Risks Related to the Company’s Business and Industry
In order for the Company to compete and grow, it must attract, recruit, retain and develop the necessary personnel who have the needed experience.
Recruiting and retaining highly qualified personnel is critical to our success. These demands may require us to hire additional personnel and will require our existing management personnel to develop additional expertise. We face intense competition for personnel. The failure to attract and retain personnel or to develop such expertise could delay or halt the development and commercialization of our product candidates. If we experience difficulties in hiring and retaining personnel in key positions, we could suffer from delays in product development, loss of customers and sales and diversion of management resources, which could adversely affect operating results. Our consultants and advisors may be employed by third parties and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with third parties that may limit their availability to us.
The development and commercialization of our products is highly competitive.
We face competition with respect to any products that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future. Our competitors include major companies worldwide. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, technical and human resources than we have and superior expertise in research and development and marketing approved products and thus may be better equipped than us to develop and commercialize products. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified personnel and acquiring technologies. Smaller or early stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. Accordingly, our competitors may commercialize products more rapidly or effectively than we are able to, which would adversely affect our competitive position, the likelihood that our products will achieve initial market acceptance and our ability to generate meaningful additional revenues from our products.
We rely on other companies to provide major components for our products.
We depend on these suppliers and subcontractors to meet our contractual obligations to our customers and conduct our operations. Our ability to meet our obligations to our customers may be adversely affected if suppliers or subcontractors do not provide the agreed-upon supplies or perform the agreed-upon services in compliance with customer requirements and in a timely and cost-effective manner. Likewise, the quality of our products may be adversely impacted if companies to whom we delegate manufacture of major components or subsystems for our products, or from whom we acquire such items, do not provide major components which meet required specifications and perform to our and our customers’ expectations. Our suppliers may be less likely than us to be able to quickly recover from natural disasters and other events beyond their control and may be subject to additional risks such as financial problems that limit their ability to conduct their operations. The risk of these adverse effects may be greater in circumstances where we rely on only one or two subcontractors or suppliers for a particular component.
We depend on third party providers, suppliers and licensors to supply some of the hardware, software and operational support necessary to provide some of our services.
We obtain these materials from a limited number of vendors, some of which do not have a long operating history, or which may not be able to continue to supply the equipment and services we desire. Some of our hardware, software and operational support vendors represent our sole source of supply or have, either through contract or as a result of intellectual property rights, a position of some exclusivity. If demand exceeds these vendors’ capacity or if these vendors experience operating or financial difficulties or are otherwise unable to provide the equipment or services we need in a timely manner, at our specifications and at reasonable prices, our ability to provide some services might be materially adversely affected, or the need to procure or develop alternative sources of the affected materials or services might delay our ability to serve our customers. These events could materially and adversely affect our ability to retain and attract customers, and have a material negative impact on our operations, business, financial results and financial condition.
Quality management plays an essential role in determining and meeting customer requirements, preventing defects, improving the Company’s products and services and maintaining the integrity of the data that supports the safety and efficacy of our products.
Our future success depends on our ability to maintain and continuously improve our quality management program. An inability to address a quality or safety issue in an effective and timely manner may also cause negative publicity, a loss of customer confidence in us or our current or future products, which may result in the loss of sales and difficulty in successfully launching new products. In addition, a successful claim brought against us in excess of available insurance or not covered by indemnification agreements, or any claim that results in significant adverse publicity against us, could have an adverse effect on our business and our reputation.
Manufacturing or design defects, unanticipated use of our products, or inadequate disclosure of risks relating to the use of the products can lead to injury or other adverse events.
These events could lead to recalls or safety alerts relating to our products (either voluntary or required by governmental authorities) and could result, in certain cases, in the removal of a product from the market. Any recall could result in significant costs as well as negative publicity that could reduce demand for our products. Personal injuries relating to the use of our products can also result in product liability claims being brought against us. In some circumstances, such adverse events could also cause delays in new product approvals. Similarly, negligence in performing our services can lead to injury or other adverse events.
Customers often finance purchases of our products, particularly electric vehicles.
Declines in the lending environment including fewer lenders, tighter underwriting and loan approval criteria, greater down payment requirements and, in some cases, higher interest rates have impaired customers’ ability to finance and purchase our products. If credit conditions worsen, and adversely affect the ability of customers to finance potential purchases at acceptable terms and interest rates, it could result in a decrease in sales of our products or delay any improvement in our sales.
In general, demand for our products and services is highly correlated with general economic conditions.
A substantial portion of our revenue is derived from discretionary spending by individuals, which typically falls during times of economic instability. Declines in economic conditions in the U.S. or in other countries in which we operate may adversely impact our consolidated financial results. Because such declines in demand are difficult to predict, we or the industry may have increased excess capacity as a result. An increase in excess capacity may result in declines in prices for our products and services.
The Company’s success depends on the experience and skill of the board of directors, its executive officers and key employees.
