Item 1. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we are involved in various investigative inquiries, legal proceedings and other disputes arising from or related to matters incident to the ordinary course of our business activities, including actions with respect to intellectual property, employment, regulatory and contractual matters. Although the results of such investigative inquiries, legal proceedings and other disputes cannot be predicted with certainty, we believe that we are not currently a party to any matters which, if determined adversely to us, would, individually or taken together, have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition or cash flows. However, regardless of the merit of any matters raised or the ultimate outcome, investigative inquiries, legal proceedings and other disputes may generally have an adverse impact on us as a result of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources, and other factors.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
You should consider carefully the risks described below, together with all of the other information included in this Quarterly Report, as well as in our other filings with the SEC, in evaluating our business and/or an investment in our Class A common stock. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, operating results and future prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our Class A common stock may decline and you might lose all or part of your investment. The risks described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks that we currently do not know about or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also impair our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.
Please be advised that certain of the risks and uncertainties described below contain “forward-looking statements.” See the section of this Quarterly Report entitled “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for additional information.
Risks Related to Our Business and Our Industry
Health epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have had, and could in the future have, a material adverse impact on our operations, the operations of our customers and other business partners, and the markets and communities in which we and our customers and partners operate.
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus disease, referred to as COVID-19, was reported and spread globally, including to every state in the United States. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and on March 13, 2020, the United States government declared a national emergency with respect to COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and another public health crisis or epidemic in the future could have repercussions across local, regional and global economies and financial markets. The outbreak of COVID-19 in many countries, including the United States, has adversely impacted global economic activity and has contributed to volatility in and negative pressure on financial markets. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many state, local, and foreign governments have put in place, and others in the future may put in place, travel restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders, and similar government orders and restrictions, in an attempt to control the spread of the disease. Such restrictions or orders, or the perception that such restrictions or orders could be implemented, have resulted in business closures, work stoppages, slowdowns and delays, work-from-home policies, and cancellation or postponement of events, among other effects that could negatively impact our operations, as well as the operations of our customers and business partners. These potential impacts are only amplified by the length of time they remain in place, as the cumulative effect upon our customers and their businesses may exacerbate the potential harm to our business and results of operations.
Beginning in March 2020, in an effort to protect our employees and comply with applicable government orders, we transitioned our employees to a remote work environment and restricted non-essential employee travel. Our workforce has continued to effectively develop and support our software and services offerings notwithstanding the current environment. We expect to slowly transition employees back to the workplace and resume employee travel throughout 2021; however employees will have the option to work remotely for the remainder of the year. If the COVID-19 pandemic once again requires full remote working conditions or otherwise slows our return to the workplace, it could have an adverse impact on the productivity of our employees as they navigate the challenges of daily life during a pandemic, which would harm our business and impede our ability to achieve our strategic objectives. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic may have long-term effects on the nature of the office environment and remote working, which may present operational and workplace culture challenges that may adversely affect our business.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a rapid rise in unemployment and a sudden decrease in global economic activity, and many businesses have experienced, or are anticipating that they may experience, a significant negative impact on their operating results. Our inability to meet in-person with current or prospective customers, or the cancellation or postponement of company-sponsored events or third-party events at which our products are featured, could have a negative impact on our customer engagement efforts, which could further impact demand in future periods. Furthermore, the demand for our products and services, as well as our operating results, could be adversely impacted due to a number of other factors, including the following:
▪customers delaying decisions to adopt our core products, or expand the use of our Value+ services, as they seek to reduce or delay spending in response to the impacts of COVID-19 on their own businesses;
▪a complete or partial closure of, or other operational issues at, properties owned by our customers resulting from government restrictions or orders;
▪a deterioration in our ability, or the ability of our customers, to operate in affected geographic areas;
▪bankruptcies or other financial difficulties facing our customers, which could cause them to delay making payments to us, or result in them terminating or reducing their use of our core products or Value+ services;
▪the inability of tenants to meet their obligations to our customers, resulting in tenant evictions or the sale of properties;
▪the failure of key business partners to provide services needed for our efficient operations, including with respect to electronic payments and tenant screening;
▪a decrease in the reliability or availability of our core products or Value+ services as a result of errors, defects or service interruptions caused by the remote work environment;
▪an increase in risks related to cyber-attacks or fraud designed to exploit perceived or actual gaps in security as a result of the remote work environment; and
▪a decrease in the availability or utility of our customer service organization caused by the remote work environment.
Any of the factors described above, or any number of other risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, could disrupt our business, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, operations and financial results. Both the pandemic and the containment and mitigation measures have had and are likely to continue to have an adverse impact on the global and U.S. economies, the severity and duration of which are uncertain. It is likely that government stabilization efforts will only partially mitigate the consequences to the economy. As such, both the pandemic and containment and mitigation measures may adversely affect our business, operations and financial condition by, among other things, reducing demand for our core solutions and/or Value+ services, impairing the productivity of our workforce, and reducing our access to capital. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will impact our business, financial conditions, and results of operations in the future is highly uncertain and will be affected by a number of factors. These include the duration and extent of the pandemic, the duration and extent of imposed or recommended containment and mitigation measures, the extent, duration, and effective execution of government stabilization and recovery efforts, including those from the successful distribution of effective vaccines.
We manage our business to achieve long-term growth, which may not be consistent with the short-term expectations of some investors.
We plan to continue to manage our business towards the achievement of long-term growth to positively impact long-term value, and not towards the realization of short-term metrics or short-term value. We will make product decisions and pursue opportunities that may reduce our short-term operating results if we believe that these decisions are consistent with our strategic objective to achieve long-term growth. These decisions may not be consistent with the short-term expectations of some investors, and may cause significant fluctuations in our operating results and our stock price from period to period. In addition, notwithstanding our intention to make strategic decisions that positively impact long-term value, the decisions we make may not produce the long-term benefits we expect. Our principal stockholders, some of whom also serve as our directors and executive officers, control a majority of the combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock. As a result, they control the election of a majority of our directors and thereby have the power to control our affairs and policies, including the appointment of management and strategic decisions, as well as matters that are submitted to a vote by our holders of our common stock. The interests of our principal stockholders may be inconsistent with or adverse to those of holders our Class A common stock.
Failure to manage our growth effectively could adversely affect our operating results and preclude our achievement of our strategic plans.
We anticipate that we will continue to experience growth and expansion of our operations. This growth in the size, complexity and diversity of our business has placed, and we expect it will continue to place, a significant strain on our management, administrative, operational and financial resources, as well as our company culture. Our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to manage this growth effectively, which we expect to be more challenging in the current environment as we seek to continue to respond to the uncertainty and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To manage the expected growth of our operations, we will need to continue to develop and improve our operational and financial controls and our reporting systems and procedures, attract and retain highly qualified and motivated personnel across our organization, and nurture and build on our company culture. Failure to effectively manage growth could adversely impact our business, including by resulting in errors or delays in deploying new core functionality to our customers, delays or difficulties in introducing new Value+ services or other products, declines in the quality or responsiveness of our customer service organization, exposure to legal, regulatory and operational risks inherent in our business and resulting from any new products or services we provide to our customers or to our customers’ customers, increases in costs and operating expenses, and other operational difficulties. If any of these risks actually occur, it could adversely affect our operating results, and preclude us from achieving our strategic objectives.
