Item 1A. Risk Factors
ITEM
1A.
RISK FACTORS
Below
is a summary of our risk factors with a more detailed discussion following. The risks below are those that we believe are the
material risks that we currently face, but are not the only risks facing us and our business. If any of these risks actually occur,
our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
● The
COVID-19 pandemic may adversely affect our revenues, results of operations and financial
condition.
● The
success of our consumer applications is principally dependent on our active subscribers
and our engagement with our user base.
● We
operate in an intensely competitive industry and any failure to attract new users could
diminish or suspend our development and possibly cease our operations.
● Our
mobile applications are substantially dependent on interaction with mobile platforms
and operating systems that we do not control.
● Our
business depends on developing, establishing and maintaining strong brands. If we are
unable to maintain and enhance our brands, we may be unable to expand or retain our user
and paying subscriber bases.
● We
may conduct a portion of our operations through informal relationships, partnerships,
strategic alliances or joint ventures, and our failure to continue such relationships
or resolve any material disagreements with these third parties could have a material
adverse effect on the success of these operations, our financial condition and our results
of operations.
● If
our goodwill or other intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record
a significant charge to earnings, which could seriously harm our operating results.
● As
the distribution of our products through application stores increases, we may incur additional
fees from the developers of application stores.
● Our
future success is dependent, in part, on the performance and continued service of our
executive officers. Without their continued service, we may be forced to interrupt or
eventually cease our operations.
● Our
subscription metrics and other estimates are subject to inherent challenges in measurement,
and real or perceived inaccuracies in those metrics may seriously harm and negatively
affect our reputation and our business.
● Because
we recognize revenue from subscriptions over the term of the subscription, the full impact
of downturns or upturns in subscription sales may not be immediately reflected in our
results of operations or financial condition.
● The
online live video industry is characterized by rapid technological change and the development
of enhancements and new applications, and if we fail to keep pace with technological
developments or launch new applications, our business may be adversely affected.
● We
plan to continue expanding our operations internationally and may be subject to increased
business and economic risks that could seriously harm our business.
● A
portion of our revenue is dependent on third-party resellers, the efforts of which we
do not control.
● Foreign
governments restricting access to our applications could materially adversely impact
our business.
● Our
mobile applications rely on high-bandwidth data capabilities, which are subject to hardware,
networks, regulations and standards that we do not control.
● Our
business depends in large part upon the availability of cost-effective advertising space
through a variety of media and keeping pace with trends in consumer behavior.
● Interruption,
maintenance or failure of our programming code, servers or technological infrastructure
could hurt our ability to effectively provide our applications, which could damage our
reputation and harm our results of operations.
● Security
breaches, computer viruses and computer hacking attacks could harm our business, results
of operations or financial condition.
●
We have faced, and
we expect that we will continue to face, chargeback liability when our credit card providers resolve chargebacks in favor
of their customers. We cannot accurately anticipate the extent of these liabilities, and if not properly addressed, these
liabilities could increase our operating expenses or preclude us from accepting certain credit cards as a method of payment,
either of which would materially adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
●
We may make or attempt
to make acquisitions in the future, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute our
stockholders and seriously harm our business.
●
We face certain risks related to the physical
and emotional safety of users and third parties.
●
We may need additional
capital to execute our business plan. If we do not obtain additional financing, it could have a material adverse effect on
our business, results of operations or financial condition.
●
We are subject to risks related to holding and
distributing cryptocurrencies.
●
Currently, there
are no regulated trading markets for cryptocurrency tokens, and therefore our ability to sell such tokens may be limited.
●
Our tokens and other
cryptocurrencies that we hold may be subject to loss, theft or restriction on access.
7
●
Because there has
been limited precedent set for financial accounting of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, the determination that we
have made for how to account for our tokens and any other digital assets we may acquire may be subject to change.
●
We may be liable as a result of information
retrieved from or transmitted over the internet.
●
If there are changes
in laws or regulations regarding privacy and the protection of user data, or if we fail to comply with such laws or regulations,
we may face claims brought against us by regulators or users that could adversely affect our business, results of operations
or financial condition.
●
Changes
in laws or regulations, including laws and regulations that impact the use of the internet,
such as internet neutrality laws, or laws that relate to content provided over the internet
or monitoring such content, could adversely affect our business, results of operations or
financial condition.
●
We may not be effective in protecting our internet
domain names.
●
If we are unable
to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be unable to compete with competitors developing similar technologies.
●
If we are subject
to intellectual property infringement claims, it could cause us to incur significant expenses, pay substantial damages or
royalties and prevent us from offering our applications.
● Our
results of operations are volatile and difficult to predict, and our stock price may
decline if we fail to meet the expectations of stockholders.
● Our
common stock is usually thinly traded, stockholders may be unable to sell at or near ask prices
or at all and the price of our common stock may be volatile.
● The
ownership of our common stock is significantly concentrated in a small number of investors,
some of whom are affiliated with our Board of Directors and management, which could prevent
stockholders from having input on the course of our operations or otherwise lead to actual
or potential conflicts of interest.
● The
issuance of shares upon the exercise of stock options and unvested shares of restricted
common stock may cause immediate and substantial dilution to our existing stockholders.
● Our
Certificate of Incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware
as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may
be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to
obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees,
or stockholders.
● If
we fail to remain current on our reporting requirements, we could be removed from the
OTCQB, which would limit the ability of broker-dealers to sell our common stock and the
ability of stockholders to sell their common stock in the secondary market.
●
Because
we have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock
for the foreseeable future, a stockholder might not receive any return on investment unless the stockholder sold its shares of
common stock for a price greater than that for which the shares were purchased.
● Investor
relations activities, nominal “float” and supply and demand factors may affect
the price of our common stock.
● If
we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting,
we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud and our
business may be harmed and our stock price may be adversely impacted.
Risks
Related to Our Business
The
COVID-19 pandemic may adversely affect our revenues, results of operations and financial condition.
In
December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, and has reached
multiple other countries, including the United States, resulting in government-imposed quarantines, travel restrictions and other
public health safety measures in the United States and other affected countries. The various precautionary measures taken by many
governmental authorities around the world in order to limit the spread of COVID-19 have had, and could continue to have, an adverse
effect on the global markets and its economy, including on the availability and pricing of employees and resources, and other
aspects of the global economy. Therefore, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could disrupt and cause delays in our software,
disrupt the marketplace in which we operate, slow down the overall economy, curtail consumer spending, make it hard to adequately
staff our operations or enter into agreements with independent contractors and have a material adverse effect on our operations.
In addition, disruptions in the operations of the third parties with whom we do business have caused and could in the future cause
such third parties to fail to perform under their respective contracts or commitments with us. For instance, we were party to
a sublease agreement with Telecom for office space located at 122 East 42nd Street in New York, NY, pursuant to which Telecom
was required to pay us $11,164 per month. Due to the COVID-19, Telecom was unable to make its monthly payments under the sublease
agreement, and as a result, on June 18, 2020, we entered into an agreement with Telecom to terminate the sublease agreement. Under
the terms of the agreement, Telecom vacated the offices on June 30, 2020. In addition, on June 22, 2020, we entered into an agreement
to terminate our lease for this office space. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, we vacated the offices on June 30, 2020
and agreed to forfeit our security deposit of $133,968.
8
To
the extent that the COVID-19 pandemic causes a substantial reduction or change in timing of our cash provided by operating activities,
we may be required to seek additional capital through the incurrence of debt or the issuance equity securities. For instance,
on April 13, 2020, to help ensure adequate liquidity in light of the uncertainties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we applied
for a loan under the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) Paycheck Protection Program under the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), and on May 3, 2020, we entered into a promissory note with an
aggregate principal amount of $506,500 (the “Note”) in favor of Citibank, N.A., as lender (the “Lender”).
On January 13, 2021, the Note was fully forgiven by the SBA and the Lender in compliance with the provisions of the CARES Act.
