UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-Q

 

[X]QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the quarterly period ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182020

 

[  ]TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the transition period from __________ to __________

 

Commission file number 1-12471

 

THEMAVEN, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware 68-0232575

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

1500 Fourth Avenue, Suite 200225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor

Seattle, WANew York, New York

 9810110281
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

 

(775) 600-2765

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:None

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:Common Stock, $0.01 par value

Title of each classTrading Symbol(s)Name of each exchange on which registered
N/AN/AN/A

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes [  ] No[X]

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes [  ] No [X]

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

 

Large accelerated filer [  ] Accelerated filer [  ]
Non-accelerated filer [X] Smaller reporting company [X]
 Emerging growth company [  ]

 

If an emerging growth company, indicated by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act[  ]

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes[  ]or No[X]

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934

Title of each classTrading Symbol(s)Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.01 par valueMVENOTC Markets

As of May 17, 2020,5, 2021, the Registrant had 39,078,503230,287,723 shares of common stock outstanding.

 

 

 
 

 

 

Page

Number

  
PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION14
  
Item 1. Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements1
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets – September 30, 2018 (Unaudited) and December 31, 20171
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) – Three Months and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018 and 20172
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Stockholders’ Equity (Deficiency) (Unaudited) – Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018 and 20173
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited) – Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018 and 20175
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited) – Three Months and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018 and 201764
  
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations5027
  
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk6735
  
Item 4. Controls and Procedures6835
  
PART II - OTHER INFORMATION6936
  
Item 1. Legal Proceedings6936
  
Item 1A. Risk Factors6936
  
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds6946
  
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities6946
  
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures6946
  
Item 5. Other Information6946
  
Item 6. Exhibits6946
  
SIGNATURES7047

 

2
 

 

Forward-Looking Statements

 

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Quarterly Report”) of TheMaven,theMaven, Inc. (the “Company”“Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us”) contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These might1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s financial position,concerning our business strategy, future revenues, market growth, capital requirements, product introductions, and otherexpansion plans and objectives for future operations, and assumptions and predictions about future product demand, supply, manufacturing costs, marketing and pricing factorsthe adequacy of our funding. Other statements contained in this Quarterly Report that are allnot historical facts are also forward-looking statements. TheseWe have tried, wherever possible, to identify forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by wordsterminology such as “intend”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “potential(ly)“may,, “continue”, “forecast”, “predict”, “plan”, “may”, “will”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “expect” or the negative of such terms or “will,” “could,” “should,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” and other comparable terminology. The Company believes

We caution investors that any forward-looking statements presented in this Quarterly Report, or that we may make orally or in writing from time to time, are based on the beliefs of, assumptions made by, and information currently available to, us. Such statements are based on assumptions, and expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, based on information available to it on the date hereof, but the Company cannot provide assurances that these assumptions and expectationsactual outcome will prove to have been correct or that the Company will take any action that the Company may presently be planning. These forward-looking statements are inherently subject toaffected by known and unknown risks, trends, uncertainties, and uncertainties. Actualfactors that are beyond our control or ability to predict. Although we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future performance, and some will inevitably prove to be incorrect. As a result, our actual future results can be expected to differ from our expectations, and those differences may be material. Accordingly, investors should use caution in relying on forward-looking statements, which are based only on known results and trends at the time they are made, to anticipate future results or experience may differ materially from those expected, anticipated or impliedtrends. Other risks are detailed by us in our public filings with the forward-looking statements.Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including in Item 1A., Risk Factors, that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, regulatory policies or changes thereto, available cash, research and development results, competition from other similar businesses, and market and general economic factors. Thisin our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. The discussion in this Quarterly Report should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the Company’sour Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. The Company does2019.

This Quarterly Report and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We do not intendundertake any obligation to update or reviserelease publicly any revisions to our forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.circumstances after the date of this Quarterly Report.

 

This Quarterly Report is being filed for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, as a late report to comply with the reporting obligations applicable to us under the Exchange Act. Unless specifically required to provide information for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, by the rules and regulations of the SEC, the discussion of our business reflects our current assets and current operations. Where the information relates to the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, we have made a reasonable effort herein to make that clear. Also, to be clear, the financial information in the condensed consolidated financial statements and footnotes accompanying this Quarterly Report and the other financial information and management’s discussion and analysis about the condensed consolidated financial statements relate to the historical period for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020.

3
 

 


PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1 – CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTSINFORMATION

THEMAVEN, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Index to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

PAGE
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 20195
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Quarterly Periods Ended June 30, 2020 and 20196
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Deficiency for the Quarterly Periods Ended June 30, 2020 and 20197
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Quarterly Periods Ended June 30, 2020 and 20199
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements10

4

THEMAVEN, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

 

  September 30, 2018  December 31, 2017 
  (Unaudited)    
Assets        
Current assets:        
Cash $1,862,012  $619,249 
Restricted cash  -   3,000,000 
Accounts receivable  1,577,926   53,202 
Deferred contract fulfillment costs  19,338   14,147 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets  352,572   174,369 
Total current assets  3,811,848   3,860,967 
Promissory notes receivable  2,528,498   - 
Property and equipment, net  64,588   54,670 
Platform development, net  4,530,996   2,633,057 
Intangible assets, net  6,881,058   20,000 
Goodwill  1,857,663   - 
Total assets $19,674,651  $6,568,694 
Liabilities, mezzanine equity and stockholders’ (deficiency) equity        
Current liabilities:        
Accounts payable $684,158  $162,308 
Accrued expenses  1,028,172   150,136 
Liquidating damages payable  2,667,798   - 
Contract liability  42,974   31,437 
Derivative liabilities  1,313,321   72,563 
Officer promissory notes, including accrued interest of $6,853  966,389   - 
Total current liabilities  6,702,812   416,444 
Investor demand payable  -   3,000,000 
Deferred rent  17,245   - 
Total liabilities  6,720,057   3,416,444 
Commitments and contingencies (Note 17)        
Mezzanine equity:        
Series G redeemable and convertible preferred stock, $0.01 par value, $1,000 per share liquidation value; aggregate liquidation values $168,496; Series G shares designated: 1,800; Series G shares issued and outstanding: 168.496; common shares issuable upon conversion: 188,791 and 98,698 shares at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively  168,496   168,496 
Series H convertible preferred stock, $0.01 par value, $1,000 per share liquidation value; aggregate liquidation value $19,399,250; Series H shares designated: 23,000; Series H shares issued and outstanding: 19,399.25; common shares issuable upon conversion: 58,785,606 shares at September 30, 2018  18,045,496   - 
Total mezzanine equity  18,213,992   168,496 
Stockholders’ (deficiency) equity:        
Common stock, $0.01 par value, authorized 100,000,000 shares; issued and outstanding and issuable: 33,403,091 and 28,516,009 shares at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively  334,030   285,159 
Common stock to be issued  600   - 
Additional paid-in capital  20,296,194   11,170,666 
Accumulated deficit  (25,890,222)  (8,472,071)
Total stockholders’ (deficiency) equity  (5,259,398)  2,983,754 
Total liabilities, mezzanine equity and stockholders’ (deficiency) equity $19,674,651  $6,568,694 
  

June 30, 2020

(unaudited)

  December 31, 2019 
Assets        
Current assets:        
Cash and cash equivalents $2,274,789  $8,852,281 
Restricted cash  1,000,809   620,809 
Accounts receivable, net  10,561,022   16,233,955 
Subscription acquisition costs, current portion  8,750,230   3,142,580 
Royalty fees, current portion  15,000,000   15,000,000 
Prepayments and other current assets  4,467,607   4,310,735 
Total current assets  42,054,457   48,160,360 
Property and equipment, net  1,329,534   661,277 
Operating lease right-of-use assets  19,589,040   3,980,649 
Platform development, net  6,864,805   5,892,719 
Royalty fees, net of current portion  18,750,000   26,250,000 
Subscription acquisition costs, net of current portion  7,785,479   3,417,478 
Acquired and other intangible assets, net  82,194,391   91,404,144 
Other long-term assets  1,799,349   1,085,287 
Goodwill  16,139,377   16,139,377 
Total assets $196,506,432  $196,991,291 
Liabilities, mezzanine equity and stockholders’ deficiency        
Current liabilities:        
Accounts payable $8,466,629  $9,580,186 
Accrued expenses and other  12,203,633   16,483,201 
Line of credit  3,243,882   - 
Unearned revenue  55,419,426   32,163,087 
Subscription refund liability  3,277,849   3,144,172 
Operating lease liabilities  1,506,992   2,203,474 
Liquidated damages payable  9,248,188   8,080,514 
Convertible debt  930,375   741,197 
Warrant derivative liabilities  1,261,705   1,644,200 
Embedded derivative liabilities  8,958,000   13,501,000 
Total current liabilities  104,516,679   87,541,031 
Unearned revenue, net of current portion  14,816,588   31,179,211 
Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion  19,919,015   2,616,132 
Other long-term liability  242,310   242,310 
Officer promissory notes  322,831   319,351 
Convertible debt, net of current portion  15,219,549   12,497,765 
Long-term debt  60,390,250   44,009,745 
Total liabilities  215,427,222   178,405,545 
Commitments and contingencies (Note 12)        
Mezzanine equity:        
Series G redeemable and convertible preferred stock, $0.01 par value, $1,000 per share liquidation value and 1,800 shares designated; aggregate liquidation value: $168,496; Series G shares issued and outstanding: 168,496; common shares issuable upon conversion: 188,791 at June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019  168,496   168,496 
Series H convertible preferred stock, $0.01 par value, $1,000 per share liquidation value and 23,000 shares designated; aggregate liquidation value $19,399,250; Series H; Series H shares issued and outstanding: 19,400; common shares issuable upon conversion: 58,787,879 at June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019  18,045,496   18,045,496 
Series I convertible preferred stock, $0.01 par value, $1,000 per share liquidation value and 25,800 shares designated; aggregate liquidation value: $23,100,000; Series I shares issued and outstanding: 23,100; common shares issuable upon conversion: 46,200,000 at June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019  19,699,742   19,699,742 
Series J convertible preferred stock, $0.01 par value, $1,000 per share liquidation value and 35,000 shares designated; aggregate liquidation value: $20,000,000; Series J shares issued and outstanding: 20,000; common shares issuable upon conversion: 28,571,428 at June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019  17,739,996   17,739,996 
Total mezzanine equity  55,653,730   55,653,730 
Stockholders’ deficiency:        
Common stock, $0.01 par value, authorized 1,000,000,000 shares; issued and outstanding: 38,590,363 and 37,119,117 shares at June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively  385,902   371,190 
Common stock to be issued  25,879   39,383 
Additional paid-in capital  43,992,975   35,562,766 
Accumulated deficit  (118,979,276)  (73,041,323)
Total stockholders’ deficiency  (74,574,520)  (37,067,984)
Total liabilities, mezzanine equity and stockholders’ deficiency $196,506,432  $196,991,291 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

51
 

 

THEMAVEN, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

 

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited)

  

Three Months Ended

September 30,

  

Nine Months Ended

September 30,

 
  2018  2017  2018  2017 
Revenue $1,157,917  $6,064  $1,460,958  $6,064 
Cost of revenue  1,784,073   449,567   3,922,594   641,606 
Gross loss  (626,156)  (443,503)  (2,461,636)  (635,542)
Operating expenses:                
Research and development  411,268   30,776   598,645   104,095 
General and administrative  2,573,142   1,300,767   7,998,609   3,639,204 
Total operating expenses  2,984,410   1,331,543   8,597,254   3,743,299 
Loss from operations  (3,610,566)  (1,775,046)  (11,058,890)  (4,378,841)
Other (expense) income:                
Change in valuation of derivative liabilities  134,987   (3,311)  263,531   6,939 
Interest expense  (1,428,463)  -   (1,552,006)  - 
Interest income  2,199   61   16,583   411 
True-up termination fee  -   -   (1,344,648)  - 
Settlement of promissory notes receivable  (1,166,556)  -   (1,166,556)  - 
Liquidated damages  (2,652,798)  -   (2,667,798)  - 
Total other (expense) income  (5,110,631)  (3,250)  (6,450,894)  7,350 
Loss before income taxes  (8,721,197)  (1,778,296)  (17,509,784)  (4,371,491)
Benefit for income taxes  91,633   -   91,633   - 
Net loss  (8,629,564)  (1,778,296)  (17,418,151)  (4,371,491)
Deemed dividend on Series H convertible preferred stock  (18,045,496)  -   (18,045,496)  - 
Net loss attributable to common shareholders $(26,675,060) $(1,778,296) $(35,463,647) $(4,371,491)
Basic and diluted net loss per common share $(0.96) $(0.11) $(1.40) $(0.33)
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding – basic and diluted  27,835,555   16,367,424   25,382,551   13,091,231 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.(unaudited)

 

2

  

Three Months Ended

June 30,

  

Six Months Ended

June 30,

 
  2020  2019  2020  2019 
Revenue $23,090,940  $5,770,283  $53,503,793  $12,044,246 
Cost of revenue (includes amortization of developed technology and platform development for six months ended 2020 and 2019 of $4,259,333 and $2,686,289, respectively)  24,874,179   5,487,172   51,613,012   11,139,737 
Gross profit (loss)  (1,783,239)  283,111   1,890,781   904,509 
Operating expenses                
Selling and marketing  8,409,343   1,451,101   17,769,281   2,600,393 
General and administrative  7,270,511   5,871,015   17,680,716   10,096,268 
Depreciation and amortization  4,127,126   107,637   8,223,806   215,977 
Total operating expenses  19,806,980   7,429,753   43,673,803   12,912,638 
Loss from operations  (21,590,219)  (7,146,642)  (41,783,022)  (12,008,129)
Other (expense) income                
Change in valuation of warrant derivative liabilities  243,276   (166,075)  382,495   (541,770)
Change in valuation of embedded derivative liabilities  2,922,000   (1,396,000)  4,543,000   (3,779,000)
Interest expense  (4,116,407)  (1,876,054)  (7,916,135)  (3,177,262)
Interest income  1,640   63   3,383   3,234 
Liquidated damages  (621,619)  (853)  (1,167,674)  (17,740)
Other  -   -   -   126 
Total other expense  (1,571,110)  (3,438,919)  (4,154,931)  (7,512,412)
Loss before income taxes  (23,161,329)  (10,585,561)  (45,937,953)  (19,520,541)
Income taxes  -   -   -   - 
Net loss $(23,161,329) $(10,585,561) $(45,937,953) $(19,520,541)
Basic and diluted net loss per common share $(0.59) $(0.30) $(1.17) $(0.55)
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding – basic and diluted  39,217,524   35,556,188   39,171,629   35,208,771 

 

THEMAVEN, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIENCY)

(Unaudited)

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018

                    Total 
  Common Stock  Common Stock to be Issued  

Additional

Paid-in
  Accumulated  

Stockholders’

Equity

 
  Shares  Par Value  Shares  Par Value  

Capital

  

Deficit

  

(Deficiency)

 
Balance, January 1, 2018  28,516,009  $285,159   -  $-  $11,170,666  $(8,472,071) $2,983,754 
Reclassification of investor demand payable  1,200,000   12,000   -   -   2,988,000   -   3,000,000 
Proceeds from private placement of common stock  500,000   5,000   -   -   863,105   -   868,105 
Stock based compensation  -   -   -   -   2,258,870   -   2,258,870 
Net loss  -   -   -   -   -   (3,571,929)  (3,571,929)
Balance, March 31, 2018  30,216,009   302,159   -   -   17,280,641   (12,044,000)  5,538,800 
Proceeds from private placement of common stock  -   -   -   -   381,895   -   381,895 
Costs incurred in connection with private placement of common stock  -   -   60,000   600   (600)  -   - 
Cashless exercise of common stock warrants  736,853   7,369   -   -   (7,369)  -   - 
Cashless exercise of common stock options  106,154   1,061   -   -   (1,061)  -   - 
Stock based compensation  -   -   -   -   1,078,658   -   1,078,658 
Net loss  -   -   -   -   -   (5,216,658)  (5,216,658)
Balance, June 30, 2018  31,059,016   310,589   60,000   600   18,732,164   (17,260,658)  1,782,695 
Issuance of restricted stock in connection with merger of HubPages  2,399,997   24,000   -   -   (24,000)  -   - 
Issuance of restricted stock to the board of directors  148,813   1,488   -   -   (1,488)  -   - 
Repurchase of restricted stock  (204,735)  (2,047)  -   -   2,047   -   - 
Beneficial conversion feature on Series H convertible preferred stock  -   -   -   -   18,045,496   -   18,045,496 
Deemed dividend on Series H convertible preferred stock  -   -   -   -   (18,045,496)  -   (18,045,496)
Stock based compensation  -   -   -   -   1,587,471   -   1,587,471 
Net loss  -   -   -   -   -   (8,629,564)  (8,629,564)
Balance, September 30, 2018  33,403,091  $334,030   60,000  $600  $20,296,194  $(25,890,222) $(5,259,398)

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

3

THEMAVEN, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIENCY)

(Unaudited)

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017

              Total 
  Common Stock  Common Stock to be Issued  

Additional

Paid-in

  Accumulated  

Stockholders’

Equity

 
  Shares  Par Value  Shares  Par Value  

Capital

  

Deficit

  

(Deficiency)

 
Balance, January 1, 2017  22,047,531  $220,475   8,929  $9,375  $2,730,770  $(2,187,758) $772,862 
Issuance of common stock  8,929   89   (8,929)  (9,375)  9,286   -   - 
Private placement of common stock to be issued, net of issuance costs  -   -   3,515,000   3,120,644   -   -   3,120,644 
Stock based compensation  -   -   -   -   498,305       498,305 
Net loss  -   -   -   -   -   (1,004,828)  (1,004,828)
Balance, March 31, 2017  22,056,460   220,564   3,515,000   3,120,644   3,238,361   (3,192,586)  3,386,983 
Private placement of common stock to be issued, net of issuance costs  3,765,000   37,650   (3,515,000)  (3,120,644)  3,281,014   -   198,020 
Common stock issued for investment banking fees  162,000   1,620   -   -   199,260   -   200,880 
Stock based compensation  -   -   -   -   790,354   -   790,354 
Net loss  -   -   -   -   -   (1,588,367)  (1,588,367)
Balance, June 30, 2017  25,983,460   259,834   -   -   7,508,989   (4,780,953)  2,987,870 
Private placement of common stock to be issued, net of issuance costs  -   -   1,521,739   1,566,000   -   -   1,566,000 
Exercise of common stock options  21,680   217   -   -   (217)  -   - 
Stock based compensation  -   -   -   -   757,153   -   757,153 
Net loss  -   -   -   -   -   (1,778,296)  (1,778,296)
Balance, September 30, 2017  26,005,140  $260,051   1,521,739  $1,566,000  $8,265,925  $(6,559,249) $3,532,727 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

4

THEMAVEN, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited)

  

Nine Months Ended

September 30,

 
  2018  2017 
Cash flows from operating activities        
Net loss $(17,418,151) $(4,371,491)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:        
Depreciation of property and equipment  19,341   7,990 
Amortization of platform development and intangible assets  1,418,223   226,000 
Amortization of debt discounts  373,663   - 
Change in valuation of derivative liabilities  (263,531)  (6,939)
True-up termination fee  1,344,648   - 
Settlement of promissory notes receivable  1,166,556   - 
Loss on extinguishment of debt and accrued interest  1,099,165   - 
Liquidating damages payable  

2,667,798

   

-

 
Stock based compensation  3,416,110   1,357,510 
Deferred income taxes  (91,633)  - 
Change in operating assets and liabilities net of effect of business combinations:        
Accounts receivable, net  (491,644)  (3,482)
Prepayments and other current assets  (101,603)  19,322 
Deferred contract fulfillment costs  (5,191)  (15,986)
Accounts payable  467,083   (102,793)
Accrued expenses  81,689   203,271 
Contract liability  11,537   31,634 

Deferred rent

  17,245   - 
Net cash used in operating activities  (6,288,695)  (2,654,964)
Cash flows from investing activities        
Purchases of property and equipment  (29,259)  (43,043)
Payments of promissory notes receivable  (3,695,054)  - 
Capitalized platform development  (1,660,331)  (1,470,770)
Payments for acquisition of business, net of cash  (9,032,596)  - 
Net cash used in investing activities  (14,417,240)  (1,513,813)
Cash flows from financing activities        
Proceeds from issuance of Series H convertible preferred stock  12,474,704   - 
Proceeds from 8% promissory notes  1,000,000   - 
Payment of 8% promissory notes  (1,351,334)  - 
Proceeds from 10% convertible debentures  4,775,000   - 
Proceeds from common stock to be issued in private placement  -   1,750,000 
Proceeds from private placement of common stock  1,250,000   3,519,544 
Payment of issuance costs of Series H convertible preferred stock  (159,208)  - 
Proceeds from officer promissory notes  1,009,447   - 
Repayment of officer promissory notes  (49,911)  - 
Net cash provided by financing activities  18,948,698   5,269,544 
Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash  (1,757,237)  1,100,767 
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash — beginning of period  3,619,249   598,294 
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash — end of period $1,862,012  $1,699,061 
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information        
Cash paid for interest $23,575  $- 
Cash paid for income taxes  -   - 
Noncash investing and financing activities        
Reclassification of stock based compensation to platform development $1,508,889  $688,302 
Discount on 8% promissory notes credited to derivative liability  760,499   - 
Discount on 10% convertible debentures credited to derivative liability  471,002   - 
Aggregate exercise price of common stock options exercised on cashless basis  21,250   - 
Aggregate exercise price of common stock warrants exercised on cashless basis  168,423   - 
Accrual of stock issuance costs  -   184,000 
Reclassification of investor demand payable to stockholders’ equity  3,000,000   - 
Fair value of common stock issued for private placement fees  150,000   - 
Common stock issued for investment banking fees  -   200,880 
Deemed dividend on Series H convertible preferred stock  18,045,496   - 
Assumption of liabilities in business combination  851,114   - 
Issuance of Series H convertible preferred stock for private placement fee  

669,250

   

-

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

65
 

 

THEMAVEN, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIENCY

(unaudited)

Six Months Ended June 30, 2020

     Common Stock to          
  Common Stock  be Issued  Additional     Total 
  Shares  Par Value  Shares  Par Value  

Paid-in

Capital

  

Accumulated

Deficit

  

Stockholders’

Deficiency

 
Balance at January 1, 2020  37,119,117  $371,190   3,938,287  $39,383  $35,562,766  $(73,041,323) $  (37,067,984)
Issuance of restricted stock units in connection with the acquisition of LiftIgniter  -   -   -   -   500,000   -   500,000 
Issuance of restricted stock awards to the board of directors  562,500   5,625   -   -   (5,625)  -   - 
Common stock withheld for taxes  (206,881)  (2,069)  -   -   (167,412)  -   (169,481)
Stock-based compensation  -   -   -   -   3,930,172   -   3,930,172 
Net loss  -   -   -   -   -   (22,776,624)  (22,776,624)
Balance at March 31, 2020  37,474,736  $374,746   3,938,287   39,383  $39,819,901  $(95,817,947) $(55,583,917)
Issuance of common stock in connection with the acquisition of Say Media  1,350,394   13,504   (1,350,394)  (13,504)  -   -   - 
Issuance of restricted stock awards to the board of directors  -   -   -   -   -   -   - 
Common stock withheld for taxes  (234,767)  (2,348)  -   -   (109,992)  -   (112,340)
Stock-based compensation  -   -   -   -   4,283,066   -   4,283,066 
Net loss  -   -   -   -   -   (23,161,329)  (23,161,329)
Balance at June 30, 2020  38,590,363  $385,902   2,587,893   25,879  $43,992,975  $(118,979,276) $(74,574,520)

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

7

THEMAVEN, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIENCY

(unaudited)

Six Months Ended June 30, 2019

  

Common Stock  

  Common Stock to be Issued  

Additional

     Total 
  Shares  Par Value  Shares  Par Value  

Paid-in Capital

  

Accumulated

Deficit

  

Stockholders’

Deficiency

 
Balance at January 1, 2019  35,768,619  $357,685   5,127,167  $51,272  $23,413,077  $(34,539,954) $  (10,717,920)
Issuance of common stock in connection with the merger of Say Media  1,188,880   11,889   (1,188,880)  (11,889)  -   -   - 
Forfeiture of restricted stock  (120,000)  (1,200)  -   -   1,200   -   - 
Issuance of restricted stock awards to the board of directors  833,333   8,333   -   -   (8,333)  -   - 
Cashless exercise of common stock options  15,341   154   -   -   (154)  -   - 
Stock-based compensation  -   -   -   -   1,487,575   -   1,487,575 
Net loss  -   -   -   -   -   (8,934,980)  (8,934,980)
Balance at March 31, 2019  37,686,173  $376,861   3,938,287   39,383  $24,893,365  $(43,474,934) $(18,165,325)
Forfeiture of restricted stock  (580,000)  (5,800)  -   -   5,800   -   - 
Common stock withheld for taxes  (167,246)  (1,672)  -   -   (73,588)  -   (75,260)
Stock-based compensation  -   -   -   -   3,044,620   -   3,044,620 
Net loss  -   -   -   -   -   (10,585,561)  (10,585,561)
Balance at June 30, 2019  36,938,927  $369,389   3,938,287  

$

39,383  $27,870,197  $(54,060,495) $(25,781,526)

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

8

THEMAVEN, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(unaudited)

  Six Months Ended June 30, 
  2020  2019 
Cash flows from operating activities        
Net loss $(45,937,953) $(19,520,541)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:        
Depreciation of property and equipment  396,966   21,177 
Amortization of platform development and intangible assets  12,086,173   2,881,089 
Amortization of debt discounts  3,206,982   1,580,796 
Change in valuation of warrant derivative liabilities  (382,495)  541,770 
Change in valuation of embedded derivative liabilities  (4,543,000)  3,779,000 
Accrued interest  4,385,240   907,582 
Liquidated damages  1,167,674   17,740 
Stock-based compensation  7,343,575   3,959,925 
Other  (141,188)  (6,812)
Change in operating assets and liabilities net of effect of business combination:        
Accounts receivable  5,852,029   10,261,222 
Factor receivables  -   (6,130,674)
Subscription acquisition costs  (9,975,651)  17,056 
Royalty fees  7,500,000   (45,000,000)
Prepayments and other current assets  (156,872)  140,091 
Other long-term assets  (714,062)  27,628 
Accounts payable  (1,167,051)  (2,672,264)
Accrued expenses and other  (4,279,568)  2,414,501 
Unearned revenue  6,806,829   (300,057)
Subscription refund liability  133,677   - 
Operating lease liabilities  998,010   (2,810)
Net cash used in operating activities  (17,420,685)  (47,083,581)
Cash flows from investing activities        
Purchases of property and equipment  (1,065,223)  (25,400)
Capitalized platform development  (2,061,081)  (980,257)
Advance related to pending acquisition of TheStreet, Inc.  -   (16,500,000)
Payments for acquisition of business  (315,289)  - 
Net cash used in investing activities  (3,441,593)  (17,505,657)
Cash flows from financing activities        
Proceeds from delayed draw term note  6,000,000   - 
Proceeds from long-term debt  5,702,725   68,000,000 
Repayments of long-term debt  -   (4,640,000)
Payment of debt issuance costs  -   (3,595,000)
Proceeds from 12% senior convertible debentures  -   2,000,000 
Proceeds from issuance of Series I convertible preferred stock  -   15,000,000 
Payment of issuance costs of Series I convertible preferred stock  -   (1,406,000)
Borrowings under line of credit, net  3,243,882   415,404 
Payment for taxes related to repurchase of restricted common stock  (281,821)  (75,260)
Repayment of officer promissory notes  -   (366,842)
Net cash provided by financing activities  14,664,786   75,332,302 
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash  (6,197,492)  10,743,064
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash – beginning of period  9,473,090   2,527,289 
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash – end of period $3,275,598  $13,270,353 
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information        
Cash paid for interest $323,913  $731,126 
Cash paid for income taxes  -   - 
Noncash investing and financing activities        
Reclassification of stock-based compensation to platform development $869,663  $572,270 
Debt discount on delayed draw term note  913,865   - 
Restricted stock units issued in connection with acquisition of LiftIgniter  500,000   - 
Assumption of liabilities in connection with acquisition of LiftIgniter  140,381   - 
Discount of 12% senior convertible debentures allocated to embedded derivative liabilities  -   1,074,000 
Liquidated damages liability recorded against cash proceeds for 12% senior convertible debentures  -   84,000 
Liquidated damages liability recorded against cash proceeds for Series I convertible preferred stock  -   1,940,400 
Series I convertible preferred stock subscription receivable  -   8,100,000 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

9

 

THEMAVEN, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

 

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited)

Three Months and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018 and 2017(unaudited)

 

1. Organization and BasisSummary of Presentation

Organization and Reverse Merger

On October 11, 2016, Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc. (“Integrated”), a Delaware corporation incorporated on October 1, 1990, and Amplify Media Network, Inc. (“Amplify”), a Nevada corporation incorporated on July 22, 2016, executed a share exchange agreement, as amended, that provided for each outstanding common share of Amplify to be converted into 4.13607 common shares of Integrated (the “Exchange Ratio”), and for each outstanding warrant and stock option to purchase shares of Amplify common stock be cancelled in exchange for a warrant or stock option to purchase shares of Integrated common stock based on the Exchange Ratio (the “Recapitalization”).

On November 4, 2016 (the “Recapitalization Date”), the consummation of the Recapitalization became effective and Amplify became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Integrated. Pursuant to the Recapitalization, Integrated: (1) issued to the shareholders of Amplify an aggregate of 12,517,152 shares of Integrated common stock (see Note 14); and (2) issued to MDB Capital Group, LLC (“MDB”) as an advisory fee, warrants to purchase 1,169,607 shares of Integrated common stock. Existing Integrated stock options to purchase 175,000 shares of Integrated common stock were assumed pursuant to the Recapitalization. Amplify had no common stock options or warrants outstanding as of the Recapitalization Date.

Amplify’sCertificate of Incorporation was subsequently amended to change its name to Amplify Media Network, Inc. on July 27, 2016, to TheMaven Network, Inc. on October 14, 2016, and to Maven Coalition, Inc. on March 5, 2018 (Amplify is subsequently referred to herein as “Coalition”).

Integrated was originally incorporated in Delaware on October 1, 1990 under the name Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc, and its Certificate of Incorporation was subsequently amended to change its name to TheMaven, Inc. on December 2, 2016. Integrated is subsequently referred to herein as “Maven” (unless the context indicates otherwise, Maven, Coalition, and HubPages, Inc. (as described in Note 3) are together hereinafter referred to as the “Company”).

Business Operations

The Company operates a digital, distribution and monetization platforms that is shared by a coalition of independent, professionally managed online media publishers (“Maven(s)”). Each Maven joins the coalition by invitation-only and is drawn from professional journalists, subject matter experts, group evangelists and social leaders. Mavens publish content and oversee an online community for their respective channels, leveraging a proprietary, socially driven, mobile-enabled, video-focused technology platform to engage niche audiences within a single network. Generally, Mavens are independently owned strategic partners who receive a share of revenue from the interaction with their content. When they join, Mavens benefit from the state-of-the-art technology of the Company’s platform, allowing them to dramatically upgrade performance. At the same time, advertising revenue is dramatically improved due to the scale the Company has achieved by combining all Mavens onto a single platform and the large and experienced sales organization. They also benefit from the Company’s membership marketing and management systems to further enhance their revenue. Additionally, the lead brand within each vertical creates a halo benefit for all Mavens in the vertical while each of them adds to the breadth and quality of content. While they benefit from these critical performance improvements they also save substantially in costs of technology, infrastructure, advertising sales and member marketing and management.

The Company’s growth strategy is to continue to expand the coalition by adding new Mavens in key verticals that management believes will expand the scale of unique users interacting on the Company’s technology platform. In each vertical, the Company seeks to build around a leading brand, surround it with subcategory Maven specialists and further enhance coverage with individual expert contributors. The primary means of expansion is adding Mavens as independent strategic partners. However, in some circumstances the Company will acquire entities that bring crucial technology that will enhance the platform or branded content providers that may serve as the cornerstone of an important vertical.

6

The Company’s common stock is traded on the Over-the-Counter Market under the symbol “MVEN”Significant Accounting Policies

 

Basis of Presentation

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company as of September 30, 2018, and for the three months and nine months ended, are unaudited. In the opinion of management of the Company, all adjustments, including normal recurring accruals, have been made that are necessary to present fairly the financial position of the Company as of September 30, 2018, and the results of its operations for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017,TheMaven, Inc. and its cash flows forwholly owned subsidiaries (“Maven” or the nine months ended September 30, 2018“Company”), after eliminating all significant intercompany balances and 2017. Operating results for the interim periods presented aretransactions. The Company does not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for a full fiscal year. The consolidated balancehave any off-balance sheet at December 31, 2017, has been derived from the Company’s audited financial statements at such date.arrangements.

 

The condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).SEC. These condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the United States generally accepted accounting principles (“US GAAP”) for interim financial information, the instructions to Form 10-Q and Regulation S-X. Accordingly, certainthey do not include all of the information and note disclosures normally included innotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations.statements. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements, and other informationwhich are included in the Company’sMaven’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Form 10-K”) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, as2019, filed with the SEC on May 15, 2018.April 9, 2021.

The condensed consolidated financial statements as of June 30, 2020, and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, are unaudited but, in management’s opinion, include all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the results of interim periods. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. The year-end condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2019, was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the entire fiscal year.

Liquidity

 

Going Concern

The Company’sCompany performed an annual reporting period going concern assessment. Management is required to assess its ability to continue as a going concern. The condensed consolidated financial statements have been presented on the basisprepared assuming that the Company iswill continue as a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfactionthe liquidation of liabilities in the normal course of business. As reflected in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements, the Company had revenues of $1,460,958through September 30, 2018, and has experienced recurring net losses from operations, negative working capital, and negative operating cash flows. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company incurred a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $35,463,647, utilized cash in operating activities of $6,288,695, and had an accumulated deficit of $25,890,222 as of September 30, 2018. The Company has financed its working capital requirements since inception through the issuance of its debt and equity securities.

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) was reported in Wuhan, China. On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 to constitute a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” Many national governments and sports authorities around the world have made the decision to postpone/cancel high attendance sports events in an effort to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In addition, many governments and businesses have limited non-essential work activity, furloughed and/or terminated many employees and closed some operations and/or locations, all of which has had a negative impact on the economic environment.

As a result of these factors the Company has experienced a decline in revenues and earnings since early March 2020. While the Company has implemented cost reduction measures in an effort to offset such volume declines, the duration of these declines remains uncertain. If the volume declines do not stabilize over the next few months, the Company’s 2020 financial results and operations may be adversely impacted. The extent of the impact on the Company’s operational and financial performance will depend on the Company’s willingness and ability to take further cost reduction measures as well as future developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak, related group gathering and sports event advisories and restrictions, and the extent and effectiveness of containment actions taken, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at the time of issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

7

As a result of the above factors, management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year of the date that the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements are being issued. In addition, the Company’s previous independent registered public accounting firm, in their report on the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, had also expressed substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The ability of the Company to continue as a going concern is impacted by the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and could therefore be dependent upon the Company’s ability to raise additional funds to ultimately achieve sustainable operating revenues and profitability. From October 2018 through April 2020, the Company has raised aggregate net proceeds of approximately $139 million through various debt and preferred stock private placements (see Note 18). The Company believes that based on its current assessment of the impact of COVID-19 it has sufficient resources to fully fund its business operations through April 30, 2021. However, due to the uncertainty regarding the duration of the impact of COVID-19 and its effect on the Company’s financial performance the Company estimates that it may require additional capital in capital markets today, which are less liquid given the lack of clarity surrounding COVID-19.

The accompanyingThese condensed consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.

The Company has a history of recurring losses. The Company’s recurring losses from operations and net capital deficiency have been evaluated by management to determine if the significance of those conditions or events would limit its ability to meet its obligations when due. The operating loss realized for the six months ended June 30, 2020 was primarily a result of a marketing investment in customer growth, together with investments in people and technology as the Company continued to expand its operations. The operating loss realized in fiscal 2019 was primarily a result of investments in people, infrastructure for the Company’s technology platform, and operations expanding during fiscal 2019 with the acquisition of TheStreet, Inc. (“TheStreet”) and the licensing agreement for certain Sports Illustrated brands, along with continued costs based on the strategic growth plans in other verticals.

As reflected in these condensed consolidated financial statements, the Company had revenues of $53,503,793 for the six months ended June 30, 2020, and experienced recurring net losses from operations, negative working capital, and negative operating cash flows. During the six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company incurred a net loss of $45,937,953, utilized cash in operating activities of $17,420,685, and as of June 30, 2020, had an accumulated deficit of $118,979,276. The Company has financed its working capital requirements since inception through the issuance of debt and equity securities.

Additionally, as a result of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, the Company experienced a decline in traffic and advertising revenue in the first and second quarters of 2020. The Company implemented cost reduction measures in an effort to offset these declines. Since May 2020, there has been a steady recovery in the advertising market in both pricing and volume, which coupled with the return of professional and college sports yielded steady growth in revenues through the balance of 2020 and start of 2021. The Company expects a continued growth in advertising revenue back toward pre-pandemic levels, however, such growth depends on future developments, including the duration of COVID-19, future sport event advisories and restrictions, and the extent and effectiveness of containment actions taken.

Management has evaluated whether relevant conditions or events, considered in the aggregate, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Substantial doubt exists when conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, indicate it is probable that a company will not be able to meet its obligations as they become due within one year after the issuance date of its financial statements. Management’s assessment is based on the relevant conditions that are known or reasonably knowable as of the date these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued or were available to be issued.

Management’s assessment of the Company’s ability to meet its future obligations is inherently judgmental, subjective, and susceptible to change. The factors that the Company considered important in its going concern analysis, include, but are not limited to, its fiscal 2021 cash flow forecast and its fiscal 2021 operating budget. Management also considered the Company’s ability to repay its obligations through future equity and the implementation of cost reduction measures in effect to offset revenue and earnings declines from COVID-19. These factors consider information including, but not limited to, the Company’s financial condition, liquidity sources, obligations due within one year after the issuance date of these condensed consolidated financial statements, the funds necessary to maintain operations and financial conditions, including negative financial trends or other indicators of possible financial difficulty.

In particular, the Company’s plan for the: (1) 2021 cash flow forecast, considered the use of its working capital line with FastPay (as described in Note 5) to fund changes in working capital, where the Company has available credit of approximately $10.1 million as of the issuance date of these condensed consolidated financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2020, and that the Company does not anticipate the need for any further borrowings that are subject to the holders approval, from its Delayed Draw Term Note (as described in Note 8) where the Company may be permitted to borrow up to an additional $5,000,000; and (2) 2021 operating budget, considered that approximately sixty-five percent of the Company’s revenue is from recurring subscriptions, generally paid in advance, and that digital subscription revenue, that accounts for approximately thirty percent of subscription revenue, grew approximately thirty percent during 2020 demonstrating the strength of its premium brand, and the plan to continue to grow its subscription revenue from its acquisition of TheStreet and the launch of premium digital subscriptions from its Sports Illustrated licensed brands.

The Company has considered both quantitative and qualitative factors as part of the assessment that are known or reasonably knowable as of the date these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued or were available to be issued and concluded that conditions and events considered in the aggregate, do not raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a one-year period following the financial statement issuance date.

