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8-K - FORM 8-K - CREATIVE REALITIES, INC.d543192d8k.htm
EX-99.1 - EX-99.1 - CREATIVE REALITIES, INC.d543192dex991.htm

EXHIBIT 99.2

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc., or persons acting on our behalf, or outside reviewers retained by us making statements on our behalf, or underwriters of our securities, from time to time, may make, in writing or orally, “forward-looking statements” as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This Cautionary Statement, when used in conjunction with an identified forward-looking statement, is for the purpose of qualifying for the “safe harbor” provisions of the Litigation Reform Act and is intended to be a readily available written document that contains factors which could cause results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. These factors are in addition to any other cautionary statements, written or oral, which may be made, or referred to, in connection with any such forward-looking statement.

The following matters, among others, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations or prospects, financial or otherwise, or on the trading price of our common stock. Reference to this Cautionary Statement in the context of a forward-looking statement or statements shall be deemed to be a statement that any one or more of the following factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statement or statements.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our registered public accounting firm has expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

In its report dated March 1, 2013, our independent registered public accounting firm, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, stated that our financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, were prepared assuming that we would continue as a going concern. These financial statements do not include any adjustments to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts and classification of liabilities that might be necessary should our company be unable to continue as a going concern. However, our auditor also expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern is an issue raised as a result of losses suffered from operations. We do not currently have sufficient capital resources to fund operations beyond September 2013. We continue to experience operating losses. At present, we have no commitments for any additional financing. Because we have received an opinion from our auditor that substantial doubt exists as to whether our company can continue as a going concern, it may be more difficult for our company to attract investors, secure debt financing or bank loans, or a combination of the foregoing, on favorable terms, if at all. Our future depends upon our ability to obtain financing and upon future profitable operations. If we are unable to generate sufficient revenue, find financing, or adjust our operating expenses so as to maintain positive working capital, then we likely will be forced to cease operations and investors will likely lose their entire investment. We can give no assurance as to our ability to generate adequate revenue, raise sufficient capital, sufficiently reduce operating expenses or our ability to continue as a going concern.

Our operations and business are subject to the risks of an early stage company with limited revenue and a history of losses, operating in a developing industry. We have incurred losses since inception, and we have had only limited revenue. We may not ever become or remain profitable.

Since inception, we have had limited revenue from the sale of our products and services, and we have incurred net losses. We incurred net losses of $5.4 million and $6.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. We incurred a net loss of $1.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. As of March 31, 2013, we had an accumulated deficit of $95.8 million. We have not been profitable in any year of our operating history and anticipate incurring additional losses into the foreseeable future. We do not know whether or when we will become profitable. Even if we are able to achieve profitability in future periods, we may not be able to sustain or increase our profitability in successive periods.


We have formulated our business plans and strategies based on certain assumptions regarding the acceptance of our business model and the marketing of our products and services. However, our assessments regarding market size, market share, market acceptance of our products and services and a variety of other factors may prove incorrect. Our future success will depend upon many factors, including factors which may be beyond our control or which cannot be predicted at this time.

Adequate funds for our operations may not be available, requiring us to curtail our activities significantly.

Our current cash position is insufficient to meet our working capital needs beyond September 2013. We will likely be required to raise additional funding through public or private financings, including equity financings. Any additional equity financings may be dilutive to shareholders and may be completed at a discount to market price. Debt financing, if available, would likely involve restrictive covenants similar to or more restrictive than those contained in the security and loan agreement we currently have with Silicon Valley Bank. Those covenants include maintaining minimum tangible net worth, which we may not satisfy. There can be no assurance we will successfully complete any future equity or debt financing. Adequate funds for our operations, whether from financial markets, collaborative or other arrangements, may not be available when needed or on terms attractive to us, especially from markets which continue to be risk averse. If adequate funds are not available, our plans to operate our business may be adversely affected and we could be required to curtail our activities significantly and/or cease operating.

We may experience difficulties identifying or consummating strategic or financial alternatives, and any such alternatives may not achieve desired results.