While we do not currently expect to incur additional indebtedness under the CARES Act, any inability to obtain additional liquidity
as and when needed would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The
extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain
and cannot be predicted, including the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact and the availability of COVID-19 vaccines,
among others.
The
success of our consumer applications is principally dependent on our active subscribers and our engagement with our user base.
As
of March 12, 2021, our applications supported an active subscriber base of approximately 103,700 active subscribers worldwide.
However,
compared to the total number of users in any given period, only a small portion of our users are active subscribers or purchasers
of virtual currency. We primarily generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions and virtual currency to this small portion
of users and secondarily generate revenue through paid advertisements. Accordingly, the success of our consumer applications is
substantially dependent on our ability to convert our users into active subscribers and to sell our users virtual currency.
Users
discontinue the use of our applications in the ordinary course of business, and to sustain our revenue levels, we must attract,
retain and increase the number of users or more effectively monetize our existing users. Falling user retention, growth or engagement
could also make our applications less attractive to advertisers, which could harm our business.
There
are a number of factors that could negatively impact user retention, growth and engagement, including, among other things:
● users
may adopt competing products instead of ours;
● we
may fail to introduce new products and services or improve upon our existing applications,
or those new products and services or improvements we introduce may be poorly received;
●
our
products may fail to operate effectively on mobile or other platforms;
●
we
may be unable to combat spam or other hostile or inappropriate usage on our products or free speech;
● there
may be adverse changes in user sentiment about the quality or usefulness of our existing
products;
● there
may be concerns about the privacy implications, safety or security of our products;
● technical
or other problems may frustrate the experience of our users, particularly if those problems
prevent us from delivering our products in a fast and reliable manner;
● we
may fail to provide adequate service to our users;
● we
or other companies in our industry may be the subject of adverse media reports or other
negative publicity;
● we
may not maintain our brand image or our reputation may be damaged; and
● we
may be subject to denial of service or other attacks from hackers that result in service
downtime.
To
retain existing users, and particularly those users who are paying subscribers, we must devote significant resources so that our
applications retain their interest. If we fail to grow or sustain the number of our users, or if the rates at which we attract
and retain existing users declines or the rate at which users become paying subscribers declines, it could have a material adverse
effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
9
We
operate in an intensely competitive industry and any failure to attract new users could diminish or suspend our development and
possibly cease our operations.
The
industry in which we compete is highly competitive and has few barriers to entry. If we are unable to efficiently and effectively
attract new users as a result of intense competition or a saturated market, we may not be able to continue the provision, development
and enhancement of our consumer applications or become profitable on a consistent basis in the future.
Important
factors affecting our ability to successfully compete include:
● the
usefulness, novelty, performance and reliability of our consumer applications compared
to our competitors;
● the
timing and market acceptance of our consumer applications, including developments and
enhancements of our competitors’ consumer applications;
● our
ability to effectively monetize our consumer applications and the availability of free
or cheaper alternatives from our competitors;
● our
ability to hire and retain talented employees, including technical employees, executives,
and marketing experts;
● the
success of our customer service and support efforts;
● our
reputation and brand strength compared to our competitors;
● competition
for acquiring users that could result in increased user acquisition costs;
● reliance
upon the platforms through which our consumer applications are accessed and the platform
owner’s ability to control our activities on such platforms;
● the
effectiveness of the marketing and advertisement of our consumer applications;
● our
ability to maintain advertisers’ interest in advertising through our consumer applications;
● our
ability to innovate in the ever-changing consumer applications industry in which we operate;
● changes
as a result of new legislation or regulation within the consumer applications industry;
and
● acquisitions
or consolidations within the consumer applications industry.
Many
of our current and potential competitors offer similar services, have longer operating histories, significantly greater capital,
financial, technical, marketing and other resources and larger user or subscriber bases than we do. These factors may allow our
competitors to more quickly respond to new or emerging technologies and changes in client or consumer preferences. These competitors
may engage in more extensive research and development efforts, undertake more far-reaching marketing campaigns and adopt more
aggressive pricing strategies that may allow them to build larger user bases consisting of greater numbers of clients or paying
users. Our competitors may develop applications and software that are equal or superior to our applications and software or that
achieve greater market or industry acceptance. It is possible that a new application developed or offered by one of our competitors
could gain rapid scale at the expense of existing brands through harnessing a new technology or distribution channel, creating
a new approach to servicing clients or connecting people.
Certain
entities that we do not directly compete with but that have large or dominant positions in one or more markets could use those
positions to gain a competitive advantage against us by integrating competing video chat or social media platforms into products
they control, such as search engines, web browsers or mobile device operating systems.
Costs
for consumers to switch between products in the video chat industry are generally low, and consumers have a propensity to try
new products to connect with new people. As a result, new entrants and business models are likely to continue to emerge in our
industry. These activities could attract users and subscribers away from our applications and reduce our market share.
If
we are unable to effectively compete, we may fail to obtain new clients for our products or our users may discontinue the use
of our products and we may lose active subscribers, either of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results
of operations and financial condition.
Our
mobile applications are substantially dependent on interaction with mobile platforms and operating systems that we do not control.
A
portion of our revenue, primarily our revenue from mobile platforms, is derived from the Apple iOS platform and the Google Android
platform. Although we believe that we have a good relationship with Apple and Google, any deterioration in our relationship with
either could materially harm our business, results of operations or financial condition.
We
are subject to each of Apple’s and Google’s standard terms and conditions for application developers, which govern
the promotion, distribution and operation of our applications on their respective storefronts. Each of Apple and Google has broad
discretion to change its standard terms and conditions. In addition, these standard terms and conditions can be vague and subject
to changing interpretations by Apple or Google. In addition, each of Apple and Google has the right to prohibit a developer from
distributing applications on the storefront if the developer violates the standard terms and conditions. In the event that either
Apple or Google ever determines that we are in violation of its standard terms and conditions and prohibits us from distributing
our applications on its storefront, it could materially harm our business, results of operations or financial condition.
10
The
number of people who access the internet through devices other than personal computers, including smart phones, cell phones and
handheld tablets, has increased dramatically in the past several years and is projected to continue to increase. Accordingly,
we are substantially dependent on interoperability with popular mobile platforms that we do not control, including the Apple App
Store and the Google Play Store, and a portion of our revenue is derived from these two digital storefronts. There have been occasions
in the past when these digital storefronts were unavailable for short periods of time or where there have been issues with the
in-App purchasing functionality from the storefront. In the event that either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store is
unavailable or if in-App purchasing functionality from the storefront is non-operational for a prolonged period of time, it could
have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
In
addition, each of the Apple App Store and Google Play Store provides consumers with products that compete with ours. If either
of these platforms give preferential treatment to competitive products, it could seriously harm the usage of our products on mobile
devices.
Our
business depends on developing, establishing and maintaining strong brands. If we are unable to maintain and enhance our brands,
we may be unable to expand or retain our user and paying subscriber bases.
We
believe that developing, establishing and maintaining awareness of our application brands is critical to our efforts to achieve
widespread acceptance of our applications and is an important element to expanding our client and subscriber bases. Successful
promotion of our application brands will depend largely on the effectiveness of our advertising and marketing efforts and on our
ability to provide reliable and useful applications at competitive prices. If clients and users do not perceive our products to
be of high quality, or if our products are not favorably received by clients and users, the value of our brands could diminish,
thereby decreasing the attractiveness of our software, services and applications to clients and users. In addition, advertising
and marketing activities may not yield increased revenue, and even if they do, any increased revenue may not offset the expenses
we incurred in building our brands.
If
we fail to successfully promote and maintain our application brands, or incur substantial expenses in unsuccessfully attempting
to promote and maintain our brands, we may fail to attract enough new clients or subscribers or retain our existing clients and
subscribers to the extent necessary to realize a sufficient return on our advertising and marketing activities, and it could have
a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
We
may conduct a portion of our operations through informal relationships, partnerships, strategic alliances or joint ventures, and
our failure to continue such relationships or resolve any material disagreements with these third parties could have a material
adverse effect on the success of these operations, our financial condition and our results of operations.