 

Reclassifications

 

Certain comparativeprior year amounts as of December 31, 2017 and for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2017 have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation. These reclassifications were immaterial, both individually and in the aggregate. These changes did notfiscal 2020 presentation with no impact to previously reported loss from operations or net loss.

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

earnings.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and include the financial statements of Maven and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Coalition, and HubPages, a new wholly-owned subsidiary formed on March 13, 2018 to facilitate the acquisition transaction described in Note 3. Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparationPreparation of the condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date ofdisclosed in the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses duringaccompanying notes. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates. On an ongoing basis, the reporting period. SignificantCompany evaluates its estimates, includeincluding those related to the selectionallowance for credit losses, fair values of useful lives of property and equipment, intangible assets,financial instruments, capitalization of platform development, intangible assets and associatedgoodwill, useful lives; assumptions used in accruals for potential liabilities;lives of intangible assets and property and equipment, income taxes, fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in the business acquisition, the fair value of the Company’s goodwill and the assessment of acquired goodwill, other intangible assets and long-lived assets for impairment;acquisitions, determination of the fair value of stock basedstock-based compensation and valuation of derivatives;derivatives liabilities and the assumptions used to calculate contingent liabilities, and realization of deferred tax assets. Management evaluatesamong others. The Company bases its estimates on assumptions, both historical and assumptions on an ongoingforward looking, that are believed to be reasonable, the results of which form the basis using historical experiencefor making judgments about the carrying values of assets and other factors, including the current economic environment, and makes adjustments when facts and circumstances dictate. Actual results could differ from these estimates.liabilities.

 

108
 

 

Risks and UncertaintiesContract Modifications

 

The Company has a limited operating history and has not generated significant revenuesoccasionally enters into amendments to date. The Company’s business and operations are sensitive to general business and economic conditions in the U.S. and worldwide. These conditions include short-term and long-term interest rates, inflation, fluctuations in debt and equity capital markets and the general condition of the U.S. and world economy. A host of factors beyond the Company’s control could cause fluctuations in these conditions. Adverse developments in these general business and economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and the results of its operations.

In addition, the Company will compete with many companiespreviously executed contracts that currently have extensive and well-funded projects, marketing and sales operations as well as extensive human capital.constitute contract modifications. The Company may be unableassesses each of these contract modifications to compete successfully against these companies. The Company’s industry is characterized by rapid changes in technology and market demands. As a result, the Company’s products, services, and/or expertise may become obsolete and/or unmarketable. The Company’s future success will depend on its ability to adapt to technological advances, anticipate customer and market demands, and enhance its current technology under development.

B. Riley FBR, Inc. (“B. Riley FBR”) is a registered broker-dealer owned by B. Riley Financial, Inc., a diversified publicly-traded financial services company (“B. Riley”), which acted as placement agent for the Series H Preferred Stock financing (see Note 13). In consideration for its services as placement agent, the Company paid B. Riley FBR a cash fee of $575,000 (including a previously paid retainer of $75,000) and issued to B. Riley FBR 669 shares of Series H Preferred Stock. In addition, entities affiliated with B. Riley FBR purchased 5,592 shares of Series H Preferred Stock in the financing. John A. Fichthorn joined the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of the Company in September 2018 and was elected as Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Finance Committee in November 2018. Mr. Fichthorn currently serves as Head of Alternative Investments for B. Riley Capital Management, LLC, which is an SEC-registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of B. Riley. Todd D. Sims also joined the Board of the Company in September 2018 and is also a member of the board of directors of B. Riley. Mr. Fichthorn and Mr. Sims serve on the Board of the Company as designees of B. Riley. Since August 2018, B. Riley FBR has been instrumental in providing investment banking services to the Company and in raising debt and equity capital for the Company. These services having included raising debt and equity capital to support the acquisitions of HubPages and Say Media, Inc. (“Say Media”), and the subsequent acquisition of TheStreet, Inc. and licensing agreement with ABG-SI LLC (as described in Note 18). These services have also included raising debt for refinancing and working capital purposes through the sale of the 10% Convertible Debentures (as described in Note 12), and the 10% OID Convertible Debentures, 12% Convertible Debentures, and equity capital through the sale of Series I and J Convertible Preferred Stock (as described in Note 18).

Digital Media Content and Channel Partners

The Company operates a coalition of online media channels and provides digital media (text, audio and video) over the internet that users may access on demand. As a broadcaster that transmits third party content owned by our Channel Partners via digital media, the Company applies the Financial Accounting Standards (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 920,Entertainment – Broadcasters. The Channel Partners generally receive variable amounts of consideration that are dependent upon the calculation of revenue earned by the channel in a given month, referred to as a “revenue share”, that are payable in arrears. In certain circumstances, there is a monthly fixed fee minimum or a fixed yield (“revenue per thousand visitors”) based on the volume of visitors. Information with respect to fixed dollar commitments for channel content licenses are disclosed in Note 17; Channel Partner agreements that include fixed yield based on the volume of visitors are not included in such disclosures because, although they are expected to be significant, they cannot be quantified at this time. Expenses related to Channel Partner agreements are reported in cost of revenue in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. The cash payments related to Channel Partner agreements are classified within operating activities in the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows.

Revenue Recognition

TheCompany adopted ASC 606,Revenue from Contracts with Customers, as the accounting standard for revenue recognition, which was effective as of January 1, 2017. Since the Company had not previously generated revenue from customers, the Company did not have to transition its accounting method from ASC 605,Revenue Recognition.

9

Revenues are recognized when control of the promised goods or services are transferred to the Company’s customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration that the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. The Company generates all of its revenue from contracts with customers. The Company accounts for revenue on a gross basis, as compared to a net basis, in its statement of operations. Cost of revenues is presented as a separate line item in the statement of operations. The Company has made this determination based on it taking the credit risk in its revenue-generating transactions and it also being the primary obligor responsible for providing the services to the customer.

The following is a description of the principal activities from which the Company generates revenue:

Advertising– The Company enters into contracts with advertising networks to serve display or video advertisements on the digital media pages associated with its various channels. The Company recognizes revenue from advertisements at the point in time when each ad is viewed as reported by the Company’s advertising network partners. The quantity of advertisements, the impression bid prices and revenue are reported on a real-time basis. Although reported advertising transactions are subject to adjustment by the advertising network partners, any such adjustments are known within a few days of month end. The Company owes its independent publisher Channel Partners a revenue share of the advertising revenue earned which is recorded as service costs in the same period in which the associated advertising revenue is recognized.

Membership Subscriptions – The Company enters into contracts with internet users that subscribe to premium content on the digital media channels. These contracts provide internet users with a membership subscription to access the premium content for a given period of time, which is generally one year. The Company recognizes revenue from each membership subscription over time based on a daily calculation of revenue during the reporting period. Subscriber payments are initially recorded as deferred revenue on the balance sheet. As the Company provides access to the premium content over the membership subscription term, the Company recognizes revenue and proportionately reduces the deferred revenue balance. The Company owes its independent publisher Channel Partners a revenue share of the membership subscription revenue earned, which is initially deferred and recorded as deferred contract costs. The Company recognizes deferred contract costs over the membership subscription term in the same pattern that the associated membership subscription revenue is recognized.

Disaggregation of Revenue

The following table provides information about disaggregated revenue by product line, geographical market and timing of revenue recognition:

  

Three Months Ended

September 30, 2018

  

Nine Months Ended

September 30, 2018

 
Revenue by product line:        
Advertising $1,142,229  $1,414,688 
Membership subscriptions  15,688   46,270 
Total $1,157,917  $1,460,958 
Revenue by geographical market:        
United States $1,157,917  $1,460,958 
Other  -   - 
Total $1,157,917  $1,460,958 
Revenue by timing of recognition:        
At point in time $1,142,229  $1,414,688 
Over time  15,688   46,270 
Total $1,157,917  $1,460,958 

10

Contract Balances

The Company receives payments from advertising customers based upon contractual payment terms; accounts receivable are recorded when the right to consideration becomes unconditional and are generally collected within 90 days. The Company generally receives payments from membership subscription customers at the time of sign up for each subscription; accounts receivable from merchant credit card processors are recorded when the right to consideration becomes unconditional and are generally collected weekly. Contract assets include contract fulfillment costs related to revenue shares owed to Channel Partners, which are amortized to expense over the same period of the associated revenue. Contract liabilities include payments received in advance of performance under the contract and are recognized as revenue over time. The Company had no asset impairment charges related to contract assets during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017.

Concentrations

Cash and Restricted Cash –The Company maintains cash and restricted cash at a bank where amounts on deposit may exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation limit during the year. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts and believes it is not exposed to significant credit risk regarding its cash. The following table reconciles total cash and restricted cash as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017:

  September 30, 2018  December 31, 2017 
Cash $1,862,012  $619,249 
Restricted cash  -   3,000,000 
Total cash and restricted cash $1,862,012  $3,619,249 

In January 2018, the Company raised pursuant to a private placement $3,000,000. The $3,000,000 was received by the Company prior to December 31, 2017 and was classified as restricted cash in the December 31, 2017 balance sheet and then subsequently reclassified to cash in January 2018 upon completion of the private placement. In addition, the $3,000,000 investment was classified as investor demand payable in the December 31, 2017 balance sheet and then subsequently reclassified to equity in January 2018 upon completion of the private placement.

Significant Customers – Concentration of credit risk with respect to accounts receivable is limited to customers to whom the Company makes significant sales. While a reserve for the potential write-off of accounts receivable is maintained, the Company has not written off any significant accounts to date. To control credit risk, the Company performs regular credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition.

Revenue from significant customers as a percentage of the Company’s total revenue during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018 are as follows:

  

Three Months
Ended

September 30, 2018

  

Nine Months
Ended

September 30, 2018

 
Customer 1  -   - 
Customer 2  34%  27%
Customer 3  13%  17%

Significant accounts receivable balances as a percentage of the Company’s total accounts receivable as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 are as follows:determine:

 

 September 30, 2018if the additional services and goods are distinct from the services and goods in the original arrangement; and
  December 31, 2017
Customer 112%-
Customer 220%-
Customer 312%-

 11

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment is stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Major improvements are capitalized, while maintenance and repairs are charged to expense as incurred. Gains and losses from disposition of property and equipment are included in the statement of operations when realized. Depreciation and amortization are provided using the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives:

Office equipmentif the amount of consideration expected for the added services or goods reflects the stand-alone selling price of those services and computers3 years
Furniture and fixtures3 – 5 yearsgoods.

 

Platform Development

In accordance with authoritative guidance, the Company capitalizes platform development costsA contract modification meeting both criteria is accounted for internal use when planning and design efforts are successfully completed, and developmentas a separate contract. A contract modification not meeting both criteria is ready to commence. Costs incurred during planning and design, together with costs incurred for training and maintenance, are expensed as incurred and recorded in research and development expense in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. The Company places capitalized platform development assets into service and commences depreciation and amortization when the applicable project or asset is substantially complete and ready for its intended use. Once placed into service, the Company capitalizes qualifying costs of specified upgrades or enhancements to capitalized platform development assets when the upgrade or enhancement will result in new or additional functionality.

The Company capitalizes internal labor costs, including payroll-based and stock based compensation, benefits and payroll taxes, that are incurred for certain capitalized platform development projects relatedconsidered a change to the Company’s technology platform. The Company’s policy with respect to capitalized internal labor stipulates that labor costsoriginal contract and is accounted for employees working on eligible internal use capital projects are capitalizedeither a prospective basis as parta termination of the historical costexisting contract and the creation of the project when the impact, as compared to expensing such labor costs, is material.

Platform development costs are amortized on a straight-linenew contract, or a cumulative catch-up basis over three years, which is the estimated useful life of the related asset(see Note 3 and is recorded in cost of revenues in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.Note 11).

 

Business Combinations

The Company accounts for business combinations using the acquisition method of accounting. The acquisition method of accounting requires that the purchase price, including the fair value of contingent consideration, of the acquisition be allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed using the estimated fair values determined by management as of the acquisition date. Goodwill is measured as the excess of consideration transferred and the net fair values of the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed at the date of acquisition. While the Company uses its best estimates and assumptions as part of the purchase price allocation process to accurately value assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date, the Company’s estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. As a result, during the measurement period, the Company records adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with the corresponding offset to goodwill to the extent the Company identifies adjustments to the preliminary purchase price allocation. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, or final determination of the values of assets acquired or liabilities assumed, whichever comes first, any subsequent adjustments are recorded to the condensed consolidated statements of operations. Additionally, the Company identifies acquisition-related contingent payments and determines their respective fair values as of the acquisition date, which are recorded as accrued liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Subsequent changes in fair value of contingent payments are recorded in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. The Company expenses transaction costs related to the acquisition as incurred.

12

Intangible AssetsRecently Adopted Accounting Standards

 

Intangibleswith finite lives, consisting of developed technologyIn June 2016, the FASB ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326), which introduces a new model for recognizing credit losses for certain financial instruments, including loans, accounts receivable and tradenames, are amortized using the straight-line method over the estimated economic lives of the assets, which is five years. A finite lived intangible asset is tested for recoverability whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that its carrying amount may not be recoverable. Determination of recoverability is based ondebt securities. The new model requires an estimate of undiscounted future cash flows resulting fromexpected credit losses over the uselife of exposure to be recorded through the establishment of an allowance account, which is presented as an offset to the related financial asset. The expected credit loss is recorded upon the initial recognition of the asset andfinancial asset. On January 1, 2020, the Company adopted ASU 2016-13 using the modified retrospective approach with no material impact to its eventual disposition. Tradename consists of trade names in affiliation with HubPages. Intangibles with an indefinite useful life are not being amortized.condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Long-Lived AssetsIntangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment

, which simplifies how an entity is required to test goodwill for impairment. The Company periodically evaluatesamendments require goodwill impairment to be measured using the difference between the carrying value of long-lived assets to be heldamount and used when events or circumstances warrant such a review. The carrying value of a long-lived asset to be held and used is considered impaired when the anticipated separately identifiable undiscounted cash flows from such an asset are less than the carrying value of the asset. In that event, a loss is recognized based on the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the fair value of the long-lived asset. Fair value is determined primarily by referencereporting unit and require the loss recognized to not exceed the anticipatedtotal amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. On January 1, 2020, the Company adopted ASU 2017-04 on a prospective basis with no material impact to its condensed consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows discounted at a rate commensurate with the risk involved. No impairment charges have been recorded in the periods presented.flows.

 

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets of businesses acquired in a business combination. Goodwill is not amortized but rather is tested for impairment at least annually on December 31, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of goodwill may not be recoverable. The Company has elected to first assess the qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount as a basis of determining whether it is necessary to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test. If the Company determines that it is more likely than not that its fair value is less than its carrying amount, then the quantitative goodwill impairment test will be performed. The quantitative goodwill impairment test identifies goodwill impairment and measures the amount of goodwill impairment loss to be recognized by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. If the fair value exceeds the carrying amount, no further analysis is required; otherwise, any excess of the goodwill carrying amount over the implied fair value is recognized as an impairment loss, and the carrying value of goodwill is written down to fair value.

Deferred Financing Costs and Discounts on Debt Obligations

Deferred financing costs consist of cash and non-cash consideration paid to lenders and third parties with respect to convertible debt financing transactions, including legal fees and placement agent fees. Such costs are deferred and amortized over the term of the related debt. Upon the settlement or conversion of convertible debt into common stock, the pro rata portion of any related unamortized deferred financing costs are charged to operations.

Additional consideration in the form of warrants and other derivative financial instruments issued to lenders is accounted for at fair value utilizing information provided in reports prepared by an independent valuation firm. The fair value of warrants and derivatives is recorded as a reduction to the carrying amount of the related debt, and is being amortized to interest expense over the term of such debt, with the initial offsetting entries recorded as a liability on the balance sheet. Upon the settlement or conversion of convertible debt into common stock, the pro rata portion of any related unamortized discount on debt is charged to operations.

13

Liquidated Damages

Obligations with respect to Registration Rights Damages (as described below) and Public Information Failure Damages (as described below) (collectively the “Liquidating Damages”) accounted for as contingent obligations when it is deemed probable the obligations would not be satisfied at the time a financing is completed, and are subsequently reviewed at each quarter-end reporting date thereafter. When such quarterly review indicates that it is probable that the Liquidating Damages will be incurred, the Company records an estimate of each such obligation at the balance sheet date based on the amount due of such obligation. The Company reviews and revises such estimates at each quarter-end date based on updated information.

Research and Development

Research and development costs are charged to operations in the period incurred. During the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, research and development costs were $411,268 and $30,776, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, research and development costs were $598,645 and $104,095, respectively.

Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company accounts for freestanding contracts that are settled in a company’s own stock, including common stock warrants, to be designated as an equity instrument, and generally as a liability. A contract so designated is carried at fair value on a company’s balance sheet, with any changes in fair value recorded as a gain or loss in a company’s results of operations.

The Company records all derivatives on the balance sheet at fair value, adjusted at the end of each reporting period to reflect any material changes in fair value, with any such changes classified as changes in derivatives valuation in the statement of operations. The calculation of the fair value of derivatives utilizes highly subjective and theoretical assumptions that can materially affect fair values from period to period. The recognition of these derivative amounts does not have any impact on cash flows.

At the date of exercise of any of the warrants, or the conversion of any convertible debt or preferred stock into common stock, the pro rata fair value of the related warrant liability and any embedded derivative liability is transferred to additional paid-in capital.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The authoritative guidance with respect to fair value established a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three levels and requires that assets and liabilities carried at fair value be classified and disclosed in one of three categories, as presented below. Disclosure as to transfers in and out of Levels 1 and 2, and activity in Level 3 fair value measurements, is also required.

Level 1. Observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets for an identical asset or liability that the Company has the ability to access as of the measurement date. Financial assets and liabilities utilizing Level 1 inputs include active-exchange traded securities and exchange-based derivatives.

Level 2. Inputs, other than quoted prices included within Level 1, which are directly observable for the asset or liability or indirectly observable through corroboration with observable market data. Financial assets and liabilities utilizing Level 2 inputs include fixed income securities, non-exchange-based derivatives, mutual funds, and fair-value hedges.

Level 3. Unobservable inputs in which there is little or no market data for the asset or liability which requires the reporting entity to develop its own assumptions. Financial assets and liabilities utilizing Level 3 inputs include infrequently-traded non-exchange-based derivatives and commingled investment funds and are measured using present value pricing models.

14

The Company determines the level in the fair value hierarchy within which each fair value measurement falls in its entirety, based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. In determining the appropriate levels, the Company performs an analysis of the assets and liabilities at each reporting period end.

The carrying amount of the Company’s financial instruments comprising of cash, restricted cash, accounts receivable, promissory notes receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair value because of the short-term maturity of these instruments.

Preferred Stock

Preferred stock (the “Preferred Stock”) (as described in Note 13) is reported as a mezzanine obligation between liabilities and stockholders’ equity. If it becomes probable that the Preferred Stock will become redeemable, the Company will re-measure the Preferred Stock by adjusting the carrying value to the redemption value of the Preferred Stock assuming each balance sheet date is a redemption date.

Stock Based Compensation

The Company provides stock based compensation in the form of (a) restricted stock awards to employees and directors, (b) stock option grants to employees, directors and consultants, and (c) common stock warrants to Channel Partners (refer to Channel Partner Warrants below).

The Company accounts for restricted stock awards and stock option grants to employees, directors and consultants by measuring the cost of services received in exchange for the stock based payments as compensation expense in the Company’s financial statements. Restricted stock awards and stock option grants to employees which are time-vested are measured at fair value on the grant date and charged to operations ratably over the vesting period. Restricted stock awards and stock option grants to employees which are performance-vested are measured at fair value on the grant date and charged to operations when the performance condition is satisfied.

The Company accounts for stock based payments to certain directors and consultants and its Channel Partners by determining the value of the stock compensation based upon the measurement date at either (a) the date at which a performance commitment is reached or (b) at the date at which the necessary performance to earn the equity instruments is complete.

The fair value of restricted stock awards which are time-vested is determined using the quoted market price of the Company’s common stock at the grant date. The fair value of restricted stock awards which provide for performance-vesting and a true-up provision (as described in Note 14) is determined through consultants with the Company’s independent valuation firm using the binomial pricing model at the grant date. The fair value of stock options granted and Channel Partner warrants granted as stock based payments are determined utilizing the Black-Scholes option-pricing model which is affected by several variables, the most significant of which are the life of the equity award, the exercise price of the stock option or warrants, as compared to the fair market value of the common stock on the grant date, and the estimated volatility of the common stock over the term of the equity award. Estimated volatility is based on the historical volatility of the Company’s common stock and is evaluated based upon market comparisons. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant. The fair market value of common stock is determined by reference to the quoted market price of the Company’s common stock.

The Company capitalizes the cost of stock based compensation awards based on the fair value of such awards for platform development and expenses the cost of stock based compensation awards based on the fair value of such awards to cost of revenues, general and administrative expense, or research and development expenses, as appropriate, in its condensed consolidated statements of operations.

15

Channel Partner Warrants

On December 19, 2016, the Company’s Board approved up to 5,000,000 stock warrants to issue shares of the Company’s common stock to provide equity incentive to its Channel Partners (the “Channel Partner Warrants”) to motivate and reward them for their services to the Company and to align the interests of the Channel Partners with those of stockholders of the Company. On August 23, 2018, the Board approved a reduction of the number of warrant reserve shares from 5,000,000 to 2,000,000. The issuance of the Channel Partner Warrants is administered by management and approved by the Board.

The Channel Partner Warrants granted are subject to a performance condition which is generally based on the average number of unique visitors on the channel operated by the Channel Partner generated during the six-month period from the launch of the Channel Partner’s operations on Maven’s platform or the revenue generated during the period from issuance date through a specified end date. The Company recognizes expense for these equity-based payments as the services are received. The Company has specific objective criteria for determination of the period over which services are received and expense is recognized.

Income Taxes

Income taxes are accounted for using an asset and liability approach that requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities at the applicable enacted tax rates. A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The Company evaluates the realizability of its deferred tax assets by assessing its valuation allowance and by adjusting the amount of such allowance, if necessary. The factors used to assess the likelihood of realization include the Company’s forecast of future taxable income and available tax planning strategies that could be implemented to realize the net deferred tax assets.

The Company computes its year-to-date provision for income taxes by applying the estimated annual effective tax rate to year to date pretax income or loss and adjusts the provision for discrete tax items recorded in the period. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company reported a tax benefit of $91,633 on a pretax income related to recognition of a discrete tax benefit from a partial release of the valuation allowance in connection with the acquisition of HubPages. The net deferred tax liability from the acquisition of HubPages provided a source of additional income to support the realizability of the Company’s pre-existing deferred tax assets and as a result, the Company released a portion of its valuation allowance.

Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Sections 382 and 383, use of the Company’s net operating loss carryforwards may be limited if a cumulative change in ownership of more than 50% occurs within any three-year period since the last ownership change. The Company believes that it did have a change in control under these Sections in connection with its Recapitalization on November 4, 2016 and may have experienced additional control changes under these Sections as a result of recent financing activities. However, the Company does not anticipate performing a complete analysis of the limitation on the annual use of the net operating loss carryforwards until the time that it anticipates it will be able to utilize these tax attributes.

The Company recognizes the tax benefit from uncertain tax positions only if it is more likely than not that the tax positions will be sustained on examination by the tax authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefit is measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense. The Company is also required to assess at each reporting date whether it is reasonably possible that any significant increases or decreases to its unrecognized tax benefits will occur during the next 12 months.

The Company did not recognize any uncertain tax positions or any accrued interest and penalties associated with uncertain tax positions for any of the periods presented in the financial statements. The Company files tax returns in the United States federal jurisdiction and New York, California, and other states. The Company is generally subject to examination by income tax authorities for three years from the filing of a tax return, therefore, the federal and certain state returns from 2015 forward and the California returns from 2014 forward are subject to examination.

16

Income (Loss)Loss per Common Share

 

Basic income or loss per share is computed using the loss available to common stockholders over the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period and excludes any dilutive effects of common stock equivalent shares, such as stock options, restricted stock, and warrants. All restricted stock isawards are considered outstanding but is included in the computation of basic income (loss)loss per common share only when the underlying restrictions expire, the shares are no longer forfeitable, and are thus vested. All restricted stock units are included in the computation of basic loss per common share only when the underlying restrictions expire, the shares are no longer forfeitable, and are thus vested. Contingently issuable shares are included in basic loss per common share only when there are no circumstance under which those shares would not be issued. Diluted incomeloss per common share is computed using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding and common stock equivalent shares outstanding during the period using the treasury stock method. Common stock equivalent shares are excluded from the computation if their effect is anti-dilutive.

 

At September 30, 2018 and 2017, theThe Company excluded the outstanding securities summarized below (capitalized terms are described herein), which entitle the holders thereof to acquire shares of the Company’s common stock, from its calculation of net income (loss)loss per common share, as their effect would have been anti-dilutive.

 

  September 30, 
  2018  2017 
Series G Preferred Stock  188,791   172,374 
Series H Preferred Stock  58,785,606   - 
Unvested and forfeitable restricted stock awards  5,340,362   8,012,972 
Financing Warrants  3,074,018   1,169,607 
Channel Partner Warrants  1,099,008   3,424,500 
Common stock options  9,693,831   2,069,137 
Total  78,181,616   14,848,590 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09,Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (“ASU 2014-09”). ASU 2014-09 eliminates transaction- and industry-specific revenue recognition guidance under current GAAP and replaces it with a principles-based approach for determining revenue recognition. ASU 2014-09 requires that companies recognize revenue based on the value of transferred goods or services as they occur in the contract. ASU 2014-09 also requires additional disclosure about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from customer contracts, including significant judgments and changes in judgments and assets recognized from costs incurred to obtain or fulfill a contract. The FASB has recently issued ASU 2016-08, ASU 2016-10, ASU 2016-11, ASU 2016-12, and ASU 2016-20, all of which clarify certain implementation guidance within ASU 2014-09. The Company began recognition of revenue from contracts with customers as a result of the launch of its network operations during the quarter beginning July 1, 2017; the Company had not previously generated revenues from customers prior to that date. The Company adopted the provisions of ASU 2014-09 in the quarter beginning July 1, 2017 using the modified retrospective approach, which requires that the Company apply the new guidance to all new contracts initiated on or after January 1, 2017. As the Company did not have any contracts which had remaining obligations as of the January 1, 2017 effective date, the Company was not required to record an adjustment to the opening balance of its retained earnings (accumulated deficit) account on such date. Under this method, the Company is not required to restate comparative periods in its financial statements.

  As of June 30, 
  2020  2019 
Series G Preferred Stock  188,791   188,791 
Series H Preferred Stock  58,787,879   58,787,879 
Series I Preferred Stock  46,200,000   46,200,000 
Series J Preferred Stock  28,571,428   - 
Indemnity shares of common stock  412,500   825,000 
Restricted Stock Awards  1,433,332   3,574,997 
Financing Warrants  2,882,055   3,949,018 
ABG Warrants  21,989,844   - 
Channel Partner Warrants  789,541   939,540 
Restricted Stock Units  2,399,997   2,399,997 
Common Stock Awards  8,033,936   9,047,892 
Common Equity Awards  82,744,480   

48,154,840

 
Outside Options  2,986,000   3,732,667 
Total  257,419,783   177,800,621 

 

1117
 

In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18,Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) (“ASU 2016-18”). ASU 2016-18 addresses diversity in practice due to a lack of guidance on how to classify and present changes in restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents in the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-18 does not define restricted cash and does not require any change in practice for what an entity reports as restricted cash. ASU 2016-18 requires that a statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents, in addition to changes in cash and cash equivalents. Restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. Consequently, transfers between cash and restricted cash will not be presented as a separate line item in the operating, investing or financing sections of the cash flow statement. ASU 2016-18 requires an entity to disclose information about the nature of the restrictions and amounts described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents. Further, when cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and restricted cash equivalents are presented in more than one line item on the balance sheet, an entity must reconcile these amounts to the total shown on the statement of cash flows, either in narrative or tabular format, and should be provided on the face of the cash flow statement or in the notes to the financial statements. The Company adopted the provisions of ASU 2016-18 in the quarter beginning January 1, 2018. The adoption of ASU 2016-18 did not affect the presentation of the Company’s cash flow statement for the year ended December 31, 2017, however, the Company has expanded its disclosure with respect to restricted cash.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

 

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02,Leases (Topic 842) (“ASU 2016-02”). ASU 2016-02 requires a lessee to record a right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments, on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months, as well as the disclosure of key information about leasing arrangements. ASU 2016-02 requires recognition in the statement of operations of a single lease cost, calculated so that the cost of the lease is allocated over the lease term, generally on a straight-line basis. ASU 2016-02 requires classification of all cash payments within operating activities in the statement of cash flows. Disclosures are required to provide the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. A modified retrospective transition approach is required for lessees for capital and operating leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements, with certain practical expedients available. ASU 2016-02 has subsequently been amended and modified by ASU 2018-10, 2018-11 and 2018-20. ASU 2016-02 (including the subsequent amendments and modifications) is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Accordingly, the Company intends to adopt the provisions of ASU 2016-02 in the quarter beginning January 1, 2019. The Company has not completed its analysis of the impact that the adoption of ASU 2016-02 will have on the Company’s financial statement presentation or disclosures subsequent to adoption.

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2. In June 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2016-13,Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments(“ASU 2016-13”). ASU 2016-13 requires a financial asset (or a group of financial assets) measured at amortized cost basis to be presented at the net amount expected to be collected. The amendments broaden the information that an entity must consider in developing its expected credit loss estimate for assets measured either collectively or individually. The use of forecasted information incorporates more timely information in the estimate of expected credit loss, which will be more decision useful to users of the financial statements. ASU 2016-13 is effective for the Company for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is allowed as of the fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the implementation approach and the impact of adoption of this new standard, along with subsequent clarifying guidance, on the Company’s financial statements and related disclosures.

In July 2017, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2017-11,Earnings Per Share (Topic 260); Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (Topic 480); Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): (Part I) Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Down Round Features; (Part II) Replacement of the Indefinite Deferral for Mandatorily Redeemable Financial Instruments of Certain Nonpublic Entities and Certain Mandatorily Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests with a Scope Exception(“ASU 2017-11”). ASU 2017-11 allows companies to exclude a down round feature when determining whether a financial instrument (or embedded conversion feature) is considered indexed to the entity’s own stock. As a result, financial instruments (or embedded conversion features) with down round features are no longer required to be accounted for as derivative liabilities. A company will recognize the value of a down round feature only when it is triggered, and the strike price has been adjusted downward. For equity-classified freestanding financial instruments, an entity will treat the value of the effect of the down round as a dividend and a reduction of income available to common shareholders in computing basic earnings per share. For convertible instruments with embedded conversion features containing down round provisions, entities will recognize the value of the down round as a beneficial conversion discount to be amortized to earnings. ASU 2017-11 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company intends to adopt the provisions of ASU 2017-11 in the quarter beginning January 1, 2019. The Company has not completed its analysis of the impact that the adoption of ASU 2017-11 will have on the Company’s financial statement presentation or disclosures subsequent to adoption.

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-07,Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting (“ASU 2018-07”). ASU 2018-07 expands the scope of Topic 718 to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from nonemployees. ASU 2018-07 also clarifies that Topic 718 does not apply to share-based payments used to effectively provide (1) financing to the issuer or (2) awards granted in conjunction with selling goods or services to customers as part of a contract accounted for under Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). ASU 2018-07 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Accordingly, the Company intends to adopt the provisions of ASU 2018-07 in the quarter beginning January 1, 2019. The Company has not completed its analysis of the impact that the adoption of ASU 2018-07 will have on the Company’s financial statement presentation or disclosures subsequent to adoption.

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, authoritative guidance, if currently adopted, would have a material impact on the Company’s financial statement presentation or disclosures.

3. Acquisition ofHubPages, Inc.Acquisitions

 

On March 13, 2018, the Company and HubPages, together with HP Acquisition Co, Inc. (“HPAC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company incorporated in Delaware on March 13, 2018 in order to facilitate the acquisition of HubPages by9, 2020, the Company entered into an Agreementasset purchase agreement with Petametrics Inc., dba LiftIgniter, a Delaware corporation (“LiftIgniter”), where it purchased substantially all the assets, including the intellectual property and Planexcluding certain accounts receivable, and assumed certain liabilities. The purchase price consisted of: (1) cash payment of Merger, as amended (the “Merger Agreement”), pursuant to which HPAC would merge with and into HubPages, with HubPages continuing as the surviving corporation in the merger and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Merger”). On June 1, 2018, the parties to the Merger Agreement entered into an amendment (the “Amendment”), pursuant to which the parties agreed, among other things, that$184,087 on or before June 15, 2018 the Company would (i) pay directly to counsel for HubPages the legal fees and expenses incurred by HubPagesFebruary 19, 2020, in connection with the transactions contemplated byrepayment of all outstanding indebtedness, (2) at closing a cash payment of $131,202, (3) collections of certain accounts receivable, (4) on the Merger Agreement asfirst anniversary date of the dateclosing issuance of such payment (the “Counsel Payment”); and (ii) deposit into escrow the sumrestricted stock units for an aggregate of (x) $5,000,000 minus (y) the amount of the Counsel Payment. On June 15, 2018, the Company made the requisite payment of $5,000,000 under the Merger Agreement.

On August 23, 2018, the Company acquired all the outstanding shares of HubPages, a Delaware corporation, for total cash consideration of $10,569,904, pursuantup to the Merger. The results of operation of the acquired business and the estimated fair market values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed have been included in the condensed consolidated financial statements as of the acquisition date. The Company acquired HubPages to enhance the user’s experience by increasing content. HubPages is a digital media company that operates a network of 27 premium content channels that act as an open community for writers, explorers, knowledge seekers and conversation starters to connect in an interactive and informative online space. HubPages operates in the United States.

The Company uses the acquisition method of accounting which is based on ASC, Business Combinations (Topic 805), and uses the fair value concepts which requires, among other things, that most assets acquired and liabilities assumed be recognized at their fair values as of the acquisition date. Maven is the accounting acquirer and HubPages merged with Maven’s wholly owned subsidiary HPAC. The condensed consolidated financial statements of Maven for period prior to the Merger are considered to be the historical financial statements of the Company.

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The Company paid cash consideration of $10,000,000 to the stockholders and holders of vested options of HubPages, including a $5,000,000 deposit paid on June 15, 2018, as well as additional cash consideration of $569,904, which consists of legal fees and costs incurred by HubPages, for total cash consideration of $10,569,904. The Company also issued a total of 2,399,997312,500 shares of the Company’s common stock, subject to vesting and a true-up provision (as described in Note 14), to certain key personnel(5) on the second anniversary date of HubPages who agreed to continue their employment with HubPages subsequent to the closing issuance of restricted stock units for an aggregate of up to 312,500 shares of the transaction. The shares issued are for post combination services (see Note 14).Company’s common stock.

 

The Company incurred $95,393 in transaction costs related tocomposition of the acquisition, which primarily consisted of banking, legal, accounting and valuation-related expenses. The acquisition related expenses were recorded in general and administrative expenses in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.preliminary purchase price is as follows:

Cash $315,289 
Indemnity restricted stock units for shares of common stock  500,000 
Total purchase consideration $815,289 

 

The preliminary purchase price allocation resulted in the following amounts being allocated to the assets acquired (cash acquired of $1,537,308 is included in current assets) and liabilities assumed at the closing date of the acquisition based upon their respective fair values as summarized below:

 

Current assets $1,588,096 
Accounts receivable and unbilled receivables  1,033,080 
Other assets  25,812 
Developed technology  6,740,000 
Tradename  268,000 
Goodwill  1,857,663 
Current liabilities  (851,114)
Deferred tax liability  (91,633)
Net assets acquired $10,569,904 
Accounts receivable $37,908 
Developed technology  917,762 
Accounts payable  (53,494)
Unearned revenue  (86,887)
Net assets acquired $815,289 

 

The Company funded the closing of the Merger from the net proceeds from the Series H Preferred Stock financing (as described in Note 13).

The fair value of the intangible assets were determined as follows: developed technology was determined under the income approach; and tradename was determined by employing the relief from royalty approach. The useful life for the intangible assetsdeveloped technology is five years.years (5.0 years).

3. Balance Sheet Components

 

The excesscomponents of purchase price over the fair valuecertain balance sheet amounts assigned to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed represents goodwill from the acquisition. Goodwill is recorded as a non-current asset that is not amortized but is subject to an annual review for impairment. The Company believes the factors that contributed to goodwill include the acquisition of a talented workforce that expands the Company’s expertise and synergies that are specific to the Company’s consolidated business and not available to market participants. No portion of the goodwill will be deductible for tax purposes.

The amounts of HubPages revenue and earnings included in the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations for the period ended September 30, 2018, and the revenue and earnings of the combined entity had the acquisition date been January 1, 2018 and 2017, are as follows:

 

  Revenue  Earnings 
Actual from August 23, 2018 to September 30, 2018 $843,042  $162,550 
Supplemental pro forma from July 1, 2018 to September 30, 2018 (unaudited)  2,250,154   (8,854,343)
Supplemental pro forma from July 1, 2017 to September 30, 2017 (unaudited)  1,296,903   (1,854,412)
Supplemental pro forma from January 1, 2018 to September 30, 2018 (unaudited)  6,001,424   (18,003,676)
Supplemental pro forma from January 1, 2017 to September 30, 2017 (unaudited)  3,095,570   (5,403,026)

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Accounts Receivable – Accounts receivable are presented net of allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance for doubtful accounts as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 was $445,317 and $304,129, respectively.

For

Subscription Acquisition Costs – Subscription acquisition costs include the nine months ended September 30, 2018, supplemental pro forma earnings were adjustedincremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer, paid to exclude $95,393 of acquisition-relatedexternal parties, if it expects to recover those costs. The supplemental pro forma earnings for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 were adjusted for the vesting of restricted stocks awards to HubPages employees in connection with the Merger of $460,100 and $505,400, respectively, and the amortizationcurrent portion of the acquired assetssubscription acquisition costs as of $706,600June 30, 2020 and $772,200,December 31, 2019 was $8,750,230 and $3,142,580, respectively. The noncurrent portion of the subscription acquisition costs as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 was $7,785,479 and $3,417,478, respectively.

 

For the three months ended September 30, 2018, supplemental pro forma earnings were adjusted to exclude $95,393 of acquisition-related costs. The supplemental pro forma earnings for three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 were adjusted for the vesting of restricted stocks awards to HubPages employeesCertain contract amendments resulted in connection with the Merger of $104,600 and $177,200, respectively, and the amortization of the acquired assets by $203,500 and $261,200, respectively.

4. Promissory Notes Receivable

On March 19, 2018, the Company entered into a non-binding letter of intent (the “Letter of Intent”) to acquire Say Media, a media and publishing technology company. Pursuantmodification to the Letter of Intent, Maven loaned Say Media $1,000,000 undersubscription acquisition costs that will be recognized on a secured promissory note dated March 26, 2018 payable on the six month anniversary of the earlier of (i) the termination of the Letter of Intent, or (ii) if Maven and Say Media should execute a definitive agreement (as definedprospective basis in the Letter of Intent),same proportion as the termination of the definitive agreement (such date, the “Maturity Date”). Under the secured promissory note, interest shall accrue at a rate of 5% per annum, with all accrued and unpaid interest payable on the Maturity Date, with prepayment permitted at any time without premium or penalty. In the event of default, interest would accrue at a rate of 10%revenue that has not yet been recognized (further details are provided in Note 11).