In light of our financial condition and potential for continued net losses, we are evaluating strategic and financial alternatives and have engaged Roth Capital Partners, LLC to assist us in that process. Such alternatives may include licensing our product for use in one or more specific industries, acquiring other entities to enable us to gain sufficient mass to regain meaningful access to the capital markets and/or become a more attractive acquisition candidate, and/or selling substantially all of our assets or engaging in some other business combination transaction. Pursuing such alternatives may disrupt operations, distract management and create uncertainties regarding the future direction of our business, products and services that could result in the loss of current or prospective customers, suppliers, employees and other business partners. In addition, we cannot provide assurance that we will identify one or more suitable third parties for any such transaction. Even if we identify one or more suitable third parties, we may not successfully negotiate or consummate any such transaction. If such a transaction is consummated, there can be no assurance that it will resolve our short-term liquidity issues. Furthermore, when pursuing such a transaction we may incur substantial legal and other fees whether or not such a transaction is consummated. If we are unable to consummate such a transaction, we may be required to discontinue certain products or services or otherwise exit all or certain portions of our business. If we divest or otherwise exit certain portions of our business, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. We also may incur certain liabilities and costs in connection with any divestiture or discontinuation of products or services, such as workforce reduction costs, costs associated with closing facilities and disposing of or writing off excess inventory and equipment, and contract termination costs. Any decision we make regarding our strategic and financial alternatives will necessarily involve risks and uncertainties and present challenges in implementation and integration. As a result, pursuit of any such alternatives may not lead to increased shareholder value and, whether or not we pursue such alternatives, the value of our shares may decrease.


Our success depends on our marketing technologies, RoninCast® software and our other products and services achieving and maintaining widespread acceptance in our targeted markets. If our products contain errors or defects, our business reputation may be harmed.

Our success will depend to a large extent on broad market acceptance of our marketing technologies, RoninCast® software and our other products and services among our prospective customers. Our prospective customers may still not use our solutions for a number of other reasons, including preference for static advertising, lack of familiarity with our technology, preference for competing technologies or perceived lack of reliability. We believe that the acceptance of our marketing technologies, RoninCast® software and our other products and services by our prospective customers will depend on the following factors:

 

   

our ability to demonstrate our marketing technologies’ and RoninCast® software’s economic and other benefits;

 

   

our customers becoming comfortable with using our marketing technologies and RoninCast® software; and

 

   

the reliability of our marketing technologies and the RoninCast® software and the hardware comprising our digital signage and other marketing technologies systems.

Our software is complex and must meet stringent user requirements. Our products could contain errors or defects, especially when first introduced or when new models or versions are released, which could cause our customers to reject our products, result in increased service costs and warranty expenses and harm our reputation. Unanticipated warranty and other costs for defective products could adversely affect our business. We must develop our products quickly to keep pace with the rapidly changing digital signage and communications market. In the future, we may experience delays in releasing new products as problems are corrected. In addition, some undetected errors or defects may only become apparent as new functions are added to our products. The need to repair or replace products with design or manufacturing defects could temporarily delay the sale of new products and adversely affect our reputation. Delays, costs and damage to our reputation due to product defects could harm our business.

Difficult and volatile conditions in the capital, credit and commodities markets and general economic uncertainty have prompted companies to cut capital spending worldwide and could continue to materially adversely affect our business.

Disruptions in the economy and constraints in the capital, credit and commodities markets have caused companies to reduce or delay capital investment. Some of our prospective customers may cancel or delay spending on the development or roll-out of capital and technology projects with us due to continuing economic uncertainty. Our financial position, results of operations and cash flow could continue to be materially adversely affected by continuing difficult economic conditions and significant volatility in the capital, credit and commodities markets and in the overall worldwide economy. The continuing impact that these factors might have on us and our business is uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time. Such economic conditions have accentuated each of the risks we face and magnified their potential effect on us and our business. The difficult conditions in these markets and the overall economy affect our business in a number of ways. For example:


   

We cannot assure you that such funds would be available or sufficient under our loan and security agreement with Silicon Valley Bank, and we may not be able to successfully obtain additional financing on favorable terms, or at all. From time to time, we have failed to satisfy the minimum tangible net worth covenant under our loan and security agreement with Silicon Valley Bank, which must be satisfied in order for us to borrow under such agreement and while there is an outstanding balance owed to Silicon Valley Bank. Furthermore, as a result of the contractually-imposed limits on our borrowing base, the amount available to us under the agreement, based on calculations as of March 31, 2013, was approximately $157,000. The line of credit, which is secured by all of our assets, matures on March 12, 2014.

 

   

Market volatility has exerted downward pressure on our stock price, which may make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital in the future.

 

   

Economic conditions could continue to result in our customers experiencing financial difficulties or electing to limit spending because of the declining economy, which may result in decreased revenue for us. Difficult economic conditions have adversely affected certain industries in particular, including the automotive and restaurant industries, in which we have major customers. We could also experience lower than anticipated order levels from current customers, cancellations of existing but unfulfilled orders, and extended payment or delivery terms.

 

   

Economic conditions could materially impact us through insolvency of our suppliers or current customers.