We
may conduct a portion of our operations through partnerships, strategic alliances or joint ventures. For instance, at the end
of 2019, we launched our consumer application platform strategy, under which we plan to co-brand our video chat applications and
promote them in partnership with third-party communities, with the expectation of entering into revenue sharing arrangements with
potential partners.
We
may depend on third parties for elements of these arrangements that are important to the success of the relationship, such as
the development of features or technologies to be incorporated into our applications. The performance of these third-party obligations
or the ability of third parties to meet their obligations under these arrangements would be outside of our control. If these third
parties do not meet or satisfy their obligations under these arrangements, the performance and success of these arrangements,
and their value to us, would be adversely affected. If our current or future partners are unable to meet their obligations, we
may be forced to undertake the obligations ourselves and/or incur additional expenses in order to have some other party perform
such obligations. In such cases we may also be required to seek legal enforcement of our rights, the outcome of which would be
uncertain. If any of these events occur, they may adversely impact us, our financial performance and results of operations, and/or
adversely impact our ability to enter into similar relationships in the future.
Strategic
arrangements with third parties could involve risks not otherwise present when we directly manage our operations, including, for
example:
●
third
parties may share certain approval rights over major decisions within the scope of the relationship;
●
the
possibility that these third parties might become insolvent or bankrupt;
●
the
possibility that we may incur liabilities as a result of an action taken by one of these third parties;
●
these
third parties may be in a position to take action contrary to our instructions or requests or contrary to our policies or
objectives; and
●
disputes
between us and these third parties may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses, delay or terminate
projects and prevent our officers and directors from focusing their time and effort on our business.
If
our goodwill or other intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings, which
could seriously harm our operating results.
We
are required to test goodwill for impairment at least annually or more frequently if there are indicators that the carrying amount
of the goodwill exceeds its carried value. As of December 31, 2020, we had recorded a total of $6.3 million of goodwill and $0.4
million of other intangible assets. An adverse change in domestic or global market conditions, particularly if such change has
the effect of changing one of our critical assumptions or estimates made in connection with the impairment testing of goodwill
or intangible assets, could result in a change to the estimation of fair value that could, in turn, result in an impairment charge
to our goodwill or other intangible assets. If we divest or discontinue product categories or products that we previously acquired,
or if the value of those parts of our business become impaired, we also may need to evaluate the carrying value of our goodwill.
Any such material charges may have a negative impact on our operating results.
11
As
the distribution of our products through application stores increases, we may incur additional fees from the developers of application
stores.
As
the user base of our consumer applications continues to shift to mobile solutions, we increasingly rely on the Apple iOS and Google
Android platforms to distribute our products. While our products are free to download from these stores, we offer our users the
opportunity to purchase paid memberships and certain premium features through our products. We determine the prices at which these
memberships and features are sold and, in exchange for facilitating the purchase of these memberships and features through our
products to users who download our products from these stores, we pay Apple or Google, as applicable, a share, which is currently
30% of the revenue we receive from these transactions. In the future, other distribution platforms that we utilize may charge
us fees for the distribution of our applications. As the distribution of our products through application stores increases, the
amount of fees that we must pay to the developers of these application stores will also increase. Unless we find a way to offset
these fees, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our
future success is dependent, in part, on the performance and continued service of our executive officers. Without their continued
service, we may be forced to interrupt or eventually cease our operations.
We
are dependent to a great extent upon the experience, abilities and continued service of Jason Katz, our Chief Executive Officer
and Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Kara B. Jenny, our Chief Financial Officer and director. The loss of the services
of these individuals would substantially affect our business or operations and could have a material adverse effect on our business,
results of operations or financial condition.
Our
subscription metrics and other estimates are subject to inherent challenges in measurement,
and real or perceived inaccuracies in those metrics may seriously harm and negatively
affect our reputation and our business.
We
regularly review metrics, including our active subscribers, to evaluate growth trends, measure our performance, and make strategic
decisions. These metrics are calculated using internal Company data and have not been validated by an independent third party.
While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable estimates of our user base for the applicable period of measurement,
there are inherent challenges in measuring how our products are used across large populations globally.
Some
of our demographic data may be incomplete or inaccurate. For example, because users self-report their dates of birth, our age-demographic
data may differ from our users’ actual ages. If our users provide us with incorrect or incomplete information regarding
their age or other attributes, our estimates may prove inaccurate.
In
addition, our business strategy is guided by data analytics that we compute internally based on data collection, data processing,
cloud-based platforms, statistical projections and forecasting, mobile computing, social media analytics and other applications
and technologies. We use these internally derived data analytics to guide decisions concerning the development and modification
of features on our applications, monetization strategies for our applications and the development of new applications, among other
things.
The
inability to accurately derive our metrics or data analytics could result in incorrect business decisions and inefficiencies.
For instance, if a significant understatement or overstatement of our active subscribers were to occur, we may expend resources
to implement unnecessary business measures or fail to take required actions to attract a sufficient number of subscribers to satisfy
our growth strategies. If advertisers or investors do not perceive our subscription, geographic or other demographic metrics to
be accurate representations of our user base, or if we discover material inaccuracies in our subscription, geographic or other
demographic metrics, our reputation may be seriously harmed. At the same time, advertisers may be less willing to allocate their
budgets or resources to our products, which could seriously harm our business, results of operation or financial condition.
Because
we recognize revenue from subscriptions over the term of the subscription, the full impact of downturns or upturns in subscription
sales may not be immediately reflected in our results of operations or financial condition.
We
recognize subscription revenue from customers monthly over the term of the subscription, and subscriptions are generally offered
in one-, three-, six-, twelve-, and fifteen-month terms, depending on the particular product. As a result, much of the subscription
revenue we report in each period is deferred revenue from subscription agreements entered into during previous periods. Consequently,
a decline in new or renewed subscriptions in any one quarter will negatively affect our revenue in future quarters. In addition,
we might not be able to immediately adjust our costs and expenses to reflect these reduced revenues. Accordingly, the effect of
significant downturns in user acceptance of our applications may not be fully reflected in our results of operations until future
periods. Our subscription model also makes it difficult for us to quickly increase our revenue through additional sales in any
period, as revenue from new subscribers must be recognized over the term of the subscription. As a result, you should not rely
on the amount of subscription revenue generated in prior quarters as an indication of future results.
12
The
online live video industry is characterized by rapid technological change and the development of enhancements and new applications,
and if we fail to keep pace with technological developments or launch new applications, our business may be adversely affected.
The
online live video industry is characterized by rapid change, and our future success is dependent upon our ability to adopt and
innovate. To attract new users and increase revenues from existing users, we need to enhance, add new features to and improve
our existing applications and introduce new applications in the future. The success of any enhancements or new features and applications
depends on several factors, including timely completion, introduction and market acceptance. Building a new brand or product is
generally an iterative process that occurs over a meaningful period of time and involves considerable resources and expenditures,
and we may expend significant time and resources developing and launching an application that may not result in revenues in the
anticipated timeframe or at all, or may not result in revenue growth that is sufficient to offset increased expenses. If we are
unable to successfully develop enhancements, new features or new applications to meet user trends and preferences, our business
and operating results could be adversely affected.
In
addition, our applications are designed to operate on a variety of network, hardware and software platforms using internet tools
and protocols and we need to continuously modify and enhance our applications to keep pace with technological changes. If we are
unable to respond in a timely and cost-effective manner, our current and future applications may become less marketable and less
competitive or even obsolete.
We
plan to continue expanding our operations internationally and may be subject to increased business and economic risks that could
seriously harm our business.