 

Additional promissory notes were issued as follows: (1) on July 23, 2018, a secured promissory note in the principal amount of $250,000, with a Maturity Date and interest terms as outlined above; (2) on August 21, 2018, a senior secured promissory note in the principal amount of $322,363, due and payable on February 21, 2019, with interest terms as outlined above; (3) subsequent to the balance sheet date, on November 30, 2018, a senior secured promissory note in the principal amount of $4,322,165 (as of September 30, 2018 the balance under such promissory note was $2,122,691), due and payable on or before the first business day following the earlier of (i) the consummation of the Closing, as defined under the Merger Agreements, as described below, and (ii) February 21, 2019, with interest terms as outlined above; totaling $3,695,054 in promissory notes as of September 30, 2018.

On December 12, 2018 pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger entered into on October 12, 2018 and amended on October 17, 2018 (collectively the “Merger Agreements”), the Company settled the promissory notes receivable by effectively forgiving $1,166,556 of the balance due as of September 30, 2018 as reflected in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. The remaining balance due under the promissory notes receivable of $2,528,498 as of September 30, 2018 was reflected as an advance against the purchase price. See Note 16 and 18 for additional information concerning this transaction.

5. Property and Equipment

Property and equipmentPlatform Development – Platform development costs as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 are summarized as follows:

 

  September 30, 2018  December 31, 2017 
Office equipment and computers $74,369  $46,309 
Furniture and fixtures  22,419   21,220 
   96,788   67,529 
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization  (32,200)  (12,859)
Net property and equipment costs $64,588  $54,670 

Depreciation expense for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 was $7,096 and $2,663, respectively. Depreciation expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 was $19,341 and $7,990, respectively. Depreciation expense is included in research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses, as appropriate, in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

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6. Platform Development

Platform development costs as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 are summarized as follows:

  September 30, 2018  December 31, 2017 
Platform development costs $6,314,528  $3,145,308 
Less accumulated amortization  (1,783,532)   (512,251) 
Net platform development costs $4,530,996  $2,633,057 
  As of 
  June 30, 2020  December 31, 2019 
Platform development $13,609,436  $10,678,692 
Less accumulated amortization  (6,744,631)  (4,785,973)
Net platform development $6,864,805  $5,892,719 

 

A summary of platform development cost activity for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182020 and year ended December 31, 2019 is as follows:

 

  As of 
  June 30, 2020  December 31, 2019 
Platform development beginning of period $10,678,692  $6,833,900 
Payroll-based costs capitalized during the period  2,061,081   2,537,402 
Total capitalized costs  12,739,773   9,371,302 
Stock-based compensation  869,663   1,307,390 
Platform development end of period $13,609,436  $10,678,692 

Platform development at January 1, 2018 $3,145,308 
Costs capitalized during the period:    
Payroll-based costs  1,660,331 
Stock based compensation costs  1,508,889 
Platform development at September 30, 2018 $6,314,528 

Amortization expense for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 was $1,037,834 and $623,819, respectively.

 

Amortization expense for the platform development costssix months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 was $1,958,658 and $1,211,289, respectively.

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Intangible Assets – Intangible assets subject to amortization consisted of the following:

  As of June 30, 2020  As of December 31, 2019 
  

 

Carrying Amount

  Accumulated Amortization  Net Carrying Amount  

 

Carrying Amount

  Accumulated Amortization  Net Carrying Amount 
Developed technology $20,055,866  $(6,391,034) $13,664,832  $19,138,104  $(4,090,359) $15,047,745 
Noncompete agreement  480,000   (372,000)  108,000   480,000   (252,000)  228,000 
Trade name  3,328,000   (364,042)  2,963,958   3,328,000   (224,745)  3,103,255 
Subscriber relationships  73,458,799   (10,846,438)  62,612,361   73,458,799   (3,587,837)  69,870,962 
Advertiser relationships  2,240,000   (213,577)  2,026,423   2,240,000   (94,635)  2,145,365 
Database  1,140,000   (341,183)  798,817   1,140,000   (151,183)  988,817 
Subtotal amortizable intangible assets  100,702,665   (18,528,274)  82,174,391   99,784,903   (8,400,759)  91,384,144 
Website domain name  20,000   -   20,000   20,000   -   20,000 
Total intangible assets $100,722,665  $(18,528,274) $82,194,391  $99,804,903  $(8,400,759) $91,404,144 

Amortization expense for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182020 and 2017,2019 was $488,565$5,094,791 and $173,000,$834,900, respectively. Amortization expense for the platform development costs for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182020 and 2017,2019 was $1,271,281$10,127,515 and $226,000, respectively. Amortization expense for platform development is included in cost of revenues in$1,669,800. No impairment charges have been recorded during the condensed consolidated statements of operations.six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019.

 

7. Intangible Assets

Intangible assets subject to amortization as of September 30, 2018 consisted of the following:

  September 30, 2018 
  Carrying Amount  Accumulated Amortization  Net Carrying Amount 
Developed technology $6,740,000  $(141,323) $6,598,677 
Tradename  268,000   (5,619)  262,381 
Website domain name  20,000   -   20,000 
Total intangible assets $7,028,000  $(146,942) $6,881,058 

Intangible assets subject to amortization were recorded as part of the Company’s business acquisition of HubPages for the developed technology and tradename. The website domain name has an infinite life and is not being amortized. Amortization expense for three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018 was $146,942.

As of September 30, 2018, estimated total amortization expense for the next five years related to the Company’s intangible assets subject to amortization is as follows:

September 30,    
2019 $1,401,600 
2020  1,401,600 
2021  1,401,600 
2022  1,401,600 
2023  1,254,658 
  $6,861,058 

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8. Goodwill4. Leases

 

The changes inCompany’s leases are primarily comprised of real estate leases for the carryinguse of office space, with certain lease arrangements that contain equipment. The Company determines whether an arrangement contains a lease at inception. Lease assets and liabilities are recognized upon commencement of the lease based on the present value of goodwill during the nine months ended September 30, 2018future minimum lease payments over the lease term. The lease term includes options to extend the lease when it is as follows:reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. Substantially all of the leases are long-term operating leases for facilities with fixed payment terms between 1.5 and 12.8 years.

 

  September 30, 2018 
Goodwill at January 1, 2018 $- 
Goodwill acquired in acquisition of HubPages  1,857,663 
Goodwill at September 30, 2018 $1,857,663 

The table below presents supplemental information related to operating leases:

Six Months Ended June 30, 2020   
Operating cash flows for operating leases $1,349,213 
Noncash lease liabilities arising from obtaining operating leased assets during the period $16,617,790 
Weighted-average remaining lease term  11.13 years 
Weighted-average discount rate  13.46%

 

The Company performsgenerally utilizes its annual impairment testincremental borrowing rate based on information available at the reporting unit level, whichcommencement of the lease in determining the present value of future payments since the implicit rate for most of the Company’s leases is not readily determinable.

Variable lease expense includes rental increases that are not fixed, such as those based on amounts paid to the operating segmentlessor based on cost or one level belowconsumption, such as maintenance and utilities.

Operating lease costs recognized for the operating segment. Management determined that the Company would be aggregated into a single reporting unit for purposes of performing the impairment test for goodwill. For the ninethree months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018, there is no change in goodwill2020 and no impairment. The impairment evaluation process includes, amongst other things, making assumptions about variables, such as revenue growth, including long-term growth rates, profitability2019 were $1,062,181 and discount rates.$130,951, respectively. Operating lease costs for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 were $2,100,085 and $261,903, respectively.

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9. Accrued Expenses

Accrued expensesMaturities of operating lease liabilities as of SeptemberJune 30, 2018 and December 31, 20172020 are summarized as follows:

 

  September 30, 2018  December 31, 2017 
General accrued expenses $175,140  $150,136 
Accrued payroll and related taxes  191,425   - 
Accrued publisher expenses  609,525   - 
Other accrued expenses  52,082   - 
Total accrued expenses $1,028,172  $150,136 
Years Ending December 31,   
2020 (remaining six months of the year) $1,839,773 
2021  3,804,853 
2022  3,525,158 
2023  3,528,696 
2024  3,526,406 
Thereafter  27,563,572 
Minimum lease payments  43,788,458 
Less imputed interest  (22,362,451)
Present value of operating lease liabilities $21,426,007 
Current portion of operating lease liabilities $1,506,992 
Long-term portion of operating lease liabilities  19,919,015 
Total operating lease liabilities $21,426,007 

 

10. Liquidating Damages PayableFuture minimum lease payments under operating leases as of December 31, 2019, were as follows:

 

     Payments due by Year 
  Total  2020  2021  2022  2023  2024  Thereafter 
Operating leases $6,132,252  $2,579,924  $685,111  $472,084  $486,247  $500,834  $1,408,052 

AsFurther details as of September 30, 2018, the Company recorded $2,667,798 as Liquidated Damages in itsdate these condensed consolidated balance sheets. The components offinancial statements were issued or were available to be issued are provided under the Liquidating Damages consist of the following.

heading Leases

Registration Rights Damages– On September 28, 2018, the Company determined that the registration statement covering the Series H Preferred Stock would not be probable of being declared effective within the requisite time frame, therefore, the Company would be liable for the maximum Liquidating Damages in connection with the Series H Preferred Stock issuance, with any related interest provisions (see Note 13).

 

5. Line of Credit

Public Information Failure DamagesFastPay Credit Facility – On September 28,February 27, 2020, the Company entered into a financing and security agreement with FPP Finance LLC (“FastPay”), pursuant to which FastPay extended a $15,000,000 line of credit for working capital purposes secured by a first lien on all of the Company’s cash and accounts receivable and a second lien on all other assets. Borrowings under the facility bear interest at the LIBOR Rate plus 8.50% and have a final maturity of February 6, 2022. The balance outstanding as of June 30, 2020 was $3,243,882. As of the date these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued or were available to be issued the balance outstanding was approximately $4.9 million.

SallyPort Credit Facility – During November 2018, the Company determined thatentered into a factoring note agreement with Sallyport Commercial Finance, LLC (“Sallyport”) to increase working capital through accounts receivable factoring. As of December 31, 2019, Sallyport collected accounts receivable in excess of the public information requirements in connection withbalance outstanding under the Series H Preferred Stock (as further described below) would not be probable of being satisfied within the requisite time frame,note, therefore, the Company would be liablewas due $626,532 from Sallyport which was reflected within accounts receivable on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. Effective January 30, 2020, the Company’s factoring facility with Sallyport was closed and funds were no longer available for the maximum Liquidating Damages in connection with the Series H Preferred Stock issuance, with any related interest provisions (see Note 13).advance.

 

11.6. Fair Value Measurements

 

The Company estimates the fair value of financial instruments using available market information and valuation methodologies the Company believes to be appropriate for these purposes. Considerable judgment and a high degree of subjectivity are involved in developing these estimates and, accordingly, they are not necessarily indicative of amounts the Company would realize upon disposition.

The fair value hierarchy consists of three broad levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value, which are described below:

Level 1 Quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;
Level 2 Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are either directly or indirectly observable; and
Level 3 Assets or liabilities for which fair value is based on valuation models with significant unobservable pricing inputs and which result in the use of management estimates.

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The Company accounts for certain warrants (as described under the heading Common Stock Warrants in Note 9) and the embedded conversion features of the 8% Promissory Notes and 10%12% senior convertible debentures (the “12% Convertible Debentures (both as described in Note 12)Debentures”) as derivative liabilities, which requires thatrequired the Company to carry such amount inamounts on its condensed consolidated balance sheets as a liability at fair value, as adjusted at each reporting period-end.

 

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The Company determined, due to their greater complexity, prior to the reset provision (as described in Note 12), the fair value of the L2 Warrants (as described in Note 14) and the embedded conversion feature with respect to the 8% Promissory Notes, as of the date of repayment, and 10% Convertible Debentures, as of the date of conversion, using appropriate valuation models derived through consultations with the Company’s independent valuation firm. The Company determined the fair value of the Strome Warrants (as described in Note 14) utilizing the Black-Scholes valuation model as further described below. After the reset provision, the Company determined the fair value of the L2 Warrants utilizing the Black-Scholes valuation model as further described below since such valuation model meets the fair value measurement objective based on the substantive characteristics of the instrument. These warrants and the embedded conversion features are classified as Level 3 within the fair-value hierarchy. Inputs to the valuation model include the Company’s publicly-quotedpublicly quoted stock price, the stock volatility, the risk-free interest rate, the remaining life of the warrants, notes and debentures, the exercise price or conversion price, and the dividend rate. The Company uses the closing stock price of its common stock over an appropriate period of time to compute stock volatility. These inputs are summarized as follows:

 

L2 WarrantsWarrant Derivative Liabilities – Valuation model: Black-Scholes option-pricing; expected life: 4.69 years; risk-free interest rate: 2.94%; volatility factor: 120.50%; dividend rate: 0.0%; transaction date closing market price: $0.61; exercise price: $0.50.

 

Strome Warrants – ValuationThe following table presents the assumptions used for the warrant derivative liabilities under the Black-Scholes option-pricing model: Black-Scholes option-pricing; expected life: 4.71 years; risk-free interest rate: 2.94%; volatility factor: 120.34%; dividend rate: 0.0%; transaction date closing market price: $0.61; exercise price: $0.50.

  As of June 30, 2020  As of December 31, 2019 
  Strome Warrants  B. Riley Warrants  Strome Warrants  B. Riley Warrants 
Expected life  2.96   5.30   3.45   5.80 
Risk-free interest rate  0.18%  0.29%  1.62%  1.76%
Volatility factor  138.50%  135.13%  144.54%  127.63%
Dividend rate  0%  0%  0%  0%
Transaction date closing market price $0.65  $0.65  $0.80  $0.80 
Exercise price $0.50  $1.00  $0.50  $1.00 

 

The following table represents the carrying amount,amounts and change in valuation and roll-forward of activity for the Company’s warrants accounted for as a derivative liability and classified within Level 3 of the fair-value hierarchy forhierarchy:

  

As of and for the Six Months Ended

June 30, 2020

  

As of and for the Six Months Ended

June 30, 2019

 
  Carry Amount at Beginning of Period  Change in Valuation  Carrying Amount at End of Period  Carry Amount at Beginning of Period  Change in Valuation  Carrying Amount at End of Period 
L2 Warrants $-  $-  $-  $418,214  $173,181  $591,395 
Strome Warrants  1,036,687   (260,345)  776,342   587,971   243,464   831,435 
B. Riley Warrants  607,513   (122,150)  485,363   358,050   125,125   483,175 
Total $1,644,200  $(382,495) $1,261,705  $1,364,235  $541,770  $1,906,005 

For the ninethree months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018:2020 and 2019, the change in valuation of warrant derivative liabilities recognized as other income (expense) on the condensed consolidated statements of operations was $243,276 and ($166,075), respectively. For the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, the change in valuation of warrant derivative liabilities recognized as other income (expense) on the condensed consolidated statements of operations, as described in the above table, was $382,495 and ($541,770), respectively.

  

L2

Warrants

  

Strome

Warrants

  

Total

Derivative

Liabilities

 
Carrying amount at January 1, 2018 $-  $-  $- 
Issuance of warrants on June 11, 2018  312,749   -   312,749 
Issuance of warrants on June 15, 2018  288,149   1,344,648   1,632,797 
Change in fair value  (55,026)  (577,199)  (632,225)
Carrying amount at September 30, 2018 $545,872  $767,449  $1,313,321 

Embedded Derivative Liabilities

 

The following table represents the carrying amount valuation and a roll-forward of activity for the embedded conversion feature liability with respect tooption features, buy-in features, and default remedy features under the 8% Promissory Notes and 10%12% Convertible Debentures accounted for as aembedded derivative liabilityliabilities and classified within Level 3 of the fair-value hierarchy forwere $8,958,000 and $13,501,000 as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively.

For the ninethree months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018:

  8% Promissory Notes  10% Convertible Debentures  Series G Conversion Feature  

Total

Derivative Liabilities

 
Carrying amount at January 1, 2018 $-  $-  $72,563  $72,563 
Recognition of conversion feature on June 11, 2018  78,432   -   -   78,432 
Recognition of conversion feature on June 15, 2018  81,169   471,002   -   552,171 
Derivative liability change upon extinguishment of debt  (29,860)  (1,042,000)  -   (1,071,860)
Change in fair value  (129,741)  570,998   (72,563)  368,694 
Carrying amount at September 30, 2018 $-  $-  $-  $- 

The2020 and 2019, the change in valuation of embedded derivative liabilities recognized inas other income (expense) on the condensed consolidated statements of operations as (expense)/income forwas $2,922,000 and ($1,396,000), respectively. For the three months and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20172020 and 2019, the change in valuation of embedded derivative liabilities recognized as other income (expense) on the condensed consolidated statements of operations was $(3,311)$4,543,000 and $6,939,($3,779,000), respectively.

 

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In addition, the carrying amount of the embedded conversion feature with respect to the Series G Preferred Stock (as described in Note 13) as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 was $29,735 (no further fair value required at each period-end as this is not considered a derivative liability) and $72,563, respectively.

The Company did not have any derivative liabilities as of or during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2017.

12. Notes Payable7. Convertible Debt

 

Officer Promissory Notes

In May 2018, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer began advancing funds to the Company in order to meet minimum operating needs. Such advances were made pursuant to promissory notes that were due on demand, with interest at the minimum applicable federal rate, which was approximately 2.51% at September 30, 2018. At September 30, 2018, the total principal amount of advances outstanding, including accrued interest of $6,853, was $966,389.

8% Promissory Notes12% Convertible Debentures

 

On June 6,During 2018 and 2019, the Company had various financings through the issuance of the 12% Convertible Debentures which were due and payable on December 31, 2020. Interest accrued at the rate of 12% per annum, payable on the earlier of conversion or December 31, 2020. The Company’s obligations under the 12% Convertible Debentures are secured by a security agreement, dated as of October 18, 2018, by and among the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with L2 Capital, LLC (“L2”), pursuantand each investor thereto. The 12% Convertible Debentures were subject to which L2 purchased from the Company areceiving stockholder approval to increase its authorized shares of common stock before conversion. Principal on the 12% Convertible Debentures were convertible promissory note (the “8% Promissory Notes”), issuable in tranches, in the aggregate principal amount of $1,681,668 for an aggregate purchase price of $1,500,000, with interest at 8% per annum and the maturity date for each tranche funded is seven months from the date of issuance. The 8% Promissory Notes required an increasing premium for any prepayment from 20% for the first 90 days to 38% after 181 days, an increased conversion rate to a 40% discount if in default, a default rate of 18% plus a repayment premium of 40%, plus 5% for each additional default, and liquidated damages in addition to the default rates, ranging from 30% to 100% for certain breaches of the 8% Promissory Notes, subject to mandatory prepayment, including the above described premiums, equal to 50% of new funds raised by the Company in excess of $11,600,000 in the private placement of its securities.

On June 11, 2018, a first tranche of $570,556, which included $15,000 of L2’s legal expenses, was purchased for a price of $500,000, reflecting an original issue discount and debt discount of $70,556. On June 15, 2018, a second tranche of $555,556 was purchased for a price of $500,000, an original issue discount of $55,556. In connection with the first and second tranche, the Company issued warrants to L2, exercisable for 216,120 and 210,438into shares of the Company’s common stock, at an exercise pricethe option of $1.30 and $1.20 per share, respectively (the “L2 Warrants”).

L2 had the sole discretion to purchase additional promissory notes, in certain circumstances, which expired. The promissory notes and any accrued but unpaid interest were convertible into common stock,investor at any time prior to December 31, 2020, at either a per share conversion price equalof $0.33 (with respect to the lowest volume weighted average price (“VWAP”) during the ten trading day period ending on the issue date of the note. As a result of the closing of the 10% Debenture offering on June 15, 2018 (refer to 10%12% Convertible Debentures below)issued in 2018) or $0.40 (with respect to the 12% Convertible Debentures issued in 2019), L2 no longer has the rightsubject to invest in the Company under the securities purchase agreement.adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends and similar transactions, and certain beneficial ownership blocker provisions.

 

The warrants included a reset provision which provided that the number of12% Convertible Debentures were issued and convertible into shares issuable under the warrants shall increase by the quotient of 50% of the face value of the respective tranche and 110% multiplied by the VWAP of the Company’s common stock as follows: (1) gross proceeds of $13,091,528 on the trading day immediately prior to the funding dateDecember 12, 2018, convertible into 39,671,297 shares; (2) gross proceeds of $1,696,000 on March 18, 2019, convertible into 4,240,000 shares; (3) gross proceeds of $318,000 on March 27, 2019, convertible into 795,000 shares; and (4) gross proceeds of $100,000 on April 8, 2019, convertible into 250,000 shares. Upon issuance of the respective tranche (see Note 14).

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Thevarious financings, the Company accounted for the warrants and embedded conversion features of the promissory notesoption feature, buy-in feature, and default remedy feature as embedded derivative liabilities, as the Company was required to adjust downward (a reset provision) the exercise price of the warrants (floor price of $0.50 per share) and the conversion price of the promissory note under certain circumstances, which required the Company to carry such amounts inamount on its condensed consolidated balance sheets as liabilitiesa liability at fair value, as adjusted at each period-end. Upon issuance, the Company recognized a derivative liability of $760,499 ($600,898 for the warrants and $159,601 for the embedded conversion feature)period-end (see Note 6). The Company also incurred additional debt issuance cost. The embedded derivative liability wasliabilities and debt issuance cost were treated as a debt discount and amortized over the term of the debt.

The following table summarizes the convertible debt:

  As of June 30, 2020  As of December 31, 2019 
  Principal Balance (including accrued interest)  Unamortized Discount and Debt Issuance Costs  Carrying Value  Principal Balance (including accrued interest)  Unamortized Discount and Debt Issuance Costs  Carrying Value 
12% Convertible Debentures, due on December 31, 2020 $18,146,745  $(1,996,821) $16,149,924  $17,119,571  $(3,880,609) $13,238,962 

As of December 31, 2020, there was no longer any principal or accrued but unpaid interest outstanding under the 12% Convertible Debentures. Certain holders converted the debt and upon extinguishmentinto shares of the debtCompany’s common stock and certain holders were paid in cash (further details are provided under the Company recognized a gain for the embedded conversion feature derivative liability of $129,741 for the changeheading 12% Convertible Debentures in fair value during the three months ended September 30, 2018 (see Note 11)13).

8. Long-term Debt

12% Second Amended Senior Secured Note

 

DuringBelow is a summary of the three monthsvarious amended and nine months endedrestated notes, as well as various amendments thereto, to the 12% senior secured note that was originally issued on June 10, 2019, for gross proceeds of $20,000,000, due July 31, 2019. The transactions leading up to the 12% second amended and restated note that is outstanding as of June 30, 2020 consisted of:

Amended and restated note issued on June 14, 2019, where the Company received gross proceeds of $48,000,000, together with the $20,000,000 gross proceeds received on June 10, 2019 for total gross proceeds of $68,000,000, due June 14, 2022;
First amendment to the amended and restated note issued on August 27, 2019, where the Company received gross proceeds of $3,000,000;

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Second amendment to the amended and restated note issued on February 27, 2020, where the Company issued a $3,000,000 letter of credit to the Company’s landlord for leased premises; and
Second amended and restated note issued on March 24, 2020, where the Company was permitted to enter into a 15.0% delayed draw term note, in the aggregate principal amount of $12,000,000.

Collectively the amended and restated notes and amendments thereto are referred to as the 12% Second Amended Senior Secured Note, with all borrowings collateralized by substantially all assets of the Company. Pursuant to the 12% Second Amended Senior Secured Note, interest on amounts outstanding with respect to (i) interest that was payable on March 31, 2020 and June 30, 2020, and (ii) at the Company’s option, with the consent of requisite purchasers, interest that was payable on September 30, 2018,2020 and December 31, 2020, in lieu of the payment in cash of all or any portion of the interest due on such dates, would be payable in-kind in arrears on the last day of $56,857 and $71,218, respectively, was chargedsuch applicable fiscal quarter (further details as of the date these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued or were available to expense, which consisted of $40,073 and $50,232, respectively, frombe issued are provided under the accretion of original issue discount and debt discount and $16,784 and $20,986, respectively, from the accrual of interest payable.heading 12% Second Amended Senior Secured Note in Note 13).

 

During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018, $241,682 and $309,211, respectively, was charged to interest expense from the amortization of debt discounts.

On September 6, 2018, the Company repaid the 8% Promissory Notes. The total amount borrowed was $1,000,000, and under the terms of the loan agreement the Company repaid $1,351,334 to satisfy the debt obligation. A loss on extinguishment of the debt in the amount of $722,619 was recorded upon repayment which is reflected in interest expense during the three months ended September 30, 2018.

10% Convertible DebenturesDelayed Draw Term Note

 

On June 15, 2018,March 24, 2020, the Company entered into a securities15% delayed draw term note (the “Delayed Draw Term Note”) pursuant to the second amended and restated note purchase agreement, with four accredited investors to purchase an aggregate of $4,775,000 in principal amount of the Company’s 10% Convertible Debenture, due on June 30, 2019 (the “10% Convertible Debentures”). Included in the aggregate total of $4,775,000 is $1,025,000 from two of the Company’s executives. The 10% Convertible Debentures were convertible into an aggregate of 3,698,110 shares of the Company’s common stock based on a conversion price of $1.2912 per share. The 10% Convertible Debentures were interest bearing at the rate of 10% per annum, that was payable in cash semi-annually on December 31 and June 30, beginning on December 31, 2018. Upon the occurrence of certain events, the holders of the 10% Convertible Debentures were also entitled to receive an additional payment, if necessary, to provide the holders with a 20% annual internal rate of return on their investment. The Company had the option, under certain circumstances, to redeem some or all of the outstanding principal amount for an amount equal to the principal amount (plus accrued but unpaid interest thereon) or the option to cause the holders to convert their debt at a certain conversion price, otherwise, the Company was not permitted to prepay any portion of the principal amount without the prior written consent of the debt holders.

Additionally, pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into in connection with the purchase agreement, the Company agreed to register the shares issuable upon conversion of the 10% Convertible Debentures for resale by the holders of the 10% Convertible Debentures. The Company had committed to file the registration statement by no later than 45 days after June 15, 2018 and to cause the registration statement to become effective by no later than 120 days after June 15, 2018 (or, in the event of a full review by the staff of the SEC, 150 days following June 15, 2018). The registration rights agreement provided for Liquidated Damages upon the occurrence of certain events up to a maximum amount of 6% of the aggregate amount invested by such holders. Liquidated Damages were waived as part of the roll-over of the 10% Convertible Debentures into Series H Preferred Stock.

The securities purchase agreement also included a provision that required the Company to maintain its periodic filings with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements under Rule 144(c) of the Securities Act. If the Company failed for any reason to satisfy the current public information requirement, then the Company would have been obligated to pay to each holder a cash payment equal to 1.0% of the amount invested as partial Liquidated Damages, up to a maximum of six months. Such payments were subject to interest at the rate of 1.0% per month until paid in full. The 10% Convertible Debentures was rolled over into Series H Preferred Stock before the due date for the commencement of the Liquidated Damages.

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Upon issuance, the Company accounted for an embedded conversion feature of the 10% Convertible Debentures as a derivative liability totaling $471,002, as the Company was required to adjust downward the conversion price of the debt under certain circumstances, which required that the Company carry such amount in its consolidated balance sheet as a liability at fair value, as adjusted at each period-end. The derivative liability was treated as a debt discount and amortized over the term of the debt and upon extinguishment of the debt the Company recognized a loss for the embedded conversion feature derivative liability of $570,998 for the change in fair value during the three months ended September 30, 2018 (see Note 11).

During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018, interest of $49,076 and $69,920, respectively, was charged to expense from the accrual of interest payable.

During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018, $45,860 and $64,452, respectively, was charged to interest expense from the amortization of debt discounts.

On August 10, 2018, the 10% Convertible Debentures with an aggregate principal amount of $4,775,000 plus obligations of $955,000 were converted into 5,730 shares of Series H Preferred Stock. A loss on extinguishment of the debt in the amount of $249,630 was recorded upon conversion which is reflected in interest expense during the three months ended September 30, 2018.

13. Preferred Stock

The Company has the authority to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.01 par value per share, consisting of 10,270 authorized shares originally designated as series A through E with designations subsequently eliminated, 2,000 authorized shares designated as “Series F Convertible Preferred Stock,” none of which are outstanding, 1,800 authorized shares designated as “Series G Convertible Preferred Stock” (as further described below), of which 168.496 shares are outstanding as of September 30, 2018, and 23,000 authorized shares designated as “Series H Convertible Preferred Stock” (as further described below), of which 19,399.25 shares are outstanding as of September 30, 2018.$12,000,000.

 

Series G Convertible Preferred Stock

On May 30, 2000,March 24, 2020, the Company sold 1,800 sharesdrew down $6,913,865 under the Delayed Draw Term Note, and after payment of commitment and funding fees paid of $793,109, and other of its Series G Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series G Preferred Stock”)legal fees and warrants, which expired on November 29, 2003, to purchase 63,000 sharesexpenses that were incurred, the Company received net proceeds of common stock to four investors.$6,000,000. The Series G Preferred Stock has a stated value of $1,000 per sharenet proceeds were used for working capital and is convertible into shares of common stock,general corporate purposes. Additional borrowings under the Delayed Draw Term Note requested by the Company may be made at the option of the holder,purchasers, subject to certain limitations. The Series G Preferred Stockconditions. Up to $8,000,000 in principal amount under the note was initially convertible into common stock at a conversion price equal to 85%originally due on March 31, 2021. Interest on amounts outstanding under the note was payable in-kind in arrears on the last day of each fiscal quarter (further details as of the lowest sale price of the common stock over the five trading days preceding the date of the conversion, subject to a maximum conversion price of $16.30, adjusted for a 1-for-10 reverse stock split effective July 26, 2007. The Company may require holders to convert all (but not less than all) of the Series G Preferred Stock at any time after November 30, 2003these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued or buy out all outstanding shares of Series G Preferred Stock at the then conversion price. Holders of Series G Preferred Stock are not entitled to dividends and have no voting rights, unless required by law or with respect to certain matters relating to the Series G Preferred Stock.

Prior to November 2001, 1,631.504 of the initial 1,800 shares of Series G Preferred Stock were converted into the Company’s common stock by the holders thereof. No conversions have taken place since November 2001. The remaining 168.496 shares continueavailable to be outstanding.

Upon a changeissued are provided under the heading Delayed Draw Term Note in control, sale of or similar transaction, as defined in the Certificate of Designation for the Series G Preferred Stock, the holder of the Series G Preferred Stock has the option to deem such transaction as a liquidation and may redeem their 168.496 shares at the liquidation value of $1,000 per share, or an aggregate amount of $168,496. The sale of all the assets of the Company on June 28, 2007 triggered the redemption option. As such redemption was not in the control of the Company, the Series G Preferred Stock has been accounted for as if it was redeemable preferred stock and is classified in the condensed consolidated balance sheets as a mezzanine obligation between liabilities and stockholders’ equity.

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Series H Convertible Preferred Stock

On August 10, 2018, the Company closed on a securities purchase agreement (the “Securities Purchase Agreement”) with certain accredited investors, pursuant to which the Company issued an aggregate of 19,399.25 shares of Series H Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series H Preferred Stock”) at a stated value of $1,000, initially convertible into 58,785,606 shares of the Company’s common stock, at the option of the holder subject to certain limitations, at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.33 per share (the “Conversion Price”), for aggregate gross proceeds of $19,399,250. Of the shares of Series H Preferred Stock issued, 5,730 shares were issued upon conversion of an aggregate principal amount of $4,775,000, plus prepayment obligations of $955,000, of the 10% Convertible Debentures issued by the Company on June 15, 2018 to certain accredited investors, including 1,200 shares of Series H Preferred Stock issued to Heckman Maven Fund L.P. (affiliated with James Heckman, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer), and 30 shares of Series H Preferred Shares issued to Josh Jacobs, the Company’s President.

B. Riley FBR, Inc. (“B. Riley FBR”) is a registered broker-dealer owned by B. Riley Financial, Inc., a diversified publicly traded financial services company (“B. Riley”), which acted as placement agent for the Series H Preferred Stock financing. In consideration for its services as placement agent, the Company paid B. Riley FBR a cash fee of $575,000 (including a previously paid retainer of $75,000) and issued to B. Riley FBR 669.25 shares (stated value of $1,000 per share) of Series H Preferred Stock. In addition, entities affiliated with B. Riley FBR purchased 5,592 shares of Series H Preferred Stock in the financing (total issuance cost of $1,194,546).

The terms of Series H Preferred Stock and the number of shares of common stock issuable is adjustable in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, combinations of shares and similar transactions. In addition, if at any time prior to the nine month anniversary of the closing date, the Company sells or grants any option or right to purchase or issues any shares of common stock, or securities convertible into shares of common stock, with net proceeds in excess of $1,000,000 in the aggregate, entitling any person to acquire shares of common stock at an effective price per share that is lower than the then Conversion Price (such lower price, the “Base Conversion Price”), then the Conversion Price shall be reduced to equal the Base Conversion Price. All the shares of Series H Preferred Stock shall automatically convert into shares of common stock on the fifth anniversary of the closing date at the then Conversion Price.

In addition, if at any time the Company grants, issues or sells any common stock equivalents or rights to purchase stock, warrants, securities or other property pro rata to the record holders of any class of shares of common stock (the “Purchase Rights”), then a holder of the Series H Preferred Stock will be entitled to acquire the aggregate Purchase Rights which the holder could have acquired if the holder had held the number of shares of common stock acquirable upon complete conversion of such holder’s Series H Preferred Stock immediately before the date on which a record is taken for the grant, issuance or sale of such Purchase Rights, subject to certain conditions, adjustments and limitations.

Pursuant to the registration rights agreement entered into on August 10, 2018 in connection with the Securities Purchase Agreement, the Company agreed to register the shares issuable upon conversion of the Series H Preferred Stock for resale by the holders. The Company committed to file the registration statement by no later than 75 days after the closing date and to cause the registration statement to become effective, in general, by no later than 120 days after the closing date (or, in the event of a full review by the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), 150 days following the closing date). The registration rights agreement provides for a cash payment equal to 1.0% per month of the amount invested as partial liquidated damages upon the occurrence of certain events, on each monthly anniversary, payable within 7 days of such event, up to a maximum amount of 6.0% of the aggregate amount invested, subject to interest at 12.0% per annum, accruing daily, until paid in full. The Company recognized $1,347,254 of Liquidating Damages during the three months ended September 30, 2018, with respect to its registration rights agreement (see Note 10)13).

The Securities Purchase Agreement included a provision that requires the Company to maintain its periodic filings with the SEC in order to satisfy the Public Information Failure Payments requirements under Rule 144(c) of the Securities Act. If the Company fails for any reason to satisfy the current public information requirement after 6 months of the closing date, then the Company will be obligated to pay to each holder a cash payment equal to 1.0% of the aggregate amount invested for each 30-day period, or pro rata portion thereof, as partial liquidated damages per month, up to a maximum of 6 months, subject to interest at the rate of 1.0% per month until paid in full. The Company recognized $1,305,544 of Liquidating Damages during the three months ended September 30, 2018, with respect to its public information requirements (see Note 10).

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During the three months ended September 30, 2018, in connection with the 19,399.25 Series H Preferred Stock issuance, the Company recorded a beneficial conversion feature in the amount of $18,045,496 for the underlying common shares since the nondetachable conversion feature was in-the-money (the Conversion Price of $0.33 was lower than the Company’s common stock trading price of $0.86) at the issuance date. The beneficial conversion feature was recognized as a deemed dividend.

 

Series I Convertible Preferred StockPayroll Protection Program Loan

Information with respect to Series I Convertible Preferred Stock is provided in Note 18.

 

Series J Convertible Preferred StockOn April 6, 2020, the Company entered into a note agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. under the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) in the principal amount of $5,702,725 pursuant to Title 1 of the CARES Act (the “PPP Loan”).

 

InformationThe PPP Loan proceeds were used to pay for payroll costs, including salaries, commissions, and similar compensation, group health care benefits, and paid leaves; rent; utilities; and interest on certain other outstanding debt. The amount that will be forgiven will be calculated in part with respectreference to Series J Convertible Preferred Stock is provided in Note 18.the Company’s full time headcount during the 24 week period following the funding of the PPP Loan.

 

14.The note is scheduled to mature on April 6, 2022. The interest rate on the note is a fixed rate of 0.98% per annum. To the extent that the amounts owed under the PPP Loan, or a portion of them, are not forgiven, the Company will be required to make principal and interest payments in monthly installments.

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The following table summarizes the long-term debt:

  As of June 30, 2020  As of December 31, 2019 
  Principal Balance (including accrued interest)  Unamortized Discount and Debt Issuance Costs  Carrying Value  Principal Balance (including accrued interest)  Unamortized Discount and Debt Issuance Costs  Carrying Value 
12% Second Amended Senior Secured Note, as amended, due on December 31, 2022 $52,995,840  $(4,718,958) $48,276,882  $49,921,345  $(5,911,600) $44,009,745 
Delayed Draw Term Note, as amended, due on March 31, 2022  7,193,956   (783,313)  6,410,643   -   -   - 
Payroll Protection Program Loan, scheduled to mature on April 6, 2022  5,702,725   -   5,702,725   -   -   - 
Total $65,892,521  $(5,502,271) $60,390,250  $49,921,345  $(5,911,600) $44,009,745 

9. Stockholders’ Equity

 

Common Stock

 

The Company has the authority to issue 100,000,0001,000,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.01 par value per share.

On January 4, 2018, the Company issued an aggregate of 1,200,000 shares of its common stock to an investor, Strome Mezzanine Fund LP (“Strome”), in a private placement at a price of $2.50 per share. The Company received gross proceeds of $3,000,000 from the private placement, which was received prior to December 31, 2017, and was therefore classifiedshare (further details as restricted cash and as a private placement advance in the consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2017. Upon completion of the private placement on January 4, 2018, the fundsdate these condensed consolidated financial statements were reclassified to cash and stockholders’ equity.

In connection with the January 4, 2018 closing of the private placement, MDB, as the placement agent, was entitled to receive 60,000 shares of the Company’s common stock (presented as “Common Stockissued or were available to be Issued” within stockholders’ equity) valued at $150,000 (value based on private placement priceissued are provided under the heading Amendment to Certificate of $2.50 per share). In addition, MDB received warrants to purchase 60,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $2.50 per share (refer to Common Stock Warrants below).

Pursuant to the registration rights agreement entered into on January 4, 2018 with the investor, the Company agreed to register for resale the shares of common stock purchased pursuant to the private placement. The Company also committed to register the 60,000 shares issued to MDB. The Company committed to file the registration statement no later than 200 days after the closing and to cause the registration statement to become effective no later than the earlier of (i) 7 business days after the SEC informs the Company that no review of the registration statement will be made or (ii) when the SEC has no further comments on the registration statement. The registration rights agreement provides for liquidated damages upon the occurrence of certain events, including the Company’s failure to file the registration statement or to cause it to become effective by the deadlines set forth above. The amount of liquidated damages payable to the investor is 1.0% of the aggregate amount invested for each 30-day period, or pro rata portion thereof, during which the default continues, up to a maximum amount of 5.0% of the aggregate amount invested or the value of the securities registered by the placement agent. The purchaser of the shares of common stock waived the liquidated damages when the purchaser converted certain notes payable into Series H Preferred Stock in August 2018 (see Note 17) The Company recognized $15,001 of Liquidating Damages for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, with respect to its registration rights agreement for the common stock issued to MDB in conjunction with the January 4, 2018 private placement.

