Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Liquidity, Financial Condition and Management's Plans

v2.4.1.9
Liquidity, Financial Condition and Management's Plans
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Liquidity, Financial Condition and Management's Plans [Abstract]  
Liquidity, Financial Condition and Management's Plans

2. Liquidity, Financial Condition and Management's Plans

 

The Company funds its operations principally from cash on hand and accounts receivable collected.

 

The Company completed an initial public offering (“IPO”) of its equity securities (Note 12) on March 8, 2013 and received $19.5 million in proceeds, net of offering costs. The Company incurred approximately $1.3 million of IPO expenses through December 31, 2013 in its efforts to complete the IPO. Expenses incurred in connection with the IPO were accounted for as a reduction of the offering proceeds.

 

We had been dependent on Monster Worldwide, Inc. (“Monster Worldwide” or “Monster”) for all of our recruitment revenue pursuant to an alliance agreement that expired on December 31, 2012. The non-renewal of our agreement with Monster Worldwide had a material impact on revenue and operating cash flow during the year ended December 31, 2013. With respect to job postings that Monster sold prior to the expiration of our agreement on December 31, 2012, we mutually agreed with Monster to maintain such postings on our websites until June 30, 2013. In addition, we agreed to continue to provide Monster with access to certain data until December 31, 2013.

 

As more fully described in Note 14, we entered into a diversity recruitment partnership agreement with LinkedIn Corporation (“LinkedIn”) on November 12, 2012, which became effective on January 1, 2013 and terminated on March 29, 2014. Under our business agreement with LinkedIn, LinkedIn made fixed quarterly payments to us in the amount of $500,000 per quarter and paid us commissions for sales of our services in excess of certain thresholds. The agreement with LinkedIn terminated on March 29, 2014 and, as a result, LinkedIn is no longer a reseller of the Company's products or services and the Company will not receive the fixed quarterly payments of $500,000 or have the potential to earn additional commission revenue from LinkedIn. The termination of our agreement with LinkedIn has had a material impact on revenue and operating cash flow in the near term. However, as of March 30, 2014, we are permitted to market and sell our products to any company, including those 1,000 companies on LinkedIn's restricted account list because as part of our termination arrangement with LinkedIn, the restricted account list will no longer apply. The Company has implemented a plan to actively engage with the 1,000 companies that were formerly restricted from us by the agreement with LinkedIn. In addition, we are also marketing to customers that had purchased our products through contracts with LinkedIn with the intent of renewing those contracts directly as they expire over the coming 12 months. We feel that our existing salesforce has the capacity to service the additional potential customers we are targeting as a result of the termination of the LinkedIn agreement.

 

On September 9, 2014, the Company received written notice from Apollo Education Group, Inc., the parent company of the University of Phoenix (“Apollo Group”), of Apollo Group's voluntary termination without cause of the Master Services Agreement, dated October 1, 2012 (the “Apollo Agreement”), between the Company and Apollo Group. The termination took effect on October 9, 2014. The Apollo Agreement would have otherwise expired by its terms on February 28, 2015.

 

The Apollo Agreement provided that Apollo Group paid a fixed monthly fee of $116,667 for the following services provided by the Company to Apollo Group: (1) access to the hosted service for University of Phoenix students and alumni; (2) reports on a daily, weekly or as otherwise requested basis by Apollo Group; and (3) supporting services, including technical support for the hosted service, or as requested by Apollo Group. The services that the Company provided to Apollo Group were unique to that relationship and are not core to the Company's membership success mission. The Company will not incur or pay any early termination penalties in connection with the termination of the Apollo Agreement. During the entire term of the Apollo Agreement, the Company was never notified of a default or a violation of its service level agreements.


The  termination of our agreements with LinkedIn on March 29, 2014 and Apollo in September 2014 had a material impact on revenue and operating cash flow during the year ended December 31, 2014. In response to this and to help mitigate the impact of the loss of revenue, the Company adjusted its business plan and focused on its key areas of strength, including, but not limited to:

 

  • It's ability to sell directly, instead of as a reseller, and earn 100% of each sale;
  • Benefit from new enhanced OFCCP regulations enhancing demand for the Company's products and services;
  • Benefit from the strength of the Company's business foundation and management team; and
  • Pursue potential acquisition opportunities in the recruitment industry.


The termination of the Apollo Agreement will free up valuable resources of the Company that will allow it to develop the new networking platform the Company is building for the NAPW. Following the effectiveness of such termination, the engineering resources and personnel associated with supporting Apollo Group will be dedicated to providing the members of NAPW with an enhanced online networking experience.


The Company is closely monitoring and controlling operating costs and capital requirements and has developed an operating plan for 2015 which is projected to result in positive cash flow for the year ended December 31, 2015. The Company is also leveraging the benefits of the combined operations and has actively begun eliminating duplicative costs across the organization. Operating results for the year ended December 31, 2014 include a significant amount of one-time costs related to the Company's acquisitions that will not recur going forward. The Company has also developed new products that leverage the operating strengths of the three distinct business units and anticipate positive market acceptance. Management believes that the Company's cash, investments on hand and anticipated cash to be received from expected future sales will be sufficient to sustain operations for the next twelve months. However, there can be no assurances that the plans and actions proposed by management will be successful, that the Company will generate anticipated revenues, or that unforeseen circumstances will not require additional funding sources in the future or effectuate plans to conserve liquidity.