 

   

Economic conditions combined with the weakness in the credit markets could continue to lead to increased price competition for our products, increased risk of excess and obsolete inventories and higher overhead costs as a percentage of revenue.

If the markets in which we participate experience subsequent economic downturns or slow recovery, this could continue to negatively impact our sales and revenue generation, margins and operating expenses, and consequently have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. While we have down-sized our operations to reflect decreased demand, we may not be successful in mirroring current demand. If customer demand were to decline further, we might be unable to adjust expense levels rapidly enough in response to falling demand or without changing the way in which we operate. If revenue were to decrease further and we were unable to adequately reduce expense levels, we might incur significant losses that could adversely affect our overall financial performance and the market price of our common stock.

Our license agreement with Delphi Display Systems, Inc. may limit our future revenue opportunities and, if we become bankrupt or insolvent, Delphi would obtain the source code for our RoninCast software.

In April 2013, we entered into a license agreement with Delphi Display Systems, Inc. pursuant to which we granted Delphi an exclusive, worldwide, perpetual license to use and sublicense RoninCast® software in two specified target markets, namely quick-service restaurants or food service providers that have a substantial number of drive-through locations, and pump toppers (displays located on fuel dispensing devices). The license is exclusive in the target markets for five years from the date of the license agreement, unless earlier terminated pursuant to the license agreement. During this exclusivity period, we have agreed not to market, sell or otherwise promote, either directly or indirectly, any product with substantially similar functionality to the software to the target markets.


Under the license agreement, Delphi paid us a one-time license fee for the first 7,500 installed nodes, which represents approximately 1,500 locations based on an assumption of five installed nodes per location. We also agreed to certain node license fees for additional nodes and monthly hosting and support service fees, including certain minimums. These fees may not adequately compensate us for the limitations we have agreed to as the target markets develop. Over the life of the exclusivity period, especially in markets that grow larger or faster than anticipated, our revenue under the license agreement may be less than what we could have achieved in such markets directly.

In addition, Delphi may fail to devote sufficient resources to promoting our software or may otherwise be unsuccessful in identifying new users in the target markets, which would adversely affect the amount of any incremental revenue over the minimum that we receive under the license agreement. We have no control over Delphi’s actions under the license agreement other than its covenant to use its best efforts to market, promote, and sublicense the software, and we are now dependent on Delphi to realize the full potential of the software in the target markets.

Finally, as part of the license agreement, we entered into an escrow arrangement pursuant to which Delphi would have the right to obtain the source code for the software if we cease to carry on business, become bankrupt, insolvent or the subject of receivership, or upon certain material breaches of the license agreement by us. Therefore, if those events occur, we would lose control over our software, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

Our financial condition and potential for continued net losses negatively impacts our relationships with customers, prospective customers and third-party suppliers.

Our current cash position is insufficient to meet our working capital needs beyond September 2013. We believe our financial condition and potential for continued net losses has caused and could continue to cause current and prospective customers to defer placing orders with us, to require terms that are less favorable to us, or to place their orders with marketing technology suppliers other than Wireless Ronin, which adversely affects our business, financial condition and results of operations. On the same basis, third-party suppliers may refuse to do business with us, or may do so only on terms that are unfavorable to us, which also could cause our revenue to decline.

Because we do not have long-term purchase commitments from our customers, the failure to obtain anticipated orders or the deferral or cancellation of commitments could have adverse effects on our business.

Our business is characterized by short-term purchase orders and contracts which do not require that purchases be made. This makes forecasting our sales difficult. The failure to obtain anticipated orders and deferrals or cancellations of purchase commitments because of changes in customer requirements, or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We have experienced such challenges in the past and may experience such challenges in the future.

Most of our contracts are terminable by our customers with limited notice and without penalty payments, and early terminations could have a material effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.


Most of our contracts are terminable by our customers following limited notice and without early termination payments or liquidated damages due from them. In addition, each stage of a project often represents a separate contractual commitment, at the end of which the customers may elect to delay or not to proceed to the next stage of the project. We cannot assure you that one or more of our customers will not terminate a material contract or materially reduce the scope of a large project. The delay, cancellation or significant reduction in the scope of a large project or a number of projects could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Due to our dependence on a limited number of customers, we are subject to a concentration of credit risk.