In particular, the Company is dependent on John McMillian and Carrie Fair who are CEO and Co-Founder and Secretary of the Company. The Company has or intends to enter into employment agreements with John McMillian and Carrie Fair although there can be no assurance that it will do so or that they will continue to be employed by the Company for a particular period of time. The loss of John McMillian and Carrie Fair or any member of the board of directors or executive officer could harm the Company’s business, financial condition, cash flow and results of operations.
We rely on various intellectual property rights, including trademarks and copyrights in order to operate our business.
Such intellectual property rights, however, may not be sufficiently broad or otherwise may not provide us a significant competitive advantage. In addition, the steps that we have taken to maintain and protect our intellectual property may not prevent it from being challenged, invalidated, circumvented or designed-around, particularly in countries where intellectual property rights are not highly developed or protected. In some circumstances, enforcement may not be available to us because an infringer has a dominant intellectual property position or for other business reasons, or countries may require compulsory licensing of our intellectual property. Our failure to obtain or maintain intellectual property rights that convey competitive advantage, adequately protect our intellectual property or detect or prevent circumvention or unauthorized use of such property, could adversely impact our competitive position and results of operations. We also rely on nondisclosure and noncompetition agreements with employees, consultants and other parties to protect, in part, trade secrets and other proprietary rights. There can be no assurance that these agreements will adequately protect our trade secrets and other proprietary rights and will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, that others will not independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information or that third parties will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or other proprietary rights.
As we expand our business, protecting our intellectual property will become increasingly important. The protective steps we have taken may be inadequate to deter our competitors from using our proprietary information. In order to protect or enforce our patent rights, we may be required to initiate litigation against third parties, such as infringement lawsuits. Also, these third parties may assert claims against us with or without provocation. These lawsuits could be expensive, take significant time and could divert management’s attention from other business concerns. The law relating to the scope and validity of claims in the technology field in which we operate is still evolving and, consequently, intellectual property positions in our industry are generally uncertain. We cannot assure you that we will prevail in any of these potential suits or that the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, would be commercially valuable.
From time to time, third parties may claim that one or more of our products or services infringe their intellectual property rights.
Any dispute or litigation regarding patents or other intellectual property could be costly and time-consuming due to the uncertainty of intellectual property litigation and could divert our management and key personnel from our business operations. A claim of intellectual property infringement could force us to enter into a costly or restrictive license agreement, which might not be available under acceptable terms or at all, could require us to redesign our products, which would be costly and time-consuming, and/or could subject us to an injunction against development and sale of certain of our products or services. We may have to pay substantial damages, including damages for past infringement if it is ultimately determined that our products infringe on a third party’s proprietary rights. Even if these claims are without merit, defending a lawsuit takes significant time, may be expensive and may divert management’s attention from other business concerns. Any public announcements related to litigation or interference proceedings initiated or threatened against us could cause our business to be harmed. Our intellectual property portfolio may not be useful in asserting a counterclaim, or negotiating a license, in response to a claim of intellectual property infringement. In certain of our businesses we rely on third party intellectual property licenses and we cannot ensure that these licenses will be available to us in the future on favorable terms or at all.
The amount of capital the Company is attempting to raise in this Offering is not enough to sustain the Company’s current business plan.
In order to achieve the Company’s near and long-term goals, the Company will need to procure funds in addition to the amount raised in the Offering. There is no guarantee the Company will be able to raise such funds on acceptable terms or at all. If we are not able to raise sufficient capital in the future, we will not be able to execute our business plan, our continued operations will be in jeopardy and we may be forced to cease operations and sell or otherwise transfer all or substantially all of our remaining assets, which could cause an Investor to lose all or a portion of his or her investment.
We are subject to income taxes as well as non-income based taxes, such as payroll, sales, use, value-added, net worth, property and goods and services taxes, in the U.S..
Significant judgment is required in determining our provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities. In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Although we believe that our tax estimates are reasonable: (i) there is no assurance that the final determination of tax audits or tax disputes will not be different from what is reflected in our income tax provisions, expense amounts for non-income based taxes and accruals and (ii) any material differences could have an adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations in the period or periods for which determination is made.
We are not subject to Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and lack the financial controls and safeguards required of public companies.
We do not have the internal infrastructure necessary, and are not required, to complete an attestation about our financial controls that would be required under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. There can be no assurance that there are no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in the quality of our financial controls. We expect to incur additional expenses and diversion of management’s time if and when it becomes necessary to perform the system and process evaluation, testing and remediation required in order to comply with the management certification and auditor attestation requirements.
Changes in employment laws or regulation could harm our performance.
Various federal and state labor laws govern our relationship with our employees and affect operating costs. These laws include minimum wage requirements, overtime pay, healthcare reform and the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, unemployment tax rates, workers’ compensation rates, citizenship requirements, union membership and sales taxes. A number of factors could adversely affect our operating results, including additional government-imposed increases in minimum wages, overtime pay, paid leaves of absence and mandated health benefits, mandated training for employees, increased tax reporting and tax payment. Changing regulations from the National Labor Relations Board and increased employee litigation including claims relating to the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The Company’s business operations may be materially adversely affected by a pandemic such as the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which spread throughout other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.” COVID-19 resulted in a widespread health crisis that adversely affected the economies and financial markets worldwide. The Company’s business could be materially and adversely affected. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts the Company’s business will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extended period of time, the Company’s operations may be materially adversely affected.