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On March 30, 2018, the Company issued an aggregate of 500,000 shares of its common stock to Strome in a second closing of the private placement entered into on January 4, 2018 at a price of $2.50 per share. The Company received gross proceeds of $1,250,000 from the second closing of the private placement. No costs were incurred in connection with the second closing of the private placement.

The Company entered into a registration rights agreement on March 30, 2018 with the investor, pursuant to which the Company agreed to register for resale the shares of common stock purchased pursuant to the placement. The Company committed to file the registration statement no later than 270 days after the closing and to cause the registration statement to become effective no later than the earlier of (i) 7 business days after the SEC informs the Company that no review of the registration statement will be made or (ii) when the SEC has no further comments on the registration statement. The registration rights agreement provides for liquidated damages upon the occurrence of certain events, including the Company’s failure to file the registration statement or to cause it to become effective by the deadlines set forth above. The amount of liquidated damages payable to the investor is 1.0% of the aggregate amount invested for each 30-day period, or pro rata portion thereof, during which the default continues, up to a maximum amount of 5.0% of the aggregate amount invested. The purchaser of the shares of common stock waived the liquidated damages when the purchaser converted certain notes payable into Series H Preferred Stock in August 2018 (see Note 12).

Information with respect to the issuance of common stock in connection with the acquisition of Say Media is provided Incorporation in Note 18.

13).

Restricted Stock Awards

During August 2016 and October 2016 the Company issued 12,209,677 and 307,475, respectively, shares of common stock to management and employees, as restricted stock awards, that contained a Company buy-back right for a certain number of shares pursuant to the achievement of a unique user performance condition (the “Performance Condition”) issued at the original cash consideration paid, which totaled $2,952 or approximately $0.0002 per share. On November 4, 2016, in conjunction with the Recapitalization, the number of shares subject to the buy-back was modified, resulting in a modification of the restricted stock awards. The shares vest over a three-year period starting on the beginning of the month of the issuance date, with one-third vesting in one year, and the balance monthly over the remaining two years. Because these shares require continued service to the Company, the estimated fair value of the shares is being recognized as compensation expense over the vesting period of the award.

As of December 31, 2017, the Performance Condition was determined based on 4,977,144 unique users accessing Maven’s channels in November 2017. Based on this level of unique users, 2,453,362 shares subject to the buy-back right were earned under the Performance Condition and 1,927,641 shares remained subject to the buy-back right. The Company’s Board made a determination on March 12, 2018 to waive the buy-back right, resulting in a modification of the restricted stock awards which resulted in incremental compensation cost of $2,756,527 at the time of the modification, of which $202,357 and $1,970,790, respectively, was recognized during the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

On August 23, 2018, in connection with the Merger, the Company issued a total of 2,399,997 shares of common stock to certain key personnel of HubPages who agreed to continue their employment with HubPages, as restricted stock awards, subject to a repurchase right and vesting, The repurchase right which expired in March 2019 unexercised, gave the Company the option to repurchase a certain number of shares at par value based on a performance condition as defined in the terms of the Merger Agreement. The shares vest in twenty-four equal monthly installments beginning September 23, 2019 and ending September 23, 2021 and the estimated fair value of these shares is being recognized as compensation expense over the vesting period of the award. The restricted stock awards provide for a true-up period that if the common stock is sold for less than $2.50 the holder will receive, subject to certain conditions, additional shares of common stock up to a maximum of the amount of shares originally received (or 2,400,000 in aggregate to all holders) for the shares that re sold for less than $2.50. The true-up period, in general, is 13 months after the consummation of the Merger until 90 days following completion of vesting, or July 30, 2021. The restricted stock awards were fair valued upon issuance by an independent appraisal firm. For subsequent event related to these restricted stock awards see Note 18.

On September 13, 2018, the Company issued 148,813 shares of common stock to certain members of the Board, as restricted awards, subject to continued service with the Company. The shares vest over a four-month period beginning September 30, 2018 and the estimated fair value of these shares is being recognized as compensation expense over the vesting period of the award.

30

The fair value of a restricted stock award is determined based on the number of shares granted and the quoted price of the Company’s common stock on the date issued.

A summary of the restricted stock award activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 is as follows:

        Weighted 
  Number of Shares  

Average

Grant-Date

 
  Unvested  Vested  Fair Value 
Restricted stock awards outstanding at January 1, 2018  6,979,596   5,537,556  $0.41 
Issued  2,548,810   -   1.01 
Vested  (3,983,309)  3,983,309     
Forfeited  (204,735)  -     
Restricted stock awards outstanding at September 30, 2018  5,340,362   9,520,865   0.86 

At September 30, 2018, total compensation cost for the restricted stock awards, including the effect of the waiver of the buy-back right, not yet recognized was $4,101,987. This cost will be recognized over a period of approximately 1.87 years with a total of $776,423 remaining to be recognized before December 31, 2018. The Company paid to the holder the par value or $2,047 for the forfeited unvested restricted stock awards of 204,735 in January 2019.

Information with respect to stock based compensation expense of the restricted stock awards is provided in Note 15.

Common Stock Warrants

 

WarrantsThe Company issued warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock to MDB Capital Group, LLC (the “MDB Warrants”), L2 Capital, LLC (the “L2 Warrants”), Strome Mezzanine Fund LP (the “Strome Warrants”), and StromeB. Riley Financial, Inc. (the “B. Riley Warrants”) in connection with various financing transactions (collectively, the “Financing Warrants”) are described below.

MDB Warrants – On November 4, 2016, in conjunction with the Recapitalization, Integrated issued warrants to MDB (the “MDB Warrants”) to purchase 1,169,607 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $0.20 per share, of which 842,117 were exercised on April 30, 2018 under the cashless exercise provisions. A total of 327,490 warrants remain outstanding as of September 30, 2018 after the cashless exercise, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, and expire on November 4, 2021. On October 19, 2017, the Company issued warrants to MDB which acted as placement agent in connection with a private placement of its common stock, to purchase 119,565 shares of common stock. The warrants have an exercise price of $1.15 per share, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, and expire on October 19, 2022. On January 4, 2018, the Company issued warrants to MDB which acted as placement agent in connection with a private placement of its common stock, to purchase 60,000 shares of common stock. The warrants have an exercise price of $2.50 per share, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, and may, in the event there is no effective registration statement covering the re-sale of the warrant shares, be exercised on a cashless basis, and expire on October 19, 2022. A total of 507,055 warrants are outstanding as of September 30, 2018. The MDB Warrants are recorded within additional paid-in capital in the condensed consolidated statements of stockholders’ equity.

L2 Warrants – Effective as of August 3, 2018, pursuant to the reset provision, the Company adjusted the exercise price to $0.50 per share (the floor exercise price) for the L2 Warrants and issued additional warrants to L2 to purchase 640,405 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.50 per share. As a result of the warrants exercise price being reduced to the floor exercise price on August 3, 2018 and triggering of the reset provision, the warrants no longer contain any reset provisions and will continue to be carried in the condensed consolidated balance sheets as a derivative liability at fair value, as adjusted at each period-end since, among other criteria, they require the delivery of registered shares upon exercise. At September 30, 2018, the warrants derivative liability was $545,872.

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The warrants are exercisable for a period of five years, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, and may, in the event there is no effective registration statement covering the re-sale of the warrant shares, be exercised on a cashless basis in certain circumstances. A total of 1,066,963 warrants are outstanding as of September 30, 2018, requiring a share reserve under the warrant instrument calling for three times the number of warrants issuable for anti-dilution provisions, or a total reserve of 3,200,889 shares of common stock.

Strome Warrants – On June 15, 2018, the Company modified the two securities purchase agreements dated January 4, 2018 and March 30, 2018 with Strome to eliminate the true-up provision under which the Company was committed to issue up to 1,700,000 shares of common stock in certain circumstances, as further described below. As consideration for such modification, the Company issued warrants to Strome (the “Strome Warrants”) to purchase 1,500,000 shares of common stock, exercisable at an initial price of $1.19 per share for a period of five years, subject to a reset provision and customary anti-dilution provisions. Strome was also granted observer rights on the Company’s Board..

 

The January 4, 2018 financing transaction did not include any true-up or make-good provisions, nor did it contain any lock-up provisions, however, the March 30, 2018 financing transaction included a true-up provision and a lock-up provision. The true-up provision required the Company to issue additional shares of common stock if Strome sold shares on a national securities exchange or the OTC marketplace or in an arm’s-length unrelated third-party private sale in the 90-day period beginning one year after March 30, 2018 at less than $2.50 per share, up to a maximum of one share for each share originally sold to Strome. In addition, the Company entered into a separate agreement with Strome dated March 30, 2018 that extended the true-up provisions to the shares of common stock sold in the January 4, 2018 financing. Accordingly, under this true-up provision, which became effective March 30, 2018, the Company was obligated to issue up to an additional 1,700,000 shares of common stock to Strome without any further consideration under certain conditions in the future. As a result of the true-up provision, the maximum number of shares issuable in these transactions were 3,400,000 with a $1.25 floor price per share, and may, in the event there is no effective registration statement covering the re-sale of the warrant shares, be exercised on a cashless basis in certain circumstances.

Effective as of August 3, 2018, pursuant to the reset provision, the Company adjusted the exercise price to $0.50 per share (the floor price) for such warrants. The Company accounted for the Strome Warrants, upon issuance, as a derivative liability because the warrants had a downward reset provision with a floor of $0.50 per share. The Company recorded the warrants at fair value in its condensed consolidated balance sheets, with adjustments to fair value at each period-end. Upon issuance, the Company recognized a derivative liability of $1,344,648. As a result of the warrants exercise price being reduced to the floor exercise price on August 3, 2018 and the triggering of the reset provision, the warrants no longer contain any reset provisions and will continue to be carried in the condensed consolidated balance sheets as a derivative liability at fair value, as adjusted at each period-end since, among other criteria, they require the delivery of registered shares upon exercise. At September 30, 2018, the warrants derivative liability was $767,449.

A summary of the Financing Warrants activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 is as follows:

        Weighted 
        Average 
     Weighted  Remaining 
  Number  Average  Contractual 
  of  Exercise  Life 
  Shares  Price  (in Years) 
          
Financing Warrants outstanding at January 1, 2018  1,289,172  $0.29     
Issued  1,986,558   1.24     
Exercised  (842,117)  0.20     
Issued as result of the reset provision on August 3, 2018  640,405   0.83     
Financing Warrants outstanding at September 30, 2018  3,074,018   1.20   4.5 
Financing Warrants exercisable at September 30, 2018  3,074,018   1.20   4.5 

The exercise of the 842,117 warrants in April 2018 on a cashless basis resulting in the issuance of 736,853 net shares of common stock when the common stock price was $1.60 per share. The aggregate issue date fair value of the Financing Warrants issued during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was $3,322,166.

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The exercise prices of the Financing Warrants outstanding and exercisable are as follows as of SeptemberJune 30, 2018:2020 are summarized as follows:

 

   Financing  Financing 
   Warrants  Warrants 
Exercise  Outstanding  Exercisable 
Price  (Shares)  (Shares) 
$0.20   327,490   327,490 
$0.50   2,566,963   2,566,963 
$1.15   119,565   119,565 
$2.50   60,000   60,000 
    3,074,018   3,074,018 
        Outstanding   
  Exercise Price  Expiration Date  

Classified as

Derivative

Liabilities
(Shares)

  

Classified

within Stockholders’ Equity

(Shares)

  Total Exercisable (Shares) 
MDB Warrants $0.20  November 4, 2021   -   327,490   327,490 
Strome Warrants  0.50  June 15, 2023   1,500,000   -    1,500,000 
B. Riley Warrants  1.00  October 18, 2025   875,000   -   875,000 
MDB Warrants  1.15  October 19, 2022   -   119,565   119,565 
MDB Warrants  2.50  October 19, 2022   -   60,000   60,000 
Total outstanding and exercisable        2,375,000   507,055   2,882,055 

 

The intrinsic value of exercisable but unexercised in-the-money stock warrants as of SeptemberJune 30, 20182020 was approximately $416,000,$372,371, based on a fair market value of $0.61 per share on September 30, 2018.

Information with respect to the equity-based expense related to the Financing Warrants is provided in Note 15.

15. Stock Based Compensation

Common Stock Options

On March 28, 2018, the Board approved an increase in the number of shares of the Company’s common stock reserved for grant pursuantof $0.65 per share on June 30, 2020.

18

10. Compensation Plans

The Company provides stock-based compensation in the form of (a) stock awards to employees and directors, comprised of restricted stock awards and restricted stock units (collectively referred to as the “Restricted Stock Awards”), (b) stock option grants to employees directors and consultants (referred to as the “Common Stock Awards”) (c) stock option awards, restricted stock awards, unrestricted stock awards, and stock appreciation rights to employees, directors and consultants (collectively the “Common Equity Awards”), (d) stock option awards outside the 2016 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”) from 3,000,000 sharesand 2019 Equity Incentive Plan to 5,000,000 shares. In August 2018,certain officers, directors and employees (referred to as the Company increased the authorized number of shares of“Outside Options”), (e) common stock under the 2016 Plan from 5,000,000 shares to 10,000,000 shares. The Company’s shareholders approved the increase in the number of shares authorized under the 2016 Plan on April 3, 2020. The 2016 Plan is administered by the Board, and there were no grants priorwarrants to the formation ofCompany’s channel partners (referred to as the 2016 Plan. Shares subject“Channel Partner Warrants”), and (f) common stock warrants to an award that lapse, expire, are forfeited or for any reason are terminated unexercised or unvested will automatically again become available for issuance underABG-SI, LLC (referred to as the 2016 Plan. Common stock options issued under the 2016 Plan may have a term of up to ten years and may have variable vesting provisions.“ABG Warrants”).

 

At September 30, 2018, options to acquire 9,693,831 shares of the Company’s common stock had been granted under the 2016 Plan, and options to acquire 306,169 shares of common stock remain available for future grant.

The estimated fair value of the stock based awards is recognized as compensation expense over the vesting period of the award. The fair value of the common stock option awards is estimated at the grant date as calculated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The Black-Scholes model requires various highly judgmental assumptions including expected volatility and option life.

The fair value of common stock options granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 were calculated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model utilizing the following assumptions:

Risk-free interest rate2.27% to 2.91%
Expected dividend yield0.00%
Expected volatility108.34% to 130.08%
Expected life3-6 years

33

A summary of the common stock option activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 is as follows:

        Weighted 
        Average 
     Weighted  Remaining 
  Number  Average  Contractual 
  of  Exercise  Life 
  Shares  Price  (in Years) 
Common stock options outstanding at January 1, 2018  2,176,637  $1.25   9.25 
Granted  8,131,750   0.84     
Exercised  (125,000)   0.20     
Forfeited  (435,285)   1.57     
Expired  (54,271)   1.60     
Common stock options outstanding at September 30, 2018  9,693,831   0.63   9.58 
Common stock options exercisable at September 30, 2018  1,264,995   1.31   8.69 

The aggregate grant date fair value of common stock options granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was $5,549,585. The aggregate intrinsic value as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 was none and $1,573,000, respectively.

In conjunction with the Recapitalization, the Company assumed 175,000 fully-vested common stock options having an exercise price of $0.17 per share and an expiration date of May 15, 2019. Of those options, 125,000 were exercised in June 2018 on a cashless basis resulting in the issuance of 106,154 net shares of common stock.

The exercise prices of common stock options outstanding and exercisable are as follows as of September 30, 2018:

  Options  Options 
Exercise Outstanding  Exercisable 
Price (Shares)  (Shares) 
Under $1.00  6,111,500   45,832 
$1.01 to $1.25  1,818,859   866,658 
$1.26 to $1.50  45,000   1,949 
$1.51 to $1.75  487,222   130,139 
$1.76 to $2.00  1,055,000   190,417 
$2.01 to $2.25  135,000   - 
$2.26 to $2.50  41,250   30,000 
   9,693,831   1,264,995 

Outstanding options for 8,428,836 shares of the Company’s common stock had not vested at September 30, 2018.

At September 30, 2018, there was approximately $4,950,651 of total unrecognized compensation expense related to common stock options granted which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 3.68 years.

The intrinsic value of exercisable but unexercised in-the-money common stock options as of September 30, 2018 was approximately $45,833, based on a fair market value of $0.61 per share of the Company’s common stock on September 30, 2018.

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Channel Partner Warrants

At September 30, 2018, Channel Partner Warrants to purchase 4,215,500 shares of the Company’s common stock had been issued, and warrants to purchase 900,992, after considering the reduction in the total warrants available of 2,000,000, shares of common stock remain available for future grant.

Upon the performance condition being met under the terms of the Channel Partner Warrants, such warrant will be earned and issued, and once earned will vest over three years and expire five years from issuance. The warrants are revalued each reporting period to determine the amount to be recorded as an expense in the respective period. As the warrants vest, they are valued on each vesting date. Channel Partner Warrants with performance conditions that do not have sufficiently large disincentive for non-performance are measured at fair value that is not fixed until performance is complete. The estimated fair value of the equity-based awards is recognized as an expense at the vesting date of the award. The fair value of the warrant is estimated at the vesting date as calculated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The Black-Scholes model requires various highly judgmental assumptions including expected volatility and warrant life.

The fair value of Channel Partner Warrants issued during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 were calculated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model utilizing the following assumptions:

Risk-free interest rate2.53% to 2.89%
Expected dividend yield0.00%
Expected volatility95.73% to 108.10%
Expected life3-5 years

A summary of the Channel Partner Warrants activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 is as follows:

        Weighted 
        Average 
     Weighted  Remaining 
  Number  Average  Contractual 
  of  Exercise  Life 
  Shares  Price  (in Years) 
          
Channel Partner Warrants outstanding at January 1, 2018  1,303,832  $1.48     
Issued  295,000   1.74     
Exercised  -   -     
Forfeited  (499,824)   1.39     
Channel Partner Warrants outstanding at September 30, 2018  1,099,008   1.50   3.82 
Channel Partner Warrants exercisable at September 30, 2018  261,696   1.47   3.81 

The exercise prices range from $1.32 to $2.25 per share. The intrinsic value of exercisable but unexercised in-the-money Channel Partner Warrants as of September 30, 2018 was none based on a fair market value of $0.61 per share on September 30, 2018

35

A summary of stock basedStock-based compensation and equity-based expense charged to operations or capitalized during the three months and ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182020 and 2017 is2019 are summarized as follows:

 

 Restricted  Common  Channel       Restricted Common Common     Channel      
 Stock Stock Partner  Financing    Stock Stock Equity Outside Partner ABG    
 Awards Options Warrants Warrants Total  Awards  Awards  Awards  Options  Warrants  Warrants  Totals 
During the three months ended September 30, 2018:                    
During the Three Months Ended June 30, 2020                            
Cost of revenue $1,972 $- $(1,630) $- $342  $35,750  $27,970  $1,073,674  $1,967  $27,623  $-  $1,166,984 
Research and development 28,216 65,798 - - 94,014 
Selling and marketing  298,187   23,783   701,925   43,489   -   -   1,067,384 
General and administrative  960,939  169,683  -  -  1,130,622   135,332   138,156   819,916   95,394   -   360,289   1,549,087 
Total costs charged to operations 991,127 235,481  (1,630) - 1,224,978   469,269   189,909   2,595,515   140,850   27,623   360,289   3,783,455 
Capitalized platform development  334,749  27,744  -  -  362,493   75,709   80,608   341,642   1,652   -   -   499,611 
Total stock based compensation $1,325,876 $263,225 $(1,630) $- $1,587,471 
Total stock-based compensation $544,978  $270,517  $2,937,157  $142,502  $27,623  $360,289  $4,283,066 
                                       
During the three months ended September 30, 2017:           
During the Three Months Ended June 30, 2019                            
Cost of revenue $- $- $35,000 $- $35,000  $26,526  $6,965  $131,057  $149  $6,561  $-  $171,258 
Research and development - - - - - 
Selling and marketing  -   25,995   120,036   25,305   -   -   171,336 
General and administrative  261,749  216,920  -  -  478,669   859,222   395,087   931,393   44,695   -   67,307   2,297,704 
Total costs charged to operations 261,749 216,920 35,000 - 513,669   885,748   428,047   1,182,486   70,149   6,561   67,307   2,640,298 
Capitalized platform development  243,484  -  -  -  243,484   194,353   42,793   165,030   2,146   -   -   404,322 
Total stock based compensation $505,233 $216,920 $35,000 $- $757,153 
Total stock-based compensation $1,080,101   470,840  $1,347,516  $72,295  $6,561  $67,307  $3,044,620 
                                       

During the nine months ended

September 30, 2018:

           
During the Six Months Ended June 30, 2020                            
Cost of revenue $1,972 $- $153,447 $- $155,419  $73,326  $97,766  $2,083,266  $3,173  $35,662  $-  $2,293,193 
Research and development 28,216 67,088 - - 95,304 
Selling and marketing  597,402   59,511   1,380,204   98,867   -   -   2,135,984 
General and administrative  2,354,801  810,586  -  -  3,165,387   158,252   309,828   1,575,163   150,577   -   720,578   2,914,398 
Total costs charged to operations 2,384,989 877,674 153,447 - 3,416,110   828,980   467,105   5,038,633   252,617   35,662   720,578   7,343,575 
Capitalized platform development  1,366,161  142,728  -  -  1,508,889   145,992   121,765   597,643   4,263   -   -   869,663 
Total stock based compensation $3,751,150 $1,020,402 $153,447 $- $4,924,999 
Total stock-based compensation $974,972  $588,870  $5,636,276  $256,880  $35,662  $720,578  $8,213,238 
                                       

During the nine months ended

September 30, 2017:

           
During the Six Months Ended June 30, 2019                            
Cost of revenue $- $- $115,000 $- $115,000  $61,901  $27,184  $131,057  $1,278  $18,909  $-  $240,329 
Research and development - - - - - 
Selling and marketing  34,393   47,940   120,036   77,251   -   -   279,620 
General and administrative  801,743  408,432  -  32,335  1,242,510   1,574,859   799,517   932,285   66,008   -   67,307   3,439,976 
Total costs charged to operations 801,743 408,432 115,000 32,335 1,357,510   1,671,153   874,641   1,183,378   144,537   18,909   67,307   3,959,925 
Capitalized platform development  688,302  -  -  -  688,302   332,309   72,785   165,030   2,146   -   -   572,270 
Total stock based compensation $1,490,045 $408,432 $115,000 $32,335 $2,045,812 
Total stock-based compensation $2,003,462   947,426  $1,348,408  $146,683  $18,909  $67,307  $4,532,195 

 

1936
 

 

16. Related Party TransactionsUnrecognized compensation expense related to the stock-based compensation awards and equity-based awards as of June 30, 2020 was as follows:

  Restricted Stock Awards  Common Stock Awards  Common Equity Awards  Outside Options  Channel Partner Warrants  ABG Warrants  Totals 
Unrecognized compensation expense $902,489  $1,230,827  $26,166,996  $464,309  $1,011  $3,942,598  $32,708,230 
Weighted average period expected to be recognized (in years)�� 0.69   0.87   2.27   1.68   0.25   2.88   2.24 

11. Revenue Recognition

 

Investment Banking ServicesDisaggregation of Revenue

 

On April 4, 2017, the Company completed a private placementThe following table provides information about disaggregated revenue by product line, geographical market and timing of its common stock, selling 3,765,000 shares at $1.00 per share, for total gross proceeds of $3,765,000. In connection with the offering, the Company paid $188,250 in cash and issued 162,000 shares of common stock to MDB, which acted as placement agent.revenue recognition:

 

  

Three Months Ended

June 30,

  

Six Months Ended

June 30,

 
  2020  2019  2020  2019 
Revenue by product line:                
Advertising $7,541,616  $5,670,712  $19,379,600  $11,808,066 
Digital subscriptions  6,089,450   56,021   11,626,697   107,934 
Magazine circulation  8,629,166   -   21,166,698   - 
Other  830,708   43,550   1,330,798   128,246 
Total $23,090,940  $5,770,283  $53,503,793  $12,044,246 
Revenue by geographical market:                
United States $22,049,636  $5,770,283  $51,331,766  $12,044,246 
Other  1,041,304   -   2,172,027   - 
Total $23,090,940  $5,770,283  $53,503,793  $12,044,246 
Revenue by timing of recognition:                
At point in time $17,001,490  $5,714,262  $41,877,096  $11,936,312 
Over time  6,089,450   56,021   11,626,697   107,934 
Total $23,090,940  $5,770,283  $53,503,793  $12,044,246 

On October 19, 2017, the Company completed a private placement of its common stock, selling 2,391,304 shares at $1.15 per share, for total gross proceeds of $2,750,000. In connection with the offering, the Company issued 119,565 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 119,565 shares of common stock to MDB, which acted as placement agent.

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On January 4, 2018, the Company completed a private placement of its common stock, selling 1,200,000 shares at $2.50 per share, for total gross proceeds of $3,000,000. In connection with the offering, MDB, which acted as placement agent, was entitled to 60,000 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 60,000 shares of common stock.

Mr. Christopher Marlett was a director of the Company until February 1, 2018. Mr. Marlett is the Chief Executive Officer of MDB. Mr. Gary Schuman, who was the Chief Financial Officer of the Company until May 15, 2017, is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of MDB. The Company compensated Mr. Schuman for his services at the rate of $3,000 per month until his resignation. Mr. Robert Levande was a director of the Company until July 5, 2017. Mr. Levande is a senior managing director of MDB.

Board of Directors and Finance CommitteeContract Balances

 

During September 2018, John A. Fichthorn joined the BoardThe timing of the Company and during November 2018 he was elected as ChairmanCompany’s performance under its various contracts often differs from the timing of the Boardcustomer’s payment, which results in the recognition of a contract asset or a contract liability. A contract asset is recognized when a good or service is transferred to a customer and Chairmanthe Company does not have the contractual right to bill for the related performance obligations. A contract liability is recognized when consideration is received from the customer prior to the transfer of goods or services.

The following table provides information about contract balances:

  As of 
  June 30, 2020  December 31, 2019 
Unearned revenue (short-term contract liabilities):        
Digital subscriptions  12,688,136   8,634,939 
Magazine circulation  42,731,290   23,528,148 
  $55,419,426  $32,163,087 
Unearned revenue (long-term contract liabilities):        
Digital subscriptions $1,473,758  $478,557 
Magazine circulation  13,135,330   30,478,154 
Other  207,500   222,500 
  $14,816,588  $31,179,211 

Unearned Revenue – Unearned revenue, also referred to as contract liabilities, include payments received in advance of performance under the contracts and are recognized as revenue over time. The Company records contract liabilities as unearned revenue on the consolidated balance sheets. Digital subscription and magazine circulation revenue of $17,211,363 was recognized during the six months ended June 30, 2020 from unearned revenue at the beginning of the Finance Committee. Until March of 2020 Mr. Fichthorn served as Head of Alternative Investments for B. Riley Capital Management, LLC, which is an SEC-registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of B. Riley. During September 2018, Todd D. Sims joined the Board of the Company and is also a member of the Board of Directors of B. Riley. Mr. Sims serves on the Board of the Company as a designee of B. Riley. Since August 2018, B. Riley FBR has been instrumental in raising debt and equity capital for the Company to supports its acquisitions of HubPages and Say Media (see Note 18) and for refinancing and working capital purposes.

Service Contractsyear.

 

Ms. Rinku Sen becameDuring January and February of 2020, the Company modified certain digital and magazine subscription contracts that prospectively changed the frequency of the related issues required to be delivered on a director ofyearly basis. The Company determined that the remaining digital content and magazines to be delivered are distinct from the digital content or magazines already provided under the original contract. As a result, the Company in November 2017 and has provided consulting services and operateseffect established a channel onnew contract that included only the Company’s platform. During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018,remaining digital content or magazines. Accordingly, the Company paid Ms. Sen $0 and $15,521, respectively, for these services.

Effective on September 20, 2017,allocated the Company entered into a six-monthremaining performance obligations in the contracts as consideration from the original contract with automatic renewals unless cancelled, with a company located in Nicaragua that is owned by Mr. Christopher Marlett, a then director of the Company, to provide content conversion services. During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company paid $44,200 and $64,350, respectively, for these services.

Officer Promissory Notes

In May 2018, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer began advancing funds to the Company in order to meet minimum operating needs. Such advances were made pursuant to promissory notes that were due on demand, with interest at the minimum applicable federal rate, which was approximately 2.51%has not yet been recognized as of September 30, 2018. At September 30, 2018, the total principal amount of advances outstanding, including accrued interest of $6,853, was $966,389.revenue.

 

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On June 15, 2018, four investors invested a total of $4,775,000 in a convertible debt offering (“Debentures”). Included in the total was an investment of $1,000,000 by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and $25,000 from the Company’s President. Interest is payable on the Debentures at the rate of 10% per annum, payable in cash semi-annually on December 31 and June 30, and on maturity, beginning on December 31, 2018, and the Debentures are due and payable on June 30, 2019 (the “Maturity Date”). On the Maturity Date, and on any conversion prior to the Maturity Date, each Investor will be entitled to receive additional interest payments to provide the Investor with a 20% annual Internal Rate of Return. The Company will recognize this annual Internal Rate of Return requirement for accounting purposes when such Debentures are repaid or otherwise satisfied.

Say Media Promissory Notes Receivable

As a result of the Say Media acquisition on December 12, 2018, the Company settled the promissory notes receivable by effectively forgiving $1,166,556 of the balance due as of September 30, 2018 as reflected in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. The Company has a balance due under the promissory notes receivable of $2,528,498 as of September 30, 2018 which is considered an advance against the purchase price for the acquisition. See Note 18 for additional information concerning this transaction. At September 30, 2018, the Company had the following balances on its condensed consolidated balance sheet; accounts receivable of $84,287, and accounts payable of $186,248. During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company reflected the following on its condensed consolidated statement of operations; revenues of $81,976 and $84,287, respectively, and operating expenses of $117,647 and $117,647, respectively.

17.12. Commitments and Contingencies

 

Operating Lease

In April 2018, the Company entered into an office sublease agreement to sublease of 7,457 rentable square feet at 1500 Fourth Avenue, Suite 200, Seattle, Washington. The sublease has a term of 41 months, commencing on June 1, 2018, with base rent at a rate of $25.95 per square foot per annum in months 1 through 12, rising to $37 per square foot in months 37 to 41. Upon execution of the sublease in April 2018, the Company paid $60,249 as prepaid rent and a security deposit of $22,992. The following table shows the aggregate commitment by year:

Years Ending December 31:   
2018 (October – December) $48,000 
2019  233,000 
2020  265,000 
2021  227,000 
  $773,000 

The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of ASC Topic 842,Leases, will have at January 1, 2019 upon recognition of the right-of-use assets and corresponding lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments, on its condensed consolidated balance sheets for this lease commitment, as well as the disclosure of key information about this lease arrangement, including the overall presentation on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

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Revenue GuaranteeGuarantees

 

On a select basis, the Company has provided revenue share guarantees to certain independent publishers that transition their publishing operations from another platform to theMaven.net or maven.io. These arrangements generally guarantee the publisher a monthly amount of income for a period of 12 to 24 months from inception of the publisher contract that is the greater of (a) a fixed monthly minimum, or (b) the calculated earned revenue share. DuringFor the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182020 and 2017,2019, the Company paidrecognized Channel Partner guarantees of $297,887$2,628,477 and $164,336,$1,115,640, respectively. DuringFor the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182020 and 2017,2019, the Company paidrecognized Channel Partner guarantees of $1,101,373$5,002,564 and $202,669,$2,370,632, respectively. At September 30, 2018, the aggregate commitment was $23,750. The following table shows the aggregate commitment by year:

Years ending December 31,   
2018 (October – December) $12,250 
2019  11,500 
  $23,750 

 

Claims and Litigation

 

From time to time, the Company may be subject to claims and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. The Company is not currently a party to any pending or threatened legal proceedings that it believes would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, or results of operations.operations or cash flows.

 

18.Liquidated Damages

The following table summarizes the contingent obligations with respect to the Series J Preferred Stock liquidated damages as of the date these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued or were available to be issued:

Registration rights damages $120,000 
Public information failure damages  180,000 
Accrued interest  19,903 
  $319,903 

13. Subsequent Events

 

The Company performed an evaluation of subsequent events through the date of filing of these condensed consolidated financial statements with the SEC. Other than the below described subsequent events, there were no material subsequent events which affected, or could affect, the amounts or disclosures inon the condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

10% OID Convertible DebenturesCompensation Plans

On October 18, 2018,December 15, 2020, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with two accredited investors, B. Rileyan amendment for certain restricted stock awards and restricted stock units. Pursuant to the amendment:

the restricted stock awards would cease to vest and all unvested shares would be deemed unvested and forfeited, leaving an aggregate of 1,064,549 shares vested;
the restricted stock units were modified to vest on December 31, 2020 and as of the close of business on December 31, 2020, each restricted stock unit was terminated and deemed forfeited, with no shares vesting thereunder; and
subject to certain conditions, the Company agreed to purchase from certain key personnel the vested restricted stock awards, at a price of $4.00 per share in 24 equal monthly installments on the second business day of each calendar month beginning on January 4, 2021.

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On January 8, 2021, the board of directors (the “Board”) approved an affiliated entity of B. Riley,amendment to certain option awards granted under the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”) to remove certain vesting conditions for the performance-based awards. In general, pursuant to which the Company issuedamendment:

the common stock options would vest with respect to one-third of the grant when the option holder completes one year of continuous service beginning on the grant date; and
the remaining common stock options would vest monthly over twenty-four months when the option holder completes each month of continuous service thereafter.

On February 18, 2021, the Board approved an amendment to the investors 10% original issue discount senior secured convertible debentures (the “10% OID Convertible Debentures”) inCompany’s 2019 Plan to increase the aggregate principal amountnumber of $3,500,000, which, after taking into account the 5% original issue discount, and legal fees and expenses of the investors, resulted in the Company receiving net proceeds of $3,285,000. The Company issued warrants to the investors to purchase up to 875,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, in connection with this securities purchase agreement. The debentures were due and payable on October 31, 2019. Interest accrued onavailable for issuance under the debentures at the rate of 10% per annum, payable on the earlier of conversion, redemption or October 31, 2019.2019 Plan from 85,000,000 shares to 185,000,000 shares.

 

The debenturesOn February 18, 2021, the Board approved up to an aggregate amount of 26,200,000 stock options to be made on or before March 18, 2021 for shares of the Company’s common stock to certain executive officers of the Company under the 2019 Plan. A total of 11,158,049 stock options were convertiblegranted and designated as a non-qualified stock options, subject to certain terms and conditions.

On February 18, 2021, the Board approved the issuance of restricted stock units to certain executive officers of the Company under the 2019 Plan. A total of 26,048,781 restricted stock units were granted, subject to certain terms and conditions.

From July 2020 through the date these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued or were available to be issued, the Company granted common stock options, restricted stock units and restricted stock awards totaling 77,157,799 (includes 11,158,049 stock options and 26,048,781 restricted stock units issued on February 28, 2021 as described above), of which 77,157,799 remain outstanding.

12% Convertible Debentures

On December 31, 2020, certain holders converted the 12% Convertible Debentures representing an aggregate of $18,104,949 of the then-outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest into 53,887,470 shares of the Company’s common stock at effective conversion per-share prices ranging from $0.33 to $0.40. Further, the Company repaid an aggregate of $1,130,903 of the 12% Convertible Debentures, including the then-outstanding principal and accrued interest in cash. As of December 31, 2020, there was no longer any principal or accrued but unpaid interest outstanding under the 12% Convertible Debentures. As a result of the conversion of certain 12% Convertible Debentures into shares of the Company’s common stock, the Company will no longer have an embedded derivative liability related to the conversion option features, buy-in features, and default remedy features and will recognize the fair value of such amount upon conversion as additional paid-in capital. Further, with respect to the conversion of the accrued interest into shares of the Company’s common stock, the Company will recognize a loss on conversion, as deemed appropriate, at the time of conversion.

12% Second Amended Senior Secured Note

On October 23, 2020, the Company entered into Amendment No. 1 to the second amended and restated note purchase agreement (“Amendment 1”), pursuant to which the maturity date of the 12% Second Amended Senior Secured Notes was changed to December 31, 2022, subject to certain acceleration conditions. Pursuant to Amendment 1, interest payable on the 12% Second Amended Senior Secured Notes on September 30, 2020, December 31, 2020, March 31, 2021, June 30, 2021, September 30, 2021, and December 31, 2021 will be payable in-kind in arrears on the last day of such fiscal quarter. Alternatively, at the option of the investor at any time prior to October 31, 2019, at a conversion priceholder, such interest amounts originally could have been paid in shares of $1.00 per share, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends and similar transactions, and were subject to certain redemption rights by“Series K Convertible Preferred Stock” (“Series K Preferred Stock”); however, after December 18, 2020, the Company. On December 12, 2018, there was a roll-overdate the Series K Preferred Stock converted into shares of the 10% OID Convertible Debentures intoCompany’s common stock, all such interest amounts can be paid in shares of the Company’s common stock based upon the conversion rate specified for the Series K Preferred Stock (or $0.40).

The balance outstanding under the 12% Convertible Debentures (as further described below).Second Amended Senior Secured Note as of the date these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued or were available to be issued was approximately $56.3 million, which included outstanding principal of approximately $48.8 million, payment of in-kind interest of approximately $4.2 million that the Company was permitted to add to the aggregate outstanding principal balance, and unpaid accrued interest of approximately $3.3 million.

 

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Delayed Draw Term Note

On October 23, 2020, pursuant to the terms of Amendment 1, the maturity date of the Delayed Draw Term Note was changed from March 31, 2021 to March 31, 2022. Amendment 1 also provided that the holder, could originally elect, in lieu of receipt of cash for payment of all or any portion of the interest due or cash payments up to a certain conversion portion (as further described in Amendment 1) of the Delayed Draw Term Note, to receive shares of Series K Preferred Stock; however, after December 18, 2020, the date the Series K Preferred Stock converted into shares of the Company’s common stock, the holder may elect, in lieu of receipt of cash for such amounts, shares of the Company’s common stock based upon the conversion rate specified for the Series K Preferred Stock (or $0.40).

As of the date these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued or were available to be issued, $3,367,000, including $3,295,505 of principal amount of the Delayed Draw Term Note and $71,495 of accrued interest, had been converted into shares of our Series K Preferred Stock. The aggregate principal amount outstanding under the Delayed Draw Term Note as of the date these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued or were available to be issued was approximately $4.3 million (including payment of in-kind interest of approximately $0.7 million, which was added to the outstanding Delayed Draw Term Note balance).

Preferred Stock

 

12% Convertible DebenturesSeries H Preferred Stock –

On December 12, 2018, Between August 14, 2020 and August 20, 2020, the Company entered into aadditional securities purchase agreementagreements for the sale of “Series H Convertible Preferred Stock” (“Series H Preferred Stock”) with three accredited investors, pursuant to which the Company issued to the investors 12% senior secured subordinated convertible debentures (the “12% Convertible Debentures”) in the aggregate principal amount of $13,091,528, which includes (i) the roll-over of an aggregate of $3,551,528 in principal and interest of the 10% OID Convertible Debentures issued to two of the investors on October 18, 2018, and (ii) a placement fee, payable in cash, of $540,000 to the Company’s placement agent, B. Riley FBR, in the offering. After taking into account legal fees and expenses of the investors, the Company received net proceeds of $8,950,000. The 12% Convertible Debentures are due and payable on December 31, 2020. Interest accrues at the rate of 12% per annum, payable on the earlier of conversion or December 31, 2020. The Company’s obligations under the 12% Convertible Debentures are secured by a security agreement, dated as of October 18, 2018, by and among the Company and each investor thereto.

