RISK FACTORS

           Investing in our Class A common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information included in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus, before deciding to invest in our Class A common stock. Our business, financial condition, operating results, cash flow and prospects could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks or uncertainties. In that case, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

We have a limited operating history and a novel business model, which make it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and the risks and challenges we may encounter.

          We have a limited operating history and a novel business model, which make it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and the risks and challenges we may encounter in seeking to execute on our strategies. These risks and difficulties include our ability to:

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forecast our revenues and plan our operating expenses;



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attract new customers and retain existing customers;



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manage growth in our personnel and operations;



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expand our product offerings;



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maintain and grow the value of our brand and reputation;



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scale our supply chain while avoiding material disruptions or adverse incidents in our operations;



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maintain relationships with our existing suppliers and secure relationships with new suppliers to supply quality ingredients for use in our product offerings;



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scale and adapt our supply chain, production, operations and expenses, including marketing expenses, in response to customer demand and seasonal trends;



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adapt to evolving trends in the ways consumers purchase, prepare and consume food, as well as in how consumers interact with technology;



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comply with laws and regulations applicable to our business, including food safety, employment and health and safety regulations; and



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hire, integrate, and retain talented employees with a broad and varied range of skills and expertise.

          If the demand for our products does not develop as we expect, or if we fail to address the needs of our customers or fail to maintain relationships with our suppliers, our business would be materially harmed. The cumulative effects of these factors or our inability to manage any of the risks and challenges identified above and elsewhere in this section could result in, among other things, large fluctuations and unpredictability in our quarterly and annual operating results, meaning that comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful and that we might fail to meet industry, financial analyst or investor expectations for any period. If we are unable to successfully address these risks and challenges, our business, financial condition and operating results would be materially adversely affected.

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We have a history of losses, and we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability.

          We have experienced net losses in each year since our inception. In the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015 and 2016, we incurred net losses of $(30.8) million, $(47.0) million and $(54.9) million, respectively. In the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2017, we generated net income of $3.0 million and incurred a net loss of $(52.2) million, respectively. We anticipate that our operating expenses and capital expenditures will increase substantially in the foreseeable future as we continue to invest to increase our customer base and supplier network, expand our marketing channels, invest in our distribution and fulfillment infrastructure, hire additional employees and enhance our technology and infrastructure capabilities. Our expansion efforts may prove more expensive than we anticipate, and we may not succeed in increasing our revenue and margins sufficiently to offset these higher expenses. We incur significant expenses in developing our technology, building out our fulfillment centers, obtaining and storing ingredients and other products, and marketing the products we offer. In addition, many of our expenses, including the costs associated with our existing and future fulfillment centers, are fixed. Accordingly, we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability, and we may incur significant losses for the foreseeable future.

If we fail to cost-effectively acquire new customers or retain our existing customers, or if we fail to derive revenue from our existing customers consistent with our historical performance, our business could be materially adversely affected.

          Our success, and our ability to increase revenue and operate profitably, depends in part on our ability to cost-effectively acquire new customers, to retain existing customers, and to keep existing customers engaged so that they continue to purchase products from us. If we are unable to cost-effectively acquire new customers, retain our existing customers or keep existing customers engaged, our business, financial condition and operating results would be materially adversely affected. Further, if customers do not perceive our product offerings to be of sufficient value and quality, or if we fail to offer new and relevant product offerings, we may not be able to attract or retain customers or engage existing customers so that they continue to purchase products from us. Many of our new customers originate from referrals from existing customers, and therefore we must ensure that our existing customers remain loyal to us in order to continue receiving those referrals.

          Our new customers typically evaluate whether our product offerings fit their lifestyles, tastes and preferences before deciding whether to continue purchasing our product offerings and, if so, the frequency at which they make purchases. Our net revenue in any period is essentially a function of our ability to attract and retain customers and the frequency and size of the orders placed by those customers. While an increase in order frequency or size could potentially offset losses of customers and, similarly, an increase in the number of customers could potentially offset a reduction in the frequency or size of the orders placed by our customers, any inability by us to continue to derive net revenue from our existing customers consistent with our historical performance could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          We spend significant amounts on advertising and other marketing activities, such as television, digital and social media, direct mail, radio and podcasts, and email, to acquire new customers, retain and engage existing customers, and promote our brand, and we expect our marketing expenses to continue to comprise a significant portion of our operating expenses. For 2014, 2015 and 2016, our marketing expenses were $14.0 million, $51.4 million and $144.1 million, respectively, representing approximately 17.9%, 15.1% and 18.1% of net revenue, respectively. For the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2017, our marketing expenses were $25.4 million and $60.6 million, respectively, representing approximately 14.8% and 24.8% of net revenue, respectively. Despite our focus on marketing activities, we may fail to identify cost-efficient

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marketing opportunities as we scale our investments in marketing or fail to fully understand or estimate the conditions and behaviors that drive customer behavior. If any of our marketing activities prove less successful than anticipated in attracting new customers or retaining existing customers, we may not be able to recover our marketing spend, our cost to acquire new customers may increase, and our existing customers may reduce the frequency or size of their purchases from us. In addition, our third-party marketing partners may not provide adequate value for their services. Any of the foregoing events could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

If we fail to manage future growth effectively, our business could be materially adversely affected.

          We have grown rapidly since inception and anticipate further growth. For example, our net revenue increased from $77.8 million in 2014 to $340.8 million in 2015 and to $795.4 million in 2016, and from $172.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 to $244.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The number of our full-time employees increased from 1,051 at December 31, 2014 to 2,997 at December 31, 2015, to 5,028 at December 31, 2016 and to 5,202 at March 31, 2017. This growth has placed significant demands on our management, financial, operational, technological and other resources. The anticipated growth and expansion of our business and our product offerings will place significant demands on our management and operations teams and require significant additional resources to meet our needs, which may not be available in a cost-effective manner or at all. We are also required to manage relationships with various suppliers and other third parties, and expend time and effort to integrate new suppliers into our fulfillment operations. If we do not effectively manage our growth, we may not be able to execute on our business plan, respond to competitive pressures, take advantage of market opportunities, satisfy customer requirements or maintain high-quality product offerings.

Food safety and food-borne illness incidents or advertising or product mislabeling may materially adversely affect our business by exposing us to lawsuits, product recalls or regulatory enforcement actions, increasing our operating costs and reducing demand for our product offerings.

          Selling food for human consumption involves inherent legal and other risks, and there is increasing governmental scrutiny of and public awareness regarding food safety. Unexpected side effects, illness, injury or death related to allergens, food-borne illnesses or other food safety incidents (including food tampering or contamination) caused by products we sell, or involving suppliers that supply us with ingredients and other products, could result in the discontinuance of sales of these products or our relationships with such suppliers, or otherwise result in increased operating costs or harm to our reputation. Shipment of adulterated products, even if inadvertent, can result in criminal or civil liability. Such incidents could also expose us to product liability, negligence or other lawsuits, including consumer class action lawsuits. Any claims brought against us may exceed or be outside the scope of our existing or future insurance policy coverage or limits. Any judgment against us that is in excess of our policy limits or not covered by our policies or not subject to insurance would have to be paid from our cash reserves, which would reduce our capital resources.

          The occurrence of food-borne illnesses or other food safety incidents could also adversely affect the price and availability of affected ingredients, resulting in higher costs, disruptions in supply and a reduction in our sales. Furthermore, any instances of food contamination, whether or not caused by our products, could subject us or our suppliers to a food recall pursuant to the Food Safety Modernization Act of the United States Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and comparable state laws. Food recalls could result in significant losses due to their costs, the destruction of product inventory, lost sales due to the unavailability of the product for a period of

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time and potential loss of existing customers and a potential negative impact on our ability to attract new customers due to negative consumer experiences or as a result of an adverse impact on our brand and reputation.

          In addition, food companies have been subject to targeted, large-scale tampering as well as to opportunistic, individual product tampering, and we could be a target for product tampering. Forms of tampering could include the introduction of foreign material, chemical contaminants and pathological organisms into consumer products as well as product substitution. In the near future, FDA requirements will require companies like us to analyze, prepare and implement mitigation strategies specifically to address tampering designed to inflict widespread public health harm. If we do not adequately address the possibility, or any actual instance, of product tampering, we could face possible seizure or recall of our products and the imposition of civil or criminal sanctions, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our business depends on a strong and trusted brand, and any failure to maintain, protect or enhance our brand, including as a result of events outside our control, could materially adversely affect our business.

          We have developed a strong and trusted brand that has contributed significantly to the success of our business, and we believe our continued success depends on our ability to maintain and grow the value of the Blue Apron brand. Maintaining, promoting and positioning our brand and reputation will depend on, among other factors, the success of our food safety, quality assurance, marketing and merchandising efforts and our ability to provide a consistent, high-quality customer experience. Any negative publicity, regardless of its accuracy, could materially adversely affect our business. Brand value is based in large part on perceptions of subjective qualities, and any incident that erodes the loyalty of our customers or suppliers, including adverse publicity or a governmental investigation or litigation, could significantly reduce the value of our brand and significantly damage our business.

          We believe that our customers hold us and our products to a high food safety standard. Therefore, real or perceived quality or food safety concerns or failures to comply with applicable food regulations and requirements, whether or not ultimately based on fact and whether or not involving us (such as incidents involving our competitors), could cause negative publicity and lost confidence in our company, brand or products, which could in turn harm our reputation and sales, and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          In addition, in recent years, there has been a marked increase in the use of social media platforms and other forms of Internet-based communications that provide individuals with access to broad audiences, and the availability of information on social media platforms is virtually immediate, as can be its impact. Many social media platforms immediately publish the content their participants post, often without filters or checks on accuracy of the content posted. Furthermore, other Internet-based or traditional media outlets may in turn reference or republish such social media content to an even broader audience. Information concerning us, regardless of its accuracy, may be posted on such platforms at any time. Information posted may be adverse to our interests or may be inaccurate, each of which may materially harm our brand, reputation, performance, prospects and business, and such harm may be immediate and we may have little or no opportunity to respond or to seek redress or a correction.

