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Sprout Social, Inc. (SPT) FY 2022 MD&A

Verbatim Item 7 Management's Discussion and Analysis from Sprout Social, Inc.'s 10-K for fiscal year 2022. Filing date: 2023-02-22. Report date: 2022-12-31. Accession: 0001517375-23-000019.

This page reproduces the company's own Item 7 MD&A text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.

Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary. Confidence: high.

Company profile: SPT · All MD&A years: index · Previous year: FY 2021 · Next year: FY 2023

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements based upon current plans, expectations and beliefs involving risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors” and in other parts of this Annual Report.

Overview

Sprout Social is a powerful, centralized platform that provides the critical business layer to unlock the massive commercial value of social media. We have made it increasingly easy to standardize on Sprout Social as the centralized system of record for social and to help customers maximize the value of this mission critical channel. Currently, more than 34,000 customers across more than 100 countries rely on our platform.

Introduced in 2011, our cloud software brings together social messaging, data and workflows in a unified system of record, intelligence and action. Operating across major networks, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google, Reddit, Glassdoor and YouTube, and commerce platforms Facebook Shops, Shopify and WooCommerce, we provide organizations with a centralized platform to manage their social media efforts across stakeholders and business functions. Virtually every aspect of business has been impacted by social media, from marketing, sales, commerce and public relations to customer service, product and strategy, creating a need for an entirely new category of software. We offer our customers a centralized, secure and powerful platform to manage this broad, complex channel effectively across their organization.

Since our founding, we have achieved several key milestones:

•2010 — Founded Company, launched V1 beta and Lightbank became an investor;

•2011 — Launched our Sprout platform, surpassed 1,000 customers and entities affiliated with NEA became investors;

•2015/16 — Surpassed 15,000 customers, surpassed 250 employees and Goldman Sachs became an investor;

•2017 — Completed first business acquisition and awarded one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work, companies under 1,000 employees, 2017” and one of the “Top CEOs, companies under 1,000 employees, 2017”;

•2018 — Surpassed 20,000 customers, opened EMEA office, reached 500 employees, launched first add-on module (Listening), Future Fund became an investor and awarded one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work, companies under 1,000 employees, 2018” and one of the “Top CEOs, companies under 1,000 employees, 2018”;

•2019 — Completed our IPO resulting in $134.3 million of net proceeds (excluding $10.0 million of additional net proceeds from the underwriters’ exercise of their over-allotment option in January 2020), surpassed $100 million in ARR and awarded one of Glassdoor’s “Top CEOs, companies under 1,000 employees, 2019”;

•2020 — Completed our follow-on offering resulting in $42.1 million in net proceeds, awarded one of Glassdoor’s “Best Place to Work” in 2020, recognized as one of Fortune’s 100 Best Small and Medium Workplaces, one of Fortune’s 25 Best Small and Medium Workplaces for

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Women, and selected as a recipient of the 2020 Tech Cares Award from TrustRadius, awarded to tech companies that went above and beyond to support their clients and communities during the COVID-19 Pandemic;

•2021 — Surpassed 31,000 customers and $220 million in Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR), awarded one of Glassdoor’s “Best Place to Work” in 2022, ranked #3 on Battery Venture’s 25 Highest Rated Public Cloud Computing Companies to Work For, added a new level of transparency to its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments, announced a first-of-its kind social commerce solution, and recognized by G2 as one of the 2021 Best Software Companies; and

•2022 — Surpassed 34,000 customers and $296 million in ARR, awarded one of Glassdoor’s “Best Place to Work” in 2023, named to the 2022 PEOPLE Companies that Care list, recognized by G2 as one of the 2022 Best Software Companies, integrated with TikTok and announced a new partnership with Salesforce making it easy for Salesforce customers to manage their social media presence through Sprout Social.

We generate revenue primarily from subscriptions to our social media management platform under a software-as-a-service model. Our subscriptions can range from monthly to one-year or multi-year arrangements and are generally non-cancellable during the contractual subscription term. Subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the contract terms beginning on the date the product is made available to customers, which typically begins on the commencement date of each contract. We also generate revenue from professional services related to our platform provided to certain customers, which is recognized at the time these services are provided to the customer. This revenue has historically represented less than 1% of our revenue and is expected to be immaterial for the foreseeable future.

Our tiered subscription-based model allows our customers to choose among three core plans to meet their needs. Each plan is licensed on a per user per month basis at prices dependent on the level of features offered. Additional product modules, which offer increased functionality depending on a customer’s needs, can be purchased by the customer on a per user per month basis.

We generated revenue of $253.8 million, $187.9 million and $132.9 million during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively, representing growth of 35% in 2022 and 41% in 2021. In 2022, software subscriptions contributed 99% of our revenue. We generated net losses of $50.2 million, $28.7 million, and $31.7 million during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively. Our net losses include stock-based compensation expense of $47.7 million, $21.7 million and $11.1 million in the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively. We expect to continue investing in the growth of our business and, as a result, generate net losses for the foreseeable future.