Subject to the Company receiving shareholder approval to increase its authorized108 shares of common stock, principal and interest accrued on the 12% Convertible Debentures are convertible into shares of common stock, at the option of the investor at any time prior to December 31, 2020, at a conversion price of $0.33 per share, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends and similar transactions, and beneficial ownership blocker provisions. If the Company does not perform certain of its obligations in a timely manner,(after it must pay Liquidated Damages to the investors (see Note 17).

As long as any portion of the 12% Convertible Debentures remain outstanding, unless investors holding at least 51% in principal amount of the then outstanding 12% Convertible Debentures otherwise agree, the Company shall not, among other things enter into, incur, assume or guarantee any indebtedness, except for certain permitted indebtedness.

On March 18, 2019, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with two accredited investors, including John Fichthorn, the Company’s Chairman of the Board, pursuant to which the Company issued 12% Convertible Debentures in the aggregate principal amount of $1,696,000, which includes a placement fee of $96,000 paid to B. Riley FBR in the form of a 12% Convertible Debenture, for acting as the Company’s placement agent in the offering. After taking into account legal fees and expenses of $10,000 which were paid in cash, the Company received net proceeds of $1,590,000.

On March 27, 2019, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with an accredited investor pursuant to which the Company issued 12% Convertible Debentures in the aggregate principal amount of $318,000, which includes a placement fee of $18,000 paid to B. Riley FBR in the form of a 12% Debenture for acting as the Company’s placement agent in the offering. After taking into account legal fees and expenses, the Company received net proceeds of $300,000.

On April 8, 2019, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with an accredited investor, Todd D. Sims, a member of the Company’s Board, pursuant to which the Company issued a 12% Convertible Debenture in the aggregate principal amount of $100,000. In connection with this placement, B. Riley FBR waived its placement fee of $6,000 for acting as the Company’s placement agent in the offering. After taking into account legal fees and expenses, the Company received net proceeds of $100,000.

The 12% Convertible Debentures issued on March 18, 2019, March 27, 2019 and April 8, 2019 are convertible into shares of the Company’s common stock at the option of the investor at any time prior to December 31, 2020, at a conversion price of $0.40 per share, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends and similar transactions, and beneficial ownership blocker provisions. All other terms of the 12% Convertible Debentures issued on March 18, 2019, March 27, 2019 and April 8, 2019 are identical to the 12% Convertible Debentures issued on December 12, 2018.

Pursuant to the registration rights agreements entered into in connection with the securities purchase agreements on March 18, 2019, March 27, 2019 and April 8, 2019, the Company agreed to register the shares issuable upon conversion of the 12% Convertible Debentures for resale by the investors. The Company committed to file the registration statement the later of (i) the 30th calendar day following the date the Company files its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 with the SEC, but in no event later than May 15, 2019, and (ii) the 30th calendar day after all the Series H Preferred Stock have been registered pursuant to a registration statement under a certain registration rights agreement, dated as of August 9, 2018. The registration rights agreements provide for Registration Rights Damages (as further described in Note 10) upon the occurrence of certain events up to a maximum amount of 6% of the aggregate amount invested (refer to “Liquidating Damages” below for further details).

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The securities purchase agreements also included a provision that requires the Company to maintain its periodic filings with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements under Rule 144(c) of the Securities Act. If the Company fails for any reason to satisfy the current public information requirement, then the Company will be obligated to pay Public Information Failure Damages (as further described in Note 10) to each holder, consisting of a cash payment equal to 1% of the amount invested as partial liquidated damages, up to a maximum of six months, subject to interest at the rate of 1% per month until paid in full (refer to “Liquidating Damages” below for further details).

Acquisition of Say Media, Inc.

On October 12, 2018, the Company, Say Media, a Delaware corporation, SM Acquisition Co., Inc., a Delaware corporation (“SMAC”), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company incorporated in Delaware on September 6, 2018 to facilitate the merger, and Matt Sanchez, solely in his capacity as a representative of the Say Media security holders, entered into the Merger Agreements, pursuant to which SMAC will merge with and into Say Media, with Say Media continuing as the surviving corporation in the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

On December 12, 2018, the Company consummated the merger with Say Media, pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreements.

In connection with the consummation of the merger, total cash consideration of $9,537,397 was paid (net of cash acquired of $534,637), including the following: (1) $6,703,653 to a creditor of Say Media; (2) $250,000 transaction bonus to a designated employee of Say Media; (3) $2,078,498 advanced prior to September 30, 2018 for certain execution payments in connection with the acquisition; and (4) $505,246 for legal fees ($450,000 was advanced for acquisition related legal fees of Say Media paid on August 27, 2018 and additional cash consideration of $55,246 was paid at the Closing for acquisition related legal fees incurred). Furthermore, under the terms of the Merger Agreements, the Company agreed to issue 5,500,000 shares of its common stock to the former holders of Say Media’s Preferred Stock. The Company also issued a total of 2,000,000 restricted stock awards (see below “Restricted Stock Awards”), subsequent to the acquisition, to acquire common stock of the Company to key personnel for continuing services with Say Media, subject to vesting, and repurchase rights under certain circumstances. The shares issued are for post combination services.

2016 Equity Incentive Plan

From October 1, 2018 through December 12, 2018, the Company granted stock options, of which 56,000 are outstanding as ofrescinded the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, to acquire2,145 shares of common stock.

2019 Equity Incentive Plan

On April 4, 2019, the Board of the Company adopted the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”). The purpose of the 2019 Plan is to seek, to better secure,that were deemed null and to retain the services of a select group of persons, to provide incentives for those persons to exert maximum efforts for the success of the Company and its affiliates, and to provide a means by which those persons have an opportunity to benefit from increases in the value of the Company’s common stock through the granting of stock awards.

The 2019 Plan allows the Company to grant non-statutory stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards and/or restricted stock units awards to acquire shares of the Company’s common stock to the Company’s employees, directors and consultants, all of which require the achievement of certain price targets by the Company’s common stock.

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From April 10, 2019 through March 26, 2020, the Company granted stock options, of which 79,494,813 are outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, to acquire shares of the Company’s common stock to officers, directors, employees and consultants. The Company’s shareholders approved the 2019 Planvoid and the maximum number of shares authorized of 85,000,000 under the plan on April 3, 2020. The Company does not currently have sufficient authorized but unissued common shares to allow for the exercise of the stock options granted under this plan; accordingly, any stock option grants under this plan are considered as unfunded and cannot be exercised until sufficient common shares have been authorized.

Restricted Stock Awards

From October 1, 2018 through February 22, 2019, the Company granted restricted stock awards, of which 906,367 are outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, for shares of common stock. In connection with the Say Media acquisition the Company granted restricted stock awards, of which 1,175,000 are outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, for shares of common stock. On May 31, 2019, the Company granted 2,399,997 restricted stock units to the holders of the restricted stock awards in connection with the Merger in consideration for an amendment to the true up provisions.

Equity Grants Outside Option Plans

From December 12, 2018 through March 16, 2019, the Company granted stock options, of which 3,821,333 are outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, to acquire shares of the Company’s common stock to officers, directors and employees outside of the 2016 Plan and the 2019 Plan. The Company does not currently have sufficient authorized but unissued common shares to allow for the exercise of these stock options, these stock option grants are considered as unfunded and cannot be exercised until sufficient common shares have been authorized.

Adoption of Sequencing Policy

Under ASC 815-40-35, the Company adopted a sequencing policy whereby, in the event that reclassification of contracts from equity to assets or liabilities is necessary pursuant to ASC 815 due to the Company’s inability to demonstrate it has sufficient authorized shares, shares will be allocated on the basis of the earliest issuance date of potentially dilutive instruments, with the earliest grants receiving the first allocation of shares. Pursuant to ASC 815, issuance of securities to the Company’s employees or directors are not subject to the sequencing policy.

Appointment of New Chief Financial Officer

On May 3, 2019, the Company announced the appointment of Douglas Smith as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer.

Pursuant to the terms of an Employment Agreement with the Company, dated as of May 1, 2019, Mr. Smith shall receive an annual salary of $400,000 and be entitled to receive bonuses to be agreed by Company and Mr. Smith in good faith from time to time based on then current financial status of the Company. If Mr. Smith’s employment with the Company is terminated by the Company Without Cause or by Mr. Smith for Good Reason (as those terms are defined in the Employment Agreement), then Mr. Smith shall be entitled to receive a lump sum payment equal to six months of his annual salary.

Mr. Smithpurchase price was granted options to purchase up to 1,500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, having an exercise price of $0.57 per share, a term of 10 years, and subject to vesting as described below. These options were granted outside of the 2016 Plan and the 2019 Plan. Of the 1,500,000 options granted: (i) 1,000,000 options will vest over 36 months, with 1/3 vesting after 12 months of continuous service and 1/36 vesting monthly for each month of continuous service thereafter; and (ii) 500,000 will vest over 36 months, with 1/3 vesting after 12 months of continuous service and 1/36 vesting monthly for each month of continuous service thereafter, subject to the Company’s common stock being listed on a national securities exchange.

Mr. Smith was also granted options to purchase up to 1,064,008 shares of the Company’s common stock, having an exercise price of $0.46 per share, a term of 10 years, and subject to vesting based both on time and targets tied to the Company’s common stock, as follows: (i) the options will vest over 36 months, with 1/3 vesting after 12 months of continuous service and 1/36 vesting monthly for each month of continuous service thereafter; and (ii) the Company’s common stock must be listed on a national securities exchange, with incremental vesting upon achievement of certain stock price targets based on a 45-day VWAP during which time the average monthly trading volume of the common stock must be at least 15% of the Company’s aggregate market capitalization.

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Acquisition of TheStreet, Inc. and Partnership with Cramer Digital

On June 11, 2019, the Company, TST Acquisition Co., Inc., a Delaware corporation (“TSTAC”), a newly-formed indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and TheStreet, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“TheStreet”), entered into an agreement and plan of merger, pursuant to which TSTAC will merge with and into TheStreet, with TheStreet continuing as the surviving corporation in the merger and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

The merger agreement provided that all issued and outstanding shares of common stock of TheStreet (other than those shares with respect to which appraisal rights have been properly exercised) will be exchanged for an aggregate of $16,500,000 in cash. Pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement, on June 10, 2019, the Company deposited $16,500,000 into an escrow account pursuant to an escrow agreement, dated June 10, 2019, by and among the Company, TheStreet and Citibank, N.A., as escrow agent.

On August 7, 2019, the Company consummated the merger between TheStreet and TSTAC, pursuant to which TSTAC merged with and into TheStreet, with TheStreet continuing as the surviving corporation in the merger and as an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement dated as of June 11, 2019, as amended. In connection with the consummation of the merger, the Company paid a total of $16,500,000 in cash to TheStreet’s stockholders. This transaction was funded through a debt financing arranged by a subsidiary of B. Riley Financial, Inc. (see below “Amended and Restated Note Purchase Agreement”).

On August 8, 2019, in connection with the merger, finance and stock market expert Jim Cramer, who co-founded TheStreet, agreed to enter into a new partnership with TheStreet through Cramer Digital, a new production company featuring the digital rights and content created by Mr. Cramer and his team of financial experts. The partnership will allow Mr. Cramer to continue his subscription and content offerings and will be under his editorial control. The Company expects that TheStreet’s senior management will continue with the Company subsequent to the merger.

Note Purchase Agreement

On June 10, 2019, the Company entered into a note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance Co., LLC, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, pursuant to which the Company issued to the investor a 12% senior secured note, due July 31, 2019, in the aggregate principal amount of $20,000,000, which after taking into account B. Riley’s placement fee of $1,000,000 and legal fees and expenses of the investor, resulted in the Company receiving net proceeds of $18,865,000, of which $16,500,000 was deposited into escrow to fund TheStreet merger consideration and the balance of $2,365,000 was to be used by the Company for working capital and general corporate purposes.

ABG-SI LLC Licensing Agreement

On June 14, 2019, the Company and ABG-SI LLC (“ABG”), a Delaware limited liability company and indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Authentic Brands Group, entered into a licensing agreement (the “Licensing Agreement”) pursuant to which the Company shall have the exclusive right and license in the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand to operate the Sports Illustrated media business (in the English and Spanish languages), including to (i) operate the digital and print editions ofSports Illustrated(including all special interest issues and the swimsuit issue) andSports Illustrated for Kids, (ii) develop new digital media channels under the Sports Illustrated brands and (iii) operate certain related businesses, including without limitation, special interest publications, video channels, bookazines and the licensing and/or syndication of certain products and content under the Sports Illustrated brand (collectively, the “Licensed Business”). The Company is not required to implement geo filtering or other systems to prevent users located outside the territory from accessing the digital channels in the territory.

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The initial term of the Licensing Agreement shall commence upon the termination of the Meredith License Agreement (as defined below) and shall continue through December 31, 2029. The Company has the option, subjectrepaid to certain conditions, to renew the term of the Licensing Agreement for nine consecutive renewal terms of 10 years each (collectively, the “Term”), for a total of 100 years.

The Licensing Agreement provides that the Company shall pay to ABG annual royalties in respect of each year of the Term based on gross revenues (“Royalties”) with guaranteed minimum annual amounts. The Company has prepaid ABG $45,000,000 against future Royalties. ABG will pay to the Company a share of revenues relating to certain Sports Illustrated business lines not licensed to the Company, such as commerce. The two companies will be partnering in building the brand worldwide.

Pursuant to a publicly announced agreement between ABG and Meredith Corporation (“Meredith”), an Iowa corporation, Meredith operated the Licensed Business under license from ABG (the “Meredith License Agreement). On October 3, 2019 Maven, ABG and Meredith entered into a Transition Services Agreement and an Outsourcing Agreement whereby the parties agreed to the terms and conditions under which Meredith would continue to operate certain aspects of the business, and provide certain services during the fourth quarter of 2019 as all activities were transitioned over to Maven. Through these agreements, Maven took over operating control of the Sports Illustrated business.

The Company has agreed to issue to ABG within 30 days of the execution of the Licensing Agreement warrants to acquire common stock of the Company representing 10% of the Company’s fully diluted equity securities (“Warrants”). Half the Warrants shall have an exercise price of $0.42 per share (the “Forty-Two Cents Warrants”). The other half of the Warrants shall have an exercise price of $0.84 per share (the “Eighty-Four Cents Warrants”). The Warrants provide for the following: (1) 40% of the Forty-Two Cents Warrants and 40% of the Eighty-Four Cents Warrants shall vest in equal monthly increments over a period of two years beginning on the one year anniversary of the date of issuance of the Warrants (any unvested portion of such Warrants to be forfeited by ABG upon certain terminations by the Company of the Licensing Agreement); (2) 60% of the Forty-Two Cents Warrants and 60% of the Eighty-Four Cents Warrants shall vest based on the achievement of certain performance goals for the Licensed Business in calendar years 2020, 2021, 2022 or 2023; (3) under certain circumstances the Company may require ABG to exercise all (and not less than all) of the Warrants, in which case all of the Warrants shall be vested; (4) all of the Warrants shall automatically vest upon certain terminations of the Licensing Agreement by ABG or upon a change of control of the Company; and (5) ABG shall have the right to participate, on a pro-rata basis (including vested and unvested Warrants, exercised or unexercised), in any future equity issuance of the Company (subject to customary exceptions).

Additionally, Ross Levinsohn, the former senior executive from Fox and Yahoo!, had agreed to become the new Chief Executive Officer of the Licensed Business.

Mr. Levinsohn was a director of the Company from November 4, 2016 through October 20, 2017. In conjunction with Mr. Levinsohn’s services as a director of the Company, he received restricted stock awards for 245,434 shares of common stock. Mr. Levinsohn retained his restricted stock awards and they continued to vest subsequent to his resignation from the Boardholders on October 20, 2017. The restricted stock awards will continue to vest through October 16, 2019. In conjunction with the vesting of the restricted stock awards, the Company recognized stock based compensation cost of $16,616 and $71,619 for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively, and $28,634 and $14,317 for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively, which was included in general and administrative expenses in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

On April 10, 2019, the Company entered into an Advisory Services Agreement with Mr. Levinsohn to provide advisory services with respect to strategic transactions in the media and digital publishing industries, in exchange for which Mr. Levinsohn was granted a stock option to purchase 532,004 shares of common stock, exercisable for a period of 10 years at $0.46 per share (the closing market price on April 10, 2019) subject to vesting (i) based on the achievement by the Company of stock price and liquidity targets and becoming listed on a national securities exchange and (ii) a concurrent 36-month vesting period with a 12-month cliff, and may not be exercised until the Company has increased its authorized shares of common stock to a sufficient number to permit the full exercise of the stock options granted; accordingly, these stock option grants are considered as unfunded and cannot be exercised until sufficient common shares have been authorized.

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On June 11, 2019, Mr. Levinsohn was granted stock options, in conjunction with Mr. Levinsohn’s services relating to the Company’s entry into the Licensing Agreement, to acquire 2,000,000 shares of common stock under the Company’s 2019 Plan. These stock options vest monthly over three years, with one-third vesting after 12 months of continuous service from the grant date and a further 1/36 vesting at the end of each month of continuous service thereafter, exercisable for a period of ten years at $0.42 per share (the closing market price on June 11, 2019), and may not be exercised until the Company has increased its authorized shares of common stock to a sufficient number to permit the full exercise of the stock options granted; accordingly, these stock option grants are considered as unfunded and cannot be exercised until sufficient common shares have been authorized.

On September 16, 2019, Mr. Levinsohn was granted a stock options, in conjunction with Mr. Levinsohn’s services relating to the Company’s entry into the Licensing Agreement, to acquire 2,000,000 shares of common stock under the Company’s 2019 Plan. These stock options vest monthly over three years, with one-third vesting after 12 months of continuous service from the grant date and the remaining two-thirds over next 24 months subject to meeting certain revenue targets, exercisable for a period of ten years, $0.78 per share (the closing market price on September 16, 2019), and may not be exercised until the Company has increased its authorized shares of common stock to a sufficient number to permit the full exercise of the stock options granted; accordingly, these stock option grants are considered as unfunded and cannot be exercised until sufficient common shares have been authorized.

Mr. Levinsohn has also entered into an agreement with the Company to purchase $500,000 of the Company’s newly-designated Series I Convertible Preferred Stock.

Amended and Restated Note Purchase Agreement

On June 14, 2019, the Company entered into an amended and restated note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance Co., LLC, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, which amended and restated the 12% senior secured note dated June 10, 2019, by and among the Company and the investor. Pursuant to this amendment, the Company issued an amended and restated 12% senior secured note, due June 14, 2022, in the aggregate principal amount of $68,000,000, which amends, restates and supersedes that $20,000,000 12% senior secured note issued by the Company on June 10, 2019 to the investor. The Company received additional gross proceeds of $48,000,000, which after taking into account B. Riley’s placement fee of $2,400,000 and legal fees and expenses of the investor, the Company received net proceeds of $45,550,000, of which $45,000,000 was paid to ABG-SI LLC against future royalties in connection with the Company’s previously announced Licensing Agreement, dated June 14, 2019, with ABG-SI LLC, and the balance of $550,000 will be used by the Company for working capital and general corporate purposes.

On August 27, 2019, the Company entered into a first amendment to the amended note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance Co., LLC, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, which amended the amended and restated 12% senior secured note dated June 14, 2019. Pursuant to this first amendment, the Company received gross proceeds of $3,000,000, which after taking into account a closing fee paid to the investor of $150,000 and legal fees and expenses of the investor, the Company received net proceeds of approximately $2,830,000, which will be used by the Company for working capital and general corporate purposes.

On February 27, 2020, the Company entered into a second amendment to amended and restated note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance Co., LLC,an affiliated entity of B. Riley,which amended the first amendment to the amended and restated 12% senior secured note dated August 27, 2019. Pursuant to the second amendment, the Company is (i) allowed to replace its previous $3.5 million working capital facility with a new $15.0 million working capital facility; and (ii) permitted to account for the issuance by the investor of a $3.0 million letter of credit to the Company’s landlord for the Company’s lease of the premises located at 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10281.

Warrant Exercise

On September 10, 2019, a total of 1,078,661 warrants were exercised on a cashless basis, for a total of 539,331 shares of common stock.

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Series I Convertible Preferred Stock

On June 27, 2019, 25,800 authorized shares of the Company’s preferred stock were designated as “Series I Convertible Preferred Stock” (the “Series I Preferred Stock”). On June 28, 2019, the Company closed on a securities purchase agreement with certain accredited investors, pursuant to which the Company issued an aggregate of 23,100 shares of Series I Preferred Stock2020), at a stated value of $1,000 per share, which shares were initially convertible into 46,200,000327,273 shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.50$0.33 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $23,100,000.

In consideration$130,896. The proceeds were used for its services as placement agent, the Company paid B. Riley FBR a cash feeworking capital and general corporate purposes. The number of $1,386,000 plus $52,500 in reimbursement of legal fees and other transaction costs. The Company used approximately $21.7 million of the net proceeds from the financing to partially repay the amended and restated 12% senior secured note dated June 14, 2019, and to pay deferred fees of approximately $3,400,000 related to that borrowing facility.

Pursuant to the registration rights agreements entered into in connection with the securities purchase agreements on June 28, 2019, the Company agreed to register the shares issuable upon conversion of the Series IH Preferred Stock for resalewill be adjusted in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, combinations of shares and similar transactions. Each Series H Preferred Stock shall vote on an as-if-converted to common stock basis, subject to beneficial ownership blocker provisions and other certain conditions.

On September 21, 2020, an investor converted 300 shares of Series H Preferred Stock into 909,090 shares of the Company’s common stock.

On October 31, 2020, the Company issued 389 shares of Series H Preferred Stock to James Heckman at the stated value of $1,000, convertible into 1,178,787 shares of the Company’s common stock, at the option of the holder subject to certain limitations at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the investors.conversion price of $0.33 per share. The Company committed to file the registration statement no later than the 30th calendar day following the date the Company files (i) its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, (ii) all its required quarterly reports on Form 10-Q since the quarter ended September 30, 2018 through September 30, 2019, and (iii) current Form 8-Kshares of Series H Preferred Stock were issued in connection with the acquisitionscancellation of TheStreetpromissory notes payable to Mr. Heckman in the aggregate outstanding principal amount of $389,000.

The shares of Series H Preferred Stock were subject to limitations on conversion into shares of the Company’s common stock until the date an amendment to the Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), was filed and its license with ABG-SI LLC,accepted with the SEC, butState of Delaware that increases the number of authorized shares of its common stock to at least a number permitting all the Series H Preferred Stock to be converted in no event later than December 1, 2019. The Company committedfull (further details are provided under the heading Amendment to cause the registration statement to become effective by no later than 90 days after December 1, 2019, subject to certain conditions. The registration rights agreements provide for Registration Rights Damages (as further described in Note 10) upon the occurrenceCertificate of certain events up to a maximum amount of 6% of the aggregate amount invested (refer to “Liquidating Damages” below for further details)Incorporation).

 

The securities purchase agreements also included a provision that requires the Company to maintain its periodic filings with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements under Rule 144(c) of the Securities Act. If the Company fails for any reason to satisfy the current public information requirement commencing from the six (6) month anniversary date of issuance of the Series H Preferred Shares, then the Company will be obligated to pay Public Information Failure Damages (as further described in Note 10)14 to the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019) to each holder, consisting of a cash payment equal to 1% of the amount invested as partial liquidated damages, up to a maximum of six months, subject to interest at the rate of 1% per month until paid in full (refer to “Liquidating Damages” below for further details).full.

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Series J Convertible Preferred Stock

On OctoberSeptember 4, 2019, 35,000 authorized shares of2020, the Company’s preferred stock were designated asCompany closed on an additional “Series J Convertible Preferred Stock” (the “Series(“Series J Preferred Stock”). On October 7, 2019, the Company closed on a securities purchase agreement issuance with certaintwo accredited investors, pursuant to which the Companywe issued an aggregate of 20,00010,500 shares of Series J Preferred Stock at a stated value of $1,000 per share, initially convertible into 28,571,42815,013,072 shares of the Company’sour common stock at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.70, per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $20,000,000.

In consideration for its services as placement agent, the Company paid B. Riley FBR a cash fee of $525,240 plus $43,043 in reimbursement of legal fees and other transaction costs. The Company$6,000,000, which was used $5.0 million of the net proceeds from the financing to partially repay the amended and restated 12% senior secured note dated June 14, 2019, and to use net proceeds of approximately $14.4 million for working capital and general corporate purposes. The number of shares issuable upon conversion of the Series J Preferred Stock will be adjusted in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, combinations of shares and similar transactions. Each share of Series J Convertible Preferred Stock shall vote on an as-if-converted to common stock basis, subject to certain conditions.

All of the shares of the Series J Preferred Stock converted automatically into shares of the Company’s common stock on December 18, 2020, the date the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment (the “Certificate of Amendment”) to the Certificate of Incorporation, which Certificate of Amendment increased the number of authorized shares of the Company’s common stock to at least a number that permitted all the Series J Preferred Stock, the “Series K Convertible Preferred Stock” (the “Series K Preferred Stock”), the “Series I Convertible Preferred Stock” (“Series I Preferred Stock”), and the Series H Preferred Stock, to be converted in full (further details are provided under the heading Amendment to Certificate of Incorporation).

 

Pursuant to thea registration rights agreementsagreement entered into in connection with the securities purchase agreements, on October 7, 2019, the Company agreed to register the shares issuable upon conversion of the Series J Preferred Stock for resale by the investors. The Company committed to file the registration statement by no later than the 30th calendar day following the date the Company files (i) its annual report(a) Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 (ii)and December 31, 2019, (b) all its required quarterly reportsQuarterly Reports on Form 10-Q since the quarter ended September 30, 2018, through the quarter ended September 30, 2019,2020, and (iii) current(c) any Form 8-K in connectionReports that the Company is required to file with the acquisitions of TheStreet, Say Media, HubPages, and its license with ABG-SI LLC, with the SEC,SEC; but in no event later than March 31, 2020.April 30, 2021 (the “Series J Filing Date”). The Company also committed to cause the registration statement to become effective by no later than 9060 days after March 31, 2020, subject to certain conditions.the Series J Filing Date (or, in the event of a full review by the staff of the SEC, 120 days following the Series J Filing Date). The registration rights agreements provideagreement provides for Registration Rights Damages (as further described in Note 10)14 to the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019) upon the occurrence of certain events up to a maximum amount of 6% of the aggregate amount invested.

The securities purchase agreements also included a provision that requires the Company to maintain its periodic filings with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements under Rule 144(c) of the Securities Act. If the Company fails for any reason to satisfy the current public information commencing from the six (6) month anniversary date of issuance of the Series J Preferred Shares, then the Company will be obligated to pay Public Information Failure Damages (as further described in Note 14 to the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019) to each holder, consisting of a cash payment equal to 1% of the amount invested (referas partial liquidated damages, up to “Liquidating Damages” belowa maximum of six months, subject to interest at the rate of 1% per month until paid in full.

Series K Preferred Stock – On October 22, 2020, 20,000 authorized shares of the Company’s preferred stock were designated the Series K Preferred Stock. Between October 23, 2020 and November 11, 2020, the Company closed on several securities purchase agreements with accredited investors, pursuant to which the Company issued an aggregate of 18,042 shares of Series K Preferred Stock at a stated value of $1,000, initially convertible into 45,105,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.40 per share, for further details).aggregate gross proceeds of $18,042,000. The number of shares issuable upon conversion of the Series K Preferred Stock will be adjusted in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, combinations of shares and similar transactions. Each Series K Preferred Stock votes on an as-if-converted to common stock basis, subject to certain conditions.

In consideration for its services as placement agent, the Company paid B. Riley FBR, Inc. (“B. Riley FBR”) a cash fee of $560,500. The Company used approximately $3.4 million of the net proceeds from the financing to partially repay the Delayed Draw Term Note and used approximately $2.6 million for payment on a prior investment, with the remainder of approximately $11.5 million for working capital and general corporate purposes.

 

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All of the shares of the Series K Preferred Stock converted automatically into shares of the Company’s common stock on December 18, 2020, the date the Company filed a the Certificate of Amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation, which Certificate of Amendment increased the number of authorized shares of the Company’s common stock to at least a number that permitted all the Series J Preferred Stock, the Series K Preferred Stock, the Series I Preferred Stock, and the Series H Preferred Stock, to be converted in full (further details are provided under the heading Amendment to Certificate of Incorporation).

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into in connection with the securities purchase agreements, the Company agreed to register the shares issuable upon conversion of the Series K Preferred Stock for resale by the investors. The Company committed to file the registration statement by no later than the 30th calendar day following the date the Company files its (a) Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, (b) all its required Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q since the quarter ended September 30, 2018, through the quarter ended September 30, 2020, and (c) any Form 8-K Reports that the Company is required to file with the SEC; provided, however, if such 30th calendar day is on or after February 12, 2021, then such 30th calendar date shall be tolled until the 30th calendar day following the date that the Company files its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 (the “Series K Filing Date”). The Company also committed to cause the registration statement to become effective by no later than 90 days after the Series K Filing Date (or, in the event of a full review by the staff of the SEC, 120 days following the Series K Filing Date). The registration rights agreement provides for Registration Rights Damages (as further described in Note 14 to the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019) upon the occurrence of certain events up to a maximum amount of 6% of the aggregate amount invested.

 

The securities purchase agreements also included a provision that requires the Company to maintain its periodic filings with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements under Rule 144(c) of the Securities Act. If the Company fails for any reason to satisfy the current public information requirement commencing from the six (6) month anniversary date of issuance of the Series K Preferred Shares, then the Company will be obligated to pay Public Information Failure Damages (as further described in Note 10)14 to the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019) to each holder, consisting of a cash payment equal to 1% of the amount invested as partial liquidated damages, up to a maximum of six months, subject to interest at the rate of 1% per month until paid in full (referfull.

Series L Preferred Stock – On May 4, 2021, the Special Finance & Governance Committee (the “Special Committee”) of the Board of the Company adopted a Rights Agreement (i) to “Liquidating Damages” belowensure that all stockholders of the Company receive fair and equal treatment in the event of a proposed takeover of the Company, (ii) to guard against two-tier or partial tender offers, open market accumulations, creeping stock accumulation programs and other tactics designed to gain control of the Company without paying all stockholders a fair and adequate price, including a sufficient premium for further details).such controlling interest, (iii) to protect the Company and its stockholders from efforts to capitalize on market volatility and macroeconomic conditions to obtain control of the Company on terms that the Board determines are not in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders and (iv) to enhance the Board’s ability to negotiate with a prospective acquirer.

Also on May 4, 2021, the Special Committee declared a dividend of one preferred stock purchase right (each a “Right”) to be paid to the stockholders of record at the close of business on May 14, 2021 for (i) each outstanding share of the Company’s common stock and (ii) each share of the Company’s common stock issuable upon conversion of each share of the Company’s Series H Preferred Stock. Each Right entitles the registered holder to purchase, subject to the Rights Agreement, from the Company one one-thousandth of a share of the Company’s newly created Series L Junior Participating Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Series L Preferred Stock”), at a price of $4.00, subject to certain adjustments. The Series L Preferred Stock will be entitled, when, as and if declared, to a preferential per share quarterly dividend payment equal to the greater of (i) $1.00 per share or (ii) 1,000 times the aggregate per share amount of all cash dividends, and 1,000 times the aggregate per share amount (payable in kind) of all non-cash dividends or other distributions paid to the holders of the Company’s Common Stock. The Series L Preferred Stock will be entitled to 1,000 votes on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders of the Company. In the event of any merger, consolidation or other transaction in which shares of the Company’s common stock are converted or exchanged, the Series L Preferred Stock will be entitled to receive 1,000 times the amount received per one share of the Company’s common stock.

 

Appointment of Chief Operating OfficerLeases

 

On December 9, 2019, the Company announced the appointment of William Sornsin as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Sornsin has been with the Company since 2016 and has filled various roles with the Company since that time. Mr. Paul Edmondson, who had also held the position of Chief Operating Officer, will continue as the Company’s President.

Appointment of Chief Revenue Officer

On December 9, 2019, Company announced the appointment of Mr. Avi Zimak as the Company’s Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Global Strategic Partnerships. Mr. Zimak, will be employed on a full time basis, at an annual salary of $450,000. Mr. Zimak will be paid a signing bonus of $250,000, subject to recapture in certain circumstances if Mr. Zimak’s employment ends before the second anniversary of the date of his employment agreement. Mr. Zimak will be eligible for an annual bonus of up to $450,000, based on the achievement in each calendar year of defined annual revenue targets, calculated on a quarterly basis, and paid quarterly subject to an annual reconciliation. Mr. Zimak will be granted a ten-year stock option to purchase up to an aggregate of 2,250,000 shares of common stock under the 2019 Plan. The stock options will vest as to 1,125,000 shares, in three equal installments, based on performance targets tied to the achievement of established annual revenue targets for fiscal years 2020 to and including 2022. The remaining 1,250,000 stock options will vest as follows: (i) 1/3 will vest after 12 months from the date of the employment agreement; and (ii) then 1/36th will vest at the end of each month thereafter, concluding 36 months from the effect date of the employment agreement. Currently these options are unfunded, and the Company has agreed to timely increase the availability of shares of common stock to permit the exercise of the options upon vesting. At the commencement of the employment, Mr. Zimak will also be awarded restricted stock units for 250,000 shares of common stock, vesting one year after the date of the employment agreement, with the shares to be delivered on the fifth anniversary of the date of the employment agreement. The term of the employment agreement is for an initial period of two years, and it is automatically renewed for one additional year periods thereafter if not previously terminated. The employment agreement has early termination provisions for cause, permanent incapacity, and death. Mr. Zimak has the right to terminate for good reason in certain circumstances. In the event of certain of the early termination events, the Company will be obligated to pay salary compensation, bonus amounts and various of the restricted stock units will continue to vest. In the event of termination, the vested stock options and further vesting will be governed by the terms of the stock option grant and the plan under which they are granted. During the employment period and for one year thereafter, Mr. Zimak will be subject to the Company’s typical non-solicitation and competition provisions for all executive employees.

Merger of Subsidiaries

On December 19, 2019, the Company’s wholly owned subsidiaries Maven Coalition, Inc., a Nevada corporation, and HubPages, Inc, a Delaware corporation, were merged into the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary Say Media, Inc, a Delaware corporation. On January 6, 2020 Say Media, Inc. amended its certificate of incorporation to change its name to Maven Coalition, Inc.

Operating Lease

On January 14,October 30, 2020, the Company entered into a leasesurrender agreement for offices at 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor,pursuant to which the Company effectively surrendered certain property located in New York, New York with an effective dateback to the landlord. Pursuant to the surrender agreement, the security deposit of $500,000 held by the landlord and reflected within restricted cash on the condensed consolidated balance sheets was applied to the balance in Februaryarrears. In addition, the Company agreed to pay $68,868 per month from January 1, 2020. Under2021 through June 1, 2022 to satisfy the termsremaining outstanding balance of $1,239,624 owed to the landlord. The landlord agreed not to charge any late fees, interest charges, or other penalties relating to the surrender of the agreement, the Company has a rent abatement for the initial nine months of the lease term, with rent payments commencing during November 1, 2020 and the lease expiring in November 30, 2032. The Company has a maximum tenant allowance of $408,680 for certain costs. Monthly rental payments are as follows: 1) initial sixty-month term $252,019; 2) second sixty-month term $269,048; and 3) remainder twenty-five month term $286,076; for total minimum lease payments of $38,415,920. In addition to the fixed rent the Company will also pay a portion of the operating costs associated with the space and is entitled to.property.

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The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the adoptionAmendment to Certificate of ASC Topic 842,Leases, will have at January 1, 2019 upon recognition of the right-of-use assets and corresponding lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments, on its balance sheet for this lease commitment, as well as the disclosure of key information about this lease arrangement, including the overall presentation on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

FastPay Credit FacilityIncorporation

 

On February 27,December 18, 2020, the Company entered intofiled a Financing and Security Agreement with FPP Finance LLC (“FastPay”) pursuantCertificate of Amendment to which FastPay extendedits Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of its common stock from 100,000,000 shares to 1,000,000,000 shares. As a $15,000,000 line of credit for working capital purposes secured by a first lien on all of the Company’s cash and accounts receivable and a second lien on all other assets. Borrowings under the facility bear interest at the LIBOR Rate plus 8.50% and have a final maturity of February 6, 2022. The balance outstandingresult, as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements was $4,924,531.

Asset Acquisition of Petametrics Inc.

On March 9,December 18, 2020, the Company enteredhas a sufficient number of authorized but unissued shares of its common stock available for issuance required under all of its securities that are convertible into an asset purchase agreement with Petametrics Inc., dba LiftIgniter,shares of its common stock.

As a Delaware corporation where it purchased substantially all the assets, including the intellectual property and excluding certain accounts receivable, and assumed certain liabilities. The purchase price consisted of: 1) cash payment of $184,086 on February 19, 2020, in connection with the repayment of all outstanding indebtedness, 2) at closing a cash payment of $131,202, 3) collections of certain accounts receivable, 4) on the first anniversary dateresult of the closing issuance of restricted stock units for an aggregate of up to 312,500increase in authorized and unissued shares of the Company’s common stock and 5) on the second anniversary dateDecember 18, 2020, all of the closing issuance of restricted stock units for an aggregate of upSeries I Preferred Stock, Series J Preferred Stock (including shares issued subsequent to 312,500June 30, 2020 as described above) and Series K Preferred Stock (including shares issued subsequent to June 30, 2020 as described above), were converted into shares of the Company’s common stock.

Delayed Draw Term Loan

On March 24, 2020, the Company entered into a second amended and restated note purchase agreement with BRF Finance Co., LLC, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, in its capacity as agent for the purchasers, which amended and restated the amended and restated note purchase agreement dated June 14, 2019, as amended. Pursuant to the second amended and restated note purchase agreement, the Company issued a 15% delayed draw term note (the “Term Note”), in the aggregate principal amount of $12,000,000 to the investor. Up to $8,000,000 in principal amount under the Term Note is due on March 31, 2021, with the balance thereunder due on June 14, 2022. Interest on amounts outstanding under the Term Note are payable in kind in arrears on the last day of each fiscal quarter. On March 25, 2020, the Company drew down $6,913,865 under the Term Note, and after taking into account $793,109 of commitment and funding fees paid to the Investor and legal fees and expenses of the investor, the Company received net proceeds of approximately $6,000,000, which will be used by the Company for working capital and general corporate purposes. Additional borrowings under the note requested by the Company may be made at the option of the purchasers. Pursuant to the note purchase agreement, interest on amounts outstanding under the notes previously issued under the amended and restated note purchase agreement with respect to (x) interest payable on the notes previously issued under the amended and restated note purchase agreement on March 31, 2020 and June 30, 2020, and (y) at the Company’s option with the consent of requisite purchasers, interest payable on the previously issued under the amended and restated note purchase agreement on September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2020, in lieu of the payment in cash of all or any portion of the interest due on such dates, will be payable in kind in arrears on the last day of such fiscal quarter. The balance outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements was $6,913,865.

In connection with entering into the note purchase agreement, the Company entered into an amendment to its $15 million FastPay working capital facility to permit the additional secured debt that may be incurred under the note.