Presently,
we derive a significant portion of revenue from international territories and we plan to continue expanding our business operations
abroad. In addition, we rely on outsourced services based in Russia, India and elsewhere. We may enter new international markets
where we have limited or no experience in marketing, selling and deploying our products. If we fail to deploy or manage our operations
in international markets successfully, our business may suffer. As our international operations increase our operating results
may become more greatly affected by fluctuations in the exchange rates of the currencies in which we do business. In addition,
we are subject to a variety of risks inherent in doing business internationally, including:
● political,
social, and economic instability;
● risks
related to the legal and regulatory environment in foreign jurisdictions, including with
respect to privacy, free speech and unexpected changes in laws, regulatory requirements,
and enforcement;
● potential
damage to our brand and reputation due to compliance with local laws, including potential
censorship and requirements to provide user information to local authorities;
● fluctuations
in currency exchange rates;
● higher
levels of credit risk and payment fraud;
● complying
with multiple tax jurisdictions;
● reduced
protection for intellectual-property rights in some countries;
● difficulties
in staffing and managing global operations and the increased travel, infrastructure and
compliance costs associated with multiple international locations;
● regulations
that might add difficulties in repatriating cash earned outside the United States and
otherwise preventing us from freely moving cash;
● import
and export restrictions and changes in trade regulation;
● complying
with statutory equity requirements;
● complying
with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and similar laws in
other jurisdictions;
● the
impact of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union; and
● export
controls and economic sanctions administered by the Department of Commerce Bureau of
Industry and Security and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
If
we are unable to expand internationally and manage the complexity of our global operations successfully, our business could be
seriously harmed.
13
A
portion of our revenue is dependent on third-party resellers, the efforts of which we do not control.
We
are dependent on the efforts of third parties who resell our subscriptions for a portion of our revenue. In particular, video
chat users in certain international territories have an option to purchase subscriptions through local resellers. These local
resellers prepay in bulk for services and debit the prepaid balance as one-time subscriptions and virtual currency are sold to
end users.
We
do not control the efforts of these resellers. If they fail to market or sell our subscriptions successfully, merge or consolidate
with other businesses, declare bankruptcy or depart from their respective industries, our business could be harmed. If we are
unable to maintain or replace our contractual relationships with resellers, efficiently manage our relationships with them or
establish new contractual relationships with other third parties, we may fail to retain subscribers or acquire potential new subscribers
and may experience delays and increased costs in adding or replacing subscribers that were lost, any of which could materially
affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
Foreign
governments restricting access to our applications could materially adversely impact our business.
We
have continued to focus on increasing the international presence of our applications by expanding the localized and translated
versions for additional international countries that are culturally aligned with our products. Foreign data protection, privacy,
consumer protection, content regulation, and other laws and regulations are often more restrictive than those in the United States.
Foreign governments may censor our products in their countries, restrict access to our products from their countries entirely,
or impose other restrictions that may affect their citizens’ ability to access our products for an extended period of time
or even indefinitely. If foreign governments think we are violating their laws, or for other reasons, they may seek to restrict
access to our products, which would give our competitors an opportunity to penetrate geographic markets that we cannot access.
As a result, our ability to grow our international user base would be impaired, and we may not be able to maintain or grow our
revenue as anticipated and our business could be seriously harmed.
Our
mobile applications rely on high-bandwidth data capabilities, which are subject to hardware, networks, regulations and standards
that we do not control.
Our
mobile applications require high-bandwidth data capabilities. If the costs of data usage increase or access to cellular networks
is limited, our user growth and retention on mobile platforms may be seriously harmed. Additionally, to deliver high-quality video
and other content over mobile cellular networks, our products must work well with a range of mobile technologies, systems, networks,
regulations and standards that we do not control, and any changes to those mobile technologies, systems, networks, regulations
or standards could impact the usability of our mobile applications, which would materially adversely affect our business, results
of operations or financial condition.
Our
business depends in large part upon the availability of cost-effective advertising space through a variety of media and keeping
pace with trends in consumer behavior.
We
depend upon the availability of advertising space through a variety of media, including third-party applications on platforms
such as Facebook, to recruit new users and subscribers, generate activity from existing users and subscribers and direct traffic
to our application. Historically, we have had to increase our marketing expenditures in order to attract and retain users and
sustain our growth. The availability of advertising space varies, and a shortage of advertising space in any particular media
or on any particular platform, or the elimination of a particular medium on which we advertise, could limit our ability to generate
new subscribers, generate activity from existing subscribers or direct traffic to our applications, any of which could have a
material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, evolving consumer behavior
can affect the availability of profitable marketing opportunities. For example, as consumers communicate less via email and more
via text messaging and other virtual means, the reach of email campaigns designed to attract new and repeat users (and retain
current users) for our applications is adversely impacted. To continue to reach potential users and grow our business, we must
devote more of our overall marketing expenditures to newer advertising channels, which may be unproven and undeveloped, and we
may not be able to continue to manage and fine-tune our marketing efforts in response to these trends.
14
Interruption,
maintenance or failure of our programming code, servers or technological infrastructure could hurt our ability to effectively
provide our applications, which could damage our reputation and harm our results of operations.
The
availability of our applications depends on the continued operation of our programming code, databases, servers and technological
infrastructure. Any damage to, or failure of, our systems could result in interruptions in service for our applications, which
could damage our brands and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. Our
systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from terrorist attacks, floods, fires, power loss, telecommunications failures,
computer viruses, computer denial of service attacks or other attempts to harm our systems. Some of our systems are not fully
redundant, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities.
In
addition, from time to time we experience limited periods of server downtime due to maintenance or enhancements. If our applications
are unavailable during these periods of downtime or if our users are unable to access our applications within a reasonable amount
of time, users may not return to our applications in the future, or at all. As our user base and the volume and types of information
shared on our applications continues to grow, we will need an increasing amount of technology infrastructure, including network
capacity and computing power, to continue to satisfy our users’ needs. It is possible that we may fail to effectively scale
and grow our technology infrastructure to accommodate these increased demands. Any failure to support and scale our technology
infrastructure could adversely impact the reputation of our brands and harm our results of operations.
Security
breaches, computer viruses and computer hacking attacks could harm our business, results of operations or financial condition.
We
receive, process, store and transmit a significant amount of personal user and other confidential information, including credit
card information, and enable our users to share their personal information with each other. In some cases, we retain third party
vendors to store this information. We continuously develop and maintain systems to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality
of this information, but cannot guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure will not occur or that third parties
will not gain unauthorized access to this information despite our efforts. If any such event were to occur, we may not be able
to remedy the event, and we may have to expend significant capital and resources to mitigate the impact of such an event, and
to develop and implement protections to prevent future events of this nature from occurring.
Security
breaches, computer malware and computer hacking attacks have become more prevalent in our industry, have occurred on our systems
in the past, and may occur on our systems in the future. Although it is difficult to determine what, if any, harm may directly
result from an interruption or attack, any security breach caused by hacking, including efforts to gain unauthorized access to
our applications, servers or websites, or to cause intentional malfunctions or loss or corruption of data, software, hardware
or other computer equipment, and the inadvertent transmission of computer viruses could harm our business, financial condition
and results of operations. If a breach of our security (or the security of our vendors and partners) occurs, the perception of
the effectiveness of our security measures and our reputation may be harmed, we could lose current and potential users and the
recognition of our various brands and their competitive positions could be diminished, any or all of which could adversely affect
our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Spammers
may attempt to use our products to send targeted and untargeted spam messages to users, which may embarrass or annoy users and
make our products less user friendly. We cannot be certain that the technologies that we have developed to repel spamming attacks
will be able to eliminate all spam messages from our products. Our actions to combat spam may also require diversion of significant
time and focus of our engineering team from improving our products. As a result of spamming activities, our users may use our
products less or stop using them altogether, and result in continuing operational cost to us.