As of March 31, 2013, Chrysler and ARAMARK accounted for 40.6% and 19.6%, respectively, of our accounts receivable. In the case of insolvency by one of our significant customers, an account receivable with respect to that customer might not be collectible, might not be fully collectible, or might be collectible over longer than normal terms, each of which could adversely affect our financial position. In one case in the past, we converted a customer’s account receivable into a secured note receivable then into the underlying collateral, which we ultimately wrote off. In the future, if we convert other accounts receivable into notes receivable or obtain the collateral underlying notes receivable, we may not be able to fully recover the amount due, which could adversely affect our financial position. Furthermore, the value of the collateral which serves to secure any such obligation is likely to deteriorate over time due to obsolescence caused by new product introductions and due to wear and tear suffered by those portions of the collateral installed and in use. There can be no assurance that we will not suffer credit losses in the future.

Our prospective customers often take a long time to evaluate our products and services and our customers may not make significant purchases even after their initial purchase, with this lengthy and variable sales cycle making it difficult to predict our operating results.

It is difficult for us to forecast the timing and recognition of revenue from sales of our products and services because our prospective customers often take significant time to evaluate our products before purchasing them. Even after making their first purchases of our products and services, existing customers may not make significant purchases of those products and services for a long period of time following their initial purchases or at all. The period between initial customer contact and a purchase by a customer may be years with potentially an even longer period separating initial purchases and any significant purchases thereafter. During the evaluation period, prospective customers may decide not to purchase or may scale down proposed orders of our products for various reasons, including:

 

   

reduced need to upgrade existing visual marketing systems;

 

   

introduction of products by our competitors;

 

   

lower prices offered by our competitors; and

 

   

changes in budgets and purchasing priorities.

Our prospective customers routinely require education regarding the use and benefit of our products. This may also lead to delays in receiving customers’ orders.

Our results of operations may depend upon selling our products and services to customers requiring large-scale rollouts and large-scale monitoring and maintenance, which we have not previously conducted.


Our results of operations may depend upon selling our products and services to those companies, and within those industries, with many sites that could benefit from digital signage or marketing technologies solutions. Digital signage and marketing technologies systems installation projects deploying hundreds or even thousands of systems present significant technical and logistical challenges that we have not yet demonstrated our ability to overcome. Digital signage and marketing technologies systems employ sophisticated hardware and software that constantly evolves. Sites into which digital signage and marketing technologies systems may be installed vary widely, including such factors as interference with wireless networks, ambient light, extremes of temperature and other factors that may make each individual location virtually unique. Managing the process of installing hundreds or thousands of dynamic, complicated digital signage and marketing technologies systems into unique environments may present difficulties that we have not yet faced on projects performed to date with smaller numbers of installations. If our customers opt to engage us to provide system monitoring and maintenance services through our network operations center, or NOC, on one or more large-scale implementations, we may not successfully or profitably monitor and maintain the hardware, software and content in a manner satisfactory to our customers or in compliance with our contractual obligations. The efficiency and effectiveness of NOC monitoring and maintenance are directly affected by our software and that software’s ability to monitor our customers’ systems. For large-scale implementations, we may need to further develop our software to facilitate efficient and effective system monitoring and maintenance. We cannot assure you that we will succeed in developing our software, digital signage systems, project management and infrastructure to successfully implement, monitor, manage and maintain large-scale implementation projects or ongoing operations. Our failure to do so could harm our business and financial condition.

Difficulty in developing and maintaining relationships with third party manufacturers, suppliers and service providers could adversely affect our ability to deliver our products and meet our customers’ demands.

We rely on third parties to manufacture and supply parts and components for marketing technologies and digital signage systems we provide, and to provide order fulfillment, installation, repair services and technical and customer support. Our strategy to rely on third party manufacturers, suppliers and service providers involves a number of significant risks, including the loss of control over the manufacturing process, the potential absence of adequate capacity, the unavailability of certain parts and components used in our products and reduced control over delivery schedules, quality and costs. For example, we do not generally maintain a significant inventory of parts or components, but rely on suppliers to deliver necessary parts and components to third party manufacturers, in a timely manner, based on our forecasts. If delivery of our products and services to our customers is interrupted, or if our products experience quality problems, our ability to meet customer demands would be harmed, causing a loss of revenue and harm to our reputation. Increased costs, transition difficulties and lead times involved in developing additional or new third party relationships could adversely affect our ability to deliver our products and services and meet our customers’ demands, and harm our business.

Reductions in hardware costs will likely decrease hardware pricing to our customers and would reduce our per unit revenue.

Our pricing includes a standard percentage markup over our cost of digital signage systems and other marketing technologies, such as computers and display monitors. As such, any decrease in our costs to acquire such components from third parties will likely be reflected as a decrease in our hardware pricing to our customers. Therefore, reductions in such hardware costs could potentially reduce our revenue.


Because our sales approach currently includes strategic partners and business alliance relationships, we expect to face risks not faced by companies with only internal sales forces.

