any other professional or entity whose profession gives authority to a statement made by that person or entity and who has prepared or certified any part of the documents underlying the offering; and (iv) any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in our shares of capital stock will be deemed to have notice of and consented to these provisions. Nothing in our restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws precludes stockholders that assert claims under the Exchange Act from bringing such claims in federal court, to the extent that the Exchange Act confers exclusive federal jurisdiction over such claims, subject to applicable law.
We believe these provisions may benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law and federal securities laws by chancellors and judges, as applicable, particularly experienced in resolving corporate disputes, efficient administration of cases on a more expedited schedule relative to other forums, and protection against the burdens of multi-forum litigation. If a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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General Risk Factors
Our inability to attract and retain highly skilled employees could materially adversely affect our business.
In order to execute our growth plan, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for these personnel in the San Francisco Bay Area, where our headquarters is located, and in other locations where we engage in recruiting, is intense, especially for engineers experienced in designing and developing software and for experienced sales professionals. We have, from time to time experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, difficulty in hiring and retaining employees with appropriate qualifications. The cost of living is high in the San Francisco Bay Area, which may make it harder for us to attract and retain highly skilled employees. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel may have greater resources than we have. As our company grows and evolves, we may need to implement more complex organizational management structures or adapt our corporate culture and work environments. These changes could have an adverse impact on our corporate culture, which could harm our ability to retain and recruit personnel. If we hire employees from competitors or other companies, their former employers may attempt to assert that these employees or we have breached their legal obligations, resulting in a diversion of our time and resources. In addition, 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, it may adversely affect our ability to recruit and retain highly skilled employees. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our business and growth prospects could be materially adversely affected.
We depend on our executive officers and other key employees, and the loss of one or more of these employees could materially adversely affect our business.
Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our executive officers and other key employees. 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. From time to time, there may be 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; 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 key employees could have an adverse effect on our business.
Changes in the business, regulatory, or political climate in the San Francisco Bay Area could adversely affect our operations.
Changes in the business, regulatory, or political climate in the San Francisco Bay Area, where our headquarters is located and most of our employees live, could affect our ability to expand or continue our operations there, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. For example, if we were required to move our headquarters or downsize our operations in the San Francisco Bay Area due to material adverse changes in the business, regulatory, or political climate such as increases in local tax rates, we may lose key employees and incur significant costs of relocation.
Changes in laws and regulations related to the internet or changes in the internet infrastructure itself may diminish the demand for our Digital Optimization System, and could harm our business.
The future success of our business depends upon our customers’ and potential customers’ access to the internet. 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. 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 may impose additional laws, regulations, standards, or protocols involving taxation, tariffs, privacy, data protection, information security, content, copyrights, distribution, electronic contracts and other communications, consumer protection, and the characteristics and quality of services, any of which could decrease the demand for our Digital Optimization System or result in reductions in the demand for internet-based platforms such as ours. In addition, the use of the internet as a business tool could be harmed 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 harmed 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 Digital Optimization System could decline.
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Our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate, and even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.
Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts, including those we have generated ourselves, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate. The variables that go into the calculation of our market opportunity are subject to change over time, and there is no guarantee that any particular number or percentage of companies covered by our market opportunity estimates will purchase our Digital Optimization System or generate any particular level of revenue for us. Any expansion in our markets depends on a number of factors, including the cost, performance, and perceived value associated with our Digital Optimization System and the products of our competitors. Even if the markets in which we compete achieve the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.
Acquisitions, mergers, strategic investments, partnerships, or alliances could be difficult to identify, pose integration challenges, divert the attention of management, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value, and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We have in the past and intend in the future to seek to acquire or invest in businesses, joint ventures, and platform technologies that we believe could complement or expand our Digital Optimization System, enhance our technology, or otherwise offer growth opportunities. Any such acquisitions or investments may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various expenses in identifying, investigating, and pursuing suitable opportunities, whether or not the transactions are completed, and 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 any acquired companies, particularly if the key personnel of an acquired company choose not to work for us, the acquired company’s 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. Any such transactions that we are able to complete may not result in the synergies or other benefits we expect to achieve, which could result in substantial impairment charges. These transactions could also result in dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of debt or adverse tax consequences, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our business could be disrupted by catastrophic occurrences and similar events.
Natural disasters or other catastrophic events may cause damage or disruption to our operations, international commerce, and the global economy, and could harm our business. We have a large employee presence in San Francisco, California. In the event of a major earthquake, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, cyberattack, war (including the recent and developing war in Ukraine), terrorist attack, sabotage, other intentional acts of vandalism or misconduct, geopolitical event, disease, or other catastrophic occurrence, we may be unable to continue our operations and may endure system interruptions, reputational harm, delays in our application development, lengthy interruptions in our products, breaches of data security, and loss of critical data, all of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Additionally, we rely on our network and third-party infrastructure and applications, internal technology systems, and our websites for our development, marketing, operational support, hosted services, and sales activities. If these systems were to fail or be negatively impacted as a result of a natural disaster or other catastrophic event, our ability to deliver products to our customers would be impaired.
As we grow our business, the need for business continuity planning, incident response planning, and disaster recovery plans will grow in significance. If we are unable to develop adequate plans to ensure that our business functions continue to operate during and after a disaster, and successfully execute on those plans in the event of a disaster or emergency, our business and reputation would be harmed.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish unfavorable or inaccurate research about our business, the market price and trading volume of our Class A common stock could decline.
The market price and trading volume of our Class A common stock will be heavily influenced by the way analysts interpret our financial information and other disclosures. We do not have control over these analysts. If few securities analysts commence coverage of us, or if industry analysts cease coverage of us, our stock price would be negatively affected. If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, downgrade our Class A common stock, or publish negative reports about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our Class A common stock could decrease, which might cause our stock price to decline and could decrease the trading volume of our Class A common stock.
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We will incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to compliance with our public company responsibilities and corporate governance practices.
As a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting, and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company, which we expect to further increase after we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” which, based on the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates as of the last business day of our second fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2022, will be December 31, 2022. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Nasdaq rules, and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to compliance with these requirements. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. We cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we will incur as a public company or the specific timing of such costs.
As a result of being a public company, we are obligated to develop and maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting, and any failure to maintain the adequacy of these internal controls may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our Class A common stock.
We will be required, pursuant to Section 404, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis, beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, because we will no longer be an “emerging growth company” commencing December 31, 2022, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. We have commenced the costly and challenging process of compiling the system and processing documentation necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404, but we may not be able to complete our evaluation, testing, and any required remediation in a timely fashion once initiated. Our compliance with Section 404 will require that we incur substantial expenses and expend significant management efforts. We have begun to establish a compliance and controls function and we will need to hire additional accounting and financial personnel with appropriate public company experience and technical accounting knowledge and compile the system and process documentation necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404.
During the evaluation and testing process of our internal controls, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to certify that our internal control over financial reporting is effective. We cannot assure you that there will not be material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting in the future. Any failure to maintain internal control over financial reporting could severely inhibit our ability to accurately report our financial condition or results of operations. If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm determines we have a material weakness or significant deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our Class A common stock could decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Failure to remedy any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or to implement or maintain other effective control systems required of public companies, could also restrict our future access to the capital markets.