Macroeconomic Conditions

As a company with a global footprint, we are subject to risks and exposures caused by significant events and their macroeconomic impacts, including, but not limited to, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, global geopolitical tension and more recently, rising inflation and interest rates, volatility in the capital markets and related market uncertainty. We continuously monitor the direct and indirect impacts, and the potential for future impacts, of these circumstances on our business and financial results, as well as the overall global economy and geopolitical landscape. Given the importance of our technology platform and heightened market awareness of social media as a strategic communications channel, these factors have not had a material adverse impact on our operational and financial performance to date. However, the potential implications of these macroeconomic events on our business, results of operations and overall financial position, particularly in the long term, introduce additional uncertainty.

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Our current and prospective customers are impacted by worsening macroeconomic conditions to varying degrees and as a result, in some cases we are observing slower expansion by existing customers. We are continuing to evaluate this and other potential future direct and indirect impacts on our business and results of operations.

Key Factors Affecting Our Performance

Acquiring new customers

We are focused on continuing to organically grow our customer base by increasing demand for our platform and penetrating our addressable market. We have invested, and expect to continue to invest, heavily in expanding our sales force and marketing efforts to acquire new customers. Currently, we have more than 34,000 customers. We calculate the lifetime value of our customers and associated customer acquisition costs for a particular year by comparing (i) gross profit from net new ARR for the year divided by one minus the estimated subscription renewal rate to (ii) total sales and marketing expense incurred in the preceding year. On this basis, we estimate that for each of 2022 and 2021, the calculated lifetime value of our customers has exceeded six times the associated cost of acquiring them. This calculation assumes the actual subscription renewal rate for the period will remain consistent in future years. While we believe this assumption is reasonable based on our historic data and experience, subscription renewal rates may vary year-to-year, and the lifetime value of our customers may decline or fluctuate between periods. Moreover, our sales and marketing expense reflects the amortization of sales commissions, which are deferred and amortized over a three-year period in accordance with GAAP. If all sales commissions incurred in the year were expensed and not amortized, the result would not have a material impact on the lifetime value of our customers. See “—Key Business Metrics—ARR” for more information on how we define and calculate ARR.

Expanding within our current customer base

We believe that there is a substantial and largely untapped opportunity for organic growth within our existing customer base. Customers often begin by purchasing a small number of user subscriptions and then expand over time, increasing the number of users or social profiles, as well as purchasing additional product modules. Customers may then expand use-cases between various departments to drive collaboration across their organizations. Our sales and customer success efforts include encouraging organizations to expand use-cases to more fully realize the value from the broader adoption of our platform throughout an organization. We will continue to invest in enhancing awareness of our brand, creating additional uses for our products and developing more products, features and functionality of existing products, which we believe are vital to achieving increased adoption of our platform. We have a history of attracting new customers and we have recently increased our focus on expanding their use of our platform over time.

We use dollar-based net retention rate to evaluate the long-term value of our customer relationships, because we believe this metric reflects our ability to retain and expand subscription revenue generated from our existing customers. Our dollar-based net retention rate for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was 108% and 112%, respectively. Our dollar-based net retention rate excluding our SMB customers for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was 115% and 118%, respectively.

We calculate dollar-based net retention rate by dividing the ARR from our customers as of December 31st in the reported year by the ARR from those same customers as of December 31st in the previous year. This calculation is net of upsells, contraction, cancellation or expansion during the period but excludes ARR from new customers. See “—Key Business Metrics—ARR” for more information on how we define and calculate ARR.

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Sustaining product and technology innovation

Our success is dependent on our ability to sustain product and technology innovation and maintain the competitive advantage of our proprietary technology. We continue to invest resources to enhance the capabilities of our platform by introducing new products, features and functionality of existing products.

International expansion

We see international expansion as a meaningful opportunity to grow our platform. Revenue generated from non-U.S. customers during the year ended December 31, 2022 was approximately 28% of our total revenue. We have built local teams in Ireland, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, India, Australia and the Philippines to support our growth internationally. We believe global demand for our platform and offerings will continue to increase as awareness of our platform in international markets grows. We plan to continue adding to our local sales, customer support and customer success teams in select international markets over time.

Key Business Metrics

We review the following key business metrics to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends, formulate financial projections and make strategic decisions.

Number of customers

We define a customer as a unique account, multiple accounts containing a common non-personal email domain, or multiple accounts governed by a single agreement. We believe that the number of customers using our platform is an indicator not only of our market penetration, but also of our potential for future growth as our customers often expand their adoption of our platform over time based on an increased awareness of the value of our platform and products.

As of December 31,
20222021
Number of customers34,39031,762

ARR

We define ARR as the annualized revenue run-rate of subscription agreements from all customers as of the last date of the specified period. We believe ARR is an indicator of the scale of our entire platform while mitigating fluctuations due to seasonality and contract term.

As of December 31,
20222021
(in thousands)
ARR$296,601$224,158

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Number of customers contributing more than $10,000 in ARR

We define customers contributing more than $10,000 in ARR as those on a paid subscription plan that had more than $10,000 in ARR as of a period end.

We view the number of customers that contribute more than $10,000 in ARR as a measure of our ability to scale with our customers and attract larger organizations. We believe this represents potential for future growth, including expanding within our current customer base. Over time, larger customers have constituted a greater share of our revenue.

As of December 31,
20222021
Number of customers contributing more than $10,000 in ARR6,6524,917

Number of customers contributing more than $50,000 in ARR

We define customers contributing more than $50,000 in ARR as those on a paid subscription plan that had more than $50,000 in ARR as of a period end.