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Payroll Protection Program Loan

On April 6, 2020, the Company entered into a note agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. under the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”). The Company received total proceeds of approximately $5.7 million under the note. In accordance with the requirements of the CARES Act,stock, accordingly, the Company will use proceeds from the note agreement primarily for payroll costs. The note is scheduled to mature on April 6, 2022 and hasrecognize a 0.98% interest rate and is subject to the terms and conditions applicable to loans administered by the SBA under the CARES Act. The balance outstandingbeneficial conversion feature, as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements was $5,702,725.

Forgiveness of the note is only available for principal that is used for the limited purposes that qualify for forgiveness under SBA requirements, and that to obtain forgiveness, the Company must request it and must provide documentation in accordance with the SBA requirements, and certify that the amounts the Company is requesting to be forgiven qualify under those requirements. The Company also understands that it shall remain responsible under the note for any amounts not forgiven, and that interest payable under the note will not be forgiven but that the SBA may pay the Loan interest on forgiven amounts. The requirements for forgiveness include, among other requirements, provide for eligible expenditures, necessary records/documentation, or possible reductions of the forgiven amount due to changes in number of employees or compensation and the Company is responsible to review the SBA’s program materials.

Liquidating Damages

The Company determined that it is contingently liable for certain for the Registration Rights Damages and Public Information Failure Damages (collectively the Liquidating Damages) covering the 12% Convertible Debentures, Series I Preferred Stock, and Series J Preferred Stock, therefore, a contingent obligation of $4,178,778 (including interest computed at 1% per month based on the balance outstanding of these Liquidating Damages) exist as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) was reported in Wuhan, China. On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 to constitute a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” Many national governments and sports authorities around the world have made the decision to postpone/cancel high attendance sports events in an effort to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In addition, many governments and businesses have limited non-essential work activity, furloughed and/or terminated many employees and closed some operations and/or locations, all of which has had a negative impact on the economic environment.

As a result of these factors the Company has experienced a decline in revenues and earnings since early March 2020. While the Company has implemented cost reduction measures in an effort to offset such volume declines, the duration of these declines remains uncertain. If the volume declines do not stabilize over the next few months, the Company’s 2020 financial results and operations may be adversely impacted. The extent of the impact on the Company’s operational and financial performance will depend on the Company’s willingness and ability to take further cost reduction measures as well as future developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak, related group gathering and sports event advisories and restrictions, and the extent and effectiveness of containment actions taken, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicteddeemed appropriate, at the time of issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, was enacted March 27, 2020. Among the business provisions, the CARES Act provided for various payroll tax incentives, changes to net operating loss carryback and carryforward rules, business interest expense limitation increases, and bonus depreciation on qualified improvement property. The Company is evaluating the impact of the CARES Act on its financial statements.conversion.

 

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ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 should be read together with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report and in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2019 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 9, 2021. The following discussion contains “forward-looking statements” that reflect our future plans, estimates, beliefs and expected performance. Our actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated and expressed in such forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those set forth above. We caution that assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions or beliefs about future events may, and often do, vary from actual results and the differences can be material. Please see “Forward-Looking Statements.”

Overview

 

The Company operates one ofWe operate a best-in-class technology platform empowering premium publishers who impact, inform, educate and entertain. We operate the largestmedia businesses for Sports Illustrated (“Sports Illustrated”) and TheStreet, and power more than 250 independent brands including History, Maxim, and Biography. Our platform (the “Maven Platform”) provides digital publishing, distribution and monetization capabilities to our own Sports Illustrated and distribution platforms that is shared by aTheStreet media businesses as well as to the coalition of independent, professionally managed online media publishers (“Mavens”(referred to as the “Channel Partners”). Each Maven joinsGenerally, the coalition by invitation-only and is drawn from professional journalists, subject matter experts, group evangelists and social leaders. Mavens publish content and oversee an online community for their respective channels, leveraging a proprietary, socially-driven, mobile-enabled, video-focused technology platform to engage niche audiences within a single network. Generally, MavensChannel Partners are independently owned strategic partners who receive a share of revenue from the interaction with their content. When they join, Mavens benefit from the state-of-the-art technology of our platform, allowing them to dramatically upgrade performance. At the same time, advertising revenue is dramatically improved due to the scale the Company has achieved by combining all Mavens onto a single platform and the large and experienced sales organization. They also benefit from our membership marketing and management systems to further enhance their revenue. Additionally, the lead brand within each vertical creates a halo benefit for all Mavens in the vertical while each of them adds to the breadth and quality of content. While they benefit from these critical performance improvements they also save substantially in costs of technology, infrastructure, advertising sales and member marketing and management.

 

The Company’sOur growth strategy is to continue to expand the coalition by adding new Mavens in key verticals that management believespremium publishers with high quality brands and content either as independent Channel Partners or by acquiring publishers as owned and operated entities. By adding premium content brands, we will further expand the scale of unique users interacting on the Company’s technology platform. In each vertical,Maven Platform, improve monetization effectiveness in both advertising and subscription revenues, and enhance the Company seeksattractiveness to build around a leading brand, surround it with subcategory Maven specialistsconsumers and further enhance coverage with individual expert contributors. The primary means of expansion is adding Mavens as independent strategic partners. However, in some circumstances the Company will acquire crucial content providers as the cornerstone of an important vertical.

The Company’s common stock is traded on the Over-the-Counter Market under the symbol “MVEN”.advertisers.

 

Recent Developments

10% OID Convertible Debentures

On October 18, 2018, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with two accredited investors, B. RileyLiquidity and an affiliated entity of B. Riley, pursuant to which the Company issued to the investors 10% original issue discount senior secured convertible debentures (the “10% OID Convertible Debentures”) in the aggregate principal amount of $3,500,000, which, after taking into account the 5% original issue discount, and legal fees and expenses of the investors, resulted in the Company receiving net proceeds of $3,285,000. The Company issued warrants to the investors to purchase up to 875,000 shares of the Company’s common stock in connection with this securities purchase agreement. The debentures were due and payable on October 31, 2019. Interest accrued on the debentures at the rate of 10% per annum, payable on the earlier of conversion, redemption or October 31, 2019.

The debentures were convertible into shares of the Company’s common stock at the option of the investor at any time prior to October 31, 2019, at a conversion price of $1.00 per share, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends and similar transactions, and were subject to certain redemption rights by the Company. On December 12, 2018, there was a roll-over of the 10% OID Convertible Debentures into the 12% Convertible Debentures (as further described below).

12% Convertible DebenturesCapital Resources

On December 12, 2018, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with three accredited investors, pursuant to which the Company issued to the investors 12% senior secured subordinated convertible debentures (the “12% Convertible Debentures”) in the aggregate principal amount of $13,091,528, which includes (i) the roll-over of an aggregate of $3,551,528 in principal and interest of the 10% OID Convertible Debentures issued to two of the investors on October 18, 2018, and (ii) a placement fee, payable in cash, of $540,000 to the Company’s placement agent, B. Riley FBR, in the offering. After taking into account legal fees and expenses of the investors, the Company received net proceeds of $8,950,000. The 12% Convertible Debentures are due and payable on December 31, 2020. Interest accrues at the rate of 12% per annum, payable on the earlier of conversion or December 31, 2020. The Company’s obligations under the 12% Convertible Debentures are secured by a security agreement, dated as of October 18, 2018, by and among the Company and each investor thereto.

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Subject to the Company receiving shareholder approval to increase its authorized shares of common stock, principal and interest accrued on the 12% Convertible Debentures are convertible into shares of common stock, at the option of the investor at any time prior to December 31, 2020, at a conversion price of $0.33 per share, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends and similar transactions, and beneficial ownership blocker provisions. If the Company does not perform certain of its obligations in a timely manner, it must pay Liquidated Damages to the investors (see Note 17).

 

As long as any portion of the 12% Convertible Debentures remain outstanding, unless investors holding at least 51% inJune 30, 2020, our principal amountsources of the then outstanding 12% Convertible Debentures otherwise agree, the Company shall not, among other things enter into, incur, assume or guarantee any indebtedness, except for certain permitted indebtedness.

On March 18, 2019, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with two accredited investors, including John Fichthorn, the Company’s Chairman of the Board, pursuant to which the Company issued 12% Convertible Debentures in the aggregate principal amount of $1,696,000, which includes a placement fee of $96,000 paid to B. Riley FBR in the form of a 12% Convertible Debenture, for acting as the Company’s placement agent in the offering. After taking into account legal fees and expenses of $10,000 which were paid in cash, the Company received net proceeds of $1,590,000.

On March 27, 2019, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with an accredited investor pursuant to which the Company issued 12% Convertible Debentures in the aggregate principal amount of $318,000, which includes a placement fee of $18,000 paid to B. Riley FBR in the form of a 12% Debenture for acting as the Company’s placement agent in the offering. After taking into account legal fees and expenses, the Company received net proceeds of $300,000.

On April 8, 2019, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with an accredited investor, Todd D. Sims, a member of the Company’s Board, pursuant to which the Company issued a 12% Convertible Debenture in the aggregate principal amount of $100,000. In connection with this placement, B. Riley FBR waived its placement fee of $6,000 for acting as the Company’s placement agent in the offering. After taking into account legal fees and expenses, the Company received net proceeds of $100,000.

The 12% Convertible Debentures issued on March 18, 2019, March 27, 2019 and April 8, 2019 are convertible into shares of the Company’s common stock at the option of the investor at any time prior to December 31, 2020, at a conversion price of $0.40 per share, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends and similar transactions, and beneficial ownership blocker provisions. All other terms of the 12% Convertible Debentures issued on March 18, 2019, March 27, 2019 and April 8, 2019 are identical to the 12% Convertible Debentures issued on December 12, 2018.

Pursuant to the registration rights agreements entered into in connection with the securities purchase agreements on March 18, 2019, March 27, 2019 and April 8, 2019, the Company agreed to register the shares issuable upon conversion of the 12% Convertible Debentures for resale by the investors. The Company committed to file the registration statement the later of (i) the 30th calendar day following the date the Company files its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 with the SEC, but in no event later than May 15, 2019, and (ii) the 30th calendar day after all the Series H Preferred Stock have been registered pursuant to a registration statement under a certain registration rights agreement, dated as of August 9, 2018. The registration rights agreements provide for Registration Rights Damages (as further described in Note 10) upon the occurrence of certain events up to a maximum amount of 6% of the aggregate amount invested (refer to “Liquidating Damages” below for further details).

The securities purchase agreements also included a provision that requires the Company to maintain its periodic filings with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements under Rule 144(c) of the Securities Act. If the Company fails for any reason to satisfy the current public information requirement, then the Company will be obligated to pay Public Information Failure Damages (as further described in Note 10) to each holder, consisting of a cash payment equal to 1% of the amount invested as partial liquidated damages, up to a maximum of six months, subject to interest at the rate of 1% per month until paid in full (refer to “Liquidating Damages” below for further details).

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Acquisition of Say Media, Inc.

On October 12, 2018, the Company, Say Media, a Delaware corporation, SM Acquisition Co., Inc., a Delaware corporation (“SMAC”), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company incorporated in Delaware on September 6, 2018 to facilitate the merger, and Matt Sanchez, solely in his capacity as a representative of the Say Media security holders, entered into the Merger Agreements, pursuant to which SMAC will merge with and into Say Media, with Say Media continuing as the surviving corporation in the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

On December 12, 2018, the Company consummated the merger with Say Media, pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreements.

In connection with the consummation of the merger, total cash consideration of $9,537,397 was paid (netliquidity consisted of cash acquired of $534,637), including the following: (1) $6,703,653 to a creditor of Say Media; (2) $250,000 transaction bonus to a designated employee of Say Media; (3) $2,078,498 advanced prior to September 30, 2018 for certain execution payments in connection with the acquisition; and (4) $505,246 for legal fees ($450,000 was advanced for acquisition related legal fees of Say Media paid on August 27, 2018 and additional cash consideration of $55,246 was paid at the Closing for acquisition related legal fees incurred). Furthermore, under the terms of the Merger Agreements, the Company agreed to issue 5,500,000 shares of its common stock to the former holders of Say Media’s Preferred Stock. The Company also issued a total of 2,000,000 restricted stock awards (see below “Restricted Stock Awards”), subsequent to the acquisition, to acquire common stock of the Company to key personnel for continuing services with Say Media, subject to vesting, and repurchase rights under certain circumstances. The shares issued are for post combination services.

2016 Equity Incentive Plan

From October 1, 2018 through December 12, 2018, the Company granted stock options, of which 56,000 are outstanding asapproximately $2.3 million. As of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, to acquire shares of common stock.

2019 Equity Incentive Plan

On April 4, 2019, the Board of the Company adopted the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”). The purpose of the 2019 Plan is to seek, to better secure, and to retain the services of a select group of persons, to provide incentives for those persons to exert maximum efforts for the success of the Company and its affiliates, and to provide a means by which those persons have an opportunity to benefit from increases in the value of the Company’s common stock through the granting of stock awards.

The 2019 Plan allows the Company to grant non-statutory stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards and/or restricted stock units awards to acquire shares of the Company’s common stock to the Company’s employees, directors and consultants, all of which require the achievement of certain price targets by the Company’s common stock.

From April 10, 2019 through March 26, 2020, the Company granted stock options, of which 79,494,813 are outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, to acquire shares of the Company’s common stock to officers, directors, employees and consultants. The Company’s shareholders approved the 2019 Pan and the maximum number of shares authorized of 85,000,000 under the plan on April 3, 2020. The Company does not currently have sufficient authorized but unissued common shares to allow for the exercise of the stock options granted under this plan; accordingly, any stock option grants under this plan are considered as unfunded and cannot be exercised until sufficient common shares have been authorized.

Restricted Stock Awards

From October 1, 2018 through February 22, 2019, the Company granted restricted stock awards, of which 906,367 are outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, for shares of common stock. In connection with the Say Media acquisition the Company granted restricted stock awards, of which 1,175,000 are outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, for shares of common stock. On May 31, 2019, the Company granted 2,399,997 restricted stock units to the holders of the restricted stock awards in connection with the Merger in consideration for an amendment to the true up provisions.

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Equity Grants Outside Option Plans

From December 12, 2018 through March 16, 2019, the Company granted stock options, of which 3,821,333 are outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements, to acquire shares of the Company’s common stock to officers, directors and employees outside of the 2016 Plan and the 2019 Plan. The Company does not currently have sufficient authorized but unissued common shares to allow for the exercise of these stock options, these stock option grants are considered as unfunded and cannot be exercised until sufficient common shares have been authorized.

Adoption of Sequencing Policy

Under ASC 815-40-35, the Company adopted a sequencing policy whereby, in the event that reclassification of contracts from equity to assets or liabilities is necessary pursuant to ASC 815 due to the Company’s inability to demonstrate it has sufficient authorized shares, shares will be allocated on the basis of the earliest issuance date of potentially dilutive instruments, with the earliest grants receiving the first allocation of shares. Pursuant to ASC 815, issuance of securities to the Company’s employees or directors are not subject to the sequencing policy.

Appointment of New Chief Financial Officer

On May 3, 2019, the Company announced the appointment of Douglas Smith as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer.

Pursuant to the terms of an Employment Agreement with the Company, dated as of May 1, 2019, Mr. Smith shall receive an annual salary of $400,000 and be entitled to receive bonuses to be agreed by Company and Mr. Smith in good faith from time to time based on then current financial status of the Company. If Mr. Smith’s employment with the Company is terminated by the Company Without Cause or by Mr. Smith for Good Reason (as those terms are defined in the Employment Agreement), then Mr. Smith shall be entitled to receive a lump sum payment equal to six months of his annual salary.

Mr. Smith was granted options to purchase up to 1,500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, having an exercise price of $0.57 per share, a term of 10 years, and subject to vesting as described below. These options were granted outside of the 2016 Plan and the 2019 Plan. Of the 1,500,000 options granted: (i) 1,000,000 options will vest over 36 months, with 1/3 vesting after 12 months of continuous service and 1/36 vesting monthly for each month of continuous service thereafter; and (ii) 500,000 will vest over 36 months, with 1/3 vesting after 12 months of continuous service and 1/36 vesting monthly for each month of continuous service thereafter, subject to the Company’s common stock being listed on a national securities exchange.

Mr. Smith was also granted options to purchase up to 1,064,008 shares of the Company’s common stock, having an exercise price of $0.46 per share, a term of 10 years, and subject to vesting based both on time and targets tied to the Company’s common stock, as follows: (i) the options will vest over 36 months, with 1/3 vesting after 12 months of continuous service and 1/36 vesting monthly for each month of continuous service thereafter; and (ii) the Company’s common stock must be listed on a national securities exchange, with incremental vesting upon achievement of certain stock price targets based on a 45-day VWAP during which time the average monthly trading volume of the common stock must be at least 15% of the Company’s aggregate market capitalization.

Acquisition of TheStreet, Inc. and Partnership with Cramer Digital

On June 11, 2019, the Company, TST Acquisition Co., Inc., a Delaware corporation (“TSTAC”), a newly-formed indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and TheStreet, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“TheStreet”), entered into an agreement and plan of merger, pursuant to which TSTAC will merge with and into TheStreet, with TheStreet continuing as the surviving corporation in the merger and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

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The merger agreement provided that all issued and outstanding shares of common stock of TheStreet (other than those shares with respect to which appraisal rights have been properly exercised) will be exchanged for an aggregate of $16,500,000 in cash. Pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement, on June 10, 2019, the Company deposited $16,500,000 into an escrow account pursuant to an escrow agreement, dated June 10, 2019, by and among the Company, TheStreet and Citibank, N.A., as escrow agent.

On August 7, 2019, the Company consummated the merger between TheStreet and TSTAC, pursuant to which TSTAC merged with and into TheStreet, with TheStreet continuing as the surviving corporation in the merger and as an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement dated as of June 11, 2019, as amended. In connection with the consummation of the merger, the Company paid a total of $16,500,000 in cash to TheStreet’s stockholders. This transaction was funded through a debt financing arranged by a subsidiary of B. Riley Financial, Inc. (see below “Amended and Restated Note Purchase Agreement”).

On August 8, 2019, in connection with the merger, finance and stock market expert Jim Cramer, who co-founded TheStreet, agreed to enter into a new partnership with TheStreet through Cramer Digital, a new production company featuring the digital rights and content created by Mr. Cramer and his team of financial experts. The partnership will allow Mr. Cramer to continue his subscription and content offerings and will be under his editorial control. The Company expects that TheStreet’s senior management will continue with the Company subsequent to the merger.

Note Purchase Agreement

On June 10, 2019, the Company entered into a note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance Co., LLC, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, pursuant to which the Company issued to the investor a 12% senior secured note, due July 31, 2019, in the aggregate principal amount of $20,000,000, which after taking into account B. Riley’s placement fee of $1,000,000 and legal fees and expenses of the investor, resulted in the Company receiving net proceeds of $18,865,000, of which $16,500,000 was deposited into escrow to fund TheStreet merger consideration and the balance of $2,365,000 was to be used by the Company for working capital and general corporate purposes.

ABG-SI LLC Licensing Agreement

On June 14, 2019, the Company and ABG-SI LLC (“ABG”), a Delaware limited liability company and indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Authentic Brands Group, entered into a licensing agreement (the “Licensing Agreement”) pursuant to which the Company shall have the exclusive right and license in the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand to operate the Sports Illustrated media business (in the English and Spanish languages), including to (i) operate the digital and print editions ofSports Illustrated(including all special interest issues and the swimsuit issue) andSports Illustrated for Kids, (ii) develop new digital media channels under the Sports Illustrated brands and (iii) operate certain related businesses, including without limitation, special interest publications, video channels, bookazines and the licensing and/or syndication of certain products and content under the Sports Illustrated brand (collectively, the “Licensed Business”). The Company is not required to implement geo filtering or other systems to prevent users located outside the territory from accessing the digital channels in the territory.

The initial term of the Licensing Agreement shall commence upon the termination of the Meredith License Agreement (as defined below) and shall continue through December 31, 2029. The Company has the option, subject to certain conditions, to renew the term of the Licensing Agreement for nine consecutive renewal terms of 10 years each (collectively, the “Term”), for a total of 100 years.

The Licensing Agreement provides that the Company shall pay to ABG annual royalties in respect of each year of the Term based on gross revenues (“Royalties”) with guaranteed minimum annual amounts. The Company has prepaid ABG $45,000,000 against future Royalties. ABG will pay to the Company a share of revenues relating to certain Sports Illustrated business lines not licensed to the Company, such as commerce. The two companies will be partnering in building the brand worldwide.

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Pursuant to a publicly announced agreement between ABG and Meredith Corporation (“Meredith”), an Iowa corporation, Meredith operated the Licensed Business under license from ABG (the “Meredith License Agreement). On October 3, 2019 Maven, ABG and Meredith entered into a Transition Services Agreement and an Outsourcing Agreement whereby the parties agreed to the terms and conditions under which Meredith would continue to operate certain aspects of the business, and provide certain services during the fourth quarter of 2019 as all activities were transitioned over to Maven. Through these agreements, Maven took over operating control of the Sports Illustrated business.

The Company has agreed to issue to ABG within 30 days of the execution of the Licensing Agreement warrants to acquire common stock of the Company representing 10% of the Company’s fully diluted equity securities (“Warrants”). Half the Warrants shall have an exercise price of $0.42 per share (the “Forty-Two Cents Warrants”). The other half of the Warrants shall have an exercise price of $0.84 per share (the “Eighty-Four Cents Warrants”). The Warrants provide for the following: (1) 40% of the Forty-Two Cents Warrants and 40% of the Eighty-Four Cents Warrants shall vest in equal monthly increments over a period of two years beginning on the one year anniversary of the date of issuance of the Warrants (any unvested portion of such Warrants to be forfeited by ABG upon certain terminations by the Company of the Licensing Agreement); (2) 60% of the Forty-Two Cents Warrants and 60% of the Eighty-Four Cents Warrants shall vest based on the achievement of certain performance goals for the Licensed Business in calendar years 2020, 2021, 2022 or 2023; (3) under certain circumstances the Company may require ABG to exercise all (and not less than all) of the Warrants, in which case all of the Warrants shall be vested; (4) all of the Warrants shall automatically vest upon certain terminations of the Licensing Agreement by ABG or upon a change of control of the Company; and (5) ABG shall have the right to participate, on a pro-rata basis (including vested and unvested Warrants, exercised or unexercised), in any future equity issuance of the Company (subject to customary exceptions).

Additionally, Ross Levinsohn, the former senior executive from Fox and Yahoo!, had agreed to become the new Chief Executive Officer of the Licensed Business.

Mr. Levinsohn was a director of the Company from November 4, 2016 through October 20, 2017. In conjunction with Mr. Levinsohn’s services as a director of the Company, he received restricted stock awards for 245,434 shares of common stock. Mr. Levinsohn retained his restricted stock awards and they continued to vest subsequent to his resignation from the Board on October 20, 2017. The restricted stock awards will continue to vest through October 16, 2019. In conjunction with the vesting of the restricted stock awards, the Company recognized stock based compensation cost of $16,616 and $71,619 for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively, and $28,634 and $14,317 for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively, which was included in general and administrative expenses in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

On April 10, 2019, the Company entered into an Advisory Services Agreement with Mr. Levinsohn to provide advisory services with respect to strategic transactions in the media and digital publishing industries, in exchange for which Mr. Levinsohn was granted a stock option to purchase 532,004 shares of common stock, exercisable for a period of 10 years at $0.46 per share (the closing market price on April 10, 2019) subject to vesting (i) based on the achievement by the Company of stock price and liquidity targets and becoming listed on a national securities exchange and (ii) a concurrent 36-month vesting period with a 12-month cliff, and may not be exercised until the Company has increased its authorized shares of common stock to a sufficient number to permit the full exercise of the stock options granted; accordingly, these stock option grants are considered as unfunded and cannot be exercised until sufficient common shares have been authorized.

On June 11, 2019, Mr. Levinsohn was granted stock options, in conjunction with Mr. Levinsohn’s services relating to the Company’s entry into the Licensing Agreement, to acquire 2,000,000 shares of common stock under the Company’s 2019 Plan. These stock options vest monthly over three years, with one-third vesting after 12 months of continuous service from the grant date and a further 1/36 vesting at the end of each month of continuous service thereafter, exercisable for a period of ten years at $0.42 per share (the closing market price on June 11, 2019), and may not be exercised until the Company has increased its authorized shares of common stock to a sufficient number to permit the full exercise of the stock options granted; accordingly, these stock option grants are considered as unfunded and cannot be exercised until sufficient common shares have been authorized.

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On September 16, 2019, Mr. Levinsohn was granted a stock options, in conjunction with Mr. Levinsohn’s services relating to the Company’s entry into the Licensing Agreement, to acquire 2,000,000 shares of common stock under the Company’s 2019 Plan. These stock options vest monthly over three years, with one-third vesting after 12 months of continuous service from the grant date and the remaining two-thirds over next 24 months subject to meeting certain revenue targets, exercisable for a period of ten years, $0.78 per share (the closing market price on September 16, 2019), and may not be exercised until the Company has increased its authorized shares of common stock to a sufficient number to permit the full exercise of the stock options granted; accordingly, these stock option grants are considered as unfunded and cannot be exercised until sufficient common shares have been authorized.

Mr. Levinsohn has also entered into an agreement with the Company to purchase $500,000 of the Company’s newly-designated Series I Convertible Preferred Stock.

Amended and Restated Note Purchase Agreement

On June 14, 2019, the Company entered into an amended and restated note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance Co., LLC, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, which amended and restated the 12% senior secured note dated June 10, 2019, by and among the Company and the investor. Pursuant to this amendment, the Company issued an amended and restated 12% senior secured note, due June 14, 2022, in the aggregate principal amount of $68,000,000, which amends, restates and supersedes that $20,000,000 12% senior secured note issued by the Company on June 10, 2019 to the investor. The Company received additional gross proceeds of $48,000,000, which after taking into account B. Riley’s placement fee of $2,400,000 and legal fees and expenses of the investor, the Company received net proceeds of $45,550,000, of which $45,000,000 was paid to ABG-SI LLC against future royalties in connection with the Company’s previously announced Licensing Agreement, dated June 14, 2019, with ABG-SI LLC, and the balance of $550,000 will be used by the Company for working capital and general corporate purposes.

On August 27, 2019, the Company entered into a first amendment to the amended note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance Co., LLC, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, which amended the amended and restated 12% senior secured note dated June 14, 2019. Pursuant to this first amendment, the Company received gross proceeds of $3,000,000, which after taking into account a closing fee paid to the investor of $150,000 and legal fees and expenses of the investor, the Company received net proceeds of approximately $2,830,000, which will be used by the Company for working capital and general corporate purposes.

On February 27, 2020, the Company entered into a second amendment to amended and restated note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance Co., LLC,an affiliated entity of B. Riley,which amended the first amendment to the amended and restated 12% senior secured note dated August 27, 2019. Pursuant to the second amendment, the Company is (i) allowed to replace its previous $3.5 million working capital facility with a new $15.0 million working capital facility; and (ii) permitted to account for the issuance by the investor of a $3.0 million letter of credit to the Company’s landlord for the Company’s lease of the premises located at 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10281.

Warrant Exercise

On September 10, 2019, a total of 1,078,661 warrants were exercised on a cashless basis, for a total of 539,331 shares of common stock.

Series I Convertible Preferred Stock

On June 27, 2019, 25,800 authorized shares of the Company’s preferred stock were designated as “Series I Convertible Preferred Stock” (the “Series I Preferred Stock”). On June 28, 2019, the Company closed on a securities purchase agreement with certain accredited investors, pursuant to which the Company issued an aggregate of 23,100 shares of Series I Preferred Stock at a stated value of $1,000, initially convertible into 46,200,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.50 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $23,100,000.

In consideration for its services as placement agent, the Company paid B. Riley FBR a cash fee of $1,386,000 plus $52,500 in reimbursement of legal fees and other transaction costs. The Company used approximately $21.7 million of the net proceeds from the financing to partially repay the amended and restated 12% senior secured note dated June 14, 2019, and to pay deferred fees of approximately $3,400,000 related to that borrowing facility.

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Pursuant to the registration rights agreements entered into in connection with the securities purchase agreements on June 28, 2019, the Company agreed to register the shares issuable upon conversion of the Series I Preferred Stock for resale by the investors. The Company committed to file the registration statement no later than the 30th calendar day following the date the Company files (i) its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, (ii) all its required quarterly reports on Form 10-Q since the quarter ended September 30, 2018 through September 30, 2019, and (iii) current Form 8-K in connection with the acquisitions of TheStreet and its license with ABG-SI LLC, with the SEC, but in no event later than December 1, 2019. The Company committed to cause the registration statement to become effective by no later than 90 days after December 1, 2019, subject to certain conditions. The registration rights agreements provide for Registration Rights Damages (as further described in Note 10) upon the occurrence of certain events up to a maximum amount of 6% of the aggregate amount invested (refer to “Liquidating Damages” below for further details).

The securities purchase agreements also included a provision that requires the Company to maintain its periodic filings with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements under Rule 144(c) of the Securities Act. If the Company fails for any reason to satisfy the current public information requirement, then the Company will be obligated to pay Public Information Failure Damages (as further described in Note 10) to each holder, consisting of a cash payment equal to 1% of the amount invested as partial liquidated damages, up to a maximum of six months, subject to interest at the rate of 1% per month until paid in full (refer to “Liquidating Damages” below for further details).

Series J Convertible Preferred Stock

On October 4, 2019, 35,000 authorized shares of the Company’s preferred stock were designated as “Series J Convertible Preferred Stock” (the “Series J Preferred Stock”). On October 7, 2019, the Company closed on a securities purchase agreement with certain accredited investors, pursuant to which the Company issued an aggregate of 20,000 shares of Series J Preferred Stock at a stated value of $1,000, initially convertible into 28,571,428 shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.70 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $20,000,000.

In consideration for its services as placement agent, the Company paid B. Riley FBR a cash fee of $525,240 plus $43,043 in reimbursement of legal fees and other transaction costs. The Company used $5.0 million of the net proceeds from the financing to partially repay the amended and restated 12% senior secured note dated June 14, 2019, and to use net proceeds of approximately $14.4 million for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Pursuant to the registration rights agreements entered into in connection with the securities purchase agreements on October 7, 2019, the Company agreed to register the shares issuable upon conversion of the Series J Preferred Stock for resale by the investors. The Company committed to file the registration statement no later than the 30th calendar day following the date the Company files (i) its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, (ii) all its required quarterly reports on Form 10-Q since the quarter ended September 30, 2018 through September 30, 2019, and (iii) current Form 8-K in connection with the acquisitions of TheStreet, Say Media, HubPages, and its license with ABG-SI LLC, with the SEC, but in no event later than March 31, 2020. The Company committed to cause the registration statement to become effective by no later than 90 days after March 31, 2020, subject to certain conditions. The registration rights agreements provide for Registration Rights Damages (as further described in Note 10) upon the occurrence of certain events up to a maximum amount of 6% of the aggregate amount invested (refer to “Liquidating Damages” below for further details).

The securities purchase agreements also included a provision that requires the Company to maintain its periodic filings with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements under Rule 144(c) of the Securities Act. If the Company fails for any reason to satisfy the current public information requirement, then the Company will be obligated to pay Public Information Failure Damages (as further described in Note 10) to each holder, consisting of a cash payment equal to 1% of the amount invested as partial liquidated damages, up to a maximum of six months, subject to interest at the rate of 1% per month until paid in full (refer to “Liquidating Damages” below for further details).

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Appointment of Chief Operating Officer

On December 9, 2019, the Company announced the appointment of William Sornsin as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Sornsin has been with the Company since 2016 and has filled various roles with the Company since that time. Mr. Paul Edmondson, who had also held the position of Chief Operating Officer, will continue as the Company’s President.

Appointment of Chief Revenue Officer

On December 9, 2019, Company announced the appointment of Mr. Avi Zimak as the Company’s Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Global Strategic Partnerships. Mr. Zimak, will be employed on a full time basis, at an annual salary of $450,000. Mr. Zimak will be paid a signing bonus of $250,000, subject to recapture in certain circumstances if Mr. Zimak’s employment ends before the second anniversary of the date of his employment agreement. Mr. Zimak will be eligible for an annual bonus of up to $450,000, based on the achievement in each calendar year of defined annual revenue targets, calculated on a quarterly basis, and paid quarterly subject to an annual reconciliation. Mr. Zimak will be granted a ten-year stock option to purchase up to an aggregate of 2,250,000 shares of common stock under the 2019 Plan. The stock options will vest as to 1,125,000 shares, in three equal installments, based on performance targets tied to the achievement of established annual revenue targets for fiscal years 2020 to and including 2022. The remaining 1,250,000 stock options will vest as follows: (i) 1/3 will vest after 12 months from the date of the employment agreement; and (ii) then 1/36th will vest at the end of each month thereafter, concluding 36 months from the effect date of the employment agreement. Currently these options are unfunded, and the Company has agreed to timely increase the availability of shares of common stock to permit the exercise of the options upon vesting. At the commencement of the employment, Mr. Zimak will also be awarded restricted stock units for 250,000 shares of common stock, vesting one year after the date of the employment agreement, with the shares to be delivered on the fifth anniversary of the date of the employment agreement. The term of the employment agreement is for an initial period of two years, and it is automatically renewed for one additional year periods thereafter if not previously terminated. The employment agreement has early termination provisions for cause, permanent incapacity, and death. Mr. Zimak has the right to terminate for good reason in certain circumstances. In the event of certain of the early termination events, the Company will be obligated to pay salary compensation, bonus amounts and various of the restricted stock units will continue to vest. In the event of termination, the vested stock options and further vesting will be governed by the terms of the stock option grant and the plan under which they are granted. During the employment period and for one year thereafter, Mr. Zimak will be subject to the Company’s typical non-solicitation and competition provisions for all executive employees.

Merger of Subsidiaries

On December 19, 2019, the Company’s wholly owned subsidiaries Maven Coalition, Inc., a Nevada corporation, and HubPages, Inc, a Delaware corporation, were merged into the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary Say Media, Inc, a Delaware corporation. On January 6, 2020 Say Media, Inc. amended its certificate of incorporation to change its name to Maven Coalition, Inc.

Operating Lease

On January 14, 2020, the Company entered into a lease agreement for offices at 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, New York, with an effective date in February 1, 2020. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company has a rent abatement for the initial nine months of the lease term, with rent payments commencing during November 1, 2020 and the lease expiring in November 30, 2032. The Company has a maximum tenant allowance of $408,680 for certain costs. Monthly rental payments are as follows: 1) initial sixty-month term $252,019; 2) second sixty-month term $269,048; and 3) remainder twenty-five month term $286,076; for total minimum lease payments of $38,415,920. In addition to the fixed rent the Company will also pay a portion of the operating costs associated with the space and is entitled to.

The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of ASC Topic 842,Leases, will have at January 1, 2019 upon recognition of the right-of-use assets and corresponding lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments, on its balance sheet for this lease commitment, as well as the disclosure of key information about this lease arrangement, including the overall presentation on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

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FastPay Credit Facility

On February 27, 2020 the Company entered into a Financing and Security Agreement with FPP Finance LLC (“FastPay”) pursuant to which FastPay extended a $15,000,000 line of credit for working capital purposes secured by a first lien on all of the Company’s cash and accounts receivable and a second lien on all other assets. Borrowings under the facility bear interest at the LIBOR Rate plus 8.50% and have a final maturity of February 6, 2022. The balance outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements was $4,924,531.

Asset Acquisition of Petametrics Inc.

On March 9, 2020, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement with Petametrics Inc., dba LiftIgniter, a Delaware corporation where it purchased substantially all the assets, including the intellectual property and excluding certain accounts receivable, and assumed certain liabilities. The purchase price consisted of: 1) cash payment of $184,086 on February 19, 2020, in connection with the repayment of all outstanding indebtedness, 2) at closing a cash payment of $131,202, 3) collections of certain accounts receivable, 4) on the first anniversary date of the closing issuance of restricted stock units for an aggregate of up to 312,500 shares of the Company’s common stock, and 5) on the second anniversary date of the closing issuance of restricted stock units for an aggregate of up to 312,500 shares of the Company’s common stock.

Delayed Draw Term Loan

On March 24, 2020, the Company entered into a second amended and restated note purchase agreement with BRF Finance Co., LLC, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, in its capacity as agent for the purchasers, which amended and restated the amended and restated note purchase agreement dated June 14, 2019, as amended. Pursuant to the second amended and restated note purchase agreement, the Company issued a 15% delayed draw term note (the “Term Note”), in the aggregate principal amount of $12,000,000 to the investor. Up to $8,000,000 in principal amount under the Term Note is due on March 31, 2021, with the balance thereunder due on June 14, 2022. Interest on amounts outstanding under the Term Note are payable in kind in arrears on the last day of each fiscal quarter. On March 25, 2020, the Company drew down $6,913,865 under the Term Note, and after taking into account $793,109 of commitment and funding fees paid to the Investor and legal fees and expenses of the investor, the Company received net proceeds of approximately $6,000,000, which will be used by the Company for working capital and general corporate purposes. Additional borrowings under the note requested by the Company may be made at the option of the purchasers. Pursuant to the note purchase agreement, interest on amounts outstanding under the notes previously issued under the amended and restated note purchase agreement with respect to (x) interest payable on the notes previously issued under the amended and restated note purchase agreement on March 31, 2020 and June 30, 2020, and (y) at the Company’s option with the consent of requisite purchasers, interest payable on the previously issued under the amended and restated note purchase agreement on September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2020, in lieu of the payment in cash of all or any portion of the interest due on such dates, will be payable in kind in arrears on the last day of such fiscal quarter. The balance outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements was $6,913,865.

In connection with entering into the note purchase agreement, the Company entered into an amendment to its $15 million FastPay working capital facility to permit the additional secured debt that may be incurred under the note.

Payroll Protection Program Loan

On April 6, 2020, the Company entered into a note agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. under the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”). The Company received total proceeds of approximately $5.7 million under the note. In accordance with the requirements of the CARES Act, the Company will use proceeds from the note agreement primarily for payroll costs. The note is scheduled to mature on April 6, 2022 and has a 0.98% interest rate and is subject to the terms and conditions applicable to loans administered by the SBA under the CARES Act. The balance outstanding as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements was $5,702,725.

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Forgiveness of the note is only available for principal that is used for the limited purposes that qualify for forgiveness under SBA requirements, and that to obtain forgiveness, the Company must request it and must provide documentation in accordance with the SBA requirements, and certify that the amounts the Company is requesting to be forgiven qualify under those requirements. The Company also understands that it shall remain responsible under the note for any amounts not forgiven, and that interest payable under the note will not be forgiven but that the SBA may pay the Loan interest on forgiven amounts. The requirements for forgiveness include, among other requirements, provide for eligible expenditures, necessary records/documentation, or possible reductions of the forgiven amount due to changes in number of employees or compensation and the Company is responsible to review the SBA’s program materials.

Liquidating Damages

The Company determined that it is contingently liable for certain for the Registration Rights Damages and Public Information Failure Damages (collectively the Liquidating Damages) covering the 12% Convertible Debentures, Series I Preferred Stock, and Series J Preferred Stock, therefore, a contingent obligation of $4,178,778 (including interest computed at 1% per month based on the balance outstanding of these Liquidating Damages) exist as of the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) was reported in Wuhan, China. On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 to constitute a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” Many national governments and sports authorities around the world have made the decision to postpone/cancel high attendance sports events in an effort to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In addition, many governments and businesses have limited non-essential work activity, furloughed and/or terminated many employees and closed some operations and/or locations, all of which has had a negative impact on the economic environment.