          The value of our brand also depends on effective customer support to provide a high-quality customer experience, which requires significant personnel expense. If not managed properly, this expense could impact our profitability. Failure to manage or train our own or outsourced customer support representatives properly could compromise our ability to handle customer complaints effectively.

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Changes in consumer tastes and preferences or in consumer spending and other economic or financial market conditions could materially adversely affect our business.

          Our operating results may be materially adversely affected by changes in consumer tastes. Our success depends in part on our ability to anticipate the tastes, eating habits and lifestyle preferences of consumers and to offer products that appeal to consumer tastes and preferences. Consumer tastes and preferences may change from time to time and can be affected by a number of different trends and other factors that are beyond our control. For example, our sales could be materially adversely affected by changes in consumer demand in response to nutritional and dietary trends, dietary concerns regarding items such as calories, sodium, carbohydrates or fat, or concerns regarding food safety. Our competitors may react more efficiently and effectively to these changes than we can. We cannot provide any assurances regarding our ability to respond effectively to changes in consumer health perceptions or our ability to adapt our product offerings to trends in eating habits. If we fail to anticipate, identify or react to these changes and trends, or to introduce new and improved products on a timely basis, we may experience reduced demand for our products, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          In addition, the business of selling food products over the Internet is dynamic and continues to evolve. The market segment for food delivery has grown significantly, and this growth may not continue. If customers cease to find value in this model or otherwise lose interest in our product offerings or our business model generally, we may not acquire new customers in numbers sufficient to grow our business or retain existing customers at rates consistent with our business model, and our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.

          Furthermore, preferences and overall economic conditions that impact consumer confidence and spending, including discretionary spending, could have a material impact on our business. Economic conditions affecting disposable consumer income such as employment levels, business conditions, changes in housing market conditions, the availability of credit, interest rates, tax rates, fuel and energy costs, the effect of natural disasters or acts of terrorism, and other matters could reduce consumer spending or cause consumers to shift their spending to lower-priced alternatives, each of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Changes in food costs and availability could materially adversely affect our business.

          The success of our business depends in part on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in food and supply costs and availability. We are susceptible to increases in food costs as a result of factors beyond our control, such as general economic conditions, market changes, increased competition, general risk of inflation, exchange rate fluctuations, seasonal fluctuations, shortages or interruptions, weather conditions, changes in global climates, global demand, food safety concerns, generalized infectious diseases, changes in law or policy, declines in fertile or arable lands, product recalls and government regulations. In particular, food deflation could reduce the attractiveness of our product offerings relative to competing products and thus reduce our sales growth and overall sales, while food inflation, particularly periods of rapid inflation, could reduce our profitability as there may be a lag between the time of the price increase and the time at which we are able to increase the price of our product offerings. We generally do not have long-term supply contracts or guaranteed purchase commitments with our food suppliers, and we do not hedge our commodity risks. In limited circumstances, we may enter into strategic purchasing commitment contracts with certain suppliers, but many of these contracts are relatively short in duration and may provide only limited protection from price fluctuations, and the use of these arrangements may limit our ability to benefit from favorable price movements. As a result, we may not be able to anticipate, react to or mitigate against cost fluctuations which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

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          Any increase in the prices of the ingredients most critical to our recipes, or scarcity of such ingredients, such as vegetables, poultry, beef, pork and seafood, would adversely affect our operating results. Alternatively, in the event of cost increases or decrease of availability with respect to one or more of our key ingredients, we may choose to temporarily suspend including such ingredients in our recipes, rather than paying the increased cost for the ingredients. Any such changes to our available recipes could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

If we fail to successfully develop new product offerings and enhance our existing product offerings, our ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers, and our business, financial condition and operating results, may be materially adversely affected.

          Our customers have a wide variety of options for purchasing food, including traditional and online grocery stores and restaurants, and consumer tastes and preferences may change from time to time. Our ability to attract new customers, retain existing customers, and increase customer engagement with us will depend in part on our ability to successfully create and introduce new product offerings and to improve upon and enhance our existing product offerings. As a result, we may introduce significant changes to our existing product offerings or develop and introduce new and unproven product offerings. If our new or enhanced product offerings are unsuccessful, including because they fail to generate sufficient revenue or operating profit to justify our investments in them, our business and operating results could be materially adversely affected. Furthermore, new customer demands, tastes or interests, superior competitive offerings or a deterioration in our product quality or our ability to bring new or enhanced product offerings to market quickly and efficiently could negatively affect the attractiveness of our products and the economics of our business and require us to make substantial changes to and additional investments in our product offerings or business model. In addition, we frequently experiment with and test different product offerings and marketing and pricing strategies. If these experiments and tests are unsuccessful, or if the product offerings and strategies we introduce based on the results of such experiments and tests do not perform as expected, our ability to attract new customers, retain existing customers and increase customer engagement may be adversely affected.

          Developing and launching new product offerings or enhancements to our existing product offerings involves significant risks and uncertainties, including risks related to the reception of such product offerings by our existing and potential future customers, increases in operational complexity, unanticipated delays or challenges in implementing such offerings or enhancements, increased strain on our operational and internal resources (including an impairment of our ability to accurately forecast demand and related supply) and negative publicity in the event such new or enhanced product offerings are perceived to be unsuccessful. We have scaled our business rapidly, and significant new initiatives have in the past resulted in, and in the future may result in, operational challenges affecting our business. In addition, developing and launching new product offerings and enhancements to our existing product offerings may involve significant upfront capital investments and such investments may not prove to be justified. Any of the foregoing risks and challenges could materially adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers as well as our visibility into expected operating results, and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our historical revenue growth has masked seasonal fluctuations in our operating results. As our growth rate moderates or seasonal patterns become more pronounced, seasonality could have a material impact on our results.

          Our business is seasonal in nature, which impacts the levels at which customers engage with our products and brand, and, as a result, the growth trends of our revenue and our expenses fluctuate from quarter to quarter. For example, we anticipate that the first quarter of each year will

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generally represent our strongest quarter in terms of customer engagement. Conversely, during the summer months and the end of year holidays, when people are vacationing more often or have less predictable weekly routines, we generally anticipate lower customer engagement. In addition, our marketing strategies, which may be informed by these seasonal trends, will impact our quarterly results of operations. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations." These trends may cause our cash requirements to vary from quarter to quarter depending on the variability in the volume and timing of sales. We believe that these seasonal trends have affected and will continue to affect our quarterly results. Our historical revenue growth has masked the impact of seasonality, but as our growth rate moderates or seasonal spending by our customers becomes more pronounced, seasonality could have a more significant impact on our operating results from period to period.

Increased competition presents an ongoing threat to the success of our business.

          We expect competition in food sales generally, and with companies providing food delivery in particular, to continue to increase. We compete with other food and meal-delivery companies, the supermarket industry, a wide array of food retailers (including natural and organic, specialty, conventional, mass, discount and other food retail formats), conventional supermarkets, other food retailers, and online supermarket retailers. We also compete with a wide array of casual dining and quick-service restaurants and other food service businesses in the restaurants industry, as well as a broad range of online wine retailers, wine specialty stores and retail liquor stores. In addition, we compete with food manufacturers, consumer packaged goods companies, providers of logistics services, and other food and ingredient producers. Any international expansion of our business will present additional challenges from competition unique to each new market, compounded by the fact that we currently do not have experience offering our products outside of the United States.

          We believe that our ability to compete depends upon many factors both within and beyond our control, including:

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the size and composition of our customer base;



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our reputation and brand strength relative to our competitors;



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consumer tastes and preferences;



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the flexibility and variety of our product offerings relative to our competitors;



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our selling and marketing efforts;



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the quality and price of products offered by us and our competitors;



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our ability to comply with, and manage the costs of complying with, laws and regulations applicable to our business;



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the convenience of the experience that we provide; and



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our ability to cost-effectively source, market and distribute the products we offer and to manage our operations.

          Some of our current competitors have, and potential competitors may have, longer operating histories, larger fulfillment infrastructures, greater technical capabilities, significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources and larger customer bases than we do. In addition, business combinations and consolidation in and across the industries in which we compete could further increase the competition we face and result in competitors with significantly greater resources and customer bases than us. Further, some of our other current or potential competitors may be smaller, less regulated, and have a greater ability to reposition their product offerings than companies that, like us, operate at a larger scale. These factors may allow our competitors to derive greater sales and profits from their existing customer base, acquire customers at lower costs,

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respond more quickly than we can to changes in consumer demand and tastes, or otherwise compete with us effectively, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. These competitors may engage in more extensive research and development efforts, undertake more far-reaching marketing campaigns and adopt more aggressive pricing policies, which may allow them to build larger customer bases or generate additional sales more effectively than we do.

If we do not successfully build out and operate our fulfillment centers and logistics channels, including by expanding our use of automation, and manage our ongoing real property and operational needs, our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.