We view the number of customers that contribute more than $50,000 in ARR as a measure of our ability to scale with our largest customers and attract more sophisticated organizations. We believe this represents potential for future growth, including expanding within our current customer base. Over time, our largest customers have constituted a greater share of our revenue.

As of December 31,
20222021
Number of customers contributing more than $50,000 in ARR972610

Components of our Results of Operations

Revenue

Subscription

We generate revenue primarily from subscriptions to our social media management platform under a software-as-a-service model. Our subscriptions can range from monthly to one-year or multi-year arrangements and are generally non-cancellable during the contractual subscription term. Subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the contract terms beginning on the date our product is made available to customers, which typically begins on the commencement date of each contract. Our customers do not have the right to take possession of the online software solution. We also generate a small portion of our subscription revenue from third-party resellers.

Professional Services

We sell professional services consisting of, but not limited to, implementation fees, specialized training, one-time reporting services and recurring periodic reporting services. Professional services revenue is recognized at the time these services are provided to the customer. This revenue has

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historically represented less than 1% of our revenue and is expected to be immaterial for the foreseeable future.

Cost of Revenue

Subscription

Cost of revenue primarily consists of expenses related to hosting our platform and providing support to our customers. These expenses are comprised of fees paid to data providers, hosted data center costs and personnel costs directly associated with cloud infrastructure, customer success and customer support, including salaries, benefits, bonuses and allocated overhead. These costs also include depreciation expense and amortization expense related to acquired developed technologies. Overhead associated with facilities and information technology is allocated to cost of revenue and operating expenses based on headcount. Although we expect our cost of revenue to increase in absolute dollars as our business and revenue grows, we expect our cost of revenue to decrease as a percentage of our revenue over time.

Professional Services and Other

Cost of professional services primarily consists of expenses related to our professional services organization and are comprised of personnel costs, including salaries, benefits, bonuses and allocated overhead.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin

Gross margin is calculated as gross profit as a percentage of total revenue. Our gross margin may fluctuate from period to period based on revenue earned, the timing and amount of investments made to expand our hosting capacity, our customer support and professional services teams and in hiring additional personnel, and the impact of acquisitions. We expect our gross profit and gross margin to increase as our business grows over time.

Operating Expenses

Research and Development

Research and development expenses primarily consist of personnel costs, including salaries, benefits and allocated overhead. Research and development expenses also include depreciation expense and other expenses associated with product development. We plan to increase the dollar amount of our investment in research and development for the foreseeable future as we focus on developing new features and enhancements to our plan offerings.

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expenses primarily consist of personnel costs directly associated with our sales and marketing department, online advertising expenses, as well as allocated overhead, including depreciation expense and amortization related to acquired developed technologies. Sales force commissions and bonuses are considered incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer. Sales commissions are earned and recorded at contract commencement for both new customer contracts and expansion of contracts with existing customers. Sales commissions are deferred and amortized on a straight-line basis over a period of benefit of three years. We plan to increase the dollar amount of our investment in sales and marketing for the foreseeable future, primarily for increased headcount for our sales department.

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General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses primarily consist of personnel expenses associated with our finance, legal, human resources and other administrative employees. Our general and administrative expenses also include professional fees for external legal, accounting and other consulting services, depreciation and amortization expense, as well as allocated overhead. We expect to increase the size of our general and administrative functions to support the growth of our business. We also expect to continue to incur additional expenses as a result of operating as a public company, including costs to comply with rules and regulations applicable to companies listed on a U.S. securities exchange, costs related to compliance and reporting obligations pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC, investor relations and professional services. We expect the dollar amount of our general and administrative expenses to increase for the foreseeable future. However, we expect our general and administrative expenses to decrease as a percentage of revenue over time.

Interest Income (Expense), Net

Interest income (expense), net consists primarily of interest expense related to our line of credit and is offset by interest income earned on our cash and investment balances.

Other (Expense) Income, Net

Other (expense) income, net consists foreign currency transaction gains and losses and sublease rental income from the former Seattle, Washington office where our lease terminated in July 2020.

Income Tax Provision

The income tax provision consists of current and deferred taxes for our United States and foreign jurisdictions. We have historically reported a taxable loss in our most significant jurisdiction, the United States, and have a full valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets. We expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future.

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Results of Operations

The following tables set forth information comparing the components of our results of operations in dollars and as a percentage of total revenue for the periods presented.

Years Ended December 31,
202220212020
(in thousands)
Revenue
Subscription$251,213$185,726$131,804
Professional services and other2,6152,1331,145
Total revenue253,828187,859132,949
Cost of revenue(1)
Subscription58,76745,79134,196
Professional services and other1,091997721
Total cost of revenue59,85846,78834,917
Gross profit193,970141,07198,032
Operating expenses
Research and development(1)61,43640,04930,491
Sales and marketing(1)123,69584,18259,137
General and administrative(1)60,51544,92940,406
Total operating expenses245,646169,160130,034
Loss from operations(51,676)(28,089)(32,002)
Interest expense(153)(300)(366)
Interest income2,535259617
Other (expense) income, net(580)(361)223
Loss before income taxes(49,874)(28,491)(31,528)
Income tax expense366211127
Net loss$(50,240)$(28,702)$(31,655)