We expect to make substantial investments across our organization to grow our business and may not sustain profitability.
In order to implement our business and growth strategy, we have made and will continue to make substantial investments across our organization and, as a result, we expect our expenses to increase significantly and we may not be consistently profitable. For example, we intend to continue to make substantial investments in, among other things: our research and product development organization to enhance the ease of use and functionality of our software solutions and develop new products; our continued efforts to identify acquisition targets that enhance the depth and/or functionality of our software solutions or Value+ services; our customer service organization to deepen our relationships with our customers and promote customer retention; our sales and marketing organization, including expansion of our direct sales organization and marketing programs, to increase the size of our customer base and increase adoption and utilization of new and existing Value+ services by our new and existing customers; maintaining and expanding our technology infrastructure and operational support to promote the security and availability of our software solutions; our general and administrative functions, to support our growth and assist us in maintaining compliance with legal, regulatory and other compliance-related obligations; and the expansion of our existing facilities, including leasing and building out additional office space, to support our growth and strategic development. Even if we are successful in growing our customer base and increasing revenue from new and existing customers, we may not be able to generate additional revenue in an amount that is sufficient to cover our expenses. We cannot assure you that we will continue to achieve profitability in the near term or that we will sustain profitability on a sequential quarterly basis or over any particular period of time.
Our quarterly results may fluctuate significantly and period-to-period comparisons of our results may not be meaningful.
Our quarterly results, including the levels of our revenue, costs, operating expenses, and operating margins, may fluctuate significantly in the future, and period-to-period comparisons of our results may not be meaningful. Accordingly, the results of any one quarter should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance. Our focus on managing our business towards the achievement of long-term growth, rather than the realization of short-term metrics, may also exacerbate fluctuations in our quarterly results, which could negatively impact the value of our Class A common stock. We may incur significant losses in a particular period for a number of reasons, and may experience significant fluctuations in our operating results from period to period. These and other factors, including the significant disruption and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, combine to make it difficult for us to accurately forecast our future operating results, which in turn makes it difficult for us to prepare accurate budgets and implement strategic plans. Furthermore, if our quarterly results fall below the expectations of investors or any securities analysts who follow our stock, or below any financial guidance we may provide, the price of our Class A common stock could decline substantially.
Our estimates of market opportunity are subject to significant uncertainty and, even if the markets in which we compete meet or exceed our size estimates, we could fail to increase our revenue or market share.
We determine the level of our investment in various aspects of the business, in part, based on our market opportunity estimates. Market opportunity estimates are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates, including our internal analysis and industry experience. Assessing the market for industry-specific, cloud-based business management software is particularly difficult due to a number of factors, including limited available information and rapid evolution of the market. Further, market opportunity estimates sometimes change based on relevant macro-trends and market conditions, or evolving assessment methodologies. The disruptions and impacts caused by the COVID‑19 pandemic may ultimately require us to significantly reduce our estimates of the market opportunities in certain markets or industry verticals, which could negatively impact our long-term growth prospects.
Our acquisition of other companies or technologies would subject us to integration risks, as well as risks related to the financing of such acquisitions.
We have acquired, and may in the future acquire, other companies or technologies to complement or expand our software solutions, optimize our technical capabilities, enhance our ability to compete in our targeted vertical, provide an opportunity to expand into an adjacent market or new vertical, or otherwise offer growth or strategic opportunities. For example, in the real estate vertical, we acquired substantially all of the assets of WegoWise in 2018 and completed the acquisition of Dynasty in 2019. The identification, investigation and negotiation of acquisitions may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various expenses, whether or not they are consummated. We have limited experience acquiring other businesses and we may not be able to effectively integrate acquired assets, technologies, personnel and operations or achieve the anticipated synergies or other benefits from the acquired business due to the inherent risks associated with acquisitions. If an acquisition fails to meet our expectations in terms of its contribution to our overall business strategy or operating results, or if the costs of acquiring or integrating the acquired business exceed our estimates, our business, operating results and financial condition may suffer.
Acquisitions could also subject us to related financing risks. We cannot guarantee that additional financing will be available to us on favorable terms when required, or at all. Acquisitions could result in the issuance of equity securities, which would result in immediate dilution to our stockholders and those securities may have powers, preferences or rights senior to the rights of our Class A common stock. We may incur debt to finance acquisitions, which could impose debt service obligations and restrictions on our ability to operate our business. Our ability to obtain additional capital for acquisitions will depend on numerous factors, including investor and lender demand, our compliance with debt obligations, our historical and forecasted financial and operating performance, our liquidity position, the overall condition of the capital markets, and the global economy as a whole. If we raise funds in the form of debt, we may incur interest expense or other costs to service the debt, we may be required to encumber certain assets, and we may become subject to restrictions on our ability to conduct business, any of which could negatively impact our operating results. Furthermore, a significant portion of the purchase price of companies we may acquire could be allocated to goodwill and other intangible assets, which must be assessed for impairment. In the future, if our acquisitions do not yield expected returns, we may be required to take charges to our operating results based on this impairment assessment process, which could adversely affect our operating results.
Security vulnerabilities in our software solutions or a breach of our security controls could result in the loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access to customer or employee data, or other confidential or sensitive information, which could harm our customer and/or employee relationships, expose us to litigation or harm our reputation.
Our business involves the storage and transmission of a significant amount of confidential and sensitive information, including the personal information of our employees and other individuals, customer data, and our proprietary financial, operational and strategic information. In providing our software solutions, we store and transmit large amounts of our customers’ data, including sensitive and proprietary data and personal information collected by or on behalf of our customers. Our software solutions are typically the system of record, system of engagement and, increasingly, the system of intelligence for all or a portion of our customers’ businesses, and the data processed through our software solutions is critical to their businesses. Like many other businesses, we have experienced, and are continually at risk of being subject to, cyber attacks and data security incidents. As our business grows, the number of users of our software solutions, as well as the amount of information we collect and store, is increasing, and our brands are becoming more widely recognized which makes us an even greater target for malicious activity. There can be no assurance that the security measures we employ will prevent malicious or unauthorized access to our systems and information. Furthermore, no security program can entirely eliminate the risk of human error, such as an employee or contractor’s failure to follow one or more security protocols. Therefore, despite our significant efforts to keep our systems, products and networks protected and up to date, we may be unable to anticipate cyber attacks, detect security incidents or react to them in a timely manner, or implement adequate preventive measures, any of which may expose us to a risk of loss, litigation and potential liability. In addition, some of our third-party service providers also collect and/or store our sensitive information and our customers’ data on our behalf, and these service providers are subject to similar threats of cyber attacks and other malicious Internet-based activities.