          If we do not successfully build out and operate our fulfillment centers, we may experience insufficient or excess fulfillment capacity, increased costs, impairment charges or other harm to our business. We have encountered in the past, and may encounter in the future, difficulty in hiring a sufficient number of employees to adequately staff our fulfillment centers, requiring us to use temporary workers through third parties at greater cost and with lower levels of performance. If we do not have sufficient fulfillment capacity or experience problems or delays in fulfilling orders, our customers may experience delays in receiving their meal deliveries, which could harm our reputation and our customer relationships and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, any disruption in, or the loss of operations at, one or more of our fulfillment centers, even on a short term basis, could delay or postpone production of our products, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          We have designed and built our own fulfillment center infrastructure, including customizing third-party inventory and package handling software systems, which is tailored to meet the specific needs of our business. Furthermore, we are expanding the use of automated production equipment and processes in our existing fulfillment centers and are incorporating automated production equipment and processes into our new Linden, New Jersey fulfillment center that we are in the process of building out. As we continue to add capacity, capabilities and automated production equipment and processes to our fulfillment centers, our fulfillment operations will become increasingly complex and challenging. Any failure to hire, train or retain employees capable of operating our fulfillment centers could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. We also may be unable to procure and implement automated production equipment and processes on a timely basis, and they may not operate as intended or achieve anticipated cost efficiencies. For example, suppliers could miss their equipment delivery schedules, new production lines and operations could improve less rapidly than expected, or not at all, the equipment or processes could require longer design time than anticipated or redesigning after installation, and new production technology may involve equipment and processes with which we are not fully experienced. Difficulties we experience in automating our fulfillment processes could impair our ability to reduce costs and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, any disruption in the operation of our fulfillment centers, including due to factors such as earthquakes, weather, fires, floods, power losses, telecommunications failures, acts of war or terrorism, human errors and similar events or disruptions, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          Assuming we continue to grow, we will need to continue to add additional fulfillment and storage capacity in order to meet customer demand. For example, we are in the process of building out a new fulfillment center in Linden, New Jersey, which we have recently begun utilizing, and have entered into a lease for another new fulfillment center in Fairfield, California, which is currently under construction. See "Business—Facilities." Upon completion of our new fulfillment centers in Linden, New Jersey and Fairfield, California, we anticipate that such fulfillment centers,

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together with our Arlington, Texas fulfillment center, will comprise our primary fulfillment operations for the foreseeable future. We are evaluating, and intend to continue to evaluate, our ongoing real property and operational needs, including as they relate to our Jersey City, New Jersey and Richmond, California facilities. If we do not successfully manage our ongoing real property and operational needs or if we redeploy these facilities for other uses or vacate these facilities, we may experience insufficient or excess fulfillment capacity, increased costs, impairment charges or other harm to our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, we expect to incur higher capital expenditures in the future, primarily related to our new fulfillment centers. For a discussion of our projected future capital expenditures, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations—Liquidity." The timing and amount of our projected capital expenditures is dependent upon a number of factors, including the actual and forecasted growth in our business, and may vary significantly from our estimates, and we cannot assure you that these and any other new fulfillment centers will be timely constructed, that we will effectively integrate new facilities into our existing fulfillment operations, that our fulfillment software systems will continue to meet our business needs, or that we will be able to execute our expansion plans or recruit qualified managerial and operational personnel necessary to support our expansion plans. The expansion of our fulfillment capacity will put pressure on our managerial, financial, operational, technological and other resources.

          If we are unable to expand our fulfillment operations and increase our fulfillment capacity or to effectively control expansion-related expenses, or if we grow faster than we anticipate, we may exceed our fulfillment center capacity sooner than we anticipate, we may experience problems fulfilling orders in a timely manner or our customers may experience delays in receiving their purchases, any of which could harm our reputation and our relationships with our customers. Many of the expenses and investments with respect to our fulfillment centers are fixed, and any expansion of such fulfillment centers will require additional investment of capital. We expect to incur higher capital expenditures in the future for our fulfillment center operations. We may incur such expenses or make such investments in advance of expected sales, and such expected sales may not occur.

Our ability to source quality ingredients and other products is critical to our business, and any disruption to our supply or supply chain could materially adversely affect our business.

          We depend on frequent deliveries of ingredients and other products from a variety of local, regional, national and international suppliers, and some of our suppliers may depend on a variety of other local, regional, national and international suppliers to fulfill the purchase orders we place with them. The availability of such ingredients and other products at competitive prices depends on many factors beyond our control, including the number and size of farms, ranches and vineyards that provide crops, livestock and raw materials for making wine that meet our quality and production standards.

          We rely on our suppliers, and their supply chains, to meet our quality and production standards and specifications and supply ingredients and other products in a timely and safe manner. We have developed and implemented a series of measures to ensure the safety and quality of our third party-supplied products, including using contract specifications, certificates of identity for some products or ingredients, sample testing by suppliers and sensory based testing. However, no safety and quality measures can eliminate the possibility that suppliers may provide us with defective or out-of-specification products against which regulators may take action or which may subject us to litigation or require a recall. Suppliers may provide us with food that is or may be unsafe, food that is below our quality standards or food that is improperly labeled. In addition to a negative customer experience, we could face possible seizure or recall of our products and the imposition of civil or criminal sanctions if we incorporate a defective or out-of-specification item into one of our deliveries.

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          Furthermore, there are many factors beyond our control which could cause shortages or interruptions in the supply of our ingredients and other products, including adverse weather, environmental factors, natural disasters, unanticipated demand, labor or distribution problems, changes in law or policy, food safety issues by our suppliers and their supply chains, and the financial health of our suppliers and their supply chains. Production of the agricultural products used in our business may also be materially adversely affected by drought, water scarcity, temperature extremes, scarcity of agricultural labor, changes in government agricultural programs or subsidies, import restrictions, scarcity of suitable agricultural land, crop conditions, crop or animal diseases or crop pests. Failure to take adequate steps to mitigate the likelihood or potential effect of such events, or to effectively manage such events if they occur, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results, particularly in circumstances where an ingredient or product is sourced from a single supplier or location.

          In addition, unexpected delays in deliveries from suppliers that ship directly to our fulfillment centers or increases in transportation costs (including through increased fuel costs) could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Labor shortages or work stoppages in the transportation industry, long-term disruptions to the national transportation infrastructure, reduction in capacity and industry-specific regulations such as hours-of-service rules that lead to delays or interruptions of deliveries could also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          We currently source certain of our ingredients from suppliers located outside of the United States. Any event causing a disruption or delay of imports from suppliers located outside of the United States, including weather, drought, crop-related diseases, the imposition of import or export restrictions, restrictions on the transfer of funds or increased tariffs, destination-based taxes, value-added taxes, quotas or increased regulatory requirements, could increase the cost or reduce the supply of our ingredients and the other materials required by our product offerings, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Furthermore, our suppliers' operations may be adversely affected by political and financial instability, resulting in the disruption of trade from exporting countries, restrictions on the transfer of funds or other trade disruptions, each of which could adversely affect our access or ability to source ingredients and other materials used in our product offerings on a timely or cost-effective basis.

The reliable and cost-effective storage, transport and delivery of ingredients and other products and our product offerings is critical to our business, and any interruptions, delays or failures could materially adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and operating results.

          We maintain arrangements with third parties to store ingredients and other products, to deliver ingredients and other products from our suppliers to our fulfillment centers and to transport ingredients and other products between our fulfillment centers. Interruptions or failures in these services could delay or prevent the delivery of these ingredients and other products to us and therefore adversely affect our ability to fulfill our customers' orders. These interruptions may be due to events that are beyond our control or the control of the third parties with whom we contract. In addition, we are in the process of expanding our internal capabilities with respect to storing ingredients and other products and transporting ingredients and other products both from our suppliers to our storage locations and fulfillment centers and between our storage locations and fulfillment centers. These expansion efforts may fail to meet our expectations and may not prove to be cost-effective or as operationally efficient as our current arrangements with third parties, each of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          We also maintain arrangements with third-party transport carriers to deliver the food products we sell to our customers. Interruptions, delays or failures in these carrier services could prevent the timely or proper delivery of these products, which may result in significant product inventory losses

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given the highly perishable nature of our food products. These interruptions may be due to events that are beyond our control or the control of these carriers, including adverse weather and natural disasters. If we are not able to maintain acceptable pricing and other terms with these carriers or they experience performance problems or other difficulties, we may not be able to deliver orders in a timely manner and meet customer expectations, and our business and reputation could suffer.

          We rely on third-party transport carriers for the delivery of our wines to our customers. State and federal laws regulate the ability of transport carriers to transport wine, and carriers may be required to obtain licenses in order to deliver wine to our customers. Changes in our access to those carriers, including changes in prices or changes in our relationships with those carriers, changes in the laws allowing third-party transport of wine, or regulatory discipline against licenses held by those carriers, could materially adversely affect our wine business.

          Delivery of the products we sell to our customers could also be affected or interrupted by the merger, acquisition, insolvency, or government shut-down of the carriers we engage to make deliveries. If the products we sell are not delivered in proper condition or on a timely basis, our business and reputation could suffer.

Any failure to adequately store, maintain and deliver quality perishable foods could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          Our ability to adequately store, maintain and deliver quality perishable foods is critical to our business. We store food products, which are highly perishable, in refrigerated fulfillment centers and ship them to our customers inside boxes that are insulated with thermal liners and frozen refrigerants to maintain appropriate temperatures in transit and use refrigerated third-party delivery trucks to support temperature control for shipments to certain locations. Keeping our food products at specific temperatures maintains freshness and enhances food safety. In the event of extended power outages, natural disasters or other catastrophic occurrences, failures of the refrigeration systems in our fulfillment centers or third-party delivery trucks, failure to use adequate packaging to maintain appropriate temperatures, or other circumstances both within and beyond our control, our inability to store highly perishable inventory at specific temperatures could result in significant product inventory losses as well as increased risk of food-borne illnesses and other food safety risks. Improper handling or storage of food by a customer—without any fault by us—could result in food-borne illnesses, which could nonetheless result in negative publicity and harm to our brand and reputation. The occurrence of any of these risks could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

If we lose key management or fail to meet our growing need for qualified employees with specialized skills, our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.

          Our continued success is dependent upon our ability to retain key management, particularly Matthew B. Salzberg, our president and chief executive officer, Matthew J. Wadiak, our chief operating officer, and Ilia M. Papas, our chief technology officer. Messrs. Salzberg, Wadiak and Papas and our other executive officers are employees "at will" and could elect to terminate their employment with us at any time. We do not maintain "key person" insurance on the lives of Messrs. Salzberg, Wadiak or Papas or other executive officers.