As a result of these factors the Company has experienced a decline in revenues and earnings since early March 2020. While the Company has implemented cost reduction measures in an effort to offset such volume declines, the duration of these declines remains uncertain. If the volume declines do not stabilize over the next few months, the Company’s 2020 financial results and operations may be adversely impacted. The extent of the impact on the Company’s operational and financial performance will depend on the Company’s willingness and ability to take further cost reduction measures as well as future developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak, related group gathering and sports event advisories and restrictions, and the extent and effectiveness of containment actions taken, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at the time of issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, was enacted March 27, 2020. Among the business provisions, the CARES Act provided for various payroll tax incentives, changes to net operating loss carryback and carryforward rules, business interest expense limitation increases, and bonus depreciation on qualified improvement property. The Company is evaluating the impact of the CARES Act on its financial statements.

Going Concern

The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been presented on the basis that the Company is a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. As reflected in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements, the Company had revenues of $1,460,958through September 30, 2018, and has experienced recurring net losses from operations, negative working capital, and negative operating cash flows. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company incurred a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $35,463,647, utilized cash in operating activities of $6,288,695, and had an accumulated deficit of $25,890,222 as of September 30, 2018. The Company has financed its working capital requirements since inception through the issuance of its debt and equity securities.

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) was reported in Wuhan, China. On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 to constitute a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” Many national governments and sports authorities around the world have made the decision to postpone/cancel high attendance sports events in an effort to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In addition, many governments and businesses have limited non-essential work activity, furloughed and/or terminated many employees and closed some operations and/or locations, all of which has had a negative impact on the economic environment.

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As a result of these factors the Company has experienced a decline in revenues and earnings since early March 2020. While the Company has implemented cost reduction measures in an effort to offset such volume declines, the duration of these declines remains uncertain. If the volume declines do not stabilize over the next few months, the Company’s 2020 financial results and operations may be adversely impacted. The extent of the impact on the Company’s operational and financial performance will depend on the Company’s willingness and ability to take further cost reduction measures as well as future developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak, related group gathering and sports event advisories and restrictions, and the extent and effectiveness of containment actions taken, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at the time of issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

As a result of the above factors, management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year of the date that the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements are being issued. In addition, the Company’s previous independent registered public accounting firm, in their report on the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, had also expressed substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The ability of the Company to continue as a going concern is impacted by the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and could therefore be dependent upon the Company’s ability to raise additional funds to ultimately achieve sustainable operating revenues and profitability. From October 2018 through April 2020, the Company has raised aggregate net proceeds of approximately $139 million through various debt and preferred stock private placements (see Note 18). The Company believes that based on its current assessment of the impact of COVID-19 it has sufficient resources to fully fund its business operations through April 30, 2021. However, due to the uncertainty regarding the duration of the impact of COVID-19 and its effect on the Company’s financial performance the Company estimates that it may require additional capital in capital markets today, which are less liquid given the lack of clarity surrounding COVID-19.

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 to theour accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements for the Recent Accounting Pronouncements.three and six months ended June 30, 2020, we had also raised funds from the issuance of convertible preferred stock and from loan proceeds of approximately $20.8 million, in addition to the use of additional proceeds from our working capital facility with FastPay, all of which are discussed in greater detail below in the section entitled “Future Liquidity.”

We continued to be focused on growing our existing operations and seeking accretive and complementary strategic acquisitions as part of our growth strategy. We believed, that with additional sources of liquidity and the ability to raise additional capital or incur additional indebtedness to supplement our then internal projections, we would be able to execute our growth plan and finance our working capital requirements.

We have financed our working capital requirements since inception through issuances of equity securities and various debt financings. Our working capital deficit as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 was as follows:

  As of 
  June 30, 2020  December 31, 2019 
Current assets $42,054,457  $48,160,360 
Current liabilities  (104,516,679)  (87,541,031)
Working capital deficit  (62,462,222)  (39,380,671)

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As of June 30, 2020, we had a working capital deficit of approximately $62.5 million, as compared to approximately $39.4 million as of December 31, 2019, consisting of approximately $42.1 million in total current assets and approximately $104.5 million in total current liabilities. Included in current assets as of June 30, 2020 was approximately $1.0 million of restricted cash. Also included in our working capital deficit are non-cash current liabilities, consisting of approximately $1.3 million of warrant derivative liabilities and approximately $9.0 million of embedded derivative liabilities, leaving a working capital deficit that requires cash payments of approximately $53.2 million.

  Six Months Ended June 30, 
  2020  2019 
Net cash used in operating activities $(17,420,685) $(47,083,581)
Net cash used in investing activities  (3,441,593)  (17,505,657)
Net cash provided by financing activities  14,664,786   75,332,302 
Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash $(6,197,492) $10,743,064 
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of period $3,275,598  $13,270,353 

For the six months ended June 30, 2020, net cash used in operating activities was approximately $17.4 million, consisting primarily of: (i) approximately $56.1 million of cash received from customers (including payments received in advance of performance obligations); less (ii) less approximately $73.1 million of cash paid to employees, channel partners, suppliers, vendors, and for revenue share arrangements and professional services; and less (iii) approximately $0.3 million of cash paid for interest; as compared to the six months ended June 30, 2019, where net cash used in operating activities was approximately $47.1 million, consisting primarily of: (i) approximately $15.9 million of cash received from customers (including payments received in advance of performance obligations); less (ii) approximately $62.2 million of cash paid to employees, channel partners, suppliers, vendors, and for revenue share arrangements, advance of royalty fees and professional services; and less (iii) approximately $0.7 million of cash paid for interest.

For the six months ended June 30, 2020, net cash used in investing activities was approximately $3.4 million, consisting primarily of: (i) approximately $0.3 million for the acquisition of a business; (ii) approximately $1.1 million for purchases of property and equipment; and (iii) approximately $2.1 million for our capitalized cost for our Maven Platform; as compared to the six months ended June 30, 2019, where net cash used in investing activities was approximately $17.5 million, consisting primarily of (i) approximately $16.5 million for advance related to pending acquisition; (ii) and $1.0 million for capitalized costs for our Maven Platform.

For the six months ended June 30, 2020, net cash provided by financing activities was approximately $14.7 million, consisting primarily of: (i) approximately $11.7 million in net proceeds from the Delayed Draw Term Note and PPP Loan; less (ii) approximately $3.2 million in repayments of our line of credit; and (iii) approximately $0.3 million in payments for taxes relating to repurchase of restricted shares; as compared to the six months ended June 30, 2019, where net cash provided by financing activities was approximately $75.3 million, consisting primarily of: (i) approximately $13.6 million in net proceeds from the issuance of Series I Preferred Stock; (ii) approximately $2.0 million in gross proceeds from 12% Convertible Debentures; (iii) approximately $59.8 million in proceeds from issuance of long-term debt (12% Amended Senior Secured Notes) net of repayments and debt issuance costs; and less (iv) approximately $0.1 million in payments for taxes related to repurchase of restricted common stock; (v) approximately $0.4 million in repayment of officer promissory notes; and (vi) approximately $0.4 million in repayments of our line of credit.

Future Liquidity

From July 1, 2020 to the issuance date of our accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, we continued to incur operating losses and negative cash flow from operating and investing activities. We have raised approximately $20.8 million in net proceeds pursuant to the sale and issuances of convertible preferred stock. Our cash balance as of the issuance date of accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 was approximately $2.4 million.

 

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Risks and Uncertainties

 

The Company has a limited operating history and has not generated significant revenues to date. The Company’s business and operations are sensitive to general business and economic conditions intable below summarizes the U.S. and worldwide. These conditions include short-term and long-term interest rates, inflation, fluctuations in debt and equity capital markets andfinancings through the general conditionissuance date of the U.S. and world economy. A host of factors beyond the Company’s control could cause fluctuations in these conditions. Adverse developments in these general business and economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and the results of its operations.

In addition, the Company will compete with many companies that currently have extensive and well-funded projects, marketing and sales operations as well as extensive human capital. The Company may be unable to compete successfully against these companies. The Company’s industry is characterized by rapid changes in technology and market demands. As a result, the Company’s products, services, and/or expertise may become obsolete and/or unmarketable. The Company’s future success will depend on its ability to adapt to technological advances, anticipate customer and market demands, and enhance its current technology under development.

Concentrations

B. Riley FBR, Inc. (“B. Riley FBR”) is a registered broker-dealer owned by B. Riley Financial, Inc., a diversified publicly-traded financial services company (“B. Riley”), which acted as placement agent for the Series H Preferred Stock financing. In consideration for its services as placement agent, the Company paid B. Riley FBR a cash fee of $575,000 (including a previously paid retainer of $75,000) and issued to B. Riley FBR 669 shares of Series H Preferred Stock. In addition, entities affiliated with B. Riley FBR purchased 5,592 shares of Series H Preferred Stock in the financing. John A. Fichthorn joined the Board of Directors of the Company in September 2018 and was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Finance Committee in November 2018. Mr. Fichthorn currently serves as Head of Alternative Investments for B. Riley Capital Management, LLC, which is an SEC-registered investment adviser and a wholly-owned subsidiary of B. Riley. Todd D. Sims also joined the Board of Directors of the Company in September 2018 and is also a member of the Board of Directors of B. Riley. Mr. Fichthorn and Mr. Sims serve on the Board of Directors of the Company as designees of B. Riley. Since August 2018, B. Riley FBR has been instrumental in raising debt and equity capital for the Company to supports it acquisitions of HubPages, Inc. and Say Media, Inc., and for refinancing and working capital purposes.

Significant Customers – Concentration of credit risk with respect to accounts receivable is limited to customers to whom the Company makes significant sales. While a reserve for the potential write-off of accounts receivable is maintained, the Company has not written off any significant accounts to date. To control credit risk, the Company performs regular credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition. Refer to Note 2.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and the notes to the consolidated financial statements. Some of those judgments can be subjective and complex, and therefore, actual results could differ materially from those estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Significant estimates include those related to assumptions used in accruals for potential liabilities, capitalization of platform development costs, valuation of equity instruments, including the calculation of volatility, valuation of derivatives, and the realization of deferred tax assets, as described in Note 4 to theour accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 and in Note 2 to the consolidated unaudited financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q/A for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2018.statements:

Series H Preferred Stock $ 130,000 
Series J Preferred Stock  6,000,000 
Series K Preferred Stock  14,675,000 
Total $20,805,000 

 

Results of Operations

 

At SeptemberThree Months Ended June 30, 2018,2020 and 2019

  Three Months Ended June 30,  2020 versus 2019 
  2020  2019  $ Change  % Change 
Revenue $23,090,940  $5,770,283  $17,320,657   300.2%
Cost of revenue  24,874,179   5,487,172   19,387,007   353.3%
Gross profit (loss)  (1,783,239)  283,111   (2,006,350)  -729.9%
Operating expenses                
Selling and marketing  8,409,343   1,451,101   6,958,242   479.5%
General and administrative  7,270,511   5,871,015   1,399,496   23.8%
Depreciation and amortization  4,127,126   107,637   4,019,489   3,734.3%
Total operating expenses  19,806,980   7,429,753   12,377,227   166.6%
Loss from operations  (21,590,219)  (7,146,642)  (14,443,577)  202.1%
Total other (expense) income  (1,571,110)  (3,438,919   1,867,809   -54.3%
Loss before income taxes  (23,161,329)  (10,585,561)  (12,575,768)  118.8%
Income taxes  -   -   -   0.0%
Net loss $(23,161,329) $(10,585,561) $(12,575,768)   118.8%
Basic and diluted net loss per common share $(0.59) $(0.30) $(0.29)  96.9%
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic and diluted  39,217,524   35,556,188   3,661,336   10.3%

For the Companythree months ended June 30, 2020, the total net loss was approximately $23.2 million. The total net loss increased by approximately $12.6 million as compared to the three months ended June 30, 2019 which had generated revenuesa net loss of $1,460,958,approximately $10.6 million. The primary reasons for the increase in the total net loss is that our operations continued to rapidly expand during the three months ended June 30, 2020, as they did not have any positive cash flowsin the comparable period in 2019. In particular, during the three months ended June 30, 2020 we operated our Sports Illustrated media business that we acquired after June 30, 2019. For the three months ended June 30, 2019, we operated our legacy business and also our previously acquired businesses that included HubPages, Inc. (“HubPages”) and Say Media, Inc. (“Say Media”). The basic and diluted net loss per common share for the three months ended June 30, 2020 of $0.59 increased from operations, and was dependent on its ability$0.30 for the three months ended June 30, 2019, primarily because of our net loss per common share increased along with the increase of the daily weighted average shares outstanding to raise equity capital to fund its operating requirements.39,217,524 shares from 35,556,188 shares.

 

The Company expectsOur growth strategy is principally focused on adding new publisher partners to experience typicalour Maven Platform. In addition, if the right opportunity exists, we would consider also acquiring related online media, company adpublishing and sponsorship sales seasonality, which is strongtechnology businesses by merger or acquisition transactions. This combined growth strategy expanded the scale of unique users interacting on our Maven Platform with increased revenues during the three months ended June 30, 2020. We expect revenues increases in the fourth quartersubsequent periods will come from organic growth in operations, addition of more publisher partners, and slower in the first quarter.mergers and acquisitions.

 

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Revenue

The following table sets forth revenue, cost of revenue, and gross (profit) loss:

  Three Months Ended June 30,  2020 versus 2019 
  2020  2019  Change  % Change 
  (percentage reflect cost of revenue as a percentage of total revenue)       
Revenue $23,090,940   100.0% $5,770,283   100.0% $17,320.657   300.2%
Cost of revenue  24,874,179   107.7%  5,487,172   95.1%  19,387,007   353.3%
Gross profit $(1,783,239)  -7.7% $283,111   4.9% $(2,066,350)  -729.9%

For the three months ended June 30, 2020, we had revenue of approximately $23.1 million as compared to revenue of approximately $5.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2019.

 

The Company’s condensed consolidated statementsfollowing table sets forth revenue by product line and the corresponding percent of operations as discussed herein are presented below.total revenue:

 

  

Three Months Ended

September 30,

  

Nine Months Ended

September 30,

 
  2018  2017  2018  2017 
Revenue $1,157,917  $6,064  $1,460,958  $6,064 
Cost of revenue  1,784,073   449,567   3,922,594   641,606 
Gross loss  (626,156)  (443,503)  (2,461,636)  (635,542)
Operating expenses:                
Research and development  411,268   30,776   598,645   104,095 
General and administrative  2,573,142   1,300,767   7,998,609   3,639,204 
Total operating expenses  2,984,410   1,331,543   8,597,254   3,743,299 
Loss from operations  (3,610,566)  (1,775,046)  (11,058,890)  (4,378,841)
Other (expense) income:                
Change in valuation of embedded derivative liabilities  134,987   (3,311)  263,531   6,939 
Interest expense  (1,428,463)  -   (1,552,006)  - 
Interest income  2,199   61   16,583   411 
True-up termination fee  -   -   (1,344,648)  - 
Settlement of promissory notes receivable  (1,166,556)  -   (1,166,556)  - 
Liquidated damages  (2,652,798)  -   (2,667,798)  - 
Total other (expense) income  (5,110,631)  (3,250)  (6,450,894)  7,350 
Loss before income taxes  (8,721,197)  (1,778,296)  (17,509,784)  (4,371,491)
Benefit for income taxes  91,633   -   91,633   - 
Net loss  (8,629,564)  (1,778,296)  (17,418,151)  (4,371,491)
Deemed dividend on Series H convertible preferred stock  (18,045,496)  -   (18,045,496)  - 
Net loss attributable to common shareholders $(26,675,060) $(1,778,296) $(35,463,647) $(4,371,491)
Basic and diluted net loss per common share $(0.96) $(0.11) $(1.40) $(0.33)
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding – basic and diluted  27,835,555   16,367,424   25,382,551   13,091,231 
  Three Months Ended June 30,  2020 versus 2019 
  2020  2019  Change  % Change 
  (percentages reflect product line as a percentage of total revenue)       
Advertising $7,541,616   32.7% $5,670,712   98.3% $1,870,904   32.4%
Digital subscriptions  6,089,450   26.4%  56,021   1.0%  6,033,429   104.6%
Magazine circulation  8,629,166   37.4%  -   0.0%  8,629,166   149.5%
Other  830,708   3.6%  43,550   0.8%  787,158   13.6%
Total revenue $23,090,940   100.0% $5,770,283   100.0% $17,320,657   300.2%

For the three months ended June 30, 2020, the primary sources of revenue were as follows: (i) advertising of approximately $7.5 million; (ii) digital subscriptions of approximately $6.1 million; (iii) magazine circulation of approximately $8.6 million; and (iv) other revenue of approximately $0.9 million. Our advertising revenue increased by approximately $1.9 million, due to additional revenue of approximately $1.4 million generated by TheStreet and approximately $3.6 million generated by our Sports Illustrated media business, and approximately $3.1 million decrease in our legacy business. Our digital subscriptions increased by approximately $6.0 million, due to additional revenue of approximately $5.4 million generated by TheStreet and approximately $0.5 million generated by our Sports Illustrated media business. Our magazine circulation contributed approximately $8.6 million as a result of the Sports Illustrated media business acquired during the fourth quarter of 2019.

 

Three Months Ended SeptemberCost of Revenue

For the three months ended June 30, 20182020 and 20172019, we recognized cost of revenue of approximately $24.9 million and $5.5 million, respectively. The increase of approximately $19.4 million in cost of revenue is primarily from: (i) our Channel Partner guarantees and revenue share payments of approximately $1.9 million; (ii) payroll, stock based compensation, and related expenses for customer support, technology maintenance, and occupancy costs of related personnel of approximately $7.5 million; (iii) amortization of our Maven Platform of approximately $0.9 million (which includes our Maven Platform spending and amortization related to acquired developed technology from our acquisitions); (iv) royalty fees of approximately $3.8 million; (v) hosting, bandwidth, and software licensing fees of approximately $0.5 million; (vi) printing, distribution, and fulfillment costs of approximately $3.2 million; (vii) fees paid for data analytics and to other outside service providers of approximately $0.4 million; and (viii) other costs of revenue of approximately $1.4 million.

For the three months ended June 30, 2020, we capitalized costs related to our Maven Platform of approximately $1.7 million, as compared to approximately $0.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2019. For the three months ended June 30, 2020, the capitalization of our Maven Platform consisted of approximately $1.2 million in payroll and related expenses, including taxes and benefits, approximately $0.5 million in stock-based compensation for related personnel, and amortization of approximately $2.2 million.

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Operating Expenses

The following table sets forth operating expenses and the corresponding percentage of total revenue:

  Three Months Ended June 30,  2020 versus 2019 
  2020  2019  Change  % Change 
  (percentages reflect expense as a percentage of total revenue)       
Selling and marketing $8,409,343   36.4% $1,451,101   25.1% $6,958,242   93.7%
General and administrative  7,270,511   31.5%  5,871,015   101.7%  1,399,496   18.8%
Depreciation and amortization  4,127,126   17.9%  107,637   1.9%  4,019,489   54.1%
Total operating expenses $19,806,980      $7,429,753      $12,377,227   166.6%

 

RevenueSelling and Marketing. For the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018 revenue was $1,157,917. The operation2020, we incurred selling and marketing costs of online media channels did not begin until May 2017. Accordingly, the Company did not generate any significant revenueapproximately $8.4 million, as compared to approximately $1.5 million for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017.

Cost of Revenue. For the three months ended September 30, 20182019. The increase in selling and 2017,marketing cost of revenue was $1,784,073approximately $7.0 million is primarily from payroll of selling and $449,567, respectively,marketing account management support teams, along with the related benefits and consists primarilystock-based compensation of fixed monthlyapproximately $2.6 million; circulation costs of providing the Company’s digital media network channels andapproximately $1.6 million; advertising and membership services, such as channel partner guarantee payments, amortizationcosts of website development costs, channel partner warrant expense, hosting and bandwidth, and programmatic advertingapproximately $1.6 million; and other costs. Costselling and marketing related costs of revenue may exceed revenue until the Company grows the number of online media channels and attracts an audience of unique users of sufficient size that the incremental revenues exceed the fixed monthly operating costs. During the three months ended September 30, 2018, the Company recorded stock-based compensation negative true-up adjustment of $1,630 related to the channel partner warrants.

Research and Development. For the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, research and development costs were $411,268 and $30,776, respectively.approximately $0.9 million.

 

General and Administrative. For the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018 and 2017,2020, we incurred general and administrative costs were $2,573,142 and $1,300,767, respectively and consists of approximately $7.3 million from payroll and benefits,related expenses, professional services, occupancy costs, stock-based compensation professional fees, conferences, public relations,of related personnel, depreciation and amortization, and other costs.

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General and administrative costs increased by $1,272,375 or 97.8%corporate expense, as compared to approximately $5.9 million for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182019. The increase in general and administrative expenses of approximately $1.4 million is primarily from our increase in headcount, along with the related benefits and stock-based compensation of approximately $0.1 million; professional services, including accounting, legal and insurance of approximately $0.7 million; facilities costs of approximately $0.4 million; and other general corporate expenses of approximately $0.2 million.

Other (Expense) Income

The following table sets forth other (expense) income:

  Three Months Ended June 30,  2020 versus 2019 
  2020  2019  Change  % Change 
  (percentages reflect other expense (income) as a percentage of the total)       
Change in valuation of warrant derivative liabilities $243,276   -15.5% $(166,075)  4.8% $409,351   -11.9%
Change in valuation of embedded derivative liabilities  2,922,000   -186.0%  (1,396,000)  40.6%  4,318,000   -125.6%
Interest expense  (4,116,407)  262.0%  (1,876,054)  54.6%  (2,240,353)  65.1%
Interest income  1,640   -0.1%  63   0.0%  1,577   0.0%
Liquidated damages  (621,619)  39.6%  (853)  0.0%  (620,766)  18.1%
Other income  -   0.0%  -   0.0%  -   0.0%
Total other (expense) $(1,571,110)  100.0% $(3,438,919)  100.0% $1,867,809   -54.3%

Change in Valuation of Warrant Derivative Liabilities. The change in valuation of warrant derivative liabilities for the three months ended June 30, 2020 was the result of the decrease in the fair value of the warrant derivative liabilities as of June 30, 2020, as compared to 2017, primarily as a resultthe change in the valuation of the three months ended June 30, 2019 where the change was from an increase in payroll and benefitsthe fair value of $327,509, stock-based compensationthe warrant derivative liabilities as of $651,953, professional fees of $29,460, and public relations of $207,607 relating to the Company’s expanded business operations to recruit more independent publishers to join the network.June 30, 2019.

 

Change in Valuation of Embedded Derivative Liabilities. ForThe change in valuation of embedded derivative liabilities for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018,2020 was the result of the decrease in the fair value of derivatives resulted in a gainthe embedded derivative liabilities as of $134,987. The Company did not have any significant fair valueJune 30, 2020, as compared to the change in derivatives duringthe valuation of the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017.2019 where the change was from an increase in the fair value of the embedded derivative liabilities as of June 30, 2019.

 

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Interest Expense. For the three months ended September 30, 2018,We incurred interest expense of $1,428,463, primarily consisting of amortization of accretion of original issue discount and debt discount on notes payable of $327,615, extinguishment of debt of $972,250, and accrued interest of $65.860. The Company did not have any interest expenseapproximately $4.1 million for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017.

Interest Income. For2020, primarily from approximately $1.6 million from amortization of debt discount on notes payable; approximately $2.3 million of accrued interest; and approximately $0.1 million of other interest, as compared to approximately $1.9 million for the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018, interest income2019, primarily from approximately $0.9 million from amortization of $2,199 was derived from deposits held at financial institutions. The Company had interest incomedebt discount on notes payable; approximately $0.8 million of $61 during the three months ended September 30, 2017.

Settlementaccrued interest; and approximately $0.2 million of Promissory Notes Receivable. On December 12, 2018 pursuant to the merger agreement entered into on October 12, 2018 and amended on October 17, 2018, the Company settled the promissory notes receivable by effectively forgiving $1,166,556 of the balance due as of September 30, 2018 as reflected during the three months ended September 30, 2018 in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.other interest.

 

Liquidated Damages. On September 28, 2018,We recorded liquidated damages of approximately $0.6 million for the Companythree months ended June 30, 2020, primarily from issuance of our 12% Convertible Debentures, Series I Preferred Stock, and Series J Preferred Stock issued during 2019. The liquidated damages were recognized because we determined that thethat: (i) registration statementstatements covering the shares of common sharesstock issuable upon conversion ofunder the Series H Preferred Stockaforementioned instruments would not be declared effective within the requisite time frame, therefore, the Company accrued liquidating damages under the registration rights agreement. The Company determinedframe; and (ii) that pursuant to the securities purchase agreement entered into in connection with the Series H Preferred Stock, the Companywe would not be able to maintain itsfile our periodic filingsreports in the requisite time frame with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements therefore,under the Company accrued liquidating damages forsecurities purchase agreements.

Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2019

  Six Months Ended June 30,  2020 versus 2019 
  2020  2019  $ Change   % Change 
Revenue $53,503,793  $12,044,246  $41,459,547   344.2%
Cost of revenue  51,613,012   11,139,737   40,473,275   363.3%
Gross profit (loss)  1,890,781   904,509   986,272   109.0%
Operating expenses                
Selling and marketing  17,769,281   2,600,393   15,168,888   583.3%
General and administrative  17,680,716   10,096,268   7,584,448   75.1%
Depreciation and amortization  8,223,806   215,977   8,007,829   3,707.7%
Total operating expenses  43,673,803   12,912,638   30,761,165   238.2%
Loss from operations  (41,783,022)  (12,008,129)  (30,718,255)  248.0%
Total other expense  (4,154,931)  (7,512,412)  3,357,481   -44.7%
Loss before income taxes  (45,937,953)  (19,520,541)  (26,417,412)  135.3%
Income taxes  -   -   -   0.0%
Net loss $(45,937,953) $(19,520,541) $(26,417,412)  135.3%
Basic and diluted net loss per common share $(1.17) $(0.55) $(0.62)  113.2%
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic and diluted  39,171,629   35,208,771   3,962,858   11.3%

For the public information requirements. Forsix months ended June 30, 2020, the total net loss was approximately $45.9 million. The total net loss increased by approximately $26.4 million as compared to the three months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018 the total liquidating damages charged to operations of $2,652,798 was from the registration rights agreement and public information requirements. The Company did not have any liquidating damages charged to operations for the three months ended September 30, 2017.

Deemed Dividend on Series H Convertible Preferred Stock. For the three months ended September 30, 2018, in connection with the 19,399.25 Series H Preferred Stock issuance, the Company recorded a beneficial conversion feature in the amount of $18,045,496 for the underlying common shares since the nondetachable conversion feature was in-the-money (the Conversion Price of $0.33 was lower than the Company’s common stock trading price of $0.86) at the issuance date. The beneficial conversion feature was recognized as a deemed dividend.

Net Loss. For the three months ended September 30, 2018, the Company incurred a2019 net loss of $8,629,564, as compared to aapproximately $19.5 million. The primary reasons for the increase in the total net loss of $1,778,296is that our operations continued to rapidly expand during the six months ended June 30, 2020 as they did in the comparable period in 2019. In particular, during the six months ended June 30, 2020 we operated our Sports Illustrated media business that we acquired after June 30, 2019. For the six months ended June 30, 2019, we operated our legacy business and also our previously acquired businesses that included HubPages and Say Media. The basic and diluted net loss per common share for the threesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2017.

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018 and 2017

Revenue. For2020 of $1.17 increased from $0.55 for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018 revenue was $1,460,958. The operation of on-line media channels did not begin until May 2017. Accordingly,2019, primarily because the Company did not generate any significant revenue forweighted average basic and diluted shares increased as the three months ended September 30, 2017.net loss per common share increased along with the daily weighted average shares outstanding increase to 39,171,629 shares from 35,208,771 shares.

 

3264
 

 

Revenue

The following table sets forth revenue, cost of revenue, and gross profit:

  Six Months Ended June 30,  2020 versus 2019 
  2020  2019  Change  % Change 
  (percentage reflect cost of revenue as a percentage of total revenue)       
Revenue $53,503,793   100.0% $12,044,246   100.0% $41,459,547   344.2%
Cost of revenue  51,613,012   96.5%  11,139,737   92.5%  40,473,275   363.3%
Gross profit $1,890,781   3.5% $904,509   7.5% $986,272   109.0%

For the six months ended June 30, 2020, we had revenue of approximately $53.5 million, as compared to revenue of approximately $12.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019.

The following table sets forth revenue by product line and the corresponding percent of total revenue:

  Six Months Ended June 30,  2020 versus 2019 
  2020  2019  Change  % Change 
  (percentages reflect product line as a percentage of total revenue)       
Advertising $19,379,600   36.2% $11,808,066   98.0% $7,571,534   62.9%
Digital subscriptions  11,626,697   21.7%  107,934   0.9%  11,518,763   95.6%
Magazine circulation  21,166,698   39.6%  -   0.0%  21,166,698   175.7%
Other  1,330,798   2.5%  128,246   1.1%  1,202,552   10.0%
Total revenue $53,503,793   100.0% $12,044,246   100.0% $41,459,547   344.2%

For the six months ended June 30, 2020, the primary sources of revenue were as follows: (i) advertising of approximately $19.4 million; (ii) digital subscriptions of approximately $11.6 million; (iii) magazine circulation of approximately $21.2 million; and (iv) other revenue of approximately $1.3 million. Our advertising revenue increased by approximately $7.6 million, due to additional revenue of approximately $2.4 million generated by TheStreet, approximately $9.4 million generated by our Sports Illustrated media business, and approximately $4.2 million decrease in our legacy business. Our digital subscriptions increased by approximately $11.5 million, due to additional revenue of approximately $9.8 million generated by TheStreet and approximately $1.5 million generated by our Sports Illustrated media business. Our magazine circulation contributed approximately $21.2 million as a result of the Sports Illustrated media business acquired during the fourth quarter of 2019.

Our growth strategy is principally focused on adding new publisher partners to our technology platform. In addition, where the right opportunity exists, we will also acquire related online media, publishing and technology businesses by merger or acquisitions. This combined growth strategy has expanded the scale of unique users interacting on our technology platform with increased revenues during the six months ended June 30, 2020. We expect revenues increases in subsequent periods will come from organic growth in operations, addition of more publisher partners, and mergers and acquisitions.

Cost of Revenue

For the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, we recognized cost of revenue of approximately $51.6 million and approximately $11.1 million, respectively. The increase of approximately $40.5 million in cost of revenue is primarily from: (i) our Channel Partner guarantees and revenue share payments of approximately $3.2 million; (ii) payroll, stock-based compensation, and related expenses for customer support, technology maintenance, and occupancy costs of related personnel of approximately $15.3 million; (iii) amortization of our Maven Platform of approximately $1.6 million (which includes our Maven Platform spending and amortization related to acquired developed technology from our acquisitions); (iv) royalty fees of approximately $7.5 million; (v) hosting, bandwidth, and software licensing fees of approximately $0.8 million; (vi) printing, distribution, and fulfillment costs of approximately $8.9 million; (vii) fees paid for data analytics and to other outside service providers of approximately $0.6 million; and (viii) other costs of revenue of approximately $2.7 million.

For the six months ended June 30, 2020, we capitalized costs related to our Maven Platform of approximately $2.9 million, as compared to approximately $1.6 million in the six months ended June 30, 2019. For the six months ended June 30, 2020, the capitalization of our Maven Platform consisted of approximately $2.1 million in payroll and related expenses, including taxes and benefits, approximately $0.9 million in stock-based compensation for related personnel, and amortization of approximately $4.3 million.

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Operating Expenses

The following table sets forth operating expenses and the corresponding percentage of total revenue:

  Six Months Ended June 30,  2020 versus 2019 
  2020  2019  Change  % Change 
  (percentages reflect expense as a percentage of total revenue)       
Selling and marketing $17,769,281   33.2% $2,600,393   21.6% $15,168,888   117.5%
General and administrative  17,680,716   33.0%  10,096,268   83.8%  7,584,448   58.7%
Depreciation and amortization  8,223,806   15.4%  215,977   1.8%  8,007,829   62.0%
Total operating expenses $43,673,803      $12,912,638      $30,761,165   238.2%

 

Cost of RevenueSelling and Marketing. For the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182020, we incurred selling and 2017,marketing costs of approximately $17.8 million, as compared to approximately $2.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. The increase in selling and marketing cost of revenue was $3,922,594approximately $15.2 million is primarily from payroll of selling and $641,606, respectively,marketing account management support teams, along with the related benefits and consists primarily of fixed monthly costs of providing the Company’s digital media network channels and advertising and membership services, such as channel partner guarantee payments, amortization of website development costs, channel partner warrant expense, hosting and bandwidth, and programmatic adverting and other costs. Cost of revenue may exceed revenue until the Company grows the number of online media channels and attracts an audience of unique users of sufficient size that the incremental revenues exceed the fixed monthly operating costs. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company recorded stock-based compensation of $153,447approximately $5.7 million; office, travel, conferences and occupancy costs of approximately $0.6 million; circulation costs of approximately $2.6 million; advertising costs of approximately $4.2 million; and other selling and marketing related to the channel partner warrants.

Research and Development. For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, and 2017, research and development costs were $598,645 and $104,095, respectively.of approximately $1.9 million.

 

General and Administrative. For the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018 and 2017,2020, we incurred general and administrative costs were $7,998,609 and $3,639,204, respectively and consists of approximately $17.7 million from payroll and related expenses, professional services, occupancy costs, stock based compensation of related personnel, depreciation and amortization, and other corporate expense, as compared to approximately $10.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. The increase in general and administrative expenses of approximately $7.6 million is primarily from our increase in headcount, along with the related benefits and stock-based compensation of approximately $2.8 million; professional fees, conferences, public relations,services, including accounting, legal and insurance of approximately $2.9 million; facilities costs of approximately $0.9 million; and other costs.general corporate expenses of approximately $0.8 million.

 

General and administrative costs increased by $4,359,405 or 119.8%Other (Expense) Income

The following table sets forth other (expense) income:

  Six Months Ended June 30,  2020 versus 2019 
  2020  2019  Change  % Change 
  (percentages reflect other expense (income) as a percentage of the total)       
Change in valuation of warrant derivative liabilities $382,495   -9.2% $(541,770)  7.2% $924,265   -12.3%
Change in valuation of embedded derivative liabilities  4,543,000   -109.3%  (3,779,000)  50.3%  8,322,000   -110.8%
Interest expense  (7,916,135)  190.5%  (3,177,262)  42.3%  (4,738,873)  63.1%
Interest income  3,383   -0.1%  3,234   0.0%  149   0.0%
Liquidated damages  (1,167,674)  28.1%  (17,740)  0.2%  (1,149,934)  15.3%
Other income  -   0.0%  126  0.0%  (126)  0.0%
Total other expense $(4,154,931)  100.0% $(7,512,412

)

  100.0% $3,357,481   -44.7%

Change in Valuation of Warrant Derivative Liabilities. The change in valuation of warrant derivative liabilities for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182020 was the result of the decrease in the fair value of the warrant derivative liabilities as of June 30, 2020, as compared to 2017, primarily as a result ofchange in the valuation for the six months ended June 30, 2019 where the change was from an increase in payroll and benefitsthe fair value of $915,772, stock-based compensationthe warrant derivative liabilities as of $1,922,877, professional fees of $598,405, conferences of $513,188, and public relations of $328,975 relating to the Company’s expanded business operations to recruit more independent publishers to join the network.June 30, 2019.

 

Change in Valuation of Embedded Derivative Liabilities. ForThe change in valuation of embedded derivative liabilities for the ninesix months ended SeptemberJune 30, 2018,2020 was the result of the decrease in the fair value of derivatives resultedthe embedded derivative liabilities as of June 30, 2020 as compared to the change in a gain of $263,531. The Company did not have any significantthe valuation for the six months ended June 30, 2019 where the change was from an increase in the fair value change in derivatives duringof the nine months ended Septemberembedded derivative liabilities as of June 30, 2017.2019.

 

34

Interest Expense. For the nine months ended September 30, 2018,We incurred interest expense of $1,552,006,approximately $7.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020, primarily consisting offrom approximately $3.2 million from amortization of accretion of original issue discount and debt discount on notes payablepayable; approximately $4.4 million of $423,894, extinguishmentaccrued interest; and approximately $0.3 million of other interest, as compared to approximately $3.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019, primarily from approximately $1.6 million from amortization of debt discount on notes payable; approximately $1.2 million of $972,250,accrued interest; and accrued interestapproximately $0.4 million of $90,906. The Company did not have any interest expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.other interest.

Interest Income. For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, interest income of $16,583 was derived from derived from deposits held at financial institutions and Say Media promissory notes receivable. The Company had interest income of $411 during the nine months ended September 30, 2017.

True-Up Termination Fee. On June 15, 2018, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with four investors to sell $4,775,000 principal amount of 10% Senior Convertible Debentures. Strome Mezzanine Fund LP (“Strome”) purchased $3,000,000 of such amount and two senior executives of the Company and another investment fund purchased the remaining $1,775,000 of such amount. On June 15, 2018, the Company also modified two previous securities purchase agreements dated January 4, 2018 and March 30, 2018 with Strome to eliminate a true-up provision entered into on March 30, 2018 under which the Company was committed to issue up to 1,700,000 shares of common stock in certain circumstances. As consideration for such modification, the Company issued a warrant to Strome to purchase 1,500,000 shares of common stock, exercisable at an initial price of $1.19 per share for a period of 5 years. The estimated fair value of this warrant on the June 15, 2018 issuance date of $1,344,648, calculated pursuant to the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, was charged to operations as true-up termination fee during the nine months ended September 30, 2018.

Settlement of Promissory Notes Receivable. On December 12, 2018 pursuant to the merger agreement entered into on October 12, 2018 and amended on October 17, 2018, the Company settled the promissory notes receivable by effectively forgiving $1,166,556 of the balance due as of September 30, 2018 as reflected during the three months ended September 30, 2018 in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

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Liquidated Damages. On September 28, 2018,We recorded liquidated damages of approximately $1.2 million for the Companysix months ended June 30, 2020, primarily from issuance of our 12% Convertible Debentures, Series I Preferred Stock, and Series J Preferred Stock issued during 2019. The liquidated damages were recognized because we determined that thethat: (i) registration statementstatements covering the shares of common sharesstock issuable upon conversion ofunder the Series H Preferred Stockaforementioned instruments would not be declared effective within the requisite time frame, therefore, the Company accrued liquidating damages under the registration rights agreement. The Company determinedframe; and (ii) that pursuant to the securities purchase agreement entered into in connection with the Series H Preferred Stock, the Companywe would not be able to maintain itsfile our periodic filingsreports in the requisite time frame with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements therefore,under the Company accrued liquidating damages for the public information requirements For the nine months ended September 30, 2018 the total liquidating damages charged to operations of $2,667,798 was primarily from the registration rights agreement and public information requirements. The Company did not have any liquidating damages charged to operations for the three months ended September 30, 2017.securities purchase agreements.

 

Deemed Dividend on Series H Convertible Preferred Stock. For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, in connection with the 19,399.25 Series H Preferred Stock issuance, the Company recorded a beneficial conversion feature in the amount of $18,045,496 for the underlying common shares since the nondetachable conversion feature was in-the-money (the Conversion Price of $0.33 was lower than the Company’s common stock trading price of $0.86) at the issuance date. The beneficial conversion feature was recognized as a deemed dividend.Recent Disruptions to Our Operations

 

Net Loss. For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company incurredBeginning in March 2020, our normal business operations were disrupted by a net lossseries of $17,418,151, as compared to a net loss of $4,371,491 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.