If our security measures, or the security measures of our third-party service providers, are breached as a result of wrongdoing or malicious activity on the part of our employees, our partners’ employees, our customers’ employees, or any third party, or as a result of any human error or neglect, product defect or otherwise, and this results in the loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access to customer data or other sensitive information, we could incur liability to our customers and to individuals or organizations whose information was being stored by us or our customers, as well as fines from payment processing networks and regulatory action by governmental bodies. If we experience a widespread security breach, we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be sufficient to compensate us for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on reasonable terms, or at all. In addition, security breaches could result in reputational damage, adversely affect our ability to attract new customers and cause existing customers to reduce or discontinue the use of our software solutions. Furthermore, the perception by our current or potential customers that our software solutions could be vulnerable to exploitation or that our security measures are inadequate, even in the absence of a particular problem or threat, could reduce market acceptance of our software solutions and cause us to lose customers. The legal and regulatory environment around data security and governance is significantly evolving, and both regulators and consumers are increasingly taking action on data-related matters, which may contribute to increased reputational, economic and other harm in the event of a data security incident.
Service outages and other infrastructure performance problems could harm our reputation and adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers.
We seek to maintain sufficient excess capacity in our technology infrastructure to meet the needs of all of our customers, including facilitating the expansion of existing customer deployments and the provisioning of new customer deployments. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, website disruptions, service outages and other performance problems with our technology infrastructure. These problems may be caused by a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, power or network outages, fire, flood or other natural disasters affecting our cloud computing platform providers, human or software errors, viruses, security breaches, fraud or other malicious activity, spikes in customer usage and distributed denial of service attacks. If our technology infrastructure fails to keep pace with the increased number of users and amount of data, or if we are unable to avoid service outages and performance problems, or to resolve them quickly, this could adversely affect our ability to attract new customers, result in the loss of existing customers and harm our reputation, any or all of which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
Errors, defects or other disruptions in our software solutions could harm our reputation, cause us to lose customers, and result in significant expenditures to correct the problem.
Our customers use our software solutions to manage critical aspects of their businesses, and any errors, defects or other disruptions in the performance of our software solutions, including with respect to third party partners upon which certain of our software solutions are dependent, may result in loss of or damage to our customers’ data and disruption to our customers’ businesses, which could harm our reputation. We provide continuous updates to our software solutions and these updates may contain undetected errors when first introduced. In the past, we have discovered errors, failures, vulnerabilities and bugs in our software updates after they have been released, and similar problems may arise in the future. Real or perceived errors, failures, vulnerabilities or bugs in our software solutions could result in negative publicity, reputational harm, loss of customers, delay in market acceptance of our software solutions, loss of competitive position, withholding or delay of payment to us, claims by customers for losses sustained by them and potential litigation or regulatory action. In any such event, we may be required to expend additional resources in order to help correct the problem or we may choose to expend additional resources to take corrective action even where not required. The costs incurred in correcting any material errors, defects or other disruptions could be substantial and there may not be any corresponding increase in revenue to offset these costs. In addition, we may not carry insurance sufficient to compensate us for any losses that may result from claims arising from errors, defects or other disruptions in our software solutions.
Privacy and data security laws and regulations could impose additional costs and reduce demand for our software solutions.
We store and transmit personal information relating to our employees and other individuals, and our customers use our technology platform to store and transmit a significant amount of personal information relating to their customers, vendors, employees and other industry participants. Federal, state and foreign government bodies and agencies have in the past adopted, and may in the future adopt, laws and regulations regarding the collection, use, processing, storage and disclosure of personal or identifying information obtained from customers and other individuals. For instance, the California Consumer Privacy Act created new data privacy and security rights for California residents and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act creates new data privacy and security rights for Virginia residents. Similarly, there are a number of existing and proposed laws and regulations in the European Union and the United States at both the federal and state level, as well as other jurisdictions that could impose new obligations in areas affecting our business. These new obligations could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services, and divert our managements’ attention from pursuing strategic objectives.
In addition to government regulation, privacy advocates and industry groups may propose various self-regulatory standards that may legally or contractually apply to our business. As new laws, regulations and industry standards take effect, and as we expand into new jurisdictions, adjacent markets or, potentially, verticals consistent with our strategic plan, we will need to understand and comply with various new requirements, which may result in significant additional costs. These laws, regulations and industry standards could have negative effects on our business, including by increasing our costs and operating expenses, and/or delaying or impeding our deployment of new or existing core functionality or Value+ services. Failure to comply with these laws, regulations and industry standards could result in negative publicity, subject us to fines or penalties, expose us to litigation, or result in demands that we modify or cease existing business practices. In addition, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, such laws, regulations and industry standards may adversely affect our customers’ ability or desire to collect, use, process and store personal information using our software solutions, which could reduce overall demand for them. Furthermore, privacy and data security concerns may cause our customers’ clients, vendors, employees and other industry participants to resist providing the personal information necessary to allow our customers to use our applications effectively. Any of these outcomes could adversely affect our business and operating results.
We depend on highly skilled personnel and, if we are unable to retain or hire additional qualified personnel or if we lose key members of our management team, we may not be able to achieve our strategic objectives and our business may be harmed.
Our success and future growth depend, in part, upon the continued services of our executive officers and other key employees. There may be changes in our executive officers or other key employees resulting from the hiring or departure of these personnel, which may disrupt our business. The loss of one or more of our executive officers or other key employees could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, to execute our growth plan and achieve our strategic objectives, we must continue to attract and retain highly qualified and motivated personnel across our organization. In particular, in order to continue to enhance our software solutions, add new and innovative core functionality and/or Value+ services, as well as develop new products, it will be critical for us to increase the size of our research and product development organization, including hiring highly skilled software engineers. Competition for software engineers is intense within our industry and there continues to be upward pressure on the compensation paid to these professionals. Further, in order for us to achieve broader market acceptance of our software solutions, grow our customer base, and pursue adjacent markets and, potentially, new verticals consistent with our strategic plan, we will need to continue to increase the size of our sales and marketing and customer service and support organizations. Identifying, recruiting, training and retaining qualified personnel is difficult and requires a significant investment of time and resources.
Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater name recognition and financial resources than we have. In addition, our headquarters are located in Santa Barbara, California, which is not generally recognized as a prominent commercial center, and it is challenging to attract qualified professionals due to our geographic location. As a result, we may have even greater difficulty hiring and retaining skilled personnel than our competitors. If we hire employees from other companies, their former employers may attempt to assert that we or these employees have breached their legal obligations, resulting in a diversion of our time and resources. In addition, prospective and existing employees often consider the value of the equity awards they receive in connection with their employment. If the perceived value of our equity awards declines, or if the price of our Class A common stock experiences significant volatility, this may adversely affect our ability to recruit and retain highly skilled employees. If we are unable to attract and retain the personnel necessary to execute our growth plan, we may be unable to achieve our strategic objectives and our operating results may suffer.