          Our continued success is also dependent upon our ability to attract and retain other qualified employees possessing a broad range of skills and expertise. We may need to offer higher compensation and other benefits in order to attract and retain key personnel in the future, and, to attract top talent, we must offer competitive compensation packages before we have the opportunity to validate the productivity and effectiveness of new employees. Additionally, we may not be able to hire new employees quickly enough to meet our needs. If we fail to meet our hiring needs or successfully integrate our new hires, our efficiency and ability to meet our forecasts and

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our employee morale, productivity and retention could all suffer. Any of these factors could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We rely on our proprietary technology and data to forecast customer demand and to manage our supply chain, and any failure of this technology could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          We rely on our proprietary technology and data to forecast demand and predict our customers' orders, determine the amounts of ingredients and other supply to purchase, and to optimize our in-bound and out-bound logistics for delivery and transport of our supply to our fulfillment centers and of our product offerings to customers. If this technology fails or produces inaccurate results at any step in this process—such as if the data we collect from customers is insufficient or incorrect, if we over or underestimate future demand, or if we fail to optimize delivery routes to our customers—we could experience increased food waste or shortages in key ingredients, the operational efficiency of our supply chain may suffer (including as a result of excess or shortage of fulfillment center capacity) or our customers may experience delays or failures in the delivery of our product offerings, for example by missing ingredients. Moreover, forecasts and predictions based on historical data, regardless of any historical patterns or the quality of the underlying data, are inherently uncertain, and unforeseen changes in consumer tastes or external events could result in material inaccuracy of our forecasts and predictions, which could result in disruptions in our business and our incurrence of significant costs and waste. Furthermore, any interruptions or delays in our ability to use or access our proprietary technology could lead to interruptions or delays in our supply chain. The occurrence of any of the foregoing risks could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

The termination of, or material changes to, our relationships with key suppliers or vendors could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          We currently depend on a limited number of suppliers for some of our key ingredients. We strive to work with suppliers that engage in certain growing, raising or farming standards that we believe are superior to conventional practices and that can deliver products that are specific to our quality, food safety and production standards. Currently, there are a limited number of meat and seafood suppliers that are able to simultaneously meet our standards and volume requirements. As such, these suppliers could be difficult to replace if we were no longer able to rely on them. We also work with suppliers that grow specialty or unique ingredients for us. It can take a significant amount of time and resources to identify, develop and maintain relationships with certain suppliers, including suppliers that grow specialty or unique products for us. In the event of any disruptions to our relationships with our specialty crop growers, the ingredients they grow for us would be difficult to replace. The termination of, or material changes to, arrangements with key suppliers or vendors, disagreements with key suppliers or vendors as to payment or other terms, or the failure of a key supplier or vendor to meet its contractual obligations to us may require us to contract with alternative suppliers or vendors. For example, the failure of a key supplier to meet its obligations to us or otherwise deliver ingredients at the volumes that meet our quality and production standards could require us to make purchases from alternative suppliers or make changes to our product offerings. If we have to replace key suppliers or vendors, we may be subject to pricing or other terms less favorable than those we currently enjoy, and it may be difficult to identify and secure relationships with alternative suppliers or vendors that are able to meet our volume requirements, food safety and quality or other standards. If we cannot replace or engage suppliers or vendors who meet our specifications and standards in a short period of time, we could encounter increased expenses, shortages of ingredients and other items, disruptions or delays in customer shipments or other harm. In this event, we could experience a significant reduction in sales and incur higher costs for replacement goods and customer refunds during the shortage or thereafter, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

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          In our wine business, we rely on the use of third-party alternating proprietorship winemaking facilities. We rely on the host or owner of such facilities to ensure that the facilities are operational and maintained in good condition. Changes in our access to those facilities, including changes in prices or changes in our relationships with the third parties who own and operate those facilities, or regulatory discipline against licenses held by those third parties, or any failure by such third parties to maintain their facilities in good condition, may impair our ability to produce wines at such facilities and could materially adversely affect our wine business.

Higher labor costs due to statutory and regulatory changes could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          Various federal and state labor laws govern our relationships with our employees and affect operating costs. These laws include employee classifications as exempt or non-exempt, minimum wage requirements, unemployment tax rates, workers' compensation rates, overtime, family leave, workplace health and safety standards, payroll taxes, citizenship requirements and other wage and benefit requirements for employees classified as non-exempt. As our employees are paid at rates set above, but related to, the applicable minimum wage, further increases in the minimum wage could increase our labor costs. Significant additional government regulations could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Unionization activities may disrupt our operations and adversely affect our profitability.

          Although none of our employees is currently covered under a collective bargaining agreement, our employees may elect to be represented by labor unions in the future. If a significant number of our employees were to become unionized and collective bargaining agreement terms were to deviate significantly from our current compensation and benefits structure, our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected. In addition, a labor dispute involving some or all of our employees may harm our reputation, disrupt our operations and reduce our revenues, and the resolution of labor disputes may increase our costs.

Disruptions in our data and information systems could harm our reputation and our ability to run our business.

          We rely extensively on data and information systems for our supply chain, order processing, fulfillment operations, financial reporting, human resources and various other operations, processes and transactions. Furthermore, a significant portion of the communications between, and storage of personal data of, our personnel, customers and suppliers depends on information technology. Our data and information systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches (including breaches of our transaction processing or other systems that could result in the compromise of confidential customer data), catastrophic events, data breaches and usage errors by our employees or third-party service providers. Our data and information technology systems may also fail to perform as we anticipate, and we may encounter difficulties in adapting these systems to changing technologies or expanding them to meet the future needs of our business. If our systems are breached, damaged or cease to function properly, we may have to make significant investments to fix or replace them, suffer interruptions in our operations, incur liability to our customers and others or face costly litigation, and our reputation with our customers may be harmed. We also rely on third-parties for a majority of our data and information systems, including for third-party hosting and payment processing. If these facilities fail, or if they suffer a security breach or interruption or degradation of service, a significant amount of our data could be lost or compromised and our ability to operate our business and deliver our product offerings could be materially impaired. In addition, various third parties, such as our suppliers and payment processors, also rely heavily on

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information technology systems, and any failure of these systems could also cause loss of sales, transactional or other data and significant interruptions to our business. Any material interruption in the data and information technology systems we rely on, including the data or information technology systems of third-parties, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our business is subject to data security risks, including security breaches.

          We, or our third-party vendors on our behalf, collect, process, store and transmit substantial amounts of information, including information about our customers. We take steps to protect the security and integrity of the information we collect, process, store or transmit, but there is no guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure will not occur or that third parties will not gain unauthorized access to this information despite such efforts. Security breaches, computer malware, computer hacking attacks and other compromises of information security measures have become more prevalent in the business world and may occur on our systems or those of our vendors in the future. Large Internet companies and websites have from time to time disclosed sophisticated and targeted attacks on portions of their websites, and an increasing number have reported such attacks resulting in breaches of their information security. We and our third-party vendors are at risk of suffering from similar attacks and breaches. Although we take steps to maintain confidential and proprietary information on our information systems, these measures and technology may not adequately prevent security breaches and we rely on our third-party vendors to take appropriate measures to protect the security and integrity of the information on those information systems. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to or to sabotage information systems change frequently and may not be known until launched against us, we may be unable to anticipate or prevent these attacks. In addition, a party who is able to illicitly obtain a customer's identification and password credentials may be able to access the customer's account and certain account data.

          Any actual or suspected security breach or other compromise of our security measures or those of our third-party vendors, whether as a result of hacking efforts, denial-of-service attacks, viruses, malicious software, break-ins, phishing attacks, social engineering or otherwise, could harm our reputation and business, damage our brand and make it harder to retain existing customers or acquire new ones, require us to expend significant capital and other resources to address the breach, and result in a violation of applicable laws, regulations or other legal obligations. Our insurance policies may not be adequate to reimburse us for direct losses caused by any such security breach or indirect losses due to resulting customer attrition.

          We rely on email and other messaging services to connect with our existing and potential customers. Our customers may be targeted by parties using fraudulent spoofing and phishing emails to misappropriate passwords, payment information or other personal information or to introduce viruses through Trojan horse programs or otherwise through our customers' computers, smartphones, tablets or other devices. Despite our efforts to mitigate the effectiveness of such malicious email campaigns through product improvements, spoofing and phishing may damage our brand and increase our costs. Any of these events or circumstances could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We are subject to risks associated with payments to us from our customers and other third parties, including risks associated with fraud.

          Nearly all of our customers' payments are made by credit card or debit card. We currently rely exclusively on one third-party vendor to provide payment processing services, including the processing of payments from credit cards and debit cards, and our business would be disrupted if this vendor becomes unwilling or unable to provide these services to us and we are unable to find

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a suitable replacement on a timely basis. We are also subject to payment brand operating rules, payment card industry data security standards and certification requirements, which could change or be reinterpreted to make it more difficult or impossible for us to comply. If we fail to comply with these rules or requirements, we may be subject to fines and higher transaction fees and lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from customers, which would make our services less convenient and attractive to our customers and likely result in a substantial reduction in revenue. We may also incur losses as a result of claims that the customer did not authorize given purchases, fraud, erroneous transmissions and customers who have closed bank accounts or have insufficient funds in their accounts to satisfy payments owed to us.

          We are subject to, or voluntarily comply with, a number of other laws and regulations relating to the payments we accept from our customers and third parties, including with respect to money laundering, money transfers, privacy, and information security, and electronic fund transfers. These laws and regulations could change or be reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply. If we were found to be in violation of any of these applicable laws or regulations, we could be subject to civil or criminal penalties and higher transaction fees or lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from our customers, process electronic funds transfers or facilitate other types of online payments, which may make our services less convenient and less attractive to our customers and diminish the customer experience.

We may require additional capital to fund the expansion of our business, and our inability to obtain such capital could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          To support our expanding business, we must have sufficient capital to continue to make significant investments. We cannot assure you that cash generated by our operations will be sufficient to allow us to fund such expansion. If cash flows from operations are not sufficient, we may need additional equity or debt financing to provide the funds required to expand our business. If such financing is not available on satisfactory terms or at all, we may be unable to expand our business or to develop new business at the rate desired, and our operating results may suffer. Debt financing increases expenses, may contain covenants that restrict the operation of our business, and must be repaid regardless of operating results. For example, covenants contained in our revolving credit agreement include limitations on our ability to pay dividends; create, incur or assume indebtedness or liens; consummate a merger, sale, disposition or similar transaction; engage in transaction with affiliates; and make investments. Equity financing, or debt financing that is convertible into equity, could result in dilution to our existing stockholders.