We face risks related to health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt the Company’s operations and could have a material adverse impact on us.
The outbreak of pandemics and epidemics could materially and adversely affect the Company’s business, financial condition, and results of operations. If a pandemic occurs in areas in which we have material operations or sales, the Company’s business activities originating from affected areas, including sales, materials, and supply chain related activities, could be adversely affected. Disruptive activities could include the temporary closure of facilities used in the Company’s supply chain processes, restrictions on the export or shipment of products necessary to run the Company’s business, business closures in impacted areas, and restrictions on the Company’s employees’ or consultants’ ability to travel and to meet with customers, vendors or other business relationships. The extent to which a pandemic or other health outbreak impacts the Company’s results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of a virus and the actions to contain it or treat its impact, among others. Pandemics can also result in social, economic, and labor instability which may adversely impact the Company’s business.
If the Company’s employees or employees of any of the Company’s vendors, suppliers or customers become ill or are quarantined and in either or both events are therefore unable to work, the Company’s operations could be subject to disruption. The extent to which a pandemic affects the Company’s results will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.
We face risks relating to public health conditions such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which could adversely affect the Company’s customers, business, and results of operations.
Our business and prospects could be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic or recurrences of that or any other such disease in the future. Material adverse effects from COVID-19 and similar occurrences could result in numerous known and currently unknown ways including from quarantines and lockdowns which impair the Company’s business including: marketing and sales efforts, supply chain, etc. If the Company purchases materials from suppliers in affected areas, the Company may not be able to procure such products in a timely manner. The effects of a pandemic can place travel restrictions on key personnel which could have a material impact on the business. In addition, a significant outbreak of contagious diseases in the human population could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries, resulting in an economic downturn that could reduce the demand for the Company’s products and impair the Company’s business prospects including as a result of being unable to raise additional capital on acceptable terms to us, if at all.
Maintaining, extending and expanding our reputation and brand image are essential to our business success.
We seek to maintain, extend, and expand our brand image through marketing investments, including advertising and consumer promotions, and product innovation. Increasing attention on marketing could adversely affect our brand image. It could also lead to stricter regulations and greater scrutiny of marketing practices. Existing or increased legal or regulatory restrictions on our advertising, consumer promotions and marketing, or our response to those restrictions, could limit our efforts to maintain, extend and expand our brands. Moreover, adverse publicity about regulatory or legal action against us could damage our reputation and brand image, undermine our customers’ confidence and reduce long-term demand for our products, even if the regulatory or legal action is unfounded or not material to our operations.
In addition, our success in maintaining, extending, and expanding our brand image depends on our ability to adapt to a rapidly changing media environment. We increasingly rely on social media and online dissemination of advertising campaigns. The growing use of social and digital media increases the speed and extent that information or misinformation and opinions can be shared. Negative posts or comments about us, our brands or our products on social or digital media, whether or not valid, could seriously damage our brands and reputation. If we do not establish, maintain, extend and expand our brand image, then our product sales, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Product safety and quality concerns, including concerns related to perceived quality of ingredients, could negatively affect the Company’s business.
The Company’s success depends in large part on its ability to maintain consumer confidence in the safety and quality of all its products. The Company has rigorous product safety and quality standards. However, if products taken to market are or become contaminated or adulterated, the Company may be required to conduct costly product recalls and may become subject to product liability claims and negative publicity, which would cause its business to suffer. In addition, regulatory actions, activities by nongovernmental organizations and public debate and concerns about perceived negative safety and quality consequences of certain ingredients in our products may erode consumers’ confidence in the safety and quality issues, whether or not justified, and could result in additional governmental regulations concerning the marketing and labeling of the Company’s products, negative publicity, or actual or threatened legal actions, all of which could damage the reputation of the Company’s products and may reduce demand for the Company’s products.
We must correctly predict, identify, and interpret changes in consumer preferences and demand, offer new products to meet those changes, and respond to competitive innovation.
Consumer preferences our products change continually. Our success depends on our ability to predict, identify, and interpret the tastes and habits of consumers and to offer products that appeal to consumer preferences. If we do not offer products that appeal to consumers, our sales and market share will decrease. We must distinguish between short-term fads, mid-term trends, and long-term changes in consumer preferences. If we do not accurately predict which shifts in consumer preferences will be long-term, or if we fail to introduce new and improved products to satisfy those preferences, our sales could decline. If we fail to expand our product offerings successfully across product categories, or if we do not rapidly develop products in faster growing and more profitable categories, demand for our products could decrease, which could materially and adversely affect our product sales, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, achieving growth depends on our successful development, introduction, and marketing of innovative new products and line extensions. Successful innovation depends on our ability to correctly anticipate customer and consumer acceptance, to obtain, protect and maintain necessary intellectual property rights, and to avoid infringing the intellectual property rights of others and failure to do so could compromise our competitive position and adversely impact our business.