Our corporate culture has contributed to our success and, if we cannot continue to foster this culture as we grow, we could lose the passion, creativity, teamwork, focus and innovation fostered by our culture.
We believe that our culture has been and will continue to be a key contributor to our success. If we do not continue to develop our corporate culture or maintain our core values as we grow and evolve, we may be unable to foster the passion, creativity, teamwork, focus and innovation we believe we need to support our growth. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our ability to recruit and retain personnel and to effectively focus on and pursue our strategic objectives. Moreover, liquidity available to our employee security holders could lead to disparities of wealth among our employees, which could adversely impact relations among employees and our culture in general. As we grow and mature as a public company, we may find it difficult to maintain our corporate culture. This difficulty will only be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in travel restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders and similar government orders and restrictions that collectively make it more difficult for employees to interact, communicate and innovate.
We face risks in our electronic payment services business that could adversely affect our business and/or operating results.
In our electronic payments services business, we facilitate the processing of both inbound and outbound payments for our customers. These payments are settled through our sponsoring clearing bank, card payment processors, and other third-party electronic payment services providers that we may contract with from time to time. Our electronic payment services subject us to a number of risks, including, but not limited to, liability for customer costs related to disputed or fraudulent transactions and other incidences of fraud in our electronic payment services ecosystem. In the event that we are found to be in violation of our legal, regulatory or contractual requirements, we may be subject to monetary fines or penalties, cease-and-desist orders, mandatory product changes, or other liabilities that could have an adverse effect on our operating results. Additionally, with respect to the processing of electronic payment transactions by our third-party electronic payment services providers, we are exposed to financial risk. Electronic payment transactions between our customer and another user may be returned for various reasons such as insufficient funds, fraud or stop payment orders. If we or our electronic payment services provider is unable to collect such amounts from the customer’s account, we bear the ultimate risk of loss for the transaction amount. Further, there is an overarching risk stemming from the potential widespread adoption of quickly evolving financial technology products, including, for example, blockchain or other distributed ledger technologies, that could materially impact the manner in which payments are processed, the mix of payment methodologies conventionally utilized by payors and payees, and the regulatory framework applicable to such payments. The adoption of disruptive financial technologies could significantly reduce the volume of our electronic payment services business and/or change the transaction costs associated with those payments, thereby reducing our revenue and increasing our associated expenses, which could materially impact our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Evolution and expansion of our electronic payment services may subject us to additional risks and regulatory requirements.
The evolution and expansion of our electronic payment services may subject us to additional risks and regulatory requirements, including, without limitation, laws and regulations governing money transmission and anti-money laundering. These requirements vary throughout the markets in which we operate, and several jurisdictions lack clarity with respect to the application and interpretation of these rules. Our efforts to comply with these rules could require significant management time and effort, as well as significant expenditures, and will not guarantee our compliance with all regulatory requirements, especially given that the applicable regulatory frameworks are constantly changing and subject to evolving interpretation. While we maintain a compliance program focused on applicable laws and regulations throughout our applicable industries, there is no guarantee that we will not be subject to fines, penalties or other regulatory actions in one or more jurisdictions, or be required to adjust our business practices to accommodate future regulatory requirements.
We face risks in our tenant screening services business that could adversely affect our business and/or operating results.
Our tenant screening services business is subject to a number of complex laws that are subject to varying interpretations, including the FCRA and related regulations. The FCRA continues to be the subject of multiple class-based litigation proceedings, as well as numerous regulatory inquiries and enforcement actions. In addition, entities such as the FTC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations that may impact our customers and our business, and have made various public statements that tenant screening is an area of focus for such agencies. Although we attempt to structure our tenant screening services to comply with the relevant laws and regulations, we may be found to be in violation of them and we may be subject to routine regulatory inquiries, enforcement actions, class-based litigation or indemnity demands.
As previously disclosed, we received a Civil Investigative Demand from the FTC in December 2018 requesting certain information relating to our compliance with the FCRA in connection with our tenant screening services business (the "FTC Investigation"). On April 30, 2020, the FTC staff informed us of its belief that there was a reasonable basis for asserting claims against us for our alleged failure to comply with certain sections of the FCRA. Notwithstanding our disagreement with the FTC's position and vigorous defense of our position, primarily in an effort to avoid protracted litigation and potential distraction to our business, we entered into a settlement agreement with the FTC in an effort to resolve all claims and allegations arising out of or relating to the FTC Investigation. We admitted no wrongdoing in connection with the settlement, but paid $4.3 million to the FTC in connection therewith and are subject to ongoing compliance and reporting requirements. Our failure to comply with these requirements could result in additional penalties or other actions by the FTC or other agencies.
Due to the large number of tenant screening transactions in which we participate, our potential liability in any enforcement action or a class action lawsuit could have a material impact on our business, especially given that certain applicable laws and regulations provide for fines or penalties on a per occurrence basis. The existence of any such enforcement action or class action lawsuit, whether meritorious or not, may adversely affect our ability to attract customers, result in the loss of existing customers, harm our reputation and cause us to incur defense costs or other expenses.
We use third-party service providers for electronic payment and tenant screening services, and their failure to fulfill their contractual obligations could harm our reputation, disrupt our business and adversely affect our operating results.
We use third-party electronic payment services providers to enable us to provide electronic payment services, and third-party tenant screening services providers to enable us to provide tenant screening services such as background and credit checks to our customers. In some cases, functions necessary to our business are performed on proprietary third-party systems and software to which we have no access. The failure of these service providers to provide us with accurate and timely information, to fulfill their contractual obligations to us, or to renew their contracts with us, could result in direct liability to us, harm our reputation, result in significant disruptions to our business, and adversely affect our operating results.
The vertical market in which we participate is intensely competitive and our business could be harmed if we do not compete effectively.
The overall market for cloud-based business management software is global, highly competitive and continually evolving in response to a number of factors, including changes in technology, operational requirements, and laws and regulations. While we focus on providing industry-specific, cloud-based business management software solutions to the real estate vertical, we compete with other vertical cloud-based solution providers, as well as with horizontal cloud-based solution providers that provide broad cloud-based solutions across multiple verticals. Our competitors include established vertical software vendors, as well as newer entrants in the market. We also face competition from numerous cloud-based solution providers that focus almost exclusively on one or more point solutions. Continued consolidation among cloud-based providers could lead to significantly increased competition. Many of our competitors and potential competitors are larger and have greater name recognition, longer operating histories, and significantly greater resources. As a result, our competitors may be able to respond more quickly and effectively to new or changing opportunities, technologies, operational requirements and industry standards, as well as to new challenges such as those resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, our current and potential competitors may develop, market and sell new technologies with comparable functionality to our software solutions, which could cause us to lose customers, slow the rate of growth of new customers and/or cause us to decrease our prices in order to remain competitive. For all of these reasons, we may not be able to compete effectively against our current and future competitors, which could harm our business.