          Our inability to obtain adequate capital resources, whether in the form of equity or debt, to fund our business and growth strategies may require us to delay, scale back or eliminate some or all of our operations or the expansion of our business, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our results could be adversely affected by natural disasters, public health crises, political crises or other catastrophic events.

          Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, droughts and other adverse weather and climate conditions; unforeseen public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics; crop or animal diseases; crop pests; political crises, such as terrorist attacks, war and other political instability or uncertainty; or other catastrophic events, whether occurring in the United States or internationally, could disrupt our operations or the operations of one or more of our suppliers. In particular, these types of events could impact our supply chain from or to the impacted region given our dependency on frequent deliveries of ingredients and other products from a variety of local, regional and national suppliers. In addition, these types of events could

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adversely affect consumer spending in the impacted regions or our ability to deliver our products to our customers. To the extent any of these events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially and adversely affected.

We may be unsuccessful in making, integrating and maintaining acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic investments.

          We expect to evaluate and consider a wide array of potential strategic transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions of businesses, joint ventures, new technologies, services, products and other assets and strategic investments. Any of these transactions could be material to our business, financial condition and operating results. The process of integrating any acquired business or operating any joint venture may create unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. We may face difficulties in incorporating supply or distribution channels, technology and rights into our existing product offerings, and we may experience unanticipated expenses relating to these and other integration processes. We may also face known and unknown liabilities associated with a company we acquire or in which we invest.

          We may not realize the anticipated benefits of any or all of our acquisitions, joint ventures or investments in the time frame expected or at all. Valuations supporting our acquisitions and strategic investments could change rapidly. Following any such transaction, we could determine that such valuations have experienced impairments or other-than-temporary declines in fair value which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results through the write-off of goodwill and other impairment charges.

Failure to establish and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.

          We are not currently required to comply with the rules of the SEC implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and are therefore not required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for that purpose. Upon becoming a public company, we will be required to comply with the SEC's rules implementing Sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which will require management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports and provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of controls over financial reporting. Though we will be required to disclose changes made in our internal controls and procedures on a quarterly basis, we will not be required to make our first annual assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC. As an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until the later of the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC or the date we are no longer an emerging growth company. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating.

          To comply with the requirements of being a public company, we have undertaken various actions, and may need to take additional actions, such as implementing new internal controls and procedures and hiring additional accounting or internal audit staff. Testing and maintaining internal control can divert our management's attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business. Additionally, when evaluating our internal control over financial reporting, we may identify material weaknesses that we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the applicable deadline imposed upon us for compliance with the requirements of Section 404. If we identify any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting or are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or assert that our

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internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting once we are no longer an emerging growth company, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our Class A common stock could be materially adversely affected, and we could become subject to investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

We may be accused of infringing or violating the intellectual property rights of others.

          Other parties have claimed or may claim in the future that we infringe or violate their trademarks, patents, copyrights, domain names, publicity rights or other proprietary rights. Such claims, regardless of their merit, could result in litigation or other proceedings and could require us to expend significant financial resources and attention by our management and other personnel that otherwise would be focused on our business operations, result in injunctions against us that prevent us from using material intellectual property rights, or require us to pay damages to third parties. We may need to obtain licenses from third parties who allege that we have infringed or violated their rights, but such licenses may not be available on terms acceptable to us or at all. In addition, we may not be able to obtain or use on terms that are favorable to us, or at all, licenses or other rights with respect to intellectual property that we do not own, which would require us to develop alternative intellectual property. To the extent we rely on open source software, we may face claims from third parties that claim ownership of the open source software or derivative works that were developed using such software, or otherwise seek to enforce the terms of the applicable open source license. Similar claims might also be asserted regarding our in-house software. These risks have been amplified by the increase in intellectual property claims by third parties whose sole or primary business is to assert such claims. As our business expands, we are likely to be subject to intellectual property claims against us with increasing frequency, scope and magnitude. We may also be obligated to indemnify affiliates or other partners who are accused of violating third parties' intellectual property rights by virtue of those affiliates or partners' agreements with us, and this could increase our costs in defending such claims and our damages. Furthermore, such affiliates and partners may discontinue their relationship with us either as a result of injunctions or otherwise. The occurrence of these results could harm our brand or materially adversely affect our business, financial position and operating results.

We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property rights.

          We regard our customer lists and other consumer data, trademarks, service marks, domain names, copyrights, trade dress, trade secrets, know-how, proprietary technology and similar intellectual property as critical to our success. We cannot be sure that our intellectual property portfolio will not be infringed, violated or otherwise challenged by third parties, or that we will be successful in enforcing, defending or combatting any such infringements, violations, or challenges. We also cannot be sure that the law might not change in a way that would affect the nature or extent of our intellectual property ownership.

          We rely on registered and unregistered trademark, copyright and trade secret protection and other intellectual property protections under applicable law to protect these proprietary rights. While we have taken steps toward procuring trademark registration for several of our trademarks in key countries around the world and have entered or may enter into contracts to assist with the procurement and protection of our trademarks, we cannot assure you that our common law, applied-for, or registered trademarks are valid and enforceable, that our trademark registrations and applications or use of our trademarks will not be challenged by known or unknown third parties, or

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that any pending trademark applications will issue or provide us with any competitive advantage. Effective intellectual property protection may not be available to us or may be challenged by third parties. Furthermore, regulations governing domain names may not protect our trademarks and other proprietary rights that may be displayed on or in conjunction with our website and other marketing media. We may be unable to prevent third parties from acquiring or retaining domain names that are similar to, infringe upon, or diminish the value of our trademarks and other proprietary rights.

          We also rely on confidentiality, supplier, license and other agreements with our employees, suppliers and others. There is no guarantee that these third parties will comply with these agreements and refrain from misappropriating our proprietary rights. Misappropriation of our proprietary rights could materially adversely affect our business, financial position and operating results.

          We may not be able to discover or determine the extent of any unauthorized use or infringement or violation of our intellectual property or proprietary rights. Third parties also may take actions that diminish the value of our proprietary rights or our reputation. The protection of our intellectual property may require the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. Moreover, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may not adequately protect our proprietary rights or prevent third parties from continuing to infringe or misappropriate these rights. We also cannot be certain that others will not independently develop or otherwise acquire equivalent or superior technology or other intellectual property rights, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity. Such litigation could be costly, time-consuming and distracting to management, result in a diversion of resources, the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. These steps may be inadequate to protect our intellectual property. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property if we are unable to enforce our rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to use information that we regard as proprietary to create product offerings that compete with ours.

          We currently operate only in the United States. To the extent that we determine to expand our business internationally, we will encounter additional risks, including different, uncertain or more stringent laws relating to intellectual property rights and protection.

Risks Related to Government Regulation of Our Food Operations

We are subject to extensive governmental regulations, which require significant expenditures and ongoing compliance efforts.

          We are subject to extensive federal, state and local regulations. Our food processing facilities and products are subject to inspection by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, the FDA and various state and local health and agricultural agencies. Applicable statutes and regulations governing food products include rules for labeling the content of specific types of foods, the nutritional value of that food and its serving size, as well as rules that protect against contamination of products by food-borne pathogens. Many jurisdictions also provide that food producers adhere to good manufacturing or production practices (the definitions of which may vary by jurisdiction)

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with respect to processing food. Recently, the food safety practices and procedures in the meat processing industry have been subject to more intense scrutiny and oversight by the USDA, and future outbreaks of diseases among cattle, poultry or pigs could lead to further governmental regulation of our business or of our suppliers. In addition, our fulfillment centers are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to workplace safety and workplace health. Failure to comply with all applicable laws and regulations could subject us or our suppliers to civil remedies, including fines, injunctions, product recalls or seizures and criminal sanctions, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Furthermore, compliance with current or future laws or regulations could require us to make significant expenditures or otherwise materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Even inadvertent, non-negligent or unknowing violations of federal, state or local regulatory requirements could expose us to adverse governmental action and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, which governs the shipment of foods in interstate commerce, generally does not distinguish between intentional and unknowing, non-negligent violations of the law's requirements. Most state and local laws operate similarly. Consequently, almost any deviation from subjective or objective requirements of the FDCA or state or local law leaves us vulnerable to a variety of civil and criminal penalties. As a rapidly growing company, we often deploy new equipment, update our facilities or occupy new facilities. These activities require us to adjust our operations and regulatory compliance systems to meet rapidly changing conditions. Although we have adopted and implemented systems to prevent the production of unsafe or mislabeled products, any failure of those systems to prevent or anticipate an instance or category of deficiency could result in significant business interruption and financial losses to us. The occurrence of events that are difficult to prevent completely, such as the introduction of pathogenic organisms from the outside environment into our facilities, also may result in the failure of our products to meet legal standards. Under these conditions we could be exposed to civil and criminal regulatory action.

          In some instances we may be responsible or held liable for the activities and compliance of our third-party vendors and suppliers, despite limited visibility into their operations. Although we monitor and carefully select our third-party vendors and suppliers, they may fail to adhere to regulatory standards, or our quality standards or labor and employment practices, and we may fail to identify deficiencies or violations on a timely basis or at all. In addition, recent legislation in California called the Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 requires us to audit our suppliers with respect to certain risks related to slavery and human trafficking and to mitigate any such risks in our operations, and any failure to disclose issues or other non-compliance could subject us to action by the California Attorney General.