Similarly, terror and other criminal groups
may use our products to promote their goals and encourage users to engage in terror and other illegal activities. We expect that
as more people use our products, these groups will increasingly seek to misuse our products. Although we invest resources to combat
these activities, including by suspending or terminating accounts we believe are violating our Terms of Service, we expect these
groups will continue to seek ways to act inappropriately and illegally on our products. Combating these groups requires our engineering
team to divert significant time and focus from improving our products. In addition, we may not be able to control or stop our products
from becoming the preferred application of use by these groups, which may become public knowledge and seriously harm our reputation
or lead to lawsuits or attention from regulators. If these activities increase, our reputation, user growth and user engagement,
and operational cost structure could be seriously harmed.
15
We
have faced, and we expect that we will continue to face, chargeback liability when our credit card providers resolve chargebacks
in favor of their customers. We cannot accurately anticipate the extent of these liabilities, and if not properly addressed, these
liabilities could increase our operating expenses or preclude us from accepting certain credit cards as a method of payment, either
of which would materially adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
We depend on the ability to accept credit and
debit card payments from our subscribers and our ability to maintain the good standing of our merchant account with our credit
card providers to process subscription payments. In the event that one of our customers initiates a billing dispute and one of
our credit card providers resolves the dispute in the customer’s favor, the transaction is normally charged back to us and
the purchase price is credited or otherwise refunded to the customer. In addition, under current credit card practices, a merchant
is liable for fraudulent credit card transactions when, as is the case with the transactions we process, that merchant does not
obtain a cardholder’s signature.
We
have suffered losses and we expect that we will continue to suffer losses as a result of subscriptions placed with fraudulent
credit card data, as well as users who chargeback their purchases. Any failure to adequately control fraudulent credit card transactions
or keep our chargebacks under an acceptable threshold would result in significantly higher credit card-related costs and, therefore,
materially increase our operating expenses.
We
may make or attempt to make acquisitions in the future, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business,
dilute our stockholders and seriously harm our business.
As
part of our business strategy, we have made and intend to make acquisitions to add specialized employees and complementary companies,
products and technologies. In the future, we may not be able to find other suitable acquisition candidates, and we may not be
able to complete acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. Our previous and future acquisitions may not achieve our goals, and
any future acquisitions we complete could be viewed negatively by users, advertisers or investors. In addition, if we fail to
successfully close transactions or integrate new teams, or integrate the products and technologies associated with these acquisitions
into our company, our business could be seriously harmed. Any integration process may require significant time and resources,
and we may not be able to manage the process successfully. We may not successfully evaluate or use the acquired products, technology
and personnel, or accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition transaction, including accounting charges. We may
also incur unanticipated liabilities that we assume as a result of acquiring companies. We may have to pay cash, incur debt or
issue equity securities to pay for any acquisition, any of which could negatively impact our business and financial condition.
Issuing equity to finance any such acquisitions would also dilute our existing stockholders. Incurring debt would increase our
fixed obligations and could also include covenants or other restrictions that would impede our ability to manage our operations.
We
face certain risks related to the physical and emotional safety of users and third parties.
We
cannot control the actions of our users in their communications or physical actions. There is a possibility that users or third
parties could be physically or emotionally harmed following interaction with another user. We warn our users that we do not screen
other users and, given our lack of physical presence, we do not take any action to ensure personal safety on a meeting between
users or subscribers arranged following contact initiated via our applications or ensure personal safety of our users against
self-harming following contact with other users initiated via our applications. If an unfortunate incident of this nature occurred
in a meeting of two people following contact initiated on our applications or that of one of our competitors, any resulting negative
publicity could materially and adversely affect us or the online video chat industry in general. Any such incident involving our
applications could damage our reputation and our brand, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of
operations or financial condition. In addition, the affected users or third parties could initiate legal action against us, which
could divert management attention from operations, cause us to incur significant expenses, whether we are successful or not, and
damage our reputation.
We
may need additional capital to execute our business plan. If we do not obtain additional financing, it could have a material adverse
effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
We
might need to raise additional capital or financing through debt or equity offerings to support our expansion, marketing efforts
and application development programs in the future. For instance, we might require additional capital or financing to:
●
hire
and retain talented employees, including technical employees, executives, and marketing experts;
●
effectuate our long-term
growth strategy and expand our application development programs; and
●
market
and advertise our applications to attract more paying subscribers.
We
may be unable to obtain future capital or financing on favorable terms or at all. If we cannot obtain additional capital or financing,
we may need to reduce, defer or cancel application development programs, planned initiatives, marketing or advertising expenses
or costs and expenses. The failure to obtain necessary additional capital or financing on favorable terms, if at all, could have
a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
16
Risks
Related to Our Ownership of Cryptocurrencies
We
are subject to risks related to holding and distributing cryptocurrencies.
In
the past, we have accepted cryptocurrencies as compensation for our services. Cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender
or backed by any government and have experienced price volatility, technological glitches and various law enforcement and regulatory
interventions. The use of cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, has been prohibited or effectively prohibited in some countries. If
we fail to comply with prohibitions applicable to us, we could face regulatory or other enforcement actions and potential fines
and other consequences.
As
part of our strategy of forming strategic alliances with cryptocurrencies companies, we may make limited investments in initial
digital coin or token offerings and have received cryptocurrency tokens as compensation for services. For instance, in 2020, we
launched our partnership with YouNow in the Props Developer Network, which, now that regulatory approval has been obtained, enables
us to distribute YouNow’s cryptographic props tokens (“Props tokens”) to our application end users for anticipated
loyalty and retention benefits. Because we receive Props tokens from YouNow to be distributed to users, we are deemed to be a
statutory underwriter under Section 2(a)(11) of the Securities Act. A statutory underwriter is subject to the prospectus delivery
and liability provisions of the Securities Act, Regulation M, and may be deemed to be conducting broker-dealer like activities
that could in certain circumstances subject us to regulatory obligations.
It
is possible that the SEC or another regulator could conclude that our distribution of Props tokens could constitute broker-dealer
activities. If so, we could be forced to register as a broker-dealer and comply with laws and regulations applicable to broker-dealers,
which would disrupt our business substantially and make it prohibitive to operate and participate on the Props Developer Network.
In such circumstance, we may also become the target of regulatory enforcement for conducting unlicensed broker-dealer activities,
which could lead to costly litigation and otherwise materially adversely impact our business.
There
is substantial uncertainty regarding the future legal and regulatory requirements relating to cryptocurrency or transactions utilizing
cryptocurrency. For instance, governments may in the near future curtail or outlaw the acquisition, use or redemption of cryptocurrencies.
Ownership of, holding or trading in cryptocurrencies may then be considered illegal and subject to sanction. These uncertainties,
as well as future accounting and tax developments, or other requirements relating to cryptocurrency, could have a material adverse
effect on our business.
In
addition, the prices of cryptocurrency tokens are typically highly volatile and subject to exchange rate risks, as well as the
risk that regulatory or other developments may adversely affect their value. Fluctuations in the market value of digital tokens
could cause us to record an impairment charge on the value of our digital tokens, which would directly impact our balance sheet
and statements of operations.
In
particular, tokens may experience periods of extreme volatility due to (i) having a very limited trading history, (ii) limited
public supply, (iii) a lack of adoption by cryptocurrency holders, including a lack of adoption of cryptocurrencies generally
due to the expense of mining cryptocurrencies and (iv) tokens trading on a limited number of cryptocurrency exchanges, all of
which have limited operating histories. Speculators and investors who seek to profit from trading and holding tokens currently
account for a significant portion of token demand. Such speculation regarding the potential future appreciation in the value of
tokens may artificially inflate their price. Fluctuations in the value of our tokens or any other cryptocurrencies that we hold
may also lead to fluctuations in the value of our common stock. In addition, because of the limited trading volumes in tokens
on cryptocurrency exchanges, converting our holdings to fiat currency would likely take an extended period of time.
Currently,
there are no regulated trading markets for cryptocurrency tokens, and therefore our ability to sell such tokens may be limited.