As the markets for our existing software solutions mature, or as current and future competitors introduce new products or services that compete with ours, we may experience pricing pressure and be unable to renew our subscription agreements with existing customers or increase adoption and usage of our Value+ services, or attract new customers at prices that are consistent with our current pricing model and operating budget. We may ultimately have to change our pricing model or offer pricing incentives which may adversely affect our revenue even if adoption and utilization remain constant. Changes to our pricing model could harm our customer retention rates and our ability to attract new customers, whether in connection with our core solutions or our Value+ services, which could adversely affect our operating results.
Business management software for small and medium-sized businesses ("SMBs") is an evolving market. If the market is smaller than estimated or the transition to or between cloud-based business management software slows, our operating results could be adversely affected.
We provide cloud-based business management software for SMBs in the real estate vertical and will assess entry into new or adjacent markets consistent with our strategic plan. Our success will depend, in part, on the continued widespread adoption by SMBs of cloud-based business management software. The market for industry-specific, cloud-based business management software for SMBs, both generally, and specifically within the real estate market, is evolving and is relatively small. The continued expansion of this market depends on numerous factors, including the cost and perceived value associated with cloud-based business management software relative to disparate point solutions, the willingness of SMBs to transition from their existing software systems or otherwise alter their existing businesses practices, and the ability of cloud-based solution providers to address security, privacy, availability and other concerns. If the widespread adoption of cloud-based business management software by SMBs does not continue, our revenue may increase at a slower rate than we expect and may even decline, which could adversely affect our operating results. In addition, it is difficult to estimate the rate at which SMBs will be willing to transition to or between vertical cloud-based business management software in any particular period, which makes it difficult to estimate the overall size and growth rate of the market for cloud-based business management software at any point in time or to forecast revenue growth or market share. This transition rate may be negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as customers may delay decisions to adopt our core products, or expand the use of our Value+ services, as they seek to reduce or delay spending within their businesses.
If we are unable to increase sales of our software solutions to larger customers while mitigating the risks associated with serving such customers, our business and operating results may suffer.
While we plan to continue to market and sell our software solutions to smaller companies or firms, our growth strategy is dependent, in part, upon increasing sales of our software solutions to larger customers within the real estate vertical. Sales to larger customers may involve risks that are not present, or are present to a lesser extent, in sales to smaller businesses. As we seek to increase our sales to larger customers, we may invest considerably greater amounts of time and financial resources in our sales and marketing efforts. In addition, we may face longer sales cycles and experience less predictability and greater
competition in completing some of our sales. Our ability to sell our software solutions to larger customers may be dependent, in part, on our ability to develop functionality, or to implement pricing policies, that are unique to particular customers or are necessary for success in a market segment dominated by larger customers. Also, because security breaches or other performance problems with respect to larger customers may result in greater economic harm to these customers and more adverse publicity, there is increased financial and reputational risk associated with serving such customers. If we are unable to increase sales of our software solutions to larger customers, while mitigating the risks associated with serving such customers, our business and operating results may suffer.
If we are unable to introduce successful enhancements, including new and innovative core functionality and/or Value+ services, or new products for adjacent markets or additional verticals, our operating results could be adversely affected.
The software industry is characterized by rapid technological advances, changing industry standards, evolving customer requirements and intense competition. Our ability to attract new customers, increase revenue from our existing customers, and expand into adjacent markets or, potentially, new verticals depends, in part, on our ability to enhance the functionality of our existing software solutions by introducing new and innovative core functionality and/or Value+ services that keep pace with technological developments and address the evolving business needs of our customers. In addition, our growth over the long-term depends, in part, on our ability to introduce new products for adjacent markets and, potentially, additional verticals that we identify through our market validation process consistent with our strategic plan. Market acceptance of our current and future software solutions will depend on numerous factors, including the pricing of our software solutions relative to competitive products, perceptions about the security, privacy and availability of our software solutions relative to competitive products, and the time-to-market of our updates and enhancements to our core functionality, Value+ services and products. If we are unable to successfully enhance the functionality of our existing software solutions and timely develop or acquire new products that gain market acceptance in adjacent markets and additional verticals consistent with our strategic plan, our revenue may increase at a slower rate than we expect and may even decline, which could adversely affect our operating results.
Our business depends substantially on existing customers renewing their subscriptions with us and expanding their use of our Value+ services, and a decline in either could adversely impact our operating results.
In order for us to maintain or increase our revenue and improve our operating results, it is important that our existing customers continue to pay subscription fees for the use of our core solutions, which tend to incrementally rise over time, as well as increase their adoption and utilization of our Value+ services. We cannot assure you that our customers will renew their subscriptions with us, that our existing customers will continue to broaden their adoption and utilization of our Value+ services, or that they will use our Value+ services at all. If our existing customers do not renew their subscriptions and increase their adoption and utilization of our existing or newly developed Value+ services, our revenue may increase at a slower rate than we expect and may even decline, which could adversely impact our financial condition and operating results. The loss of our existing customers could have a significant impact on our reputation and our ability to acquire new customers cost-effectively via word-of-mouth. A reduction in the number of our existing customers, even if offset by an increase in new customers, could reduce our revenue and operating margins. We may need to employ increasingly costly sales and marketing efforts and make significant investments in research and product development to introduce Value+ services that ultimately are not broadly adopted by our customers. In either of those cases, we could incur significantly increased costs without a corresponding increase in revenue. Furthermore, we may fail to identify Value+ services that our customers need for their businesses, in which case we could miss opportunities to increase our revenue. We may experience lower rates of subscription renewals, as well as lower rates of adoption and utilization of Value+ services, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as customers may seek to reduce or delay spending within their businesses.
All of our revenues are presently generated by sales to customers and users in the real estate vertical, and factors that adversely affect that vertical, or our customers or users within it, could also adversely affect us.
We expect that our real estate customers and users will continue to account for a significant portion or all of our revenue for the foreseeable future. Demand for our software solutions and services could be affected by factors that are unique to and adversely affect the real estate vertical and our customers and users within it. If the vertical itself declines, our customers may decide not to renew their subscriptions or they may cease using our Value+ services in order to reduce costs to remain competitive. Further, we could lose real estate customers as a result of acquisitions or consolidations within the real estate vertical, bankruptcies or other financial difficulties facing our real estate customers, new or enhanced legal or regulatory regimes that negatively impact the real estate vertical, and conditions or trends specific to the real estate vertical such as the economic factors that impact the rental market. It is possible that the significant increase in unemployment rates, regulation and financial uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could have a disproportionate impact on businesses within the real estate vertical, which may, in turn, disproportionately affect our customers and users and, therefore, our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition to the foregoing risks, there is an overarching risk stemming from potential widespread adoption of quickly evolving financial or other disruptive technology products that could significantly impact the real estate vertical, even if the disruptive technology is not specifically designed to apply directly to it. The adoption of these new technologies could significantly reduce the volume or demand of our customers and users, thereby reducing our revenue, which could materially impact our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our growth depends in part on our strategic relationships with third parties and, if we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining these relationships, our ability to compete in our targeted markets or grow our revenue could be impaired.