Failure to develop new products and production technologies or to implement productivity and cost reduction initiatives successfully may harm our competitive position.
We depend significantly on the development of commercially viable new products, product grades and applications, as well as process technologies, free of any legal restrictions. If we are unsuccessful in developing new products, applications and production processes in the future, our competitive position and results of operations may be negatively affected. However, as we invest in new technology, we face the risk of unanticipated operational or commercialization difficulties, including an inability to obtain necessary permits or governmental approvals, the development of competing technologies, failure of facilities or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, construction delays, cost over-runs, the unavailability of financing, required materials or equipment and various other factors. Likewise, we have undertaken and are continuing to undertake initiatives to improve productivity and performance and to generate cost savings. These initiatives may not be completed or beneficial or the estimated cost savings from such activities may not be realized.
Product liability claims could adversely impact our business and reputation.
Our business exposes us to potential product liability risk, as well as warranty and recall claims that are inherent in the design, manufacture, sale and use of our products. We sell products in industries where the impact of product liability risk is high. In the event our products actually or allegedly fail to perform as expected and we are subject to such claims above the amount of insurance coverage, outside the scope of our coverage, or for which we do not have coverage, our results of operations, as well as our reputation, could be adversely affected. Our products may be subject to recall for performance or safety-related issues. Product recalls subject us to harm to our reputation, loss of current and future customers, reduced revenue and product recall costs. Product recall costs are incurred when we, either voluntarily or involuntarily, recall a product through a formal campaign to solicit the return of specific products due to a known or suspected performance issue. Any significant product recalls could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
We may incur additional expenses and delays due to technical problems or other interruptions at our manufacturing facilities.
Disruptions in operations due to technical problems or other interruptions such as floods or fire would adversely affect the manufacturing capacity of our facilities. Such interruptions could cause delays in production and cause us to incur additional expenses such as charges for expedited deliveries for products that are delayed. Additionally, our customers have the ability to cancel purchase orders in the event of any delays in production and may decrease future orders if delays are persistent. Additionally, to the extent that such disruptions do not result from damage to our physical property, these may not be covered by our business interruption insurance. Any such disruptions may adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Any disruption in our information systems could disrupt our operations and would be adverse to our business and results of operations.
We depend on various information systems to support our customers’ requirements and to successfully manage our business, including managing orders, supplies, accounting controls and payroll. Any inability to successfully manage the procurement, development, implementation or execution of our information systems and back-up systems, including matters related to system security, reliability, performance and access, as well as any inability of these systems to fulfill their intended purpose within our business, could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Such disruptions may not be covered by our business interruption insurance.
The potential impact of failing to deliver products on time could increase the cost of our products.
In most instances, we guarantee that we will deliver a product by a scheduled date. If we subsequently fail to deliver the product as scheduled, we may be held responsible for cost impacts and/or other damages resulting from any delay. To the extent that these failures to deliver occur, the total damages for which we could be liable could significantly increase the cost of the products; as such, we could experience reduced profits or, in some cases, a loss for that contract. Additionally, failure to deliver products on time could result in damage to customer relationships, the potential loss of customers, and reputational damage which could impair our ability to attract new customers.
Many of our customers do not commit to long-term production schedules, which makes it difficult for us to schedule production accurately and achieve maximum efficiency of our manufacturing capacity.
Many of our customers do not commit to firm production schedules and we continue to experience reduced lead-times in customer orders. Additionally, customers may change production quantities or delay production with little lead-time or advance notice. Therefore, we rely on and plan our production and inventory levels based on our customers’ advance orders, commitments or forecasts, as well as our internal assessments and forecasts of customer demand. The variations in volume and timing of sales make it difficult to schedule production and optimize utilization of manufacturing capacity. This uncertainty may require us to increase staffing and incur other expenses in order to meet an unexpected increase in customer demand, potentially placing a significant burden on our resources. Additionally, an inability to respond to such increases may cause customer dissatisfaction, which may negatively affect our customers’ relationships.
Further, in order to secure sufficient production scale, we may make capital investments in advance of anticipated customer demand. Such investments may lead to low utilization levels if customer demand forecasts change and we are unable to utilize the additional capacity. Additionally, we order materials and components based on customer forecasts and orders and suppliers may require us to purchase materials and components in minimum quantities that exceed customer requirements, which may have an adverse impact on our results of operations. Such order fluctuations and deferrals may have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
The Company could be negatively impacted if found to have infringed on intellectual property rights.