_______________

(1)Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

Years Ended December 31,
202220212020
(in thousands)
Cost of revenue$2,491$1,062$749
Research and development11,2804,0391,935
Sales and marketing23,06610,6362,464
General and administrative10,9015,9935,931
Total stock-based compensation$47,738$21,730$11,079

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Years Ended December 31,
202220212020
(as a percentage of total revenue)
Revenue
Subscription99%99%99%
Professional services and other1%1%1%
Total revenue100%100%100%
Cost of revenue
Subscription23%24%26%
Professional services and other%1%%
Total cost of revenue24%25%26%
Gross profit76%75%74%
Operating expenses
Research and development24%21%23%
Sales and marketing49%45%45%
General and administrative24%24%30%
Total operating expenses97%90%98%
Loss from operations(21)%(15)%(24)%
Interest expense%%%
Interest income1%%%
Other (expense) income, net%%%
Loss before income taxes(20)%(15)%(24)%
Income tax expense%%%
Net loss(20)%(15)%(24)%

Note: Certain amounts may not sum due to rounding

Year Ended December 31, 2022 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2021

Revenue

Years Ended December 31,Change
20222021Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Revenue
Subscription$251,213$185,726$65,48735%
Professional services and other2,6152,13348223%
Total revenue$253,828$187,859$65,96935%
Percentage of Total Revenue
Subscription99%99%
Professional services and other1%1%

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The increase in subscription revenue was primarily driven by revenue from new customers and expansion within existing customers. The total number of customers grew from 31,762 as of December 31, 2021 to 34,390 as of December 31, 2022. Customers contributing over $10,000 in ARR grew 35% versus the prior year and customers contributing over $50,000 in ARR grew 59% versus the prior year. The increase in new customers was primarily driven by our growing sales force capacity to meet market demand. Expansion within existing customers was driven by our ability to increase the number of users, social profiles and products purchased by customers. This is in part attributable to the expansion of use-cases across various functions within our existing customers’ organizations.

Cost of Revenue and Gross Margin

Years Ended December 31,Change
20222021Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Cost of revenue
Subscription$58,767$45,791$12,97628%
Professional services and other1,091997949%
Total cost of revenue59,85846,78813,07028%
Gross profit$193,970$141,071$52,89937%
Gross margin
Total gross margin76%75%

The increase in cost of subscription revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily due to the following:

Change
(in thousands)
Data provider fees$9,100
Personnel costs2,546
Stock-based compensation expense1,429
Other(99)
Subscription cost of revenue$12,976

Fees paid to our data providers increased due to revenue growth. Personnel costs increased primarily as a result of a 5% increase in headcount as we continue to grow our customer support and customer success teams to support our customer growth. The increase in stock-based compensation expense was due to the increased headcount.

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Operating Expenses

Research and Development

Years Ended December 31,Change
20222021Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Research and development$61,436$40,049$21,38753%
Percentage of total revenue24%21%

The increase in research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily due to the following:

Change
(in thousands)
Personnel costs$13,470
Stock-based compensation expense7,241
Other676
Research and development$21,387

Personnel costs increased as a result of increased headcount to grow our research and development teams to drive our technology innovation through the development of new products and features. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we increased headcount within our engineering team by 30%. The increase in stock-based compensation expense was due to the increased headcount.

Sales and Marketing

Years Ended December 31,Change
20222021Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Sales and marketing$123,695$84,182$39,51347%
Percentage of total revenue49%45%

The increase in sales and marketing expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily due to the following:

Change
(in thousands)
Personnel costs$26,652
Stock-based compensation expense12,430
Other431
Sales and marketing$39,513

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Personnel costs increased primarily as a result of a 43% increase in headcount as we continue to expand our sales teams to grow our customer base, as well as additional sales commission expense due to the year over year sales growth, which increased the amortization of contract acquisition costs. The increase in stock-based compensation expense was primarily due to the increased headcount and awards granted to our President.

General and Administrative

Years Ended December 31,Change
20222021Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
General and administrative$60,515$44,929$15,58635%
Percentage of total revenue24%24%

The increase in general and administrative expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily due to the following:

Change
(in thousands)
Personnel costs$8,087
Stock-based compensation expense4,908
Credit losses on accounts receivable585
Accounting fees502
Other1,504
General and administrative$15,586

Personnel costs increased primarily as a result of a 26% increase in headcount as we continue to grow our business and operate as a publicly traded company. The increase in stock-based compensation expense was due to the increased headcount. The increase in credit losses on accounts receivable was primarily driven by higher accounts receivable balances. The remaining increase was driven by various expenses related to overhead and operating as a publicly traded company.

Interest Income (Expense), Net

Years Ended December 31,Change
20222021Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Interest income (expense), net$2,382$(41)$2,423n/m(1)
Percentage of total revenue1%%

_________________

(1)Calculated metric is not meaningful.

The increase in interest income (expense), net was primarily driven by the increased investment in marketable securities and higher interest rates.

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Other (Expense) Income, Net

Years Ended December 31,Change
20222021Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Other (expense) income, net$(580)$(361)$(219)n/m
Percentage of total revenue%%

The decrease in other (expense) income, net was primarily driven by foreign exchange transaction losses.

Income Tax Expense

Years Ended December 31,Change
20222021Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Income tax expense$366$211$15573%
Percentage of total revenue%%

The increase in income tax expense is due to higher earnings in foreign jurisdictions.