As
of the date of this report, the online trading platforms on which cryptocurrency tokens trade do not qualify as registered exchanges
within the meaning of federal securities laws or regulated alternative trading systems. To the extent the tokens trading on these
platforms meet the definition of a security under federal securities laws, the platform is generally required to register with
the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from such registration requirements. The failure of these platforms to
register as national securities exchanges or properly comply with registration exemptions could result in the SEC bringing an
enforcement action seeking to prohibit, suspend or limit their operations. In such event, the tokens we hold may be tradable on
a very limited range of venues, or not at all, and there may be periods where trading activity in tokens that we hold is minimal
or non-existent. These potential consequences could have a material adverse impact on the trading price of the tokens that we
hold and could render the exchange of our tokens for other digital assets or fiat currency difficult or impossible.
Our
tokens and other cryptocurrencies that we hold may be subject to loss, theft or restriction on access.
There
is a risk that some or all of our cryptocurrencies could be lost or stolen. Access to our coins could also be restricted by cybercrime.
We currently hold all of our cryptocurrencies in cold storage. Cold storage refers to any cryptocurrency wallet that is not connected
to the internet. Cold storage is generally more secure but is not ideal for quick or regular transactions. We expect to continue
to hold the majority of our cryptocurrencies in cold storage to reduce the risk of malfeasance, but this risk cannot be eliminated.
17
Hackers
or malicious actors may launch attacks to steal, compromise or secure cryptocurrencies, such as by attacking the cryptocurrency
network source code, exchange servers, third party platforms, cold and hot storage locations or software, or by other means. As
we increase in size, we may become a more appealing target of hackers, malware, cyber-attacks or other security threats. Any of
these events may adversely affect our operations and, consequently, our investments and profitability. The loss or destruction
of a private key required to access our digital wallets may be irreversible and we may be denied access for all time to our cryptocurrency
holdings or the holdings of others. Our loss of access to our private keys or our experience of a data loss relating to our digital
wallets could adversely affect our investments and assets.
Cryptocurrencies
are controllable only by the possessor of both the unique public and private keys relating to the local or online digital wallet
in which they are held, which wallet’s public key or address is reflected in the network’s public blockchain. We will
publish the public key relating to digital wallets in use when we verify the receipt of transfers and disseminate such information
into the network, but we will need to safeguard the private keys relating to such digital wallets. To the extent such private
keys are lost, destroyed or otherwise compromised, we will be unable to access our cryptocurrency coins and such private keys
may not be capable of being restored by any network. Any loss of private keys relating to digital wallets used to store our cryptocurrencies
could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and the value of any cryptocurrencies we hold for
our own account.
Because
there has been limited precedent set for financial accounting of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, the determination
that we have made for how to account for our tokens and any other digital assets we may acquire may be subject to change.
Because
there has been limited precedent set for the accounting classification and measurement of cryptocurrency and other digital tokens
and related revenue recognition, it is unclear how companies may in the future be required to account for digital asset transactions
and assets and related revenue recognition. We are currently accounting for our tokens as indefinite-lived intangible assets in
accordance with Accounting Standard Codification No. 350: Intangibles—Goodwill and Other . Indefinite-lived intangible
assets are recorded at cost and are not subject to amortization, but shall be tested for impairment annually and more frequently
if events or changes in circumstances indicate that it is more likely than not that the asset is impaired. Our management has
exercised significant judgment in determining the appropriate accounting treatment, and in the event that authoritative guidance
is enacted by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, we may be required to change our policies or restate our financial statements,
which could have an effect on our consolidated financial position and results from operations. Such a restatement or change in
policies could adversely affect the accounting for our tokens or other cryptocurrencies that we may acquire and may more generally
negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operation.
Legal
and Regulatory Risks
We
may be liable as a result of information retrieved from or transmitted over the internet.
We
may be sued for defamation, civil rights infringement, negligence, copyright or trademark infringement, invasion of privacy, personal
injury, product liability or under other legal theories relating to information that is published or made available on our websites
or applications. These types of claims have been brought, sometimes successfully, against online services in the past. We also
offer messaging services on our applications and we send emails directly and through third parties to our users, which may subject
us to potential risks, such as liabilities or claims resulting from unsolicited email or spamming, lost or misdirected messages,
security breaches, illegal or fraudulent use of email or personal information or interruptions or delays in email service. Our
insurance does not specifically provide for coverage of these types of claims and, therefore, may be inadequate to protect us
against them. In addition, we could incur significant costs in investigating and defending such claims, even if we ultimately
are not held liable. If any of these events occur, our revenue could be materially adversely affected or we could incur significant
additional expense, and the market price of our securities may decline.
If
there are changes in laws or regulations regarding privacy and the protection of user data, or if we fail to comply with such
laws or regulations, we may face claims brought against us by regulators or users that could adversely affect our business, results
of operations or financial condition.
State,
federal and international laws and regulations govern the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of data that we receive
from and about our users. These laws can be particularly restrictive in certain states and in countries outside of the United
States. In addition, the application and interpretation of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, particularly in the
new and rapidly evolving industries in which we operate.
Any
failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with such laws and regulations, including Federal Trade Commission requirements
or industry self-regulatory principles, could result in proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others,
which could potentially have an adverse effect on our business. As a result of such a failure, or perceived failure, we may be
subject to a claim or class-action lawsuit regarding our online services. The successful assertion of a claim against us, or a
regulatory action against us, could result in significant monetary damages, diversion of management resources and require us to
make significant payments and incur substantial legal expenses. Any claims with respect to violation of privacy or misappropriation
of user data brought against us may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
18
Several
proposals are pending before federal, state, and foreign legislative and regulatory bodies or have recently been enacted that
could significantly affect our business. For example, the California legislature enacted the CCPA, which became effective on January
1, 2020, and the CPRA, which expands upon the CCPA and was passed in the recent California election in November 2020. Likewise,
the New York legislature enacted the New York Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security (SHIELD) Act, which went into effect
on March 21, 2020. Further, the GDPR, which applies to the European Economic Area and went into effect on May 25, 2018, required
us to change our policies and procedures regarding the handling of personal and sensitive data in the European Economic Area.
The failure to comply with the GDPR could, in certain instances, result in penalties of up to 4% of our worldwide revenues. Any
failure, or perceived failure to comply with the GDPR or other state, federal or international laws could seriously harm our business.
Continued
privacy concerns may result in new or amended laws and regulations. Future laws and regulations with respect to the collection,
compilation, use and publication of information and consumer privacy could result in limitations on our operations, increased
compliance or litigation expense, adverse publicity or loss of revenue, which any of which could have a material adverse effect
on our business, financial condition and results of operations. It is also possible that we could be prohibited from collecting
or disseminating certain types of data, which could affect our ability to meet our users’ needs.
Changes in laws or regulations, including
laws and regulations that impact the use of the internet, such as internet neutrality laws, or laws that relate to content provided
over the internet or monitoring such content, could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.
The
adoption of any laws or regulations that adversely affect the growth or use of the internet, including laws governing internet
neutrality, could decrease the demand for our products and increase our cost of doing business. In January 2018, the Federal Communications
Commission (the “FCC”) released an order that repealed the “open internet rules,” often known as “net
neutrality,” which prohibit internet providers in the United States from impeding access to most content, or otherwise unfairly
discriminating against content providers like us. These rules also prohibited mobile providers from entering into arrangements
with specific content providers for faster or better access over their data networks. The FCC order repealing the open internet
rules went into effect in June 2018. In response to this decision, California and a number of states implemented their own net
neutrality rules which largely mirrored the repealed federal regulations. The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has
filed suit to bar implementation of these state laws and their application remains uncertain. For instance, on February 8, 2021,
the DOJ voluntarily dismissed its suit against California’s net neutrality bill. We cannot predict the outcome of similar
litigation or whether the FCC order or state initiatives regulating providers will be modified, overturned, or vacated by other
legal action, federal legislation, or the FCC, or the degree to which this repeal would adversely affect our business, if at all.