In order to grow our business, we anticipate that we will continue to depend on our relationships with third parties, including cloud computing service providers, electronic payment, tenant screening and insurance services providers, and other third parties that support delivery of our software solutions. Identifying partners, negotiating agreements and maintaining relationships requires significant time and resources. Our competitors may be more effective than us in cost-effectively building relationships with third parties that enhance their products and services, allow them to provide more competitive pricing, or offer other benefits to their customers. In addition, acquisitions of our partners by our competitors or others could result in a decrease in the number of current and potential strategic partners willing to establish or maintain relationships with us, and could increase the price at which products or services are available to us. If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining our relationships with third parties, our ability to compete in the marketplace or to grow our revenue could be impaired, which could negatively impact our operating results.
We depend on cloud computing platforms and computing infrastructure operated by third parties and any disruption in these operations could adversely affect our operating results.
We currently rely on cloud computing resources operated by Amazon Web Services and other third party cloud computing service providers to power the products and services that we provide to our customers. These cloud computing service providers may experience service interruptions that are outside of our control, possibly even across multiple regions, which could adversely affect our business. Furthermore, they may not be able to provide us with additional computing resources needed to scale our infrastructure ahead of our growing customer base. If any of these issues arise, we may be required to migrate our cloud computing resources, or add new computing resources, to other cloud computing service providers. It may require significant effort to migrate all of our services to a different region if we are forced to recover from a regional, or multi-regional, outage by any of our cloud computing service providers. Problems faced by any of these service providers with whom we contract, or changes in service levels provided by them, could adversely affect the experience of our customers, result in loss of or damage to our customers’ stored information, which could harm our reputation, impair our ability to attract and retain customers, and subject us to potential liability, any of which could adversely affect our operating results.
Our platform must integrate with a variety of devices, operating systems and browsers that are developed by others, and if we are unable to ensure that our software solutions interoperate with such devices, operating systems and browsers, our software solutions may become less competitive and our operating results may be harmed.
We offer our software solutions across a variety of operating systems and through the Internet. We depend on the interoperability of our platform with third party devices, desktop and mobile operating systems, as well as web browsers that we do not control. Any changes in such devices, systems or web browsers that degrade the functionality of our software solutions or give preferential treatment to competitive services could adversely affect the adoption and usage of our software solutions. In addition, in order to deliver high quality software solutions, we will need to continuously enhance and modify our functionality to keep pace with changes in Internet-related hardware, mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android, browsers and other software, communication, network and database technologies. We may not be successful in developing enhancements and modifications that operate effectively with these devices, operating systems, web browsers and other technologies or in bringing them to market in a timely manner. Furthermore, uncertainties regarding the timing or nature of new network platforms or technologies, and modifications to existing platforms or technologies, could increase our research and product development expenses. In the event that it is difficult for our customers to access and use our software solutions, our software solutions may become less competitive, and our operating results could be adversely affected.
If our property management customers stop requiring residents to provide proof of legal liability to landlord insurance, if insurance premiums decline or if insureds experience greater than expected losses, our operating results could be harmed.
We generate revenue by offering legal liability to landlord insurance through a wholly owned subsidiary. Some of our property management customers require residents to provide proof of legal liability to landlord insurance and offer to enroll residents in their legal liability to landlord insurance policy. If demand for rental housing declines, or if our property management customers believe that it may decline, these customers may reduce their rental rates and stop requiring residents to provide proof of legal liability to landlord insurance in order to reduce the overall cost of renting and make their rental offerings more competitive. If our property management customers stop requiring residents to provide proof of legal liability to landlord insurance or elect to enroll residents in insurance programs offered by competing providers, or if insurance premiums otherwise decline, our revenues from insurance services could be adversely affected. Additionally, we underwrite our legal liability to landlord insurance policies, and we are required by our insurance partner to maintain a reserve to cover potential claims under the policies. While our policies have per-occurrence limits, there is no limit on the dollar amount of claims that could be made against us in any particular period or in the aggregate. In the event that claims by the insureds increase unexpectedly, our reserve may not be sufficient to cover our resulting liability under the policies. If we are required to pay out significantly higher amounts to insureds than our current reserves, this could have a material adverse impact on our operating results.
Our insurance business is subject to state governmental regulation, which could limit the growth of our insurance business and impose additional costs on us.
Our insurance-related wholly owned subsidiaries and third-party service providers maintain licenses with a number of individual state departments of insurance. Collectively, we are subject to state governmental regulation and supervision in connection with the operation of our insurance business, which includes both our legal liability to landlord insurance and renters insurance businesses. Such supervision could limit the growth of our insurance business by increasing the costs of regulatory compliance, limiting or restricting the products or services we provide or the methods by which we provide them, and subjecting us to regulatory actions or proceedings. Our continued ability to maintain these insurance licenses in the jurisdictions in which we are licensed depends on our compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated from time to time by the regulatory authorities in each of these jurisdictions. Furthermore, we are routinely subject to periodic state examinations, audits and investigations of the affairs of insurance companies and agencies, any of which could result in the expenditure of significant management time or financial resources. Generally, such authorities are vested with relatively broad discretion to grant, renew and revoke licenses and approvals and to implement and interpret rules and regulations. Accordingly, we may be precluded or temporarily suspended from carrying on some or all of the activities of our insurance business or otherwise be fined or penalized. No assurances can be given that our insurance business can continue to be conducted in any given jurisdiction as it has been conducted in the past or that we will be able to expand our insurance business in the future.
If we are unable to deliver effective customer service and/or effectively maintain and promote our brands, it could harm our relationships with our existing customers and adversely affect our ability to attract new customers and our operating results.
Our business depends, in part, on our ability to satisfy our customers, both by providing software solutions that address their business needs, and by providing onboarding services and ongoing customer service. Once our software solutions are deployed, our customers depend on our customer service organization to resolve technical issues relating to their use of our solutions. As we do not separately charge our customers for support services, increased demand for our support services would increase costs without corresponding revenue, which could adversely affect our operating results. Further, our sales process is highly dependent on the ease of use of our software solutions, our reputation and positive recommendations from our existing customers. Any failure to maintain high-quality or responsive customer service, or a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality or responsive customer service, could harm our reputation, cause us to lose customers and adversely impact our ability to sell our software solutions to prospective customers.