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Year Ended December 31, 2021 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2020

Revenue

Years Ended December 31,Change
20212020Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Revenue
Subscription$185,726$131,804$53,92241%
Professional services and other2,1331,14598886%
Total revenue$187,859$132,949$54,91041%
Percentage of Total Revenue
Subscription99%99%
Professional services and other1%1%

The increase in subscription revenue was primarily driven by revenue from new customers and expansion within existing customers. The total number of customers grew from 26,718 as of December 31, 2020 to 31,762 as of December 31, 2021. The increase in new customers was primarily driven by our growing sales force capacity to meet market demand. Expansion within existing customers was driven by our ability to increase the number of users, social profiles and products purchased by customers. This is in part attributable to the expansion of use-cases across various functions within our existing customers’ organizations.

Cost of Revenue and Gross Margin

Years Ended December 31,Change
20212020Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Cost of revenue
Subscription$45,791$34,196$11,59534%
Professional services and other99772127638%
Total cost of revenue46,78834,91711,87134%
Gross profit$141,071$98,032$43,03944%
Gross margin
Total gross margin75%74%

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The increase in cost of subscription revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily due to the following:

Change
(in thousands)
Data provider fees$9,630
Personnel costs2,191
Stock-based compensation expense313
Other(539)
Subscription cost of revenue$11,595

Fees paid to our data providers increased due to revenue growth. Personnel costs increased primarily as a result of a 10% increase in headcount as we continued to grow our customer support and customer success teams to support our customer growth. The increase in stock-based compensation expense was due to the increased headcount.

Operating Expenses

Research and Development

Years Ended December 31,Change
20212020Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Research and development$40,049$30,491$9,55831%
Percentage of total revenue21%23%

The increase in research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily due to the following:

Change
(in thousands)
Personnel costs$7,269
Stock-based compensation expense2,104
Other185
Research and development$9,558

Personnel costs increased as a result of increased headcount to grow our research and development teams to drive our technology innovation through the development of new products and features. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we increased headcount within our engineering team by 28%. The increase in stock-based compensation expense was due to the increased headcount.

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Sales and Marketing

Years Ended December 31,Change
20212020Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Sales and marketing$84,182$59,137$25,04542%
Percentage of total revenue45%45%

The increase in sales and marketing expense for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily due to the following:

Change
(in thousands)
Personnel costs$14,134
Stock-based compensation expense8,172
Advertising1,371
Other1,368
Sales and marketing$25,045

Personnel costs increased primarily as a result of an 18% increase in headcount as we continued to expand our sales teams to grow our customer base, as well as additional sales commission expense due to the year over year sales growth, which increased the amortization of contract acquisition costs. The increase in stock-based compensation expense was due to the increased headcount and awards granted to our President. The increase in other was driven by an increase in general marketing costs.

General and Administrative

Years Ended December 31,Change
20212020Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
General and administrative$44,929$40,406$4,52311%
Percentage of total revenue24%30%

The increase in general and administrative expense for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily due to the following:

Change
(in thousands)
Personnel costs$4,386
Charitable contributions288
Credit losses on accounts receivable(1,390)
Other1,239
General and administrative$4,523

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Personnel costs increased primarily as a result of a 33% increase in headcount as we continued to grow our business and operate as a publicly traded company. Credit losses on accounts receivable decreased due to improved collections in 2021 and a reserve taken in the prior year related to the potential impact of COVID-19 on our customers’ ability to pay. The increase in other was driven by various expenses related to overhead and operating as a publicly traded company.

Interest Income (Expense), Net

Years Ended December 31,Change
20212020Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Interest income (expense), net$(41)$251$(292)n/m(1)
Percentage of total revenue%%

_________________

(1)Calculated metric is not meaningful.

The decrease in interest income (expense), net was primarily driven by higher interest rates earned in the prior year on cash deposits related to our IPO proceeds.

Other (Expense) Income, Net

Years Ended December 31,Change
20212020Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Other (expense) income, net$(361)$223$(584)n/m
Percentage of total revenue%%

The decrease in other (expense) income, net is due to sublease rental income as our Seattle, Washington office lease expired in July 2020 as well as foreign exchange transaction losses.

Income Tax Expense

Years Ended December 31,Change
20212020Amount%
(dollars in thousands)
Income tax expense$211$127$8466%
Percentage of total revenue%%

The increase in income tax expense is due to higher earnings in foreign jurisdictions.

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Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to our results determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, we believe the following non-GAAP measures are useful in evaluating our operating performance. We use the below non-GAAP financial information, collectively, to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that non-GAAP financial information, when taken collectively, may be helpful to investors because it provides consistency and comparability with past financial performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, operating results or future outlook.

However, non-GAAP financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only, has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate non-GAAP financial measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

Non-GAAP Gross Profit

We define non-GAAP gross profit as GAAP gross profit, excluding stock-based compensation expense. We believe non-GAAP gross profit provides our management and investors consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, as this non-GAAP financial measure eliminates the effect of stock-based compensation, which is often unrelated to overall operating performance.