The European Union similarly requires equal access to internet content. If the FCC, Congress, the European Union or courts modify
these open internet rules, mobile providers may be able to limit our users’ ability to access our applications or make our
applications a less attractive alternative to our competitors’ applications, which could materially adversely affect our
business, results of operations and financial condition.
In
addition, it is possible that a number of additional laws and regulations may be adopted or construed to apply to us, including
gambling laws. Some of the video card games that we offer on our Paltalk application are based upon traditional casino games,
such as poker and blackjack. We have structured and operate these games and features with gambling laws in mind and believe that
these games and features do not constitute gambling. Our games are offered for entertainment purposes only and do not offer an
opportunity to win real money. However, our video card games could in the future become subject to gambling-related laws and regulations
and expose us to civil and criminal penalties. If were to become subject to such laws and regulations, we might be required to
seek licenses, authorizations or approvals from relevant regulators, the granting of which may be dependent on us meeting certain
capital and other requirements, and we may be subject to additional regulation and oversight, such as reporting to regulators,
all of which could significantly increase our operating costs. Changes in current laws or regulations or the imposition of new
laws and regulations in the United States, Europe or elsewhere regarding these activities may lessen the growth of video card
game services and impair our business.
Risks
Related to Our Intellectual Property
We
may not be effective in protecting our internet domain names.
We
currently hold various internet domain names related to our brands and in the future may acquire new internet domain names. The
regulation of domain names in the United States and in foreign countries is subject to change. Governing bodies may establish
additional top-level domains, appoint additional domain name registrars or modify the requirements for holding domain names. As
a result, we may be unable to acquire or maintain relevant domain names in all countries in which we conduct business. Furthermore,
the relationship between regulations governing domain names and laws protecting trademarks and similar proprietary rights is unclear.
We may be unable to prevent third parties from acquiring domain names that are similar to, infringe upon or otherwise decrease
the value of our existing trademarks and other proprietary rights or those we may seek to acquire. Any such inability to protect
ourselves could cause us to lose a significant portion of our members and paying subscribers to our competitors.
19
If
we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be unable to compete with competitors developing similar technologies.
Historically,
our defense of our intellectual property rights has been a significant aspect of our business and has meaningfully contributed
to our results of operations. Accordingly, our success and ability to compete are often dependent upon the development of intellectual
property for our applications.
We
aim to protect our confidential proprietary information, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements and invention assignment
agreements with all our employees, consultants, advisors and any third parties who access or contribute to our proprietary know-how,
information, or technology. We also rely on trademark, copyright, patent, trade secret, and domain-name-protection laws to protect
our proprietary rights. In the United States and internationally, we have filed various applications to protect aspects of our
intellectual property, and we currently hold a number of issued patents in multiple jurisdictions. In the future we may acquire
additional patents or patent portfolios, which could require significant cash expenditures. However, third parties may knowingly
or unknowingly infringe our proprietary rights, third parties may challenge proprietary rights held by us, and pending and future
trademark and patent applications may not be approved. In addition, effective intellectual property protection may not be available
in every country in which we operate or intend to operate our business.
In
any of these cases, we may be required to expend significant time and expense to prevent infringement or to enforce our rights.
Although we have taken measures to protect our proprietary rights, others may offer products or concepts that are substantially
similar to ours and compete with our business. If we are unable to protect our proprietary rights or prevent unauthorized use
or appropriation by third parties, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and competitors may be
able to more effectively mimic our service and methods of operations. Any of these events could seriously harm our business.
If
we are subject to intellectual property infringement claims, it could cause us to incur significant expenses, pay substantial
damages or royalties and prevent us from offering our applications.
From
time to time, third parties may claim that our applications infringe or violate their intellectual property rights. Any claims
of infringement could cause us to incur significant expenses and, if successfully asserted against us, could require that we pay
substantial damages and prevent us from using licensed technology that may be fundamental to our applications. Even if we were
to prevail, any litigation regarding intellectual property could be costly and time-consuming and divert the attention of our
management and key personnel from our business operations. We maintain insurance to protect against intellectual property infringement
claims and resulting litigation, but such insurance may not cover or may not be sufficient to cover all potential claims, liability
or expenses. We may also be obligated to indemnify our business partners in any such litigation, which could further exhaust our
resources. Furthermore, as a result of an intellectual property challenge, we may be prevented from offering our applications
unless we enter into royalty, license or other agreements. We may not be able to obtain such agreements at all or on terms acceptable
to us, and as a result, we may be precluded from offering our applications and services.
Risks
Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Our
results of operations are volatile and difficult to predict, and our stock price may decline if we fail to meet the expectations
of stockholders.
Our
revenue and results of operations could vary significantly from period-to-period and year-to-year and may fail to match our past
performance because of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control. Any of these events could cause the market
price of our common stock to fluctuate. Factors that may contribute to the variability of our results of operations include:
● changes
in expectations as to our future financial performance;
● announcements
by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, strategic partnerships
or capital commitments;
● market
acceptance of our new applications and enhancements to our existing applications;
● the
amount of advertising and marketing that is available and spent on user acquisition campaigns;
● disruptions
in the availability of our applications on third party platforms;
● actual
or perceived violations of privacy obligations and compromises of subscriber data;
● the
entrance of new competitors in our market whether by established companies or the entrance
of new companies;
● additions
or departures of key personnel and the cost of attracting and retaining application developers
and other software engineers; and
● general
market conditions, including market volatility.
Given
the rapidly evolving industry in which we operate, our historical results of operations may not be useful in predicting our future
results of operations. In addition, metrics available from third parties regarding our industry and the performance of our applications
may not be indicative of our future financial performance.
20
Our common stock is usually thinly traded,
stockholders may be unable to sell at or near ask prices or at all and the price of our common stock may be volatile.
The
shares of our common stock have usually been thinly-traded on the OTCQB Marketplace (the “OTCQB”), meaning that the
number of persons interested in purchasing our common stock at or near ask prices at any given time may be relatively small or
non-existent. This situation is attributable to a number of factors, including the fact that we are a small company that is relatively
unknown to stock analysts, stock brokers, institutional investors and others in the investment community that generate or influence
sales volume. As a consequence, there may be periods of several days or more when trading activity in our shares is minimal or
non-existent, as compared to a seasoned issuer that has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support
continuous sales without an adverse effect on stock price. In addition, we may experience unusual or infrequent trading events
that cause the price of our common stock to fluctuate wildly. For example, the closing price of our common stock ranged from $0.63
per share to $1.75 per share for the period from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
A
broader or more active public trading market for our common stock may not develop or be sustained, and the current trading level
of our common stock may not be sustained. Due to these conditions, you may be unable to sell your common stock at or near ask
prices or at all if you desire to sell shares of common stock.
Because
of the limited trading market for our common stock, and because of the possible price volatility, you may not be able to sell
your shares of common stock when you desire to do so. The inability to sell your shares in a rapidly declining market may substantially
increase your risk of loss because of such illiquidity and because the price for our common stock may suffer greater declines
because of its price volatility.
The
ownership of our common stock is significantly concentrated in a small number of investors, some of whom are affiliated with our
Board of Directors and management, which could prevent stockholders from having input on the course of our operations or otherwise
lead to actual or potential conflicts of interest.
As
of March 12, 2021, Jason Katz, our Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Operating Officer and President, beneficially owned
approximately 10.8% of our outstanding common stock, including shares of common stock held directly by Mr. Katz’s spouse,
and The J. Crew Delaware Trust A, a trust formed by Mr. Katz for the benefit of certain of his family members, also beneficially
owned approximately 34.3% of our outstanding common stock as of March 19, 2021. Mr. Katz is not a beneficiary of the trust and
does not hold voting or dispositive power over the shares held by the trust.