Liquidity and Capital Resources – September 30, 2018

The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been presented on the basis that the Company is a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. The Company has had modest revenues to date, and has experienced recurring net losses from operations and negative operating cash flows. The Company has financed its working capital requirements since inception through the issuance of its debt and equity securities.

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) was reported in Wuhan, China. On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 to constitute a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” Many national governments and sports authorities around the world have made the decision to postpone/cancel high attendance sports events in an effort to reduce the spread ofsurrounding the COVID-19 virus. In addition, many governmentspandemic and businesses have limited non-essential work activity, furloughed and/or terminated many employees and closed some operations and/or locations, all of which has hadrelated measures to control it. To a negative impact on the economic environment.

As a result oflesser extent, these factors the Company has experienced a decline in revenues and earnings since early March 2020. While the Company has implemented cost reduction measures in an effort to offset such volume declines, the duration of these declines remains uncertain. If the volume declines do not stabilize over the next few months, the Company’s 2020 financial results and operations may be adversely impacted. The extent of the impact on the Company’s operational and financial performance will depend on the Company’s willingness and ability to take further cost reduction measures as well as future developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak, related group gathering and sports event advisories and restrictions, and the extent and effectiveness of containment actions taken, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at the time of issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

At September 30, 2018, the Company had a working capital deficiency of $2,890,964, as compared to working capital of $3,444,523 at December 31, 2017, an decrease in working capital of $6,335,487 for the nine months ended September 30, 2018. The decrease in working capital during the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was the result of short-term debt incurred during the period being utilized towards the acquisition funding of a company (see “Recent Developments” above”) aggregating $9,032,596, acquisitions of property and equipment and platform development costs of $1,689,590, debt service, and ongoing research and development and operating activities.

As a result of the above factors, management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability todisruptions continue as a going concern within one year of the date that the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements are being issued. In addition, the Company’s previous independent registered public accounting firm, in their report on the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the yearthree and six months ended December 31, 2017, had also expressed substantial doubtJune 30, 2020 were issued. See “Item 1A, Risk Factors – Because of the effects of COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty about the Company’s abilitytheir persistence, we may need to raise more capital to continue as a going concern.operations.”

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The ability of the Company to continue as a going concern is impacted by the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and could therefore be dependent upon the Company’s ability to raise additional funds to ultimately achieve sustainable operating revenues and profitability. From October 2018 through April 2020, the Company has raised aggregate net proceeds of approximately $139 million through various debt and preferred stock private placements (see Note 18). The Company believes that based on its current assessment of the impact of COVID-19 it has sufficient resources to fully fund its business operations through April 30, 2021. However, due to the uncertainty regarding the duration of the impact of COVID-19 and its effect on the Company’s financial performance the Company estimates that it may require additional capital in capital markets today, which are less liquid given the lack of clarity surrounding COVID-19.

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern. 

Operating Activities. For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, operating activities utilized cash of $6,288,695, as compared to utilizing cash of $2,654,964 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, to fund the Company’s ongoing research and development and operating activities.

Investing Activities. For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, investing activities consisted of payments for the acquisition of a business totaling $9,032,596, and $1,689,590 for the acquisition of property and equipment and platform development. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company investing activities consisted of $1,513,813 for the acquisition of property and equipment and platform development.

Financing Activities. For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, financing activities consisted of net proceeds from the issuance of Series H convertible preferred stock of $12,474,704, the receipt of $1,000,000 and $4,775,000 of proceeds from the sale of 8% convertible promissory notes payable and 10% convertible debentures, respectively. The Company also received $1,250,000 from the private placement of common stock, and $1,009,446 officer notes. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company repaid $1,351,334 for the 8% convertible promissory notes and $49,911 in officer loans. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, financing activities consisted of the receipt of $3,519,544 from the private placement of common stock.

Summary of Principal Cash Operating Obligations and Commitments

The following table sets forth the Company’s principal cash operating obligations and commitments for the next five fiscal years as of September 30, 2018 aggregating $1,805,481. Amounts included in the 2018 column represent amounts due at September 30, 2018 for the remainder of the 2018 fiscal year ending December 31, 2018.

     Payments Due by Year 
  Total  2018  2019  2020  2021  2022 
                   
Operating leases $804,024  $58,580  $253,282  $265,345  $226,817  $    - 
Employment contracts  435,417   137,500   297,917   -   -   - 
Consulting agreements  566,040   93,540   465,300   7,200   -   - 
Total $1,805,481  $289,620  $1,016,499  $272,545  $226,817  $- 

See Recent Developments above for cash operating obligations and commitments after the balance sheet date.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

At September 30, 2018, the Company did not have any transactions, obligations or relationships that could be considered off-balance sheet arrangements.

 

ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURE ABOUT MARKET RISK

 

Not applicable.applicable to a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of SEC Regulation S-K.

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ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

 

Management, with the participationOur management is responsible for establishing and maintaining a system of the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) ofand 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) as of September 30, 2018. The Company’s disclosure controls and procedures areAct) that is designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Companyus in the reports that it fileswe file or submitssubmit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported, within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange CommissionSEC’s rules and forms,forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that such information required to be disclosed by an issuer in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the issuer’s management, including the Company’sits principal executive officerofficer(s) and principal financial officer,officer(s), or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

In accordance with Exchange Act Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15, an evaluation was completed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report. Based on thisthat evaluation, the principal executive officerour management, including our Chief Executive Officer and principal financial officerChief Financial Officer, concluded that due to a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting described inPart II, Item 9A of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017,the Company’sour disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of September 30, 2018.in providing reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act was recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms.

 

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

 

Other thanIn connection with respectour continued monitoring and maintenance of our controls procedures as part of the implementation of Section 404 of the Sarbanes, we continue to review, test, and improve the remediation efforts discussed below, there were noeffectiveness of our internal controls. There have not been any changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred(as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the fiscal quarterperiod ended SeptemberJune 30, 20182020, or subject to the date we completed our evaluation, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

 

Remediation Efforts to Address Material Weaknesses

Management, with the participation of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, intends to remediate the material weaknesses identified as of December 31, 2017. Based on the evaluation of the material weaknesses, management concluded that internal controls over financial reporting were ineffective because: (1) the Company lacks a functioning audit committee resulting in ineffective oversight in the establishment and monitoring of required internal controls and procedures; (2) the Company has inadequate segregation of duties consistent with control objectives; (3) the Company lacks accounting resources to perform review over complex accounting analysis required by the Company, including analysis related to stock-based compensation, capitalized software, identification and treatment of derivative instruments, fair value measurements, and income taxes. The Company also has inadequate accounting resources and processes for timely concluding on complex accounting matters, and (4) the Company has ineffective controls over its period end financial disclosure and reporting processes.

Management and the audit committee evaluated these matters and have instituted a remediation plan commenced during the second quarter of 2019. The Company expects that the remediation of these material weaknesses will be fully complete during the fourth quarter of 2019. The Company will develop additional controls and procedures for continued improvement in its control environment as deemed necessary.

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PART II - OTHER INFORMATION

 

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

 

From time to time, the Companywe may be subject to claims and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. The Company isWe are not currently subject to any pending or threatened legal proceedings that it believeswe believe would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’sour business, financial condition, or results of operations.operations or cash flows.

 

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

 

TheRisk Factors set forth in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 (the “2017 Form 10-K”) should be read carefully in connection with evaluating the Company’sThere are numerous factors that affect our business and in connection with the forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Anyoperating results, many of thewhich are beyond our control. The following is a description of significant factors that might cause our future results to differ materially from those currently expected. The risks described in the 2017 Form 10-K and the factors identified in this Quarterly Report on form 10-Q could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, financial condition or future results and the actual outcome of matters as to which forward-looking statements are made. Thesebelow are not the only risks that the Company faces.we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currentlypresently known to the Companyus or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our business operations. If any of the Company currently deems to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect the Company’sfollowing risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and/or our ability to pay our debts and other liabilities could suffer. As a result, the trading price and liquidity of our securities could decline, perhaps significantly, and you could lose all or part of your investment. The risks discussed below also include forward-looking statements and our actual results may differ substantially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. See the section entitled “Forward-Looking Statements.”

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION

Our business operations have been and may continue to be materially and adversely affected by the outbreak of COVID-19. An outbreak of respiratory illness caused by COVID-19 emerged in late 2019 and has spread globally. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic based on the rapid increase in global exposure. COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the world. Many national governments and sports authorities around the world have made the decision to postpone/cancel high attendance sports events in an effort to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In addition, many governments and businesses have limited non-essential work activity, furloughed, and/or terminated many employees and closed some operations and/or locations, all of which has had a negative impact on the economic environment.

Beginning in March 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our revenue and earnings began to decline largely due to the cancellation of high attendance sports events and the resulting decrease in traffic to the Maven Platform and advertising revenue. This initial decrease in revenue and earnings were partially offset by revenues generated by TheStreet, as well as some recovery of sporting events (including, in some cases, limited in-person attendance) that have generated content for the licensing and/or syndication of certain products and content under the Sports Illustrated brand (collectively, the “Sports Illustrated Licensed Brands”). Despite this perceived recovery, the future impact, or continued impact, from the COVID-19 pandemic remains uncertain.

The extent of the impact on our operational and financial performance will depend, in part, on future developments, including the duration and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, related group gathering and sports event advisories and restrictions, and the extent and effectiveness of containment actions taken, all of which remain uncertain at the time of issuance of our accompanying consolidated financial statements.

These and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, or other pandemics or epidemics, could have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this Quarterly Report under the “Risk Factors” section.

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Because of the effects of COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty about their persistence, we may need to raise more capital to continue operations. At June 30, 2020, we had cash of approximately $2.3 million. From July 1, 2020 through the issuance date of our accompany condensed consolidated financial statements, we raised aggregate net proceeds of approximately $20.8 million through various preferred stock private placements. As of the date our accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 were issued or were available to be issued, we had cash of approximately $2.3 million. Please refer to Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, under the section entitled “Future Liquidity,” for additional information. We have seen stabilization in our markets since the spring of 2020 and believe that based on our current assessment of the impact of COVID-19, we have sufficient resources to fully fund our business operations through 12 months from the issuance date of our accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements. However, due to the uncertainty regarding the duration of the impact of COVID-19 and its effect on our financial performance and the potential that our traffic and advertising revenue becomes destabilized again, we may require additional capital. We have not had difficulties accessing the capital markets during 2020, however, due to the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, we may experience difficulties in the future.

As market conditions present uncertainty as to our ability to secure additional capital, there can be no assurances that we will be able to secure additional financing on acceptable terms, or at all, as and when necessary to continue to conduct operations. Our future liquidity and capital requirements will depend upon numerous factors, including the success of our offerings and competing technological and market developments. We may need to raise funds through public or private financings, strategic relationships, or other arrangements. There can be no assurance that such funding, will be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Furthermore, any equity financing will be dilutive to existing stockholders, and debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants that may limit our operating flexibility with respect to certain business matters. Strategic arrangements may require us to relinquish our rights or grant licenses to some or substantial parts of our intellectual property. If funds are raised through the issuance of equity securities, the percentage ownership of our stockholders will be reduced, stockholders may experience additional dilution in net book value per share, and such equity securities may have rights, preferences, or privileges senior to those of the holders of our existing capital stock. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may not be able to continue operating, develop or enhance products, take advantage of future opportunities or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

We have incurred losses since our inception, have yet to achieve profitable operations, and anticipate that we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future. We have had losses from inception, and as a result, have relied on capital funding or borrowings to fund our operations. Our accumulated deficit as of December 31, 2019 was approximately $73.0 million. Our accumulated deficit as of June 30, 2020 was approximately $119.0 million. The financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 are the only financial statements we have issued for any periods during fiscal 2020. While we anticipate generating profits in fiscal 2021, the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic yields some doubt as to our ability to do so and could require us to raise additional capital. We cannot predict whether we will be able to continue to find capital to support our business plan if the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue longer than anticipated.

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We identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we do not adequately address these material weaknesses or if other material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting are discovered, our financial statements could contain material misstatements and our business, operations and stock price may be adversely affected. As disclosed under Item 4, Controls and Procedures, of this Quarterly Report, our management has identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting at June 30, 2020 and we expect to identify material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting at December 31, 2020. We expect to have remediated our material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ending June 30, 2021, of which there can be no assurance. Under standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Although no material misstatement of our historical financial statements was identified, the existence of these material weaknesses or significant deficiencies could result in material misstatements in our financial statements and we could be required to restate our financial statements. Further, significant costs and resources may be needed to remediate the identified material weaknesses or any other material weaknesses or internal control deficiencies. If we are unable to remediate, evaluate, and test our internal controls on a timely basis in the future, management will be unable to conclude that our internal controls are effective and our independent registered public accounting firm will be unable to express an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls. If we cannot produce reliable financial reports, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting, the price of our common stock could be adversely impacted and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

As of the date of filing this Quarterly Report, we currently lack certain internal controls over our financial reporting. While we have three independent directors serving on our Board, have added to our accounting staff, and have hired a new Chief Technology Officer, we are implementing such controls at this time. The lack of such controls makes it difficult to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed and submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported as and when required.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to develop and implement the necessary internal controls over financial reporting. The absence of such internal controls may inhibit investors from purchasing our shares and may make it more difficult for us to raise debt or equity financing.

If we fail to retain current users or add new users, or if our users decrease their level of engagement with the Maven Platform, our business would be seriously harmed. The success of our business heavily depends on the size of our user base and the level of engagement of our users. Thus, our business performance will also become increasingly dependent on our ability to increase levels of user engagement in existing and new markets. We are continuously subject to a highly competitive market in order to attract and retain our users’ attention. A number of factors could negatively affect user retention, growth, and engagement, including if:

users increasingly engage with competing platforms instead of ours;
we fail to introduce new and exciting products and services, or such products and services do not achieve a high level of market acceptance;
we fail to accurately anticipate consumer needs, or we fail to innovate and develop new software and products that meet these needs;
we fail to price our products competitively;
we do not provide a compelling user experience because of the decisions we make regarding the type and frequency of advertisements that we display;
we are unable to combat spam, bugs, malwares, viruses, hacking, or other hostile or inappropriate usage on our products;

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there are changes in user sentiment about the quality or usefulness of our existing products in the short-term, long-term, or both;
there are increased user concerns related to privacy and information sharing, safety, or security;
there are adverse changes in our products or services that are mandated by legislation, regulatory authorities, or legal proceedings;
technical or other problems frustrate the user experience, particularly if those problems prevent us from delivering our products in a fast and reliable manner;
we, our Channel Partners, or other companies in our industry are the subject of adverse media reports or other negative publicity, some of which may be inaccurate or include confidential information that we are unable to correct or retract; or
we fail to maintain our brand image or our reputation is damaged.

Any decrease in user retention, growth, or engagement could render our products less attractive to users, advertisers, or our Channel Partners, thereby reducing our revenues from them, which may have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, there can be no assurance that we will succeed in developing products and services that eventually become widely accepted, that we will be able to timely release products and services that are commercially viable, or that we will establish ourselves as a successful player in a new business area. Our inability to do so would have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The market in which we participate is intensely competitive, and if we do not compete effectively, our operating results could be harmed. The digital media industry is fragmented and highly competitive. There are many players in the digital media market, many with greater name recognition and financial resources, which may give them a competitive advantage. Some of our current and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution, and other resources than we do. Our competitors may be able to respond more quickly and effectively than we can to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards, customer, and user requirements and trends. In addition, our customers and strategic partners may become competitors in the future. Certain of our competitors may be able to negotiate alliances with strategic partners on more favorable terms than we are able to negotiate. Pricing pressures and increased competition generally could result in reduced sales, reduced margins, losses, or the failure of the Maven Platform to achieve or maintain more widespread market acceptance, any of which could adversely affect our revenues and operating results. With the introduction of new technologies, the evolution of the Maven Platform, and new market entrants, we expect competition to intensify in the future.

We may have difficulty managing our growth. We have added, and expect to continue to add, channel partner and end-user support capabilities, to continue software development activities, and to expand our administrative operations. In the past two years, we have entered into multiple strategic transactions. These strategic transactions, which have significantly expanded our business, have and are expected to place a significant strain on our managerial, operational, and financial resources. To manage any further growth, we will be required to improve existing, and implement new, operational, customer service, and financial systems, procedures and controls and expand, train, and manage our growing employee base. We also will be required to expand our finance, administrative, technical, and operations staff. There can be no assurance that our current and planned personnel, systems, procedures, and controls will be adequate to support our anticipated growth, that management will be able to hire, train, retain, motivate, and manage required personnel or that our management will be able to successfully identify, manage and exploit existing and potential market opportunities. If we are unable to manage growth effectively, our business could be harmed.

The strategic relationships that we may be able to develop and on which we may come to rely may not be successful. We will seek to develop strategic relationships with advertising, media, technology, and other companies to enhance the efforts of our market penetration, business development, and advertising sales revenues. These relationships are expected to, but may not, succeed. There can be no assurance that these relationships will develop and mature, or that potential competitors will not develop more substantial relationships with attractive partners. Our inability to successfully implement our strategy of building valuable strategic relationships could harm our business.

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We rely heavily on our ability to collect and disclose data and metrics in order to attract new advertisers and retain existing advertisers. Any restriction, whether by law, regulation, policy, or other reason, on our ability to collect and disclose data that our advertisers find useful would impede our ability to attract and retain advertisers. Our advertising revenue could be seriously harmed by many other factors, including:

a decrease in the number of active users of the Maven Platform;
our inability to create new products that sustain or increase the value of our advertisements;
our inability to increase the relevance of targeted advertisements shown to users;
adverse legal developments relating to advertising, including changes mandated by legislation, regulation, or litigation; and
difficulty and frustration from advertisers who may need to reformat or change their advertisements to comply with our guidelines.

The occurrence of any of these or other factors could result in a reduction in demand for advertisements, which may reduce the prices we receive for our advertisements or cause advertisers to stop advertising with us altogether, either of which would negatively affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The sales and payment cycle for online advertising is long, and such sales, which have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, may not occur when anticipated or at all. The decision process is typically lengthy for brand advertisers and sponsors to commit to online campaigns. Some of their budgets are planned a full year in advance. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the amount and pricing of advertising throughout the media industry and it is uncertain when and to what extent advertisers will return to more normal spending levels. The decision process for such purchases, even in normal business situations, is subject to delays and aspects that are beyond our control. In addition, some advertisers and sponsors take months after the campaign runs to pay, and some may not pay at all, or require partial “make-goods” based on performance.

We are dependent on the continued services and on the performance of our key executive officers, management team, and other key personnel, the loss of which could adversely affect our business. Our future success largely depends upon the continued services of our key executive officers, management team, and other key personnel. The loss of the services of any of such key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. We depend on the continued services of our key personnel as they work closely with both our employees and our Channel Partners. Such key personnel are also responsible for our day-to-day operations. Although we have employment agreements with some of our key personnel, these are at-will employment agreements, albeit with non-competition and confidentiality provisions and other rights typically associated with employment agreements. We do not believe that any of our executive officers are planning to leave or retire in the near term; however, we cannot assure that our executive officers or members of our management team will remain with us. We also depend on our ability to identify, attract, hire, train, retain, and motivate other highly skilled technical, managerial, sales, operational, business development, and customer service personnel. Competition for such personnel is intense, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully attract, assimilate, or retain sufficiently qualified personnel. The loss or limitation of the services of any of our executive officers, members of our management team, or key personnel, including our regional and country managers, or the inability to attract and retain additional qualified key personnel, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

Our revenues could decrease if the Maven Platform does not continue to operate as intended. The Maven Platform performs complex functions and is vulnerable to undetected errors or unforeseen defects that could result in a failure to operate or inefficiency. There can be no assurance that errors and defects will not be found in current or new products or, if discovered, that we will be able to successfully correct them in a timely manner or at all. The occurrence of errors and defects could result in loss of or delay in revenue, loss of market share, increased development costs, diversion of development resources and injury to our reputation or damage to our efforts to expand brand awareness.

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Interruptions or performance problems associated with our technology and infrastructure may adversely affect our business and operating results. Our growth will depend in part on the ability of our users and Channel Partners to access the Maven Platform at any time and within an acceptable amount of time. We believe that the Maven Platform is proprietary and we rely on the expertise of members of our engineering, operations, and software development teams for their continued performance. It is possible that the Maven Platform may experience performance problems due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, introductions of new functionality, human or software errors, capacity constraints due to an overwhelming number of users accessing the Maven Platform software simultaneously, denial of service attacks, or other security related incidents. We may not be able to identify the cause or causes of any performance problems within an acceptable period of time. It may be that it will be difficult to maintain and/or improve our performance, especially during peak usage times and as the Maven Platform becomes more complex and our user traffic increases. If the Maven Platform software is unavailable or if our users are unable to access it within a reasonable amount of time or at all, our business would be negatively affected. Therefore, in the event of any of the factors described above, or certain other failures of our infrastructure, partner or user data may be permanently lost. Moreover, the partnership agreements with our Channel Partners include service level standards that obligate us to provide credits or termination rights in the event of a significant disruption in the Maven Platform. To the extent that we do not effectively address capacity constraints, upgrade our systems as needed, and continually develop our technology and network architecture to accommodate actual and anticipated changes in technology, our business and operating results may be adversely affected.

We operate our exclusive coalition of professional-managed online media channels on third party cloud platforms and data center hosting facilities. We rely on software and services licensed from, and cloud platforms provided by, third parties in order to offer our digital media services. Any errors or defects in third-party software or cloud platforms could result in errors in, or a failure of, our digital media services, which could harm our business. Any damage to, or failure of, these third-party systems generally could result in interruptions in the availability of our digital media services. As a result of this third-party reliance, we may experience the aforementioned issues, which could cause us to render credits or pay penalties, could cause our Channel Partners to terminate their contractual arrangements with us, and could adversely affect our ability to grow our audience of unique visitors, all of which could reduce our ability to generate revenue. Our business would also be harmed if our users and potential users believe our product and services offerings are unreliable. In the event of damage to, or failure of, these third-party systems, we would need to identify alternative channels for the offering of our digital media services, which would consume substantial resources and may not be effective. We are also subject to certain standard terms and conditions with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud related to data storage purposes. These providers have broad discretion to change their terms of service and other policies with respect to us, and those changes may be unfavorable to us. Therefore, we believe that maintaining successful partnerships with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and other third-party suppliers is critical to our success.

Real or perceived errors, failures, or bugs in the Maven Platform could adversely affect our operating results and growth prospects. Because the Maven Platform is complex, undetected errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs may occur, especially when updates are deployed. Despite testing by us, errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs may not be found in the Maven Platform until after they are deployed to our customers. We expect from time to time to discover software errors, failures, vulnerabilities, and bugs in the Maven Platform and anticipate that certain of these errors, failures, vulnerabilities, and bugs will only be discovered and remediated after deployment to our Channel Partners and used by subscribers. Real or perceived errors, failures, or bugs in our software could result in negative publicity, loss of or delay in market acceptance of the Maven Platform, loss of competitive position, or claims by our Channel Partners or subscribers for losses sustained by them. In such an event, we may be required, or may choose, for customer relations or other reasons, to expend additional resources in order to help correct the problem.

Malware, viruses, hacking attacks, and improper or illegal use of the Maven Platform could harm our business and results of operations. Malware, viruses, and hacking attacks have become more prevalent in our industry and may occur on our systems in the future. Any security breach caused by hacking, which involves efforts to gain unauthorized access to information or systems, or to cause intentional malfunctions or loss or corruption of data, software, hardware, or other computer equipment, and the inadvertent transmission of computer viruses could harm our business, financial condition and operating results. Any failure to detect such attack and maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of products and technical infrastructure to the satisfaction of our users may also seriously harm our reputation and our ability to retain existing users and attract new users.

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Our information technology systems are susceptible to a growing and evolving threat of cybersecurity risk. Any substantial compromise of our data security, whether externally or internally, or misuse of agent, customer, or employee data, could cause considerable damage to our reputation, cause the public disclosure of confidential information, and result in lost sales, significant costs, and litigation, which would negatively affect our financial position and results of operations. Although we maintain policies and processes surrounding the protection of sensitive data, which we believe to be adequate, there can be no assurances that we will not be subject to such claims in the future.

If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our business could suffer. Our success significantly depends on our proprietary technology. We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, employee and third-party non-disclosure and invention assignment agreements and other methods to protect our proprietary technology. However, these only afford limited protection, and unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of the Maven Platform’s features and functionality, or to use information that we consider proprietary or confidential. There can be no assurance that the Maven Platform will be protectable by patents, but if they are, any efforts to obtain patent protection that is not successful may harm our business in that others will be able to use our technologies. For example, previous disclosures or activities unknown at present may be uncovered in the future and adversely impact any patent rights that we may obtain. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. There can be no assurance that the steps taken by us to protect our proprietary rights will be adequate or that third parties will not infringe or misappropriate our trademarks, copyrights, and similar proprietary rights. If we resort to legal proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights, those proceedings could be expensive and time-consuming and could distract our management from our business operations. Our business, profitability and growth prospects could be adversely affected if we fail to receive adequate protection of our proprietary rights.

We could be required to cease certain activities and/or incur substantial costs as a result of any claim of infringement of another party’s intellectual property rights. Some of our competitors, and other third parties, may own technology patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and website content, which they may use to assert claims against us. We cannot assure you that we will not become subject to claims that we have misappropriated or misused other parties’ intellectual property rights. Any claim or litigation alleging that we have infringed or otherwise violated intellectual property or other rights of third parties, with or without merit, and whether or not settled out of court or determined in our favor, could be time-consuming and costly to address and resolve, and could divert the time and attention of our management and technical personnel.

The results of any intellectual property litigation to which we might become a party may require us to do one or more of the following:

cease making, selling, offering, or using technologies or products that incorporate the challenged intellectual property;
make substantial payments for legal fees, settlement payments, or other costs or damages;
obtain a license, which may not be available on reasonable terms, to sell or use the relevant technology; or
redesign technology to avoid infringement.

If we are required to make substantial payments or undertake any of the other actions noted above as a result of any intellectual property infringement claims against us, such payments or costs could have a material adverse effect upon our business and financial results.

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We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States and abroad that involve matters central to our business, including privacy, data protection, and personal information, rights of publicity, content, intellectual property, advertising, marketing, distribution, data security, data retention and deletion, personal information, electronic contracts and other communications, competition, protection of minors, consumer protection, telecommunications, employee classification, product liability, taxation, economic or other trade prohibitions or sanctions, securities law compliance, and online payment services. The introduction of new products, expansion of our activities in certain jurisdictions, or other actions that we may take may subject us to additional laws, regulations, monetary penalties or other government scrutiny. In addition, foreign data protection, privacy, competition, and other laws and regulations can impose different obligations or be more restrictive than those in the United States. Many of these laws and regulations are still evolving and could be interpreted or applied in ways that could limit or harm our business, require us to make certain fundamental and potentially detrimental changes to the products and services we offer, or subject us to claims. For example, laws relating to the liability of providers of online services for activities of their users and other third-parties are currently being tested by a number of claims, including actions based on invasion of privacy and other torts, unfair competition, copyright, and trademark infringement, and other theories based on the nature and content of the materials searched, the ads posted, or the content provided by users. In addition, there have been calls by members of Congress, from both parties, to limit the scope of the current immunities and safe harbors afforded online publishers with regard to user content and communications under the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the federal Communications Decency Act. Any material reduction of those protections would make us more vulnerable to third party claims arising out of user content published by our online services.

These United States federal and state and foreign laws and regulations, which in some cases can be enforced by private parties in addition to government entities, are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change, which could adversely affect our business. As a result, the application, interpretation, and enforcement of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly evolving industry in which we operate and may be interpreted and applied inconsistently from country to country and inconsistently with our current policies and practices. Any change in legislation and regulations could affect our business. For example, regulatory or legislative actions affecting the manner in which we display content to our users or obtain consent to various practices could adversely affect user growth and engagement. Such actions could affect the manner in which we provide our services or adversely affect our financial results.

Furthermore, significant penalties could be imposed on us for failure to comply with various statutes or regulations. Violations may result from:

ambiguity in statutes;
regulations and related court decisions;
the discretion afforded to regulatory authorities and courts interpreting and enforcing laws;
new regulations affecting our business; and
changes to, or interpretations of, existing regulations affecting our business.

While we prioritize ensuring that our business and compensation model are compliant, and that any product or income related claims are truthful and non-deceptive, we cannot be certain that the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) or similar regulatory body in another country will not modify or otherwise amend its guidance, laws, or regulations or interpret in a way that would render our current practices inconsistent with the same.

Our services involve the storage and transmission of digital information; therefore, cybersecurity incidents, including those caused by unintentional errors and those intentionally caused by third parties, may expose us to a risk of loss, unauthorized disclosure or other misuse of this information, litigation liability and regulatory exposure, reputational harm and increased security costs. We and our third-party service providers experience cyber-attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. We expect to incur significant costs in ongoing efforts to detect and prevent cybersecurity-related incidents and these costs may increase in the event of an actual or perceived data breach or other cybersecurity incident. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased opportunities for cyber-criminals and the risk of potential cybersecurity incidents, as more companies and individuals work online. We cannot ensure that our efforts to prevent cybersecurity incidents will succeed. An actual or perceived breach of our cybersecurity could impact the market perception of the effectiveness of our cybersecurity controls. If our users or business partners, including our Channel Partners, are harmed by such an incident, they could lose trust and confidence in us, decrease their use of our services or stop using them in entirely. We could also incur significant legal and financial exposure, including legal claims, higher transaction fees and regulatory fines and penalties, which in turn could have a material and adverse effect on our business, reputation and operating results. While our insurance policies include liability coverage for certain of these types of matters, a significant cybersecurity incident could subject us to liability or other damages that exceed our insurance coverage.

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Prior employers of our employees may assert violations of past employment arrangements. Our employees are highly experienced, having worked in our industry for many years. Prior employers may try to assert that our employees are breaching restrictive covenants and other limitations imposed by past employment arrangements. We believe that all of our employees are free to work for us in their various capacities and have not breached past employment arrangements. Notwithstanding our care in our employment practices, a prior employer may assert a claim. Such claims will be costly to contest, highly disruptive to our work environment, and may be detrimental to our operations.

Our products may require availability of components or known technology from third parties and their non-availability can impede our growth. We license/buy certain technology integral to our products from third parties, including open-source and commercially available software. Our inability to acquire and maintain any third-party product licenses or integrate the related third-party products into our products in compliance with license arrangements, could result in delays in product development until equivalent products can be identified, licensed, and integrated. We also expect to require new licenses in the future as our business grows and technology evolves. We cannot provide assurance that these licenses will continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.

Government regulations may increase our costs of doing business. The adoption or modification of laws or regulations relating to online media, communities, commerce, security and privacy could harm our business, operating results and financial condition by increasing our costs and administrative burdens. It may take years to determine whether and how existing laws such as those governing intellectual property, privacy, security, libel, consumer protection, and taxation apply. Laws and regulations directly applicable to Internet activities are becoming more diverse and prevalent in all global markets. We must comply with regulations in the United States, as well as any other regulations adopted by other countries where we may do business. The growth and development of Internet content, commerce and communities may prompt calls for more stringent consumer protection laws, privacy laws and data protection laws, both in the United States and abroad, as well as new laws governing the taxation of these activities. Compliance with any newly adopted laws may prove difficult for us and may harm our business, operating results, and financial condition.

We may face lawsuits or incur liabilities in the future in connection with our businesses. In the future, we may face lawsuits or incur liabilities in connection with our businesses. For example, we could face claims relating to information that is published or made available on the Maven Platform. In particular, the nature of our business exposes us to claims related to defamation, intellectual property rights and rights of publicity and privacy. We might not be able to monitor or edit a significant portion of the content that appears on the Maven Platform. This risk is enhanced in certain jurisdictions outside the United States where our protection from liability for third-party actions may be unclear and where we may be less protected under local laws than we are in the United States. We could also face fines or orders restricting or blocking our services in particular geographies as a result of content hosted on our services. If any of these events occur, our business could be seriously harmed.

RISKS RELATED TO AN INVESTMENT IN OUR SECURITIES

There may be no liquid market for our common stock. We provide no assurances of any kind or nature whatsoever that an active market for our common stock will ever develop. There has been no sustained activity in the market for our common stock. Investors should understand that there may be no alternative exit strategy for them to recover or liquidate their investments in our common stock. Accordingly, investors must be prepared to bear the entire economic risk of an investment in us for an indefinite period of time. Even if an active trading market develops over time, we cannot predict how liquid that market might become. Our common stock is quoted on the OTC Markets Group, Inc.’s (the “OTCM”) Pink Open Market (the “OTC Pink”). Trading in stock quoted on over-the-counter markets is often thin and characterized by wide fluctuations in trading prices, due to many factors that may have little to do with our operations or business prospects. The trading price of our common stock is likely to be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in price in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors include:

Quarterly variations in our results of operations or those of our competitors;
Announcements by us or our competitors of acquisitions, new products and services, significant contracts, commercial relationships, or capital commitments;
Disruption or substantive changes to our operations, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic;
Variations in our sales and earnings from period to period;
Commencement of, or our involvement in, litigation;
Any major change in our board or management;
Changes in governmental regulations or in the status of our regulatory approvals; and
General market conditions and other factors, including factors unrelated to our own operating performance.

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We are subject to the reporting requirements of the United States securities laws, which will require expenditure of capital and other resources, and may divert management’s attention. We are a public reporting company subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“Sarbanes”), and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Complying with these rules and regulations have caused us and will continue to cause us to incur additional legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, be time-consuming or costly, and continue to increase demand on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and operating results. We are not current in our SEC filings and the cost of completing historical filings in addition to maintaining current financial reporting has been, and will continue to be, a financial burden for us. If we fail to or are unable to comply with Sarbanes, we will not be able to obtain independent accountant certifications that Sarbanes requires publicly traded companies to obtain. Further, by complying with public disclosure requirements, our business and financial condition are more visible, which we believe may result in the likelihood of increased threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties. Compliance with these additional requirements may also divert management’s attention from operating our business. Any of these may adversely affect our operating results.

 

Our businessWe may not be able to attract the attention of major brokerage firms or securities analysts in our efforts to raise capital. In due course, we plan to seek to have our common stock quoted on a national securities exchange in the United States. There can be no assurance that we will be able to garner a quote for our common stock on an exchange. Even if we are successful in doing so, security analysts and operationsmajor brokerage houses may not provide coverage of us. We may also not be able to attract any brokerage houses to conduct secondary offerings with respect to our securities.

Because we are subject to the “penny stock” rules and regulations, the level of trading activity in our common stock is limited, and our stockholders may have been adversely affected by, and are expected to continuedifficulties selling their shares. SEC regulations define penny stocks to be adversely affectedany non-exchange equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exemptions. The regulations of the SEC promulgated under the Exchange Act require additional disclosure relating to the market for penny stocks in connection with trades in any stock defined as a penny stock. Unless an exception is available, those regulations require the broker-dealer to deliver, prior to any transaction involving a penny stock, a standardized risk disclosure schedule prepared by the recent COVID-19 outbreak..SEC, to provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the transaction, monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in the purchaser’s account, to make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction. These disclosure requirements may have the effect of reducing the level of trading activity, if any, in the secondary market for a stock that becomes subject to the penny stock rules. Consequently, these penny stock rules may affect the ability of broker-dealers to trade our securities. We believe that the penny stock rules discourage market investor interest in and limit the marketability of our common stock. There can be no assurance that our common stock will qualify for exemption from the penny stock rules. In any event, even if our common stock were exempt from the penny stock rules, we would remain subject to Section 15(b)(6) of the Exchange Act, which gives the SEC the authority to restrict any person from participating in a distribution of penny stock, if the SEC finds that such a restriction would be in the public interest.

 

AsIn addition to the “penny stock” rules promulgated by the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has adopted rules that require that in recommending an investment to a result ofcustomer, a broker-dealer must have reasonable grounds for believing that the recent COVID-19 outbreak or other adverse public health developments, including voluntary and mandatory quarantines, travel restrictionsinvestment is suitable for that customer. Prior to recommending speculative low-priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial status, tax status, investment objectives, and other restrictions,information. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability that speculative low-priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. FINRA requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our operations,common stock, which may limit your ability to buy and those ofsell our customers, have and are anticipated to continue to experience delays or disruptions and temporary suspensions of operations. In addition, our financial condition and results of operations have been and are likely to continue to be adversely affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The timeline and potential magnitude of the COVID-19 outbreak is currently unknown.common stock.

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ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

 

Not applicable.None.

 

ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES

 

Not applicable.None.

 

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

 

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION

 

Not applicable.None.

 

ITEM 6. EXHIBITS

A list of exhibits required to be filed as part of this report is set forth in the Index to Exhibits, which is presented elsewhere in this document, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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SIGNATURES

In accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

THEMAVEN, INC.
(Registrant)
Date: May 18, 2020By:/s/ JAMES C. HECKMAN, JR.
James C. Heckman, Jr.
Chief Executive Officer

Date: May 18, 2020By:/s/ DOUGLAS B. SMITH
Douglas B. Smith
Chief Financial Officer

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INDEX TO EXHIBITS

 

The following documents are filed as part of this report:Quarterly Report:

 

Exhibit

Number

 Description of Document
   
4.1Form of 2020 Warrant for Channel Partners Program, which was filed as Exhibit 4.19 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on April 9, 2021.
10.1Note, dated April 6, 2020, issued by TheStreet, Inc. in favor of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., which was filed as Exhibit 10.68 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on April 9, 2021.
10.2+Executive Chairman Agreement, dated as of June 5, 2020, by and between the Company and John Fichthorn, which was filed as Exhibit 10.72  to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on January 8, 2021.
10.3+Amended and Restated Executive Employment Agreement, dated May 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Ross Levinsohn, which was filed as Exhibit 10.90 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on April 9, 2021.
10.4Channel Partners Warrant Program adopted on May 20, 2020, which was filed as Exhibit 10.112 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on April 9, 2021.
10.5Amendment to 2020 Outside Director Compensation Policy, dated May 27, 2020, which was filed as Exhibit 10.114 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on April 9, 2021.
10.6Consulting Agreement, dated April 11, 2020, by and between Maven Coalition, Inc. and AQKraft Advisory Services, LLC, which was filed as Exhibit 10.116 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on April 9, 2021.
31.1* Chief Executive Officer’s Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2*Chief Financial Officer’s Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
   
32.1* Chief Executive Officer’s Certification Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2*Chief Financial Officer’s Certification Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
   
101.INS** XBRL Instance Document
   
101.SCH** XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
   
101.CAL** XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
   
101.LAB** XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
   
101.PRE** XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
   
101.DEF** XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

 

* Filed herewith.

** In accordance with Regulation S-T, the XBRL related information on Exhibit No. 101 to this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q shall be deemed “furnished” herewith but not “filed”.

 

4671
 

 

SIGNATURES

In accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

TheMaven, Inc.
Date: May 12, 2021By:/s/ ROSS LEVINSOHN
Ross Levinsohn
Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer)
Date: May 12, 2021By:/s/ DOUGLAS B. SMITH
Douglas B. Smith
Chief Financial Officer
(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

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