          We cannot assure you that we will always be in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations or that we will be able to comply with any future laws and regulations. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Changes to law, regulation or policy applicable to foods could leave us vulnerable to adverse governmental action and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          The food industry is highly regulated. We invest significant resources in our efforts to comply with the local, state and federal food regulatory regimes under which we operate. However, we cannot assure you that existing laws and regulations will not be revised or that new, more restrictive

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laws and regulations will not be adopted or become applicable to us or the products we distribute. We also operate under a business model that is relatively new to the food industry, in which we rapidly source, process, store and package meal ingredients—including fresh fruits and vegetables, and poultry, beef and seafood, each of which may be subject to a unique regulatory regime—and ship them directly to consumers in the course of e-commerce transactions. Our business model leaves our business particularly susceptible to changes in and reinterpretations of compliance policies of the FDA and other government agencies, and some of our competitors may interpret the applicability of the same or similar laws and regulations to their businesses differently than we interpret them. Furthermore, certain recently promulgated FDA regulations, such as the requirements regarding food defense, are not yet in effect, and it is unclear how the FDA may interpret and enforce many other recent regulations, presenting considerable future uncertainty. The recent U.S. presidential election, bringing with it a change in senior federal government officials and policy priorities, creates additional uncertainty.

          Our existing compliance structures may be insufficient to address the changing regulatory environment and changing expectations from government regulators regarding our business model. This may result in gaps in compliance coverage or the omission of necessary new compliance activity. Furthermore, the expansion of our business internationally would require us to comply with foreign laws and regulations, including those related to food safety, employment and health and safety, each of which may be materially different than the laws and regulations applicable to us in the United States. In addition, and regardless of our prospective compliance status, our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected by future changes in applicable law and regulations.

          Furthermore, we recently began conducting livestock and poultry operations, which are subject to a variety of federal, state and local legal and regulatory requirements, including regarding the discharge of materials and pollutants and animal welfare.

Our facilities and operations are governed by numerous and sometimes conflicting registration, licensing and reporting requirements.

          Our fulfillment centers are required to be registered with the federal government and, depending on their location, are also subject to the authority of state and local governments. In some cases, disparate registration and licensing requirements lead to legal uncertainty, inconsistent government classifications of our operations and unpredictable governmental actions. Regulators may also change prior interpretations of governing licensing and registration requirements. Our relatively new business model leaves us particularly susceptible to these factors. If we misapply or misidentify licensing or registration requirements, fail to maintain our registrations or licenses or otherwise violate applicable requirements, our products may be subject to seizure or recall and our operations subject to injunction. This could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          Similarly, we are required to submit reports to the FDA's Reportable Food Registry in the event that we determine a product may present a serious danger to consumers. The reporting requirement may be triggered based on a subjective assessment of incomplete and changing facts. Our inventory moves very rapidly throughout our supply and distribution chain. Should we fail, in a timely fashion, to identify and report a potentially reportable event which, subsequently, is determined to have been reportable, government authorities may institute civil or criminal enforcement actions against us, and may result in civil litigation against us or criminal charges against certain of our employees. This could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

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Good manufacturing process standards and food safety compliance metrics are complex, highly subjective and selectively enforced.

          The federal regulatory scheme governing food products establishes guideposts and objectives for complying with legal requirements rather than providing clear direction on when particular standards apply or how they must be met. For example, new FDA regulations referred to as Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food require that we evaluate food safety hazards inherent to our specific products and operations. We must then implement "preventive controls" in cases where we determine that qualified food safety personnel would recommend that we do so. Determining what constitutes a food safety hazard, or what a qualified food safety expert might recommend to prevent such a hazard, requires evaluating a variety of situational factors. This analysis is necessarily subjective, and a government regulator may find our analysis or conclusions inadequate. Similarly, the standard of "good manufacturing practice" to which we are held in our food production operations relies on a hypothesis regarding what individuals and organizations qualified in food manufacturing and food safety would find to be appropriate practices in the context of our operations. Our business model, and the scale and nature of our operations, have relatively few meaningful comparisons among traditional food companies. Government regulators may disagree with our analyses and decisions regarding the good manufacturing practices appropriate for our operations.

          Decisions made or processes adopted by us in producing our meals are subject to after-the-fact review by government authorities, sometimes years after the fact. Similarly, governmental agencies and personnel within those agencies may alter, clarify or even reverse previous interpretations of compliance requirements and the circumstances under which they will institute formal enforcement activity. It is not always possible accurately to predict regulators' responses to actual or alleged food-production deficiencies due to the large degree of discretion afforded regulators. We may be vulnerable to civil or criminal enforcement action by government regulators if they disagree with our analyses, conclusions, actions or practices. This could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Packaging, labeling and advertising requirements are subject to varied interpretation and selective enforcement.

          We operate under a novel business model in which we source, process, store and package meal ingredients and ship them directly to consumers. Most FDA requirements for mandatory food labeling are decades old and were adopted prior to the advent of large-scale, direct-to-consumer food sales and e-commerce platforms. Consequently, we, like our competitors, must make judgments regarding how best to comply with labeling and packaging regulations and industry practices not designed with our specific business model in mind. Government regulators may disagree with these judgments, leaving us open to civil or criminal enforcement action. This could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

          We are subject to detailed and complex requirements for how our products may be labeled and advertised, which may also be supplemented by guidance from governmental agencies. Generally speaking, these requirements divide information into mandatory information that we must present to consumers and voluntary information that we may present to consumers. Packaging, labeling, disclosure and advertising regulations may describe what mandatory information must be provided to consumers, where and how that information is to be displayed physically on our materials or elsewhere, the terms, words or phrases in which it must be disclosed, and the penalties for non-compliance.

          Voluntary statements made by us to our customers, whether on our packages, websites, in print, in radio, on television or in package inserts, can be subject to FDA regulation, Federal Trade

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Commission, or FTC, regulation, USDA regulation, state and local regulation, or any combination of the foregoing. These statements may be subject to specific requirements, subjective regulatory evaluation, or both. FDA, FTC, USDA and state- and local-level regulations and guidance can be confusing and subject to conflicting interpretations. Guidelines, standards and market practice for, and consumers' understandings of, certain types of voluntary statements, such as those characterizing the nutritional and other attributes of food products, continue to evolve rapidly, and regulators may attempt to impose civil or criminal penalties against us if they disagree with our approach to using voluntary statements. Furthermore, in recent years the FDA has increased enforcement of its regulations with respect to nutritional, health and other claims related to food products, and plaintiffs have commenced legal actions against a number of companies that market food products positioned as "natural" or "healthy," asserting false, misleading and deceptive advertising and labeling claims, including claims related to such food being "all natural" or that they lack any genetically modified ingredients. Should we become subject to similar claims or actions, consumers may avoid purchasing products from us or seek alternatives, even if the basis for the claim is unfounded, and the cost of defending against any such claims could be significant. The occurrence of any of the foregoing risks could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Risks Related to Government Regulation of our Wine Business

If we do not comply with the specialized regulations and laws that regulate the alcoholic beverage industry, our business could be materially adversely affected.

          Alcoholic beverages are highly regulated at both the federal and state levels. Regulated areas include production, importation, product labeling, taxes, marketing, pricing, delivery, ownership restrictions, prohibitions on sales to minors, and relationships among alcoholic beverage producers, wholesalers and retailers. We cannot assure you that we will always be in full compliance with all applicable regulations or laws, that we will be able to comply with any future regulations and laws, that we will not incur material costs or liabilities in connection with compliance with applicable regulatory and legal requirements, or that such regulations and laws will not materially adversely affect our wine business.

          Licenses issued by state and federal alcoholic beverage regulatory agencies are required in order to produce, sell and ship wine. We have state and federal licenses, and must remain in compliance with state and federal laws in order to keep our licenses in good standing. Compliance failures can result in fines, license suspension or license revocation. In some cases, compliance failures can also result in cease and desist orders, injunctive proceedings or other criminal or civil penalties. If our licenses do not remain in good standing, our wine business could be materially adversely affected.

          Our wine business relies substantially on state laws that authorize the shipping of wine by out-of-state producers directly to in-state consumers. Those laws are relatively new in many states, and it is common for the laws to be modified. Adverse changes to laws allowing a producer to ship wine to consumers across state lines could materially adversely affect our wine business.

Other Risks Related to Government Regulation

Government regulation of the Internet, e-commerce and other aspects of our business is evolving, and we may experience unfavorable changes in or failure to comply with existing or future regulations and laws.

          We are subject to a number of regulations and laws that apply generally to businesses, as well as regulations and laws specifically governing the Internet and e-commerce and the marketing, sale and delivery of goods and services over the Internet. Existing and future regulations and laws

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may impede the growth and availability of the Internet and online services and may limit our ability to grow our business. These laws and regulations, which continue to evolve, cover taxation, tariffs, privacy and data protection, data security, pricing, content, copyrights, distribution, mobile and other communications, advertising practices, electronic contracts, sales procedures, automatic subscription renewals, credit card processing procedures, consumer protections, the provision of online payment services, unencumbered Internet access to our services, the design and operation of websites, and the characteristics and quality of product offerings that are offered online. We cannot guarantee that we have been or will be fully compliant in every jurisdiction, as it is not entirely clear how existing laws and regulations governing issues such as property ownership, sales and other taxes, consumer protection, libel and personal privacy apply or will be enforced with respect to the Internet and e-commerce, as many of these laws were adopted prior to the advent of the Internet and e-commerce and do not contemplate or address the unique issues they raise. Moreover, as e-commerce continues to evolve, increasing regulation and enforcement efforts by federal and state agencies and the prospects for private litigation claims related to our data collection, privacy policies or other e-commerce practices become more likely. In addition, the adoption of any laws or regulations, or the imposition of other legal requirements, that adversely affect our ability to market, sell, and deliver our products could decrease our ability to offer, or customer demand for, our offerings, resulting in lower revenue, and existing or future laws or regulations could impair our ability to expand our product offerings, which could also result in lower revenue and make us more vulnerable to increased competition. Future regulations, or changes in laws and regulations or their existing interpretations or applications, could also require us to change our business practices, raise compliance costs or other costs of doing business and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Failure to comply with privacy-related obligations, including federal and state privacy laws and regulations and other legal obligations, or the expansion of current or the enactment of new privacy-related obligations could materially adversely affect our business.