Year Ended December 31,
202220212020
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP gross profit(dollars in thousands)
Gross Profit$193,970$141,071$98,032
Stock-based compensation expense$2,491$1,062$749
Non-GAAP gross profit$196,461$142,133$98,781

Non-GAAP Operating Loss

We define non-GAAP operating loss as GAAP loss from operations, excluding stock-based compensation expense. We believe non-GAAP operating loss provides our management and investors consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, as this non-GAAP financial measure eliminates the effect of stock-based compensation, which is often unrelated to overall operating performance.

Year Ended December 31,
202220212020
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP operating loss(dollars in thousands)
Loss from operations$(51,676)$(28,089)$(32,002)
Stock-based compensation expense$47,738$21,730$11,079
Non-GAAP operating loss$(3,938)$(6,359)$(20,923)

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Non-GAAP Net Loss

We define non-GAAP net loss as GAAP net loss, excluding stock-based compensation expense. We believe non-GAAP net loss provides our management and investors consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, as this non-GAAP financial measure eliminates the effect of stock-based compensation, which is often unrelated to overall operating performance.

Year Ended December 31,
202220212020
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP net loss(dollars in thousands)
Net loss$(50,240)$(28,702)$(31,655)
Stock-based compensation expense47,73821,73011,079
Non-GAAP net loss$(2,502)$(6,972)$(20,576)

Non-GAAP Net Loss per Share

We define non-GAAP net loss per share as GAAP net loss per share attributable to common shareholders, basic and diluted, excluding stock-based compensation expense. We believe non-GAAP net loss per share provides our management and investors consistency and comparability with our past financial performance and facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, as this non-GAAP financial measure eliminates the effect of stock-based compensation, which is often unrelated to overall operating performance.

Year Ended December 31,
202220212020
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP net loss per share
Net loss per share attributable to common shareholders, basic and diluted$(0.92)$(0.53)$(0.62)
Stock-based compensation expense per share0.870.400.22
Non-GAAP net loss per share$(0.05)$(0.13)$(0.40)

Free Cash Flow

Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure that we define as net cash used in operating activities less expenditures for property and equipment. We believe that free cash flow is a useful indicator of liquidity that provides information to management and investors about the amount of cash used in our core operations that, after the expenditures for property and equipment, is not available to be used for strategic initiatives. For example, if free cash flow is negative, we may need to access cash reserves or other sources of capital to invest in strategic initiatives. One limitation of free cash flow is that it does not reflect our future contractual obligations. Additionally, free cash flow does not represent the total increase or decrease in our cash balance for a given period.

Year Ended December 31,
202220212020
Reconciliation of Free cash flow(dollars in thousands)
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities$10,668$14,817$(11,352)
Expenditures for property and equipment(1,824)(926)(4,015)
Free cash flow$8,844$13,891$(15,367)

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2022, our principal sources of liquidity were cash and cash equivalents of $79.9 million, marketable securities of $105.9 million, and net accounts receivable of $35.8 million. Historically, we have generated losses from operations and negative cash flows from operations, as evidenced by our accumulated deficit and statement of cash flows. However, during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we generated positive cash flows from operations. We expect to continue to incur operating losses and may have negative operating cash flows for the foreseeable future due to the investments in our business we intend to make as described above. We may experience greater than anticipated operating losses in the short- and long-term due to macroeconomic, financial and other factors that are beyond our control, such as rising inflation rates and a potential recession. The impact of these factors on our customers and our operations going forward remains uncertain, and we continue to proactively monitor our liquidity position.

Prior to our IPO in December 2019, we financed our operations primarily through private issuance of equity securities and line of credit borrowings. In our IPO, we received net proceeds of $134.3 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $10.5 million and offering expenses of $5.2 million. See Note 1 of our audited consolidated financial statements for more information regarding these transactions. We subsequently received an additional $10.0 million of net proceeds after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions in January 2020 as a result of the over-allotment option exercise by the underwriters of our IPO. In August 2020, we received $42.1 million of net proceeds from our equity follow-on offering after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions. Our principal uses of cash in recent periods have been to fund operations and invest in capital expenditures.

We believe our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet our operating and capital needs for at least the next 12 months. We believe we will meet longer-term expected future cash requirements and obligations through a combination of cash flows from operating activities, available cash and investment balances and potential future equity or debt transactions. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including our subscription growth rate, subscription renewal activity, billing frequency, the impact of macroeconomic conditions on our customers and our operations, the timing and extent of spending to support our research and development efforts, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, the introduction of new and enhanced product offerings, and the continuing market acceptance of our product. We have in the past, and may in the future, enter into arrangements to acquire or invest in complementary businesses, products and technologies, including intellectual property rights. We may be required to seek additional equity or debt financing. In the event that additional financing is required from outside sources, we may not be able to raise it on terms acceptable to us, or at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital or generate cash flows necessary to expand our operations, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

SVB Credit Facility

In December 2017, we entered into a Loan and Security Agreement with Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, which comprised a $15.0 million line of credit, or the Revolver, and a $5.0 million incremental revolving line commitment, or the Incremental Revolver, and, together with the Revolver, the SVB Credit Facility.

In November 2019, we amended the SVB Credit Facility to increase the Revolver (including the exercise of the Incremental Revolver, as amended) to $40.0 million and amended, among other terms, levels for the minimum adjusted EBITDA and minimum liquidity covenants, the advance rate and the interest rate.

The SVB Credit Facility expired by its terms on January 31, 2022.