Technology companies, including many of the Company’s competitors, frequently enter into litigation based on allegations of patent infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. In addition, patent holding companies seek to monetize patents they have purchased or otherwise obtained. As the Company grows, the intellectual property rights claims against it will likely increase. The Company intends to vigorously defend infringement actions in court and before the U.S. International Trade Commission. The plaintiffs in these actions frequently seek injunctions and substantial damages. Regardless of the scope or validity of such patents or other intellectual property rights, or the merits of any claims by potential or actual litigants, the Company may have to engage in protracted litigation. If the Company is found to infringe one or more patents or other intellectual property rights, regardless of whether it can develop non-infringing technology, it may be required to pay substantial damages or royalties to a third-party, or it may be subject to a temporary or permanent injunction prohibiting the Company from marketing or selling certain products. In certain cases, the Company may consider the desirability of entering into licensing agreements, although no assurance can be given that such licenses can be obtained on acceptable terms or that litigation will not occur. These licenses may also significantly increase the Company’s operating expenses.
Regardless of the merit of particular claims, litigation may be expensive, time-consuming, disruptive to the Company’s operations and distracting to management. In recognition of these considerations, the Company may enter into arrangements to settle litigation. If one or more legal matters were resolved against the Company’s consolidated financial statements for that reporting period could be materially adversely affected. Further, such an outcome could result in significant compensatory, punitive or trebled monetary damages, disgorgement of revenue or profits, remedial corporate measures or injunctive relief against the Company that could adversely affect its financial condition and results of operations.
Indemnity provisions in various agreements potentially expose us to substantial liability for intellectual property infringement and other losses.
Our agreements with advertisers, advertising agencies, customers and other third parties may include indemnification provisions under which we agree to indemnify them for losses suffered or incurred as a result of claims of intellectual property infringement, damages caused by us to property or persons, or other liabilities relating to or arising from our products, services or other contractual obligations. The term of these indemnity provisions generally survives termination or expiration of the applicable agreement. Large indemnity payments would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any type of intellectual property lawsuit, whether initiated by us or a third party, would likely be time consuming and expensive to resolve and would divert management’s time and attention.
We rely heavily on our technology and intellectual property, but we may be unable to adequately or cost-effectively protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, thereby weakening our competitive position and increasing operating costs.
To protect our rights in our services and technology, we rely on a combination of copyright and trademark laws, patents, trade secrets, confidentiality agreements with employees and third parties, and protective contractual provisions. We also rely on laws pertaining to trademarks and domain names to protect the value of our corporate brands and reputation. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may copy aspects of our services or technology, obtain and use information, marks, or technology that we regard as proprietary, or otherwise violate or infringe our intellectual property rights. In addition, it is possible that others could independently develop substantially equivalent intellectual property. If we do not effectively protect our intellectual property, or if others independently develop substantially equivalent intellectual property, our competitive position could be weakened.
Effectively policing the unauthorized use of our services and technology is time-consuming and costly, and the steps taken by us may not prevent misappropriation of our technology or other proprietary assets. The efforts we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient or effective, and unauthorized parties may copy aspects of our services, use similar marks or domain names, or obtain and use information, marks, or technology that we regard as proprietary. We may have to litigate to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, or to determine the validity and scope of others’ proprietary rights, which are sometimes not clear or may change. Litigation can be time consuming and expensive, and the outcome can be difficult to predict.
We rely on agreements with third parties to provide certain services, goods, technology, and intellectual property rights necessary to enable us to implement some of our applications.
Our ability to implement and provide our applications and services to our clients depends, in part, on services, goods, technology, and intellectual property rights owned or controlled by third parties. These third parties may become unable to or refuse to continue to provide these services, goods, technology, or intellectual property rights on commercially reasonable terms consistent with our business practices, or otherwise discontinue a service important for us to continue to operate our applications. If we fail to replace these services, goods, technologies, or intellectual property rights in a timely manner or on commercially reasonable terms, our operating results and financial condition could be harmed. In addition, we exercise limited control over our third-party vendors, which increases our vulnerability to problems with technology and services those vendors provide. If the services, technology, or intellectual property of third parties were to fail to perform as expected, it could subject us to potential liability, adversely affect our renewal rates, and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
If we fail to maintain or expand our relationships with our suppliers, we may not have adequate access to new or key technology necessary for our products, which may impair our ability to deliver leading-edge products.
In addition to the technologies we develop, our suppliers develop product innovations at our direction that are requested by our customers. Further, we rely heavily on our component suppliers to provide us with leading-edge components that conform to required specifications or contractual arrangements on time and in accordance with a product roadmap. If we are not able to maintain or expand our relationships with our suppliers or continue to leverage their research and development capabilities to develop new technologies desired by our customers, our ability to deliver leading-edge products in a timely manner may be impaired and we could be required to incur additional research and development expenses. Also, disruption in our supply chain or the need to find alternative suppliers could impact the costs and/or timing associated with procuring necessary products, components and services. Similarly, suppliers have operating risks that could impact our business. These risks could create product time delays, inventory and invoicing problems, staging delays, and other operational difficulties.
We must acquire or develop new products, evolve existing ones, address any defects or errors, and adapt to technology change.