          A variety of federal and state laws and regulations govern the collection, use, retention, sharing, transfer and security of customer data. We also may choose to comply with, or may be required to comply with, self-regulatory obligations or other industry standards with respect to our collection, use, retention, sharing or security of customer data.

          We strive to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, self-regulatory requirements, policies and legal obligations relating to privacy, data usage, and data protection. It is possible, however, that these laws, regulations and other obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and which may conflict with other rules or requirements or our practices. We cannot guarantee that our practices have complied, comply, or will comply fully with all such laws, regulations, requirements and obligations.

          We have posted our privacy policy which describes our practice related to the collection, use and disclosure of customer data on our website and in our mobile application. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with our posted privacy policy or with any federal or state laws, regulations, self-regulatory requirements, industry standards, or other legal obligations could result in claims, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities, customers or others, or other liabilities, or could result in a loss of customers, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, a failure or perceived failure to comply with industry standards or with our own privacy policy and practices could result in a loss of customers and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

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          Additionally, existing privacy-related laws, regulations, self-regulatory obligations and other legal obligations are evolving and are subject to potentially differing interpretations. Various federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies may expand current laws or enact new laws regarding privacy matters, and courts may interpret existing privacy-related laws and regulations in new or different manners. In addition, as we expand our business internationally we may be subject to non-U.S. privacy, data protection, consumer protection and other laws and regulations, which in some cases are more restrictive than those in the United States. For example, the European Union traditionally has imposed stricter obligations under such laws than the United States. Consequently, the expansion of our operations internationally may require changes to the ways we collect and use consumer information.

          Changes in privacy-related laws, regulations, self-regulatory obligations and other legal obligations, or changes in industry standards or consumer sentiment, could require us to incur substantial costs or to change our business practices, including changing, limiting or ceasing altogether the collection, use, sharing, or transfer of data relating to consumers. Any of these effects could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

If government regulations relating to the Internet or other areas of our business change, we may need to alter the manner in which we conduct our business, or incur greater operating expenses, which could materially adversely affect our business.

          The adoption or modification of laws or regulations relating to the Internet or other areas of our business could limit or otherwise adversely affect the manner in which we currently conduct our business. In addition, the continued growth and development of the market for e-commerce may lead to more stringent consumer protection laws, which may impose additional burdens on us. If we are required to comply with new regulations or legislation or new interpretations of existing regulations or legislation, this compliance could cause us to incur additional expenses or alter our business model, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our failure to collect state or local sales, use or other similar taxes could result in substantial tax liabilities, including for past sales, as well as penalties and interest, and our business could be materially adversely affected.

          We do not collect state or local sales, use or other similar taxes in any jurisdictions in which we do not have a physical presence, in reliance on court decisions or applicable exemptions that restrict or preclude the imposition of obligations to collect state and local sales, use and other similar taxes with respect to online sales of our products. In addition, we do not collect state or local sales, use or other similar taxes in certain jurisdictions in which we do have a physical presence in reliance on applicable exemptions. However, an increasing number of states have considered or adopted laws or administrative practices that attempt to impose obligations on remote sellers and online marketplaces to collect taxes on their behalf, and our reliance on such case law and exemptions in certain jurisdictions could be challenged. A successful assertion by one or more states requiring us to collect taxes where we do not do so could result in substantial tax liabilities, including for past sales as well as penalties and interest, and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Changes in tax treatment of companies engaged in e-commerce could materially adversely affect the commercial use of our sites and our business, financial condition and operating results.

          Due to the global nature of the Internet, it is possible that various states or, if we expand internationally, foreign countries, might attempt to impose additional or new regulation on our

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business or levy additional or new sales, income or other taxes relating to our activities. Tax authorities at the international, federal, state and local levels are currently reviewing the appropriate treatment of companies engaged in e-commerce. New or revised international, federal, state or local tax regulations may subject us or our customers to additional sales, income and other taxes. For example, Congress is considering various approaches to legislation that would require companies engaged in e-commerce to collect sales tax taxes on Internet revenue. We cannot predict the effect of current attempts to impose sales, income or other taxes on e-commerce. New or revised taxes and, in particular, sales taxes, value-added taxes and similar taxes would likely increase the cost of doing business online and decrease the attractiveness of selling products over the Internet. New taxes could also create significant increases in internal costs necessary to capture data and collect and remit taxes. Any of these events could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our ability to use our net operating losses to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations which could subject our business to higher tax liability.

          We may be limited in the portion of net operating loss carryforwards that we can use in the future to offset taxable income for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes. As of December 31, 2015 and 2016, we had U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards of $57.0 million and $62.9 million, respectively, and state net operating loss carryforwards of $35.8 million and $42.0 million, respectively. In general, Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, limits the ability of a company that undergoes an "ownership change" (generally defined as a greater than 50-percentage-point cumulative change (by value) in the equity ownership of certain stockholders over a rolling three-year period) to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carry forwards and certain built-in losses recognized in years after the ownership change. Future changes in our stock ownership, some of which may be outside of our control, could result in an ownership change under Section 382 of the Code. Furthermore, Section 383 of the Code generally limits the amount of tax liability in any post-ownership change year that can be reduced by pre-ownership change tax credit carryforwards. If we were to undergo an "ownership change," it could materially limit our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and other deferred tax assets. In addition, our federal and state net operating loss carryforwards will each expire at various dates beginning in 2033, if not utilized. Our net operating loss carryforwards may expire unutilized or underutilized, which could prevent us from offsetting future taxable income.

Risks Related to Our Class A Common Stock and this Offering

An active trading market for our Class A common stock may not develop, and you may not be able to resell your shares of our Class A common stock at or above the initial offering price.

          Before this offering, there was no public trading market for our Class A common stock. If a market for our Class A common stock does not develop or is not sustained, it may be difficult for you to sell your shares of Class A common stock at an attractive price, at the time that you would like to sell them, or at all. The initial public offering price of our Class A common stock will be determined through negotiations between us and the underwriters. This initial public offering price may not be indicative of the market price of our Class A common stock after the offering. We cannot predict the prices at which our Class A common stock will trade. It is possible that in one or more future periods our results of operations may be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors and, as a result of these and other factors, the price of our Class A common stock may fall.

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The market price of our Class A common stock may be volatile, which could result in substantial losses for investors purchasing shares in this offering.

          The market price of our Class A common stock could be subject to significant fluctuations after this offering, and it may decline below the initial public offering price. Some of the factors that may cause the market price of our Class A common stock to fluctuate include:

•

price and volume fluctuations in the overall stock market from time to time;



•

volatility in the market price and trading volume of comparable companies;



•

actual or anticipated changes in our earnings or fluctuations in our operating results or in the expectations of securities analysts;



•

announcements of new service offerings, strategic alliances or significant agreements by us or by our competitors;



•

departure of key personnel;



•

litigation involving us or that may be perceived as having an adverse effect on our business;



•

changes in general economic, industry and market conditions and trends;



•

investors' general perception of us;



•

sales of large blocks of our stock; and



•

announcements regarding industry consolidation.

          In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company's securities, securities class action litigation has often been brought against that company. Because of the potential volatility of our stock price, we may become the target of securities litigation in the future. Securities litigation could result in substantial costs and divert management's attention and resources from our business.

Our quarterly operating results or other operating metrics may fluctuate significantly, which could cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline.

          Our quarterly operating results and other operating metrics have fluctuated in the past and may in the future fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control and may be difficult to predict, including:

•

the level of demand for our service offerings and our ability to maintain and increase our customer base;



•

the timing and success of new service introductions by us or our competitors or any other change in the competitive landscape of our market;



•

the mix of products sold;



•

order rates by our customers;



•

pricing pressure as a result of competition or otherwise;



•

delays or disruptions in our supply chain;



•

our ability to reduce costs;



•

errors in our forecasting of the demand for our products, which could lead to lower revenue or increased costs;



•

seasonal or other variations in buying patterns by our customers;

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•

increases in and timing of sales and marketing and other operating expenses that we may incur to grow and expand our operations and to remain competitive;



•

levels of customer credits and refunds;



•

adverse litigation judgments, settlements or other litigation-related costs;



•

food safety concerns, regulatory proceedings or other adverse publicity about us or our products;



•

costs related to the acquisition of businesses, talent, technologies or intellectual property, including potentially significant amortization costs and possible write-downs;



•

changes in consumer tastes and preferences; and



•

general economic conditions.

          Any one of the factors above or the cumulative effect of some of the factors above may result in significant fluctuations in our operating results.

          The variability and unpredictability of our quarterly operating results or other operating metrics could result in our failure to meet our expectations or those of any analysts that cover us or investors with respect to revenue or other operating results for a particular period. If we fail to meet or exceed such expectations for these or any other reasons, the market price of our Class A common stock could fall substantially, and we could face costly lawsuits, including securities class action suits.

We will have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds of this offering and may not use them effectively.

          Our management will have broad discretion to use the net proceeds of this offering, and you will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of these proceeds. We expect to use a portion of the net proceeds of this offering to repay indebtedness outstanding under our revolving credit agreement and the balance of the net proceeds of this offering for working capital, capital expenditures and general corporate purposes. See "Use of Proceeds." Because we will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering, our management may fail to apply these funds effectively, which could materially adversely affect our ability to operate and grow our business. You will not have the opportunity to influence our decisions on how to use the net proceeds from this offering.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish, or cease publishing, research or reports about us, our business or our market, or if they publish negative evaluations of our stock or the stock of other companies in our industry, the price of our stock and trading volume could decline.

          The trading market for our Class A common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market or our competitors. We do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by industry or financial analysts. If no analysts or few analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price of our stock would likely decrease. Even if we do obtain analyst coverage, if one or more of the analysts covering our business downgrade their evaluations of our stock or the stock of other companies in our industry, the price of our stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover our stock, we could lose visibility in the market for our stock, which in turn could cause our stock price to decline.

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Purchasers in this offering will incur immediate and substantial dilution in the book value of their investment as a result of this offering.