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The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods presented:

Years Ended December 31,
202220212020
(in thousands)
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities$10,668$14,817$(11,352)
Net cash (used in) investing activities(37,672)(22,118)(53,802)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities(193)(100)44,359
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents$(27,197)$(7,401)$(20,795)

Operating Activities

Our largest source of operating cash is cash collections from our customers for subscription services. Our primary uses of cash from operating activities are for personnel costs across the sales and marketing and research and development departments and hosting costs. Historically, we have generated negative cash flows from operating activities. However, for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we generated positive cash flows from operations.

Net cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 was $10.7 million, which resulted from a net loss of $50.2 million adjusted for non-cash charges of $71.9 million and net cash outflow of $11.0 million from changes in operating assets and liabilities. Non-cash charges primarily consisted of $47.7 million of stock-based compensation expense, $3.9 million of depreciation and intangible asset amortization expense, $18.6 million for amortization of deferred contract acquisition costs, which were primarily commissions, $1.2 million for credit losses on accounts receivable and $1.0 million of amortization of right-of-use, or ROU, operating lease assets. The net cash outflow from changes in operating assets and liabilities was primarily the result of a $30.3 million increase in deferred commissions due to the addition of new customers and expansion of the business, an $11.5 million increase in gross accounts receivable and a $2.9 million decrease in operating lease liabilities. These outflows were partially offset by a $26.9 million increase in deferred revenue and a $7.1 million increase in accounts payable and other accrued liabilities.

Net cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2021 was $14.8 million, which resulted from a net loss of $28.7 million adjusted for non-cash charges of $40.2 million and net cash inflow of $3.4 million from changes in operating assets and liabilities. Non-cash charges primarily consisted of $21.7 million of stock-based compensation expense, $4.0 million of depreciation and intangible asset amortization expense, $12.2 million for amortization of deferred contract acquisition costs, which were primarily commissions, $0.6 million for credit losses on accounts receivable and $0.7 million of amortization of right-of-use, or ROU, operating lease assets. The net cash inflow from changes in operating assets and liabilities was primarily the result of a $25.6 million increase in deferred revenue, a $3.5 million decrease in prepaid expenses and an $8.5 million increase in accounts payable and other accrued liabilities. These inflows were offset by a $23.1 million increase in deferred commissions due to the addition of new customers and expansion of the business, an $8.9 million increase in gross accounts receivable and a $2.2 million decrease in operating lease liabilities.

Net cash used in operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2020 was $11.4 million, which resulted from a net loss of $31.7 million adjusted for non-cash charges of $26.7 million and net cash outflow of $6.4 million from changes in operating assets and liabilities. Non-cash charges primarily consisted of $11.1 million of stock-based compensation expense, $4.2 million of depreciation and intangible asset amortization expense, $7.7 million for amortization of deferred contract acquisition costs, which were primarily commissions, $2.0 million for credit losses on accounts receivable and $1.1

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million of amortization of right-of-use, or ROU, operating lease assets. The net cash outflow from changes in operating assets and liabilities was primarily the result of a $14.0 million increase in deferred commissions due to the addition of new customers and expansion of the business, a $8.1 million increase in gross accounts receivable, a $4.7 million increase in prepaid expenses and a $0.2 million decrease in operating lease liabilities. These outflows were offset by a $14.0 million increase in deferred revenue and a $6.6 million increase in accounts payable and other accrued liabilities.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $37.7 million, which was primarily due to $190.0 million in purchases of marketable securities, partially offset by $154.1 million in proceeds from maturities of marketable securities.

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $22.1 million, which was primarily due to $109.6 million in purchases of marketable securities, partially offset by $88.4 million in proceeds from maturities of marketable securities.

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $53.8 million, which was primarily due to the purchase of marketable securities and leasehold improvements for the new Seattle office.

Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $0.2 million, primarily driven by $1.9 million in payments related to employee withholding taxes as a result of the net settlement of stock-based awards, offset by $1.7 million of proceeds under our employee stock purchase plan.

Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $0.1 million, primarily driven by $1.6 million in payments related to employee withholding taxes as a result of the net settlement of stock-based awards and other financing related costs, offset by $1.7 million in proceeds from the disgorgement of stockholder short-swing profits under Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act. See Note 15 to our audited consolidated financial statements for more information regarding the disgorgement.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $44.4 million, which was primarily the result of $42.1 million of net proceeds from our equity follow-on offering, $10.0 million of net proceeds from our sale of over-allotment shares to the underwriters of our IPO, offset by $8.6 million in payments related to the employee withholding taxes as a result of the net settlement of stock-based awards. Additionally, we received $1.1 million from the disgorgement of stockholder short-swing profits under Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act.

Contractual Obligations

As of December 31, 2022, we have non-cancellable contractual obligations related primarily to operating leases and minimum guaranteed purchase commitments for data and services. As of December 31, 2022, the total obligation for operating leases was $25.5 million of which $4.6 million is expected in the next twelve months. As of December 31, 2022, our purchase commitment for primarily data and services was $21.2 million, of which $18.1 million is expected in the next twelve months. See Note 5 and Note 10 of our audited consolidated financial statements for more information regarding these obligations.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Refer to section titled “Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements” in Note 1 to our audited consolidated financial statements for more information.