Mr. Katz, The J. Crew Delaware Trust A
and others that have significant beneficial ownership of our common shares have substantial influence regarding matters
submitted for stockholder approval, including proposals regarding:
● any
merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets;
● the
election of members of our Board of Directors; and
● any
amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (the “Certificate of
Incorporation”).
21
The
current or increased ownership position of any of these stockholders and/or their respective affiliates could delay, deter or
prevent a change of control or adversely affect the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for our common
shares. In addition, the interests of these stockholders and/or their respective affiliates may significantly differ from the
interests of our other stockholders and they may vote the common shares they beneficially own in ways with which our other stockholders
disagree.
The
issuance of shares upon the exercise of stock options and unvested shares of restricted common stock may cause immediate and substantial
dilution to our existing stockholders.
As
of December 31, 2020, we had approximately 479,700 shares of common stock that were issuable upon the exercise of vested outstanding
stock options. The issuance of shares upon the exercise of these options may result in substantial dilution to the equity interest
and voting power of holders of our common stock.
In
the future, we may also issue additional shares of common stock or other securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares
of common stock. Our Certificate of Incorporation currently authorizes us to issue up to 25,000,000 shares of common stock, of
which 6,906,454 were outstanding as of December 31, 2020, which includes 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock with such designations,
preferences and rights as determined by our Board of Directors, of which none were outstanding as of December 31, 2020. The issuance
of additional shares of our common stock may substantially dilute the ownership interests of our existing stockholders. Furthermore,
sales of a substantial amount of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales may occur, could reduce
the market price of our common stock. This could also impair our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of our securities.
Our
Certificate of Incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain
types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability
to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees, or stockholders.
Our
Certificate of Incorporation provides that, subject to limited exceptions, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will
be the sole and exclusive forum for any (i) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our Company, (ii) action asserting
a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, employee, agent, or stockholder of our Company to the Company
or the Company’s stockholders, (iii) action asserting a claim against the Company or any director, officer, employee, agent,
or stockholder of the Company arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our Certificate of
Incorporation or our Amended and Restated By-Laws, as amended, or (iv) action asserting a claim against the Company or any director,
officer, employee, agent, or stockholder of the Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Any person or entity purchasing
or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to
the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation described above.
This
exclusive forum provision applies to state and federal law claims, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived
our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. In addition, this exclusive forum selection
provision will not apply to claims under the Exchange Act. Moreover, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction
for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules
and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce our forum selection provision
as written in connection with claims arising under the Securities Act. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s
ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other
employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees.
If
we fail to remain current on our reporting requirements, we could be removed from the OTCQB, which would limit the ability of
broker-dealers to sell our common stock and the ability of stockholders to sell their common stock in the secondary market.
Companies
trading on the OTCQB must be reporting issuers under Section 12 of the Exchange Act and must be current in their filings under
the Exchange Act to maintain price quotation privileges on the OTCQB. If we fail to remain current on our reporting requirements,
we could be removed from the OTCQB. As a result, the liquidity for our common stock could be adversely affected by limiting the
ability of broker-dealers to sell our common stock and the ability of stockholders to sell their common stock in the secondary
market.
Because we have no current plans to pay
cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future, a stockholder might not receive any return on investment unless
the stockholder sold its shares of common stock for a price greater than that for which the shares were purchased.
We
do not anticipate that we will declare or pay any dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Consequently, stockholders
will only realize an economic gain on their investment in our common stock if the price appreciates. Stockholders should not purchase
our common stock expecting to receive cash dividends. Because we currently do not pay dividends, and there may be limited trading
in our common stock, stockholders may not have any manner to liquidate or receive any payment on their common stock. Therefore,
our failure to pay dividends may cause stockholders to not see any return on their common stock even if we are successful in our
business operations. In addition, because we do not pay dividends we may have trouble raising additional funds which could affect
our ability to expand our business operations.
22
Investor
relations activities, nominal “float” and supply and demand factors may affect the price of our common stock.
We
have engaged an investor relations firm to create investor awareness for our Company. These campaigns may include non-deal road
shows and personal, video and telephone conferences with investors and prospective investors in which our business and business
practices are described. We provide compensation to our investor relations firm, and may in the future provide compensation to
additional investor relations firms or financial advisory firms, for these services, and pay for newsletters, websites, mailings
and email campaigns that are produced by third parties based upon publicly available information concerning us. We do not intend
to review or approve of the content of such analyst reports or other writings and communications that are based upon analysts’
own research or methods. Investor relations firms are generally required to disclose when they are compensated for their efforts
and the source of such compensation, but whether such disclosure is made or in compliance with applicable laws is not under our
control. In addition, our investors may, from time to time, take steps to encourage investor awareness through similar activities
that may be undertaken at the expense of such investors. Investor awareness activities may also be suspended or discontinued,
which may impact the trading market of our common stock.
The
SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority enforce various statutes and regulations intended to prevent manipulative
or deceptive devices in connection with the purchase or sale of any security and carefully scrutinize trading patterns and company
news and other communications for false or misleading information, particularly in cases where the hallmarks of “pump and
dump” activities may exist, such as rapid share price increases or decreases. We and our stockholders may be subjected to
enhanced regulatory scrutiny due to the fact that our affiliates hold a majority of our outstanding common stock and we have a
limited number of shares of common stock that are publicly available for resale. The limited trading markets in which our shares
of common stock may be offered or sold have often been associated with improper activities concerning penny-stocks, such as the
OTCQB or the pink sheets.
The
Supreme Court of the United States has stated that manipulative action is a term of art connoting intentional or willful conduct
designed to deceive or defraud investors by controlling or artificially affecting the price of securities. Often times, manipulation
is associated by regulators with forces that upset the supply and demand factors that would normally determine trading prices.
Securities regulators have often cited thinly-traded markets, small numbers of holders and awareness campaigns as components of
their claims of price manipulation and other violations of law when combined with manipulative trading, such as wash sales, matched
orders or other manipulative trading timed to coincide with false or touting press releases. There can be no assurance that our
activities or the activities of third parties, or the small number of potential sellers or small percentage of stock in our public
float, or determinations by purchasers or holders as to when or under what circumstances or at what prices they may be willing
to buy or sell stock, will not artificially impact (or would be claimed by regulators to have affected) the normal supply and
demand factors that determine the price of our common stock.
If
we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report
our financial results or prevent fraud and our business may be harmed and our stock price may be adversely impacted.
Effective
internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and to effectively prevent
fraud. Any inability to provide reliable financial reports or to prevent fraud could harm our business. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act
of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) requires management to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of our internal control
over financial reporting. In order to continue to comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we are required to continuously
evaluate and, where appropriate, enhance our policies, procedures and internal controls. We have in the past failed, and may in
the future fail, to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls over financial reporting. Such failure could subject us to
litigation or regulatory scrutiny and investors could lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports.
We cannot provide any assurance that in the future we will be able to fully comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act or that management will conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective. If we fail to fully comply
with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our business may be harmed and our stock price may decline.
For
example, our assessment, testing and evaluation of the design and operating effectiveness of our internal control over financial
reporting resulted in our conclusion that as of December 31, 2020 our internal control over financial reporting was not effective,
due to the Company not having adequate controls related to changes in management within the technology that support the Company’s
financial reporting function. While we have implemented changes and made improvements to our internal control over financial reporting
during the year ended December 31, 2020, related to general information technology controls in the area of change management in
order to remediate the material weakness identified above, our internal control over financial reporting may continue to be ineffective.
23
ITEM
1B.
UNRESOLVED STAFF
COMMENTS
Not
applicable.
ITEM
2.
PROPERTIES
Our
principal executive office is located at 30 Jericho Executive Plaza in Jericho, New York 11753. The lease for the 30 Jericho Executive
Plaza office space expires on November 30, 2021. We currently do not own any real property.
ITEM
3.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
To
our knowledge, there are no material pending legal proceedings to which we are a party or of which any of our property is the
subject.
ITEM
4.
MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not
applicable.
24
PART
II
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.