Technical developments, client requirements, programming languages, and industry standards change frequently in our markets. As a result, success in current markets and new markets will depend upon our ability to enhance current products, address any product defects or errors, acquire or develop and introduce new products that meet client needs, keep pace with technology changes, respond to competitive products, and achieve market acceptance. Product development requires substantial investments for research, refinement, and testing. We may not have sufficient resources to make necessary product development investments. We may experience technical or other difficulties that will delay or prevent the successful development, introduction, or implementation of new or enhanced products. We may also experience technical or other difficulties in the integration of acquired technologies into our existing platform and applications. Inability to introduce or implement new or enhanced products in a timely manner could result in loss of market share if competitors are able to provide solutions to meet customer needs before we do, give rise to unanticipated expenses related to further development or modification of acquired technologies as a result of integration issues, and adversely affect future performance.
Cyclical and seasonal fluctuations in the economy, in internet usage and in traditional retail shopping may have an effect on our business.
Both cyclical and seasonal fluctuations in internet usage and traditional retail seasonality may affect our business. Internet usage generally slows during the summer months, and queries typically increase significantly in the fourth quarter of each year. These seasonal trends may cause fluctuations in our quarterly results, including fluctuations in revenues.
Industry consolidation may result in increased competition, which could result in a loss of customers or a reduction in revenue.
Some of our competitors have made or may make acquisitions or may enter into partnerships or other strategic relationships to offer more comprehensive services than they individually had offered or achieve greater economies of scale. In addition, new entrants not currently considered to be competitors may enter our market through acquisitions, partnerships or strategic relationships. We expect these trends to continue as companies attempt to strengthen or maintain their market positions. The potential entrants may have competitive advantages over us, such as greater name recognition, longer operating histories, more varied services and larger marketing budgets, as well as greater financial, technical and other resources. The companies resulting from combinations or that expand or vertically integrate their business to include the market that we address may create more compelling service offerings and may offer greater pricing flexibility than we can or may engage in business practices that make it more difficult for us to compete effectively, including on the basis of price, sales and marketing programs, technology or service functionality. These pressures could result in a substantial loss of our customers or a reduction in our revenue.
Our business could be negatively impacted by cyber security threats, attacks and other disruptions.
Like others in our industry, we continue to face advanced and persistent attacks on our information infrastructure where we manage and store various proprietary information and sensitive/confidential data relating to our operations. These attacks may include sophisticated malware (viruses, worms, and other malicious software programs) and phishing emails that attack our products or otherwise exploit any security vulnerabilities. These intrusions sometimes may be zero-day malware that are difficult to identify because they are not included in the signature set of commercially available antivirus scanning programs. Experienced computer programmers and hackers may be able to penetrate our network security and misappropriate or compromise our confidential information or that of our customers or other third-parties, create system disruptions, or cause shutdowns. Additionally, sophisticated software and applications that we produce or procure from third-parties may contain defects in design or manufacture, including “bugs” and other problems that could unexpectedly interfere with the operation of the information infrastructure. A disruption, infiltration or failure of our information infrastructure systems or any of our data centers as a result of software or hardware malfunctions, computer viruses, cyber attacks, employee theft or misuse, power disruptions, natural disasters or accidents could cause breaches of data security, loss of critical data and performance delays, which in turn could adversely affect our business.
We currently obtain components from single or limited sources, and are subject to significant supply and pricing risks.
Many components, including those that are available from multiple sources, are at times subject to industry-wide shortages and significant commodity pricing fluctuations. While the Company has entered into agreements for the supply of many components, there can be no assurance that we will be able to extend or renew these agreements on similar terms, or at all. A number of suppliers of components may suffer from poor financial conditions, which can lead to business failure for the supplier or consolidation within a particular industry, further limiting our ability to obtain sufficient quantities of components. The follow-on effects from global economic conditions on our suppliers, also could affect our ability to obtain components. Therefore, we remain subject to significant risks of supply shortages and price increases.
Our products often utilize custom components available from only one source. Continued availability of these components at acceptable prices, or at all, may be affected for any number of reasons, including if those suppliers decide to concentrate on the production of common components instead of components customized to meet our requirements. The supply of components for a new or existing product could be delayed or constrained, or a key manufacturing vendor could delay shipments of completed products to us adversely affecting our business and results of operations.
Government mandated safety standards are costly and technologically challenging.
Meeting or exceeding government-mandated safety standards is costly and often technologically challenging, especially where one or more government mandated standards may conflict. Government safety standards require manufacturers to remedy defects related to motor vehicle safety through safety recall campaigns, and a manufacturer is obligated to recall vehicles if it determines that they do not comply with a safety standard. Should we or government safety regulators determine that a safety or other defect or noncompliance exists with respect to certain of our vehicles, there could be a recall of a product and/or a significant increase in warranty claims, the costs of which could be substantial.
We may be subject to litigation despite compliance with regulations and industry standards.
We spend substantial resources ensuring that we comply with governmental safety regulations, mobile and stationary source emissions regulations, and other standards. Compliance with governmental standards, however, does not necessarily prevent individual or class actions, which can entail significant cost and risk. In certain circumstances, courts may permit tort claims even where our vehicles comply with federal and/or other applicable law. Litigation also is inherently expensive and uncertain, and we could experience significant adverse results, including negative public opinion.