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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our audited consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these audited consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions. Our actual results may differ from these estimates.

The significant accounting policies used in the preparation of our audited financial statements are discussed in Note 1 under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” The accounting assumptions and estimates discussed in the section below are those that we consider most critical to an understanding of our financial statements because they inherently involve a greater degree of judgment and complexity. By their nature, these judgments and estimates are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. Although we believe our use of estimates and underlying accounting assumptions conforms to GAAP and is consistently applied, actual results could differ from our estimates.

Deferred Sales Commissions

Sales force commissions are considered incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer. Sales commissions earned for initial contracts and for expansion of contracts with existing customers are deferred and amortized on a straight-line basis over a period of benefit of three years. Determining the period of benefit of requires judgment for which we take into consideration products sold, expected customer life, expected contract renewals, technology life cycle and other factors.

Revenue Recognition

We generate revenue from subscriptions to our social media management platform under a software-as-a-service model. Our subscriptions can range from monthly to one-year or multi-year arrangements and are generally non-cancellable during the contractual subscription term. Subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the contract terms beginning on the date our product is made available to customers, which typically begins on the commencement date of each contract.

We have determined that subscriptions for our online software products are a distinct performance obligation, because the online software product is fully functional once a customer has access. In addition, we sell additional professional services, which are considered a distinct performance obligation, as they are sold separately, and the customer can benefit from the services to make better use of the online product purchased. For contracts containing multiple performance obligations, the transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation based on the relative standalone selling price, or SSP, of the services provided to the customer. We determine the SSP based upon the prices at which we separately sell subscription and various professional services, and based on our overall pricing objectives, taking into consideration market conditions, the value of our contracts, the types of offerings sold, customer demographics and other factors. Judgment is required to determine whether each product or service sold is a distinct performance obligation that should be accounted for separately.

Stock-Based Compensation

For equity awards with only service conditions, we recognize compensation expense based on the grant‐date fair value on a straight-line basis over the remaining requisite service period for the award. For equity awards with both service and performance conditions, compensation expense is recognized on a graded vesting basis over the requisite service period once the achievement of the performance condition is considered probable. Assessing whether performance conditions are probable to be achieved and estimating the timing upon which the condition may be achieved requires judgment. We estimate the probability and timing of achievement at the grant date and reassess each reporting period.

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Restricted Stock Units

At the end of 2015, we began issuing restricted stock units to certain of our employees. The general terms of the restricted stock units required both a service and performance condition to be satisfied prior to vesting. The service condition is satisfied upon the participant’s completion of a required period of continuous service from the vesting start date. The performance condition was satisfied upon the consummation of our IPO, which resulted in recognition of stock-based compensation expense in the fourth quarter of 2019 for awards that had vested prior to December 31, 2019. In late 2019, we began issuing restricted stock units to certain employees that require a service condition to be satisfied prior to vesting, but that do not require a liquidity event condition to be satisfied prior to vesting.

In both December 2020 and October 2021, we granted 120,000 restricted stock units to our President requiring both the satisfaction of a service condition and a performance condition prior to vesting. For each of these awards, the performance condition was considered probable at the grant date and the awards have been recognized as compensation expense over their respective requisite service periods. In 2022 and 2021, we recognized $6.4 million and $3.1 million, respectively, of stock-based compensation expense in relation to these awards.

Pursuant to his employment agreement, our Chairman and CEO was eligible to receive awards of fully vested restricted stock units with respect to shares of our Class B common stock under our 2019 Class B Incentive Plan, or the Class B Plan, covering up to 1.0% of our fully diluted common equity determined as of the date of our IPO, or 483,663 shares, following the consummation of our IPO, depending on the valuation of the Company in connection with our IPO and the achievement of market capitalization thresholds thereafter, which we refer to as the Howard IPO Award. The initial grant under the Howard IPO Award was based on the valuation of the Company (calculated based on the closing price of the Company’s Class A common stock on its first trading day on The Nasdaq Capital Market on December 13, 2019) and calculated as follows: (i) a valuation between $750,000,000 and $999,999,999, would result in an initial grant under the Howard IPO Award equal to 0.5% of our outstanding fully diluted common equity; (ii) a valuation of at least $1,000,000,000 but less than $2,000,000,000 would result in an initial grant under the Howard IPO Award equal to 0.75% of our fully diluted common equity; and (iii) a valuation of at least $2,000,000,000 would result in an initial grant under the Howard IPO Award equal to 1.0% of our outstanding fully diluted common equity. No initial grant under the Howard IPO Award would be made as a result of our IPO if the valuation of the Company calculated as described above was below $750,000,000. The initial Howard IPO Award resulted in a grant equal to 0.5% of our fully diluted common equity, or 241,831, shares on December 17, 2019, which settled in March 2020. In connection with these RSUs granted to Mr. Howard pursuant to the Howard IPO Award that immediately vested in December 2019, we recognized $4.1 million of stock-based compensation expense in the fourth quarter of 2019.

If during the twenty-four month period immediately following the effectiveness of our IPO, the Company achieved a “market cap threshold” (calculated based on the 30-day average of the product of the closing price per share of our Class A common stock on a trading day and the number of shares outstanding on such trading day using the treasury stock method) of $1,000,000,000 or greater, Mr. Howard was eligible to receive RSU awards under our Class B Plan equal