We believe that maintaining and promoting our brands is critical to achieving widespread awareness and acceptance of our software solutions, and maintaining and expanding our customer base. We also believe that the importance of brand recognition will increase as competition in the real estate vertical increases. If we do not continue to build awareness of our brands, we could be placed at a competitive disadvantage as compared to companies whose brands are, or become, more recognizable than ours. Maintaining and promoting our brands will depend, in part, on our ability to continue to provide new and innovative core functionality and Value+ services and best-in-class customer service, as well as the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts. If we fail to deliver products and functionality that address our customers’ business needs, or if we fail to meet our customers’ expectations for customer service, it could weaken our brands and harm our reputation. Maintaining and enhancing our brands may require us to make substantial investments, and these investments may not result in commensurate increases in our revenue. If we fail to successfully maintain and promote our brands, or if we make investments that are not offset by increased revenue, our operating results could be adversely affected.
Failure to protect our intellectual property rights could impair our ability to protect our proprietary technology and our brands, which could harm our business.
We currently rely on patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, trade secret protection and confidentiality or license agreements with our employees, customers, partners and others to protect our intellectual property rights. Our success and ability to compete depend, in part, on our ability to continue to protect our intellectual property, including our proprietary technology and our brands. If we are unable to protect our proprietary rights adequately, our competitors could use the intellectual property we have developed to enhance their own products and services, which could harm our business. In order to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to expend significant resources. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time-consuming and distracting to management, and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property or require us to pay costly royalties. 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. Accordingly, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property. Our failure to secure, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could adversely affect our business and operating results.
We may be sued by third parties for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights, which could cause us to incur significant expenses and require us to pay substantial damages.
Our success depends, in part, on our not infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others. Our competitors, as well as a number of other entities and individuals, may legally own or claim to own intellectual property relating to our technology or software solutions, including without limitation technology we develop and build internally and/or acquire. From time to time, our competitors or other third parties may claim that we are infringing upon their intellectual property rights. Any claims or litigation, regardless of merit, could cause us to incur significant expenses and, if successfully asserted against us, could require that we pay substantial damages, settlement costs or ongoing royalty payments, require that we comply with other unfavorable license and other terms, or prevent us from offering our software solutions in their current form. Even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the attention of our management and key personnel from our business operations and harm our operating results.
Our software solutions contain both third-party and open source software, which may pose risks to our proprietary source code and/or introduce security vulnerabilities, and could have a negative impact on our business and operating results.
We use open source software in our software solutions and expect to continue to do so in the future. The terms of many open source licenses to which we are subject have not been interpreted by United States or foreign courts, and there is a risk that open source licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions, restrictions or costs on our ability to provide or distribute our software solutions. Additionally, we may from time to time face claims from third parties alleging ownership of, or demanding release of, the open source software or of derivative works that we developed using such software, which could include our proprietary source code, or otherwise seeking to enforce the terms of the applicable open source license. These claims could result in litigation, which could be costly for us to defend, and could require us to make our source code freely available, purchase a costly license or cease offering the implicated functionality unless and until we can re-engineer them to avoid infringement. This re-engineering process could require significant additional research and product development resources, and we may not be able to complete it successfully or in a timely manner. In addition to risks related to license requirements, usage of certain open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of software. We also use third-party commercial software in our software solutions and expect to continue to do so in the future. Third-party commercial software is developed outside of our direct control and may introduce security vulnerabilities that may be difficult to anticipate or mitigate. Further, there is no guarantee that third-party software developers or open source software providers will continue active work on the third-party software that we use. Should development of in-use third-party software cease, significant engineering effort may be required to create an in-house solution. These risks could also be difficult to eliminate or manage, and could have a negative impact on our business and operating results.
There are risks associated with potential future indebtedness that may adversely affect our financial condition and future financing agreements may contain restrictive operating and financial covenants.
We may incur additional indebtedness in the future and/or enter into new financing arrangements. Our ability to meet expenses, to remain in compliance with the covenants under any future debt instruments, and to pay fees, interest and principal on our indebtedness will depend on, among other things, our operating performance and market conditions. Accordingly, our cash flow may not be sufficient to allow us to pay principal and interest on future indebtedness and meet our other business and customer obligations.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
Under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards and other pre-change tax attributes, such as research tax credits, to offset its post-change income and taxes may be limited. In general, an “ownership change” occurs if there is a cumulative change in our ownership by “5% shareholders” that exceeds 50% over a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. It is possible that our existing net operating loss and/or credit carryforwards may be subject to limitations arising from previous ownership changes, and future issuances of our stock could cause an ownership change. Furthermore, our ability to utilize net operating loss and/or credit carryforwards of companies that we have acquired or may acquire in the future may be subject to limitations. There is also a risk that due to legislative changes, such as suspensions on the use of net operating loss carryforwards, or other unforeseen reasons, our existing net operating loss carryforwards could expire or otherwise be unavailable to offset future income tax liabilities.
Our business may be adversely affected by developments in the global economy, including if we seek to expand our sales to customers outside of the United States.
To date, we have realized an immaterial amount of revenue from customers outside the United States. We may nonetheless be affected by economic, regulatory or other developments in the global economy or particular countries, such as China, because certain of our customers’ businesses may be based in or have significant ties to international jurisdictions. This may, for example, affect our ability to meet customer requirements in a cost-effective manner or the ability of our customers to expand their relationships with us. Furthermore, to the extent that we seek to expand our operations to international markets, such expansion will require significant resources and management attention and will subject us to additional regulatory, economic, geographic and political risks. Because of our limited experience with international operations and significant differences between the United States and international markets, any international expansion efforts may not be successful in creating demand for our software solutions outside of the United States or in effectively selling our software solutions in any international markets we may enter. The significant disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in certain countries in the European Union and Asia, could have a prolonged negative impact on our ability to expand our sales to customers outside the United States. If we invest substantial time and resources to expand our international operations and are unable to do so successfully, our business and operating results could suffer.
Risks Related to Our Class A Common Stock
The market price of our Class A common stock may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance, which could result in substantial losses for our stockholders.
The market price of our Class A common stock has been, and is likely to continue to be, highly volatile, and fluctuations in the price of our Class A common stock could cause you to lose all or part of your investment. There are a wide variety of factors, many of which are outside our control, that could cause fluctuations in the market price of our Class A common stock and, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. If instituted against us, any such litigation, regardless of its merit or final outcome, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention, thereby adversely affecting our operating results and/or the price of our Class A common stock.
The dual class structure of our common stock concentrates voting control with a limited number of stockholders, including our executive officers, directors and principal stockholders, effectively limiting your ability to influence corporate matters.