Manufacturers are required to remedy defects related to safety and to emissions through safety recall campaigns, and a manufacturer is obligated to recall vehicles if it determines that they do not comply with an applicable regulatory standard.
In addition, if we determine that a safety or emissions defect or non-compliance exists with respect to certain of our products prior to the start of production, the launch of such product could be delayed until we remedy the defect or non-compliance.
We may be subject to indemnity claims for third-party infringement.
Many of our supply agreements require us to indemnify our customers and distributors from third-party infringement claims, and require that we defend those claims and might require that we pay damages in the case of adverse rulings. Claims are costly to prosecute, defend or settle and divert the efforts and attention of our management and employees. Claims of this sort also could harm our relationships with our customers and might deter future customers from doing business with us.
As a provider of global logistics services, we depend on a variety of asset-based third party suppliers.
The quality and profitability of our services depend upon effective selection, management and discipline of third party suppliers. Changes in the financial stability, operating capabilities and capacity of asset-based carriers and space allotment made available to us by asset-based carriers could affect us in unpredictable ways, including volatility of pricing, and challenge our ability to achieve profitability.
Our industry supply base experienced increased economic distress due to the sudden and substantial drop in industry sales volumes.
As a result, suppliers are less willing to reduce prices, and some requested direct or indirect price increases as well as new and shorter payment terms. We may have to provide financial assistance to key suppliers to ensure an uninterrupted supply of materials and components. In addition, if suppliers exit certain lines of business or close facilities due to an economic downturn or other reasons, we would experience additional costs associated with transitioning to new suppliers. Each of these factors could have a substantial adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Demand for and pricing of our products are subject to economic conditions and other factors present in the various markets where the products are sold.
Demand for our products is subject to the level of consumer demand for electric commuter vehicles. The level of new product purchases is cyclical, affected by such factors as general economic conditions, consumer confidence, patterns of consumer spending, fuel cost and vehicle replacement cycle. Consumer preferences also impact the demand for new product purchases. A decrease in demand due to any of these factors would have a negative effect on our business and operations.
International conflicts such as war, terrorist attacks and political uprisings could negatively affect both demand for our services and our cost of doing business.
International conflicts such as the war in the Middle East, political turmoil in the Middle and Far East and the possibility of future terrorist attacks cause significant uncertainty with respect to U.S. and other business and financial markets and may adversely affect our business. These international conflicts also affect the price of oil, which has a significant impact on the financial health of our commercial customers. Although our business may experience greater demand for its products as a result of increased government defense spending, factors arising (directly or indirectly) from international conflicts or terrorism which may adversely affect our commercial business include reduced aircraft build rates, upgrades, maintenance and spending on discretionary products such as electric vehicles may increase, as well as increases in the cost of property and aviation products insurance and increased restrictions placed on our insurance policies.
Risks Related to the Securities
The Shares of Common Stock will not be freely tradable until one year from the initial purchase date. Although the Shares of Common Stock may be tradable under federal securities law, state securities regulations may apply and each Purchaser should consult with his or her attorney.
You should be aware of the long-term nature of this investment. There is not now and likely will not be a public market for the Shares of Common Stock. Because the Shares of Common Stock have not been registered under the Securities Act or under the securities laws of any state or non-United States jurisdiction, the Shares of Common Stock have transfer restrictions and cannot be resold in the United States except pursuant to Rule 501 of Regulation CF. It is not currently contemplated that registration under the Securities Act or other securities laws will be effected. Limitations on the transfer of the Shares of Common Stock may also adversely affect the price that you might be able to obtain for the Shares of Common Stock in a private sale. Purchasers should be aware of the long-term nature of their investment in the Company. Each Purchaser in this Offering will be required to represent that it is purchasing the Securities for its own account, for investment purposes and not with a view to resale or distribution thereof.
Neither the Offering nor the Securities have been registered under federal or state securities laws, leading to an absence of certain regulation applicable to the Company.
No governmental agency has reviewed or passed upon this Offering, the Company or any Securities of the Company. The Company also has relied on exemptions from securities registration requirements under applicable state securities laws. Investors in the Company, therefore, will not receive any of the benefits that such registration would otherwise provide. Prospective investors must therefore assess the adequacy of disclosure and the fairness of the terms of this Offering on their own or in conjunction with their personal advisors.
No Guarantee of Return on Investment
There is no assurance that a Purchaser will realize a return on its investment or that it will not lose its entire investment. For this reason, each Purchaser should read the Form C and all Exhibits carefully and should consult with its own attorney and business advisor prior to making any investment decision.
A majority of the Company is owned by a small number of owners.
Prior to the Offering the Company’s current owners of 20% or more beneficially own up to 66.0% of the Company. Subject to any fiduciary duties owed to our other owners or investors under Delaware law, these owners may be able to exercise significant influence over matters requiring owner approval, including the election of directors or managers and approval of significant Company transactions, and will have significant control over the Company’s management and policies. Some of these persons may have interests that are different from yours. For example, these owners may support proposals and actions with which you may disagree. The concentration of ownership could delay or prevent a change in control of the Company or otherwise discourage a potential acquirer from attempting to obtain control of the Company, whIch in turn could reduce the price potential investors are willing to pay for the Company. In addition, these owners could use their voting influence to maintain the Company’s existing management, delay or prevent changes in control of the Company, or support or reject other management and board proposals that are subject to owner approval.