We currently sell most of our marketing technology offerings, which include digital signage systems and software licenses, through an internal sales force. We believe our future success will depend on such sales force and our ability to attract and form relationships with strategic partners and business alliances. We may not, however, be successful in forming these types of relationships, which could result in us being unable to expand our sales network to generate revenue. Our anticipated reliance on strategic partners and business alliances involves several risks, including the following:

 

   

we may not be able to adequately train our strategic partners and those with which we have business alliances to sell and service our software and services;

 

   

they may emphasize competitors’ products or decline to promote and sell our software and services;

 

   

our efforts to co-market products and services with third parties may not result in further adoption of our products and services;

 

   

arrangements with our partners and business alliances can be terminated by either party at any time and do not require any material financial commitment;

 

   

channel conflict may arise between other third parties and/or our internal sales staff; and

 

   

software to manage content may be given away.

Hardware companies may include digital signage software with functionality similar to RoninCast® software as an integrated hardware and software solution, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We have provided digital signage content management software to NEC. Our software development agreement with NEC provided that NEC would own the software that we wrote. NEC intends to bundle this software with hardware that it sells to its digital signage customers. While the software developed for NEC does not encompass all of the features and functions of our proprietary RoninCast® software, the NEC software enables digital signage customers to implement basic digital signage applications. While we believe that a certain number of those NEC customers beginning with the NEC software may come to want or need enhanced functionality of the RoninCast® software product, there is a risk that bundled software will cannibalize the demand for more fully featured products like RoninCast® digital signage software. If bundling digital signage content management software with hardware becomes an industry standard, we could risk losing software licensing sales. It is difficult for us to predict whether, when or the extent to which bundling digital signage content management software with hardware will become customary. It is also difficult to predict the functionality of the software that hardware manufacturers may bundle with hardware. If more sophisticated and fully featured software is bundled with hardware, that bundling may negatively impact our RoninCast® software license sales and adversely affect our business.

Our industry is characterized by frequent technological change. If we are unable to adapt our products and services and develop new products and services to keep up with these rapid changes, we will not be able to obtain or maintain market share.


The market for our products and services is characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, changes in customer needs, heavy competition and frequent new product and service introductions. If we fail to develop new products and services or modify or improve existing products and services in response to these changes in technology, customer demands or industry standards, our products and services could become less competitive or obsolete.

We must respond to changing technology and industry standards in a timely and cost-effective manner. We may not be successful in using new technologies, developing new products and services or enhancing existing products and services in a timely and cost effective manner. Our pursuit of necessary technology may require substantial time and expense as experienced with our software product, RoninCast®. We may need to license new technologies to respond to technological change. These licenses may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms or at all. We may not succeed in adapting our products and services to new technologies as they emerge. Furthermore, even if we successfully adapt our products and services, these new technologies or enhancements may not achieve market acceptance.

Our ability to execute our business strategy depends on our ability to protect our intellectual property, and if any third parties make unauthorized use of our intellectual property, or if our intellectual property rights are successfully challenged, our competitive position and business could suffer.

Our success and ability to compete depends substantially on our proprietary technologies. We regard our copyrights, service marks, trademarks, trade secrets and similar intellectual property as critical to our success, and we rely on trademark and copyright law, trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements with our employees, customers and others to protect our proprietary rights. Despite our precautions, unauthorized third parties might copy certain portions of our software or reverse engineer and use information that we regard as proprietary. In addition, confidentiality agreements with employees and others may not adequately protect against disclosure of our proprietary information.

As of March 31, 2013, we had received one design patent, had one U.S. patent application pending and had one Canadian patent application pending relating to various aspects of our RoninCast® delivery system. We cannot provide assurance that any additional patents will be granted. Even if they are granted, our patents may be successfully challenged by others or invalidated. In addition, any patents that may be granted to us may not provide us a significant competitive advantage. Although we have been granted patents and trademarks, they could be challenged in the future. If future trademark registrations are not approved because third parties own these trademarks, our use of these trademarks would be restricted unless we enter into arrangements with the third party owners, which might not be possible on commercially reasonable terms or at all. If we fail to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights successfully, our competitive position could suffer. We may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights. We may not be able to detect infringement and may lose competitive position in the market. In addition, competitors may design around our technology or develop competing technologies. Intellectual property rights may also be unavailable or limited in some foreign countries, which could make it easier for competitors to capture market share.

Our industry is characterized by frequent intellectual property litigation, and we could face claims of infringement by others in our industry. Such claims are costly and add uncertainty to our business strategy.