          If you purchase Class A common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate and substantial dilution of $13.54 per share, representing the difference between the assumed initial public offering price of $16.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the range listed on the cover page of this prospectus, and our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after giving effect to this offering and the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of preferred stock and the automatic conversion of the outstanding principal amount of, and all accrued and unpaid interest on, our outstanding convertible notes into Class B common stock upon the closing of this offering. Moreover, to the extent outstanding options are exercised, you will incur further dilution. See the "Dilution" section of this prospectus.

Because we do not expect to pay any dividends on our Class A common stock for the foreseeable future, investors in this offering may never receive a return on their investment.

          You should not rely on an investment in our Class A common stock to provide dividend income. We do not anticipate that we will pay any cash dividends to holders of our Class A common stock in the foreseeable future. Instead, we plan to retain any earnings to maintain and expand our existing operations. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of their Class A common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any return on their investment. As a result, investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase our Class A common stock.

Our tri-class capital structure has the effect of concentrating voting control with our president and chief executive officer, Matthew B. Salzberg, and the other holders of Class B common stock. This structure will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters, including a change of control, and might affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

          We are offering shares of Class A common stock in this offering. Upon completion of this offering, our capital structure will consist of three classes of stock: Class B common stock, with ten votes per share; Class A common stock, with one vote per share; and non-voting Class C capital stock. Upon completion of this offering and assuming no exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock in this offering: stockholders who hold shares of Class B common stock, including our executive officers, employees and directors and their affiliates, will together hold approximately 98.1% of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock; our executive officers, directors, stockholders that own greater than 5% of our outstanding capital stock and their respective affiliated entities will together hold approximately 87.4% of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock; and our president and chief executive officer, Matthew B. Salzberg, will hold approximately 29.7% of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock. Because of the ten-to-one voting ratio between the Class B common stock and Class A common stock, the holders of Class B common stock collectively will continue to control a majority of the combined voting power of our common stock and therefore be able to control all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, so long as the outstanding shares of Class B common stock represent at least 9.1% of the total number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock. This concentrated control will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters, including a change of control of our company, for the foreseeable future, and might affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

          Future transfers by holders of Class B common stock will generally result in those shares converting into Class A common stock, with limited exceptions and permitted transfers described in

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our restated certificate of incorporation. In addition, each outstanding share of Class B common stock held by a stockholder who is a natural person, or held by the permitted transferees of such stockholder, will convert automatically into one share of Class A common stock upon the death or permanent and total disability of such stockholder, subject to a conversion delay of nine months in the event of the death or permanent and total disability of one of our founders, Matthew B. Salzberg, Ilia M. Papas or Matthew J. Wadiak. The conversion of Class B common stock into Class A common stock will have the effect, over time, of increasing the relative voting power of those holders of Class B common stock who retain their shares of Class B common stock in the long term. If, for example, Mr. Salzberg retains a significant portion of his holdings of Class B common stock for an extended period of time, he could, in the future, control a majority of the combined voting power of the Class A common stock and Class B common stock. For a description of our tri-class capital structure, see "Description of Capital Stock—Class A, Class B and Class C Stock."

A significant portion of our total outstanding shares may be sold into the public market in the near future, which could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.

          If our existing stockholders sell, or indicate an intention to sell, substantial amounts of our Class A common stock in the public market after the lock-up and legal restrictions on resale discussed in this prospectus lapse, the trading price of our Class A common stock could substantially decline. Based on shares outstanding as of May 31, 2017, on the closing of this offering, we will have outstanding a total of 30,042,687 shares of Class A common stock, 156,907,502 shares of Class B common stock, and no shares of Class C capital stock, assuming no exercise of outstanding options, and after giving effect to the automatic conversion of all of our outstanding shares of preferred stock and the automatic conversion of the outstanding aggregate principal amount of, and accrued and unpaid interest on, our outstanding convertible notes into shares of Class B common stock (excluding the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock). This includes the 30,000,000 shares of Class A common stock that we are selling in this offering, which may be resold in the public market immediately. The remaining 42,687 shares of our Class A common stock and 156,907,502 shares of our Class B common stock, which together represent 84.0% of our outstanding shares after this offering, are currently, and will be following the closing of this offering, restricted as a result of securities laws or lock-up agreements but will be able to be sold, subject to any applicable volume limitations, under federal securities laws with respect to affiliate sales. Each of our directors, executive officers, and other holders of substantially all our outstanding shares have entered into lock-up agreements with the underwriters under which the holders of such securities have agreed that, subject to certain exceptions, without the prior written consent of Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, they will not dispose of or hedge any of their capital stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of capital stock during the period from the date of this prospectus continuing to and including (i) with respect to 20% of the securities subject to these agreements, 120 days after the date of this prospectus and (ii) with respect to the remaining balance of the securities subject to these agreements, 180 days after the date of this prospectus. However, if such 120-day or 180-day period would end during the period beginning 14 calendar days prior to the end of one of our fiscal quarters or our fiscal year and ending on the day after the second full trading day following the date on which we publicly release earnings for such fiscal quarter or fiscal year, the applicable restricted period will end on the day after the second full trading day following the date on which we publicly release such earnings. Upon each release of the foregoing restrictions, our securityholders subject to a lock-up agreement will be able to sell our shares in the public market. In addition, the underwriters may, in their sole discretion, release all or some portion of the shares subject to lock-up agreements prior to a release of the foregoing

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restrictions. For a description of the lock-up agreements, see the "Shares Eligible for Future Sale" and "Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest)" sections of this prospectus.

          In addition, as of May 31, 2017, there were 11,638,660 shares of Class B common stock subject to outstanding options and an additional 417,711 shares of Class B common stock reserved for issuance under our equity incentive plans that will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by any applicable vesting requirements, lock-up agreements and Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. Moreover, after this offering, holders of an aggregate of 155,713,873 shares of our Class B common stock as of May 31, 2017, will have rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders. We also intend to register all shares of Class A common stock that we may issue under our employee benefit plans. Once we register these shares, they can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to the lock-up agreements and the restrictions imposed on our affiliates under Rule 144.

Anti-takeover provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, might discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company or changes in our management and, therefore, depress the trading price of our Class A common stock.

          Our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions that may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares of our Class A common stock. These provisions may also prevent or delay attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management. Our corporate governance documents include provisions:

•

establishing a classified board of directors with staggered three-year terms so that not all members of our board are elected at one time;



•

providing that directors may be removed by stockholders only for cause and only with a vote of the holders of at least 66-2/3% of the votes that all our stockholders would be entitled to cast for the election of directors;



•

limiting the ability of our stockholders to call and bring business before special meetings and to take action by written consent in lieu of a meeting;



•

requiring advance notice of stockholder proposals for business to be conducted at meetings of our stockholders and for nominations of candidates for election to our board of directors;



•

authorizing blank check preferred stock, which could be issued with voting, liquidation, dividend and other rights superior to our Class A common stock; and



•

limiting the liability of, and providing indemnification to, our directors and officers.

          As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which limits the ability of stockholders holding shares representing more than 15% of the voting power of our outstanding voting stock from engaging in certain business combinations with us. Any provision of our restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our Class A common stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our Class A common stock.

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          The existence of the foregoing provisions and anti-takeover measures could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A common stock. They could also deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that you could receive a premium for your Class A common stock in an acquisition.

Our restated certificate provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders. Our restated certificate of incorporation further provides that the federal district courts of the United States of the America are the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. These choice of forum provisions could limit our stockholders' ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

          Our restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our company, (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee or stockholder of our company to us or our stockholders, (3) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the General Corporation Law or as to which the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery or (4) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Our restated certificate of incorporation further provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. These choice of forum provisions 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 other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our management team has limited experience managing a public company.

          Most members of our management team have limited experience managing a publicly traded company, interacting with public company investors and complying with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies. Our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage our transition to being a public company subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under the federal securities laws and the scrutiny of securities analysts and investors. These new obligations and constituents will require significant attention from our management team and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management's attention and affect our ability to attract and retain qualified board members.

          As a public company, we will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly, and increase demand on our systems and resources, particularly after we are no longer an emerging growth

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company. Among other things, the Exchange Act requires that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and operating results and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight may be required. As a result, management's attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could harm our business and operating results. Although we have already hired additional employees to comply with these requirements, we may need to hire even more employees in the future, which will increase our costs and expenses.

          We are currently evaluating our internal controls, identifying and remediating any deficiencies in those internal controls and documenting the results of our evaluation, testing and remediation. We may not be able to complete our evaluation, testing and any required remediation in a timely fashion. During the evaluation and testing process, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting that we are unable to remediate before the end of the same fiscal year in which the material weakness is identified, we will be unable to assert that our internal controls are effective. If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our auditors are unable to attest to management's report on the effectiveness of our internal controls, which will be required after we are no longer an emerging growth company, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which would cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.

          In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations, and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expense and a diversion of management's time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be harmed.

          We also expect that being a public company and these new rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee and compensation committee, and qualified executive officers.

We are an "emerging growth company," and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make our Class A common stock less attractive to investors.

          We are an "emerging growth company," as defined in the JOBS Act, and may remain an emerging growth company until the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of this offering, subject to specified conditions. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted, and intend, to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. We would cease to be an emerging growth company if we have more than $1.07 billion in annual revenue, we have

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more than $700 million in market value of our stock held by non-affiliates (and we have been a public company for at least 12 months and have filed one annual report on Form 10-K) or we issue more than $1 billion of non-convertible debt securities over a three-year period. These exemptions include reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation and exemptions from the requirements to hold non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation and golden parachute payments, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and not being required to comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor's report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements. In this prospectus, we have not included all of the executive compensation related information that would be required if we were not an emerging growth company. We cannot predict whether investors will find our Class A common stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our Class A common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our Class A common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

          In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, while we are an emerging growth company we will not be subject to new or revised accounting standards at the same time that they become applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. Accordingly, we will incur additional costs in connection with complying with the accounting standards applicable to public companies at such time or times as they become applicable to us.

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