The Company has the right to extend the Offering deadline.
The Company may extend the Offering deadline beyond what is currently stated herein. This means that your investment may continue to be held in escrow while the Company attempts to raise the Minimum Amount even after the Offering deadline stated herein is reached. Your investment will not be accruing interest during this time and will simply be held until such time as the new Offering deadline is reached without the Company receiving the Minimum Amount, at which time it will be returned to you without interest or deduction, or the Company receives the Minimum Amount, at which time it will be released to the Company to be used as set forth herein. Upon or shortly after release of such funds to the Company, the Securities will be issued and distributed to you.
The Company has the right to end the Offering early.
The Company may also end the Offering early. If the Offering reaches the Minimum Amount after 30 calendar days but before the Offering deadline, the Company can end the Offering with five business days’ notice. This means your failure to participate in the Offering in a timely manner, may prevent you from being able to participate – it also means the Company may limit the amount of capital it can raise during the Offering by ending it early.
Your ownership of the shares of stock will be subject to dilution.
Owners of do not have preemptive rights. If the Company conducts subsequent Offerings of or Securities convertible into , issues shares pursuant to a compensation or distribution reinvestment plan or otherwise issues additional shares, investors who purchase shares in this Offering who do not participate in those other stock issuances will experience dilution in their percentage ownership of the Company’s outstanding shares. Furthermore, shareholders may experience a dilution in the value of their shares depending on the terms and pricing of any future share issuances (including the shares being sold in this Offering) and the value of the Company’s assets at the time of issuance.
The Securities will be equity interests in the Company and will not constitute indebtedness.
The Securities will rank junior to all existing and future indebtedness and other non-equity claims on the Company with respect to assets available to satisfy claims on the Company, including in a liquidation of the Company. Additionally, unlike indebtedness, for which principal and interest would customarily be payable on specified due dates, there will be no specified payments of dividends with respect to the Securities and dividends are payable only if, when and as authorized and declared by the Company and depend on, among other matters, the Company’s historical and projected results of operations, liquidity, cash flows, capital levels, financial condition, debt service requirements and other cash needs, financing covenants, applicable state law, federal and state regulatory prohibitions and other restrictions and any other factors the Company’s board of directors deems relevant at the time. In addition, the terms of the Securities will not limit the amount of debt or other obligations the Company may incur in the future. Accordingly, the Company may incur substantial amounts of additional debt and other obligations that will rank senior to the Securities.
There can be no assurance that we will ever provide liquidity to Purchasers through either a sale of the Company or a registration of the Securities.
There can be no assurance that any form of merger, combination, or sale of the Company will take place, or that any merger, combination, or sale would provide liquidity for Purchasers. Furthermore, we may be unable to register the Securities for resale by Purchasers for legal, commercial, regulatory, market-related or other reasons. In the event that we are unable to effect a registration, Purchasers could be unable to sell their Securities unless an exemption from registration is available.
The Company does not anticipate paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
The Company currently intends to retain future earnings, if any, for the foreseeable future, to repay indebtedness and to support its business. The Company does not intend in the foreseeable future to pay any dividends to holders of its shares of .
The Company has the right to conduct multiple closings during the Offering.
If the Company meets certain terms and conditions an intermediate close of the Offering can occur, which will allow the Company to draw down on a portion of the proceeds of the Offering committed and captured during the relevant period. The Company may choose to continue the Offering thereafter. Purchasers should be mindful that this means they can make multiple investment commitments in the Offering, which may be subject to different cancellation rights. For example, if an intermediate close occurs and later a material change occurs as the Offering continues, Purchasers previously closed upon will not have the right to re-confirm their investment as it will be deemed completed.
In addition to the risks listed above, businesses are often subject to risks not foreseen or fully appreciated by the management. It is not possible to foresee all risks that may affect us. Moreover, the Company cannot predict whether the Company will successfully effectuate the Company’s current business plan. Each prospective Purchaser is encouraged to carefully analyze the risks and merits of an investment in the Securities and should take into consideration when making such analysis, among other, the Risk Factors discussed above.
THE SECURITIES OFFERED INVOLVE A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK AND MAY RESULT IN THE LOSS OF YOUR ENTIRE INVESTMENT. ANY PERSON CONSIDERING THE PURCHASE OF THESE SECURITIES SHOULD BE AWARE OF THESE AND OTHER FACTORS SET FORTH IN THIS FORM C AND SHOULD CONSULT WITH HIS OR HER LEGAL, TAX AND FINANCIAL ADVISORS PRIOR TO MAKING AN INVESTMENT IN THE SECURITIES. THE SECURITIES SHOULD ONLY BE PURCHASED BY PERSONS WHO CAN AFFORD TO LOSE ALL OF THEIR INVESTMENT.