The digital media and communications industry is characterized by uncertain and conflicting intellectual property claims and frequent intellectual property litigation, especially regarding patent rights. We could be subject to claims of infringement of third party intellectual property rights, which could result in significant expense and could ultimately result in the loss of our intellectual property rights. From time to time, third parties may assert patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights to technologies that are important to our business. In addition, because patent applications in the United States are not publicly disclosed until the patent is issued, applications may have been filed which relate to our industry of which we are not aware. We have in the past and may in the future receive notices of claims that our products infringe or may infringe intellectual property rights of third parties. Any litigation to determine the validity of these claims, including claims arising through our contractual indemnification of our business partners, regardless of their merit or resolution, would likely be costly and time consuming and divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel. If any such litigation resulted in an adverse ruling, we could be required to:

 

   

pay substantial damages;

 

   

cease the development, use, licensing or sale of infringing products;

 

   

discontinue the use of certain technology; or

 

   

obtain a license under the intellectual property rights of the third party claiming infringement, which license may not be available on reasonable terms or at all.

Our business may be adversely affected by malicious applications that interfere with, or exploit security flaws in, our products and services.

Our business may be adversely affected by malicious applications that make changes to our customers’ computer systems and interfere with the operation and use of our products. These applications may attempt to interfere with our ability to communicate with our customers’ devices. The interference may occur without disclosure to or consent from our customers, resulting in a negative experience that our customers may associate with our products. These applications may be difficult or impossible to uninstall or disable, may reinstall themselves and may circumvent other applications’ efforts to block or remove them. In addition, we offer a number of products and services that our customers download to their computers or that they rely on to store information and transmit information over the Internet. These products and services are subject to attack by viruses, worms and other malicious software programs, which could jeopardize the security of information stored in a customer’s computer or in our computer systems and networks. The ability to reach customers and provide them with a superior product experience is critical to our success. If our efforts to combat these malicious applications fail, or if our products and services have actual or perceived vulnerabilities, there may be claims based on such failure or our reputation may be harmed, which would damage our business and financial condition.

We rely on computer systems and information technology to run our business. Any material failure, interruption or security breach of our computer systems or information technology may adversely affect the operation of our business and our results of operations.

Computer viruses or terrorism may disrupt our operations and adversely affect our operating results. Despite our implementation of security measures, including a co-location center that can be used in case our primary computer center location is disabled or destroyed, all of our technology systems are vulnerable to disability or failures due to hacking, viruses, acts of war or terrorism, and other causes. If our technology systems were to fail and we were unable to recover in a timely manner, we would be unable to fulfill critical business functions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.


We compete with other companies that have more resources, which puts us at a competitive disadvantage.

The market for marketing technologies, including digital signage, is highly competitive and we expect competition to increase in the future. Some of our competitors or potential competitors may have significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources than our company. These competitors may be able to respond more rapidly than we can to new or emerging technologies or changes in customer requirements. They may also devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their products than our company.

We expect competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current products and to introduce new products, services and technologies. Successful new product and service introductions or enhancements by our competitors could reduce sales and the market acceptance of our products and services, cause intense price competition or make our products and services obsolete. To be competitive, we must continue to invest significant resources in research and development, sales and marketing and customer support. If we do not have sufficient resources to make these investments or are unable to make the technological advances necessary to be competitive, our competitive position will suffer. Increased competition could result in price reductions, fewer customer orders, reduced margins and loss of market share. Our failure to compete successfully against current or future competitors could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We may experience fluctuations in our quarterly operating results.

We may experience variability in our total sales on a quarterly basis as a result of many factors, including the condition of the marketing technologies, electronic communication and digital signage industries in general, shifts in demand for software and hardware products, technological changes and industry announcements of new products and upgrades, absence of long-term or large-scale commitments from customers, timing and variable lead-times of customer orders, delays in or cancellations of customer orders, variations in component costs and/or adverse changes in the supply of components, variations in operating expenses, changes in our pricing policies or those of our competitors, the ability of our customers to pay for products and services, effectiveness in managing our operations and changes in economic conditions in general. We may not consider it prudent to adjust our spending levels on the same timeframe; therefore, if total sales decline for a given quarter, our operating results may be materially adversely affected. As a result of the potential fluctuations in our quarterly operating results, we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our financial results should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. Further, it is possible that in future quarters our operating results will be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors. In such event, the price of our common stock would likely be materially adversely affected.

Our future success depends on key personnel and our ability to attract and retain additional personnel.