Our Class B common stock has 10 votes per share, and our Class A common stock has one vote per share. As of June 30, 2021, the holders of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock, including our executive officers, directors, and principal stockholders, collectively held approximately 89% of the combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock. Because of the 10-to-1 voting ratio between our Class B common stock and Class A common stock, the holders of our Class B common stock collectively control a majority of the combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock and therefore control the election of a majority of our directors and thereby have the power to control our affairs and policies, including the appointment of management and strategic decisions, as well as matters that are submitted to a vote by our holders of our common stock. The interests of our principal stockholders may be inconsistent with or adverse to those of holders our Class A common stock. This concentrated control may also have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change-in-control transaction, depriving our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their capital stock or negatively affecting the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, transfers by holders of our Class B common stock will generally result in those shares converting to Class A common stock, subject to limited exceptions. The conversion of our Class B common stock to Class A common stock will have the effect, over time, of increasing the relative voting power of the holders of our Class B common stock who retain their shares over the long term.
We cannot predict the impact that our capital structure may have on our stock price.
S&P Dow Jones, a provider of widely followed stock indices, has announced that companies with multiple classes of stock will not be eligible for inclusion in certain of their indices. As a result, our Class A common stock will not be eligible for those stock indices. Additionally, FTSE Russell, another provider of widely followed stock indices, requires new constituents of its indices to have at least five percent of their voting rights in the hands of public stockholders. Many investment funds are precluded from investing in companies that are not included in such indices, and these funds would be unable to purchase our Class A common stock. Exclusion from these and other indices could make our Class A common stock less attractive to investors and, as a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected. In addition, several shareholder advisory firms have announced their opposition to the use of multiple class structures. As a result, shareholder advisory firms may publish negative commentary about our corporate governance practices or otherwise seek to cause us to change our capital structure. Any actions or publications by shareholder advisory firms critical of our corporate governance practices or capital structure could also adversely affect the value of our Class A common stock.
Future sales of shares of our Class A common stock, or the perception that these sales could occur, could depress the market price of our Class A common stock.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline or make it more difficult for you to sell your Class A common stock at a time and price that you deem appropriate, and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We are unable to predict the effect that sales, or the perception that our shares may be available for sale, will have on the prevailing market price of our Class A common stock. As of June 30, 2021, we had an aggregate of 1.0 million options outstanding that, if fully exercised, would result in the issuance of additional shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock, as applicable. Our Class B common stock converts into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis. In addition, as of June 30, 2021, we had 0.5 million RSUs, outstanding which, if fully vested and settled in shares, would result in the issuance of additional shares of Class A common stock. All of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of options (or upon conversion of shares of Class B common stock issued upon the exercise of options), or upon the vesting and settlement of RSUs, have been registered for public resale under the Securities Act. Accordingly, these shares will be able to be freely sold in the public market upon issuance. In addition, certain holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock have rights, subject to certain conditions, to require us to file registration statements for the public resale of such shares (in the case of Class B common stock, the Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of such shares) or to include such shares in registration statements that we may file for us or other stockholders. Any sales of securities by these stockholders could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock.
We do not expect to declare any dividends in the foreseeable future and may repurchase stock in accordance with our Share Repurchase Program.
We have never declared, and we do not anticipate declaring or paying, any cash dividends to holders of our Class A common stock in the foreseeable future. In addition, the terms of our future borrowing arrangements we may enter into from time to time may restrict our ability to pay dividends. Consequently, investors may need to rely on sales of our Class A common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment.
Price appreciation, which may never occur, may be further impacted by repurchases of our shares in accordance with our Share Repurchase Program. Repurchases of our shares could increase the volatility of the trading price of our shares, which could have a negative impact on the trading price of our shares. Similarly, the future announcement of the termination or suspension of the Share Repurchase Program, or our decision not to utilize the full authorized repurchase amount under the Share Repurchase Program, could result in a decrease in the trading price of our shares. In addition, the Share Repurchase Program could have the impact of diminishing our cash reserves, which may impact our ability to finance our growth, complete acquisitions and execute our strategic plan. For additional information regarding our Share Repurchase Program, refer to Note 10, Share Repurchase Program, of our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
General Risk Factors
Anti-takeover provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover attempt.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult hostile takeovers, change-in-control transactions or changes in our Board of Directors or management. Among other things, these provisions authorize the issuance of preferred stock with powers, preferences and rights that may be senior to our common stock, provide for the adoption of a staggered three-class Board of Directors, prohibit our stockholders from filling vacancies on our Board of Directors or calling special stockholder meetings, require the vote of at least two-thirds of the combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock to approve amendments to our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, and require the approval of the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock voting as a separate class prior to consummating a change-in-control transaction. As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which may delay, deter or prevent a change-in-control transaction. Section 203 imposes certain restrictions on mergers, business combinations and other transactions between us and holders of 15% or more of our common stock. Any provision of Delaware law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or our amended and restated bylaws that has the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, deterring or preventing a change-in-control transaction could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our capital stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our Class A common stock.
Government regulations and laws are continuously evolving and unfavorable changes could adversely affect our operating results, subject us to litigation or governmental investigation, or otherwise harm our business.
We are subject to general business regulations and laws, as well as regulations and laws specifically governing the highly regulated real estate market, electronic payment, background screening, and insurance services markets, the Internet itself, the use of mobile devices to conduct business and communicate, and many other products and services we provide. It is not clear how existing laws governing issues such as property ownership, management, rental and investment, data protection, and personal privacy apply to the Internet, digital content, communication services, web services, and artificial intelligence technologies and services. Unfavorable regulations, laws, and administrative or judicial decisions interpreting or applying those laws and regulations could diminish the demand for, or availability of, our products and services, subject us to litigation or governmental investigation and increase our cost of doing business, any of which may adversely affect our operating results. In addition, the application of federal, state, local and foreign tax laws to services provided electronically is continuously evolving. New income, sales, use or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted or amended at any time, possibly with retroactive effect, and could be applied solely or disproportionately to services provided over the Internet. These enactments or amendments could adversely affect our sales activity due to the inherent cost increase such taxes would represent and could ultimately result in a negative impact on our operating results. In addition, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, modified or applied adversely to us, possibly with retroactive effect, which could require us or our customers to pay additional tax amounts, as well as require us or our customers to pay fines or penalties, as well as interest on past amounts. If we are unsuccessful in collecting such taxes due from our customers, we could be held liable for such costs, thereby adversely impacting our operating results.
Item 6. Exhibits
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Exhibit
Number
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Description of Document
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10.1
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31.1
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31.2
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32.1*
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101.INS
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Inline XBRL Instance Document.
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101.SCH
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document.
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101.CAL
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document.
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101.DEF
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.
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101.LAB
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document.
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101.PRE
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document.
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104
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Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)
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†
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Schedules and exhibits have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. The registrant agrees to furnish supplementally a copy of any omitted schedule or exhibit to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission upon request.
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*
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The certifications attached as Exhibit 32.1 accompany this Quarterly Report pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and shall not be deemed “filed” by the registrant for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, and are not to be incorporated by reference into any of the registrant’s filings under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, whether made before or after the date of this Quarterly Report, irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in any such filing.
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