Our key personnel include:

 

   

Scott W. Koller, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and

 

   

Darin P. McAreavey, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

If we fail to retain our key personnel or to attract, retain and motivate other qualified employees, our ability to maintain and develop our business may be adversely affected. Our future success depends significantly on the continued service of our key technical, sales and senior management personnel and their ability to execute our growth strategy. The loss of the services of our key employees could harm our business. We may be unable to retain our employees or to attract, assimilate and retain other highly qualified employees who could migrate to other employers who offer competitive or superior compensation packages.


We may be subject to sales and other taxes, which could have adverse effects on our business.

In accordance with current federal, state and local tax laws, and the constitutional limitations thereon, we currently collect sales, use or other similar taxes in state and local jurisdictions where we have a physical presence that we understand to be sufficient to require us to collect and remit such taxes. One or more state or local jurisdictions may seek to impose sales tax collection obligations on us and other out-of-state companies which engage in commerce with persons in that state. Several U.S. states have taken various initiatives to prompt more sellers to collect local and state sales taxes. Furthermore, tax law and the interpretation of constitutional limitations thereon are subject to change. In addition, new or expanded business operations in states where we do not currently have a physical presence sufficient to obligate us to collect and remit taxes could subject shipments of goods into or provision of services in such states to sales tax under current or future laws. If our company grows, increased sales of our products and services to locations in various states and municipalities may obligate us to collect and remit sales tax and to pay state income and other taxes based upon increased presence in those jurisdictions. We will endeavor to collect, remit and pay those state and local taxes that we owe according to applicable law. State and local tax laws are, however, subject to change, highly complex and diverse from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If one or more state or local jurisdictions successfully asserts that we must collect sales or other taxes beyond our current practices or that we owe unpaid sales or other taxes and penalties, it could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We may be subject to U.S. and international tax authorities challenging our transfer price allocation, which could have adverse effects on our business.

Currently a significant portion of our revenue is generated within the United States from products and services provided through our Canadian operations. As a result, we are required to prepare a transfer price allocation between our U.S. and Canadian entities. This allocation involves assumptions and estimates which may be challenged by the I.R.S. or Canadian tax authorities. In the event one of these tax authorities successfully challenges our transfer price allocation, it may result in us being subject to corporate taxes and penalties.

Our results of operations could be adversely affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar.

Since a portion of our operations and revenue occur outside the United States and in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, our results could be adversely affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Additionally, given our ownership of Wireless Ronin Technologies (Canada), Inc., changes in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar can significantly affect inter-company balances and our results of operations.

We are subject to various restrictive covenants under our loan and security agreement with Silicon Valley Bank which may prevent us from taking actions that could be beneficial to our shareholders without Silicon Valley Bank’s consent, including mergers, acquisitions and the incurrence of additional indebtedness.

Pursuant to our loan and security agreement with Silicon Valley Bank, we generally require the prior written consent of Silicon Valley Bank to, among other things:

 

   

dispose of assets;

 

   

change our business;


   

liquidate or dissolve;

 

   

change CEO or COO (replacements must be satisfactory to the lender);

 

   

enter into any transaction in which our shareholders who were not shareholders immediately prior to such transaction own more than 40% of our voting stock (subject to limited exceptions) after the transaction;

 

   

merge or consolidate with any other person;

 

   

acquire all or substantially all of the capital stock or property of another person; or

 

   

become liable for any indebtedness (other than permitted indebtedness).

If we determine that taking one of these actions would be in our best interests and we were unable to obtain the prior written consent of Silicon Valley Bank to do so, we would be required to repay the amount owing Silicon Valley Bank at that time, which may not be advisable or even practical, or forgo taking the action for which we sought consent. In such scenario, we would be unable to borrow additional sums under the agreement with Silicon Valley Bank which could adversely affect our liquidity and capital resources. Additionally, we are required to maintain a certain minimum tangible net worth level at either the time of an advancement or while there is an outstanding balance owed to Silicon Valley Bank. Our failure to meet or maintain the minimum tangible net worth requirement would preclude us from drawing on such line of credit. Our inability to take actions due to the restrictive covenants or our need to repay amounts borrowed and effective loss of the line of credit could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

Risks Related to Our Securities

Our common stock will be delisted from the NASDAQ Stock Market, which will likely adversely affect the trading price of our common stock and potentially subject trading in our shares to application of the SEC’s “penny stock” rules.

On May 22, 2013, we received notice from NASDAQ that our common stock would be delisted from the NASDAQ Capital Market, effective at the open of business on May 31, 2013, due to our failure to meet the $2.5 million minimum shareholders’ equity requirement for continued listing. Immediately following such delisting, our common stock will be traded on the OTCQB tier of the OTC Markets, an inter-dealer, over-the-counter market. As compared to securities quoted on a national exchange such as NASDAQ, selling our common stock could be more difficult because smaller quantities of shares are likely to be bought and sold, transactions could be delayed, security analysts’ coverage of us may be reduced, and our common stock may trade at a lower market price than it otherwise would.

In addition, as a result of the delisting of our common stock, trading in our shares may become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules and therefore subject to the requirements of Rule 15g-9 under the Exchange Act. Under this rule, broker-dealers who recommend low-priced securities to persons other than established customers and accredited investors must satisfy special sales practice requirements. The broker-dealer must make an individualized written suitability determination for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written consent prior to the transaction. SEC regulations also require additional disclosure in connection with any trades involving a penny stock, including the delivery, prior to any penny stock transaction, of a disclosure schedule explaining the penny stock market and its associated risks. These requirements severely limit the liquidity of securities in the secondary market because few broker-dealers are likely to undertake these compliance activities.


Following the NASDAQ delisting, we will no longer be eligible to use Form S-3, which could impair our ability to raise capital to continue our operations, and NASDAQ’s dilution-inhibiting rules will no longer apply, which could adversely affect trading in our common stock.

As a result of the delisting of our common stock from the NASDAQ Capital Market, we will no longer be eligible to use Form S-3 either to file shelf registration statements or to register resales of our securities. We have relied on shelf registration statements on Form S-3 for most of our financings in recent years, and accordingly these limitations may harm our ability to raise the capital that we need. Under these circumstances, we will be required to use a registration statement on Form S-1 to register securities with the SEC, or issue such securities in a private placement. These limitations are expected to increase our costs of raising capital.

Furthermore, our shareholders will no longer have the benefit of restrictions on dilution and other rules imposed by national exchanges, and we may engage in potentially dilutive transactions without complying with shareholder approval rules imposed by national exchanges. These factors could have a material adverse effect on the trading price, liquidity, volatility, value and marketability of our common stock and could have a material adverse effect on our ability to obtain financing for the continuation of our operations.

We are subject to financial reporting and other requirements for which our accounting, other management systems and resources may not be adequately prepared.

As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses, including costs associated with reporting requirements and corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and rules implemented by the SEC, which are subject to change from time to time. If we identify significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting that we cannot remediate in a timely manner, investors and others may lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, and the trading price of our common stock and our ability to obtain any necessary equity or debt financing could suffer. In addition, the foregoing regulatory requirements could make it difficult or costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. The impact of these events could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, on board committees or as executive officers.

The market price of our stock may be subject to wide fluctuations.

The price of our common stock may fluctuate, depending on many factors, some of which are beyond our control and may not be related to our operating performance. These fluctuations could cause our investors to lose part or all of their investment in our shares of common stock. Factors that could cause fluctuations include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

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

 

significant volatility in the market price and trading volume of companies in our industry;

 

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


investor perceptions of our industry, in general, and our company, in particular;

 

the operating and stock performance of comparable companies;

 

general economic conditions and trends;

 

major catastrophic events;

 

loss of external funding sources;

 

sales of large blocks of our stock or sales by insiders; or

 

departures of key personnel.

Our articles of incorporation, bylaws and Minnesota law may discourage takeovers and business combinations that our shareholders might consider to be in their best interests.

Anti-takeover provisions of our articles of incorporation, bylaws, and Minnesota law could diminish the opportunity for shareholders to participate in acquisition proposals at a price above the then current market price of our common stock. For example, while we have no present plans to issue any preferred stock, our board of directors, without further shareholder approval, may issue up to approximately 16.7 million shares of undesignated preferred stock and fix the powers, preferences, rights and limitations of such class or series, which could adversely affect the voting power of our common stock. In addition, our bylaws provide for an advance notice procedure for nomination of candidates to our board of directors that could have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change in control. Further, as a Minnesota corporation, we are subject to provisions of the Minnesota Business Corporation Act, or MBCA, regarding “control share acquisitions” and “business combinations.” We may, in the future, consider adopting additional anti-takeover measures. The authority of our board of directors to issue undesignated preferred stock and the anti-takeover provisions of the MBCA, as well as any future anti-takeover measures adopted by us, may, in certain circumstances, delay, deter or prevent takeover attempts and other changes in control of our company not approved by our board of directors.

We do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our shares of common stock in the foreseeable future.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our shares of common stock. We intend to retain any future earnings to fund the operation and expansion of our business and, therefore, we do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our shares of common stock in the foreseeable future. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain for investors in our common stock for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, our loan and security agreement with Silicon Valley Bank contains a restrictive covenant that precludes us from paying dividends without Silicon Valley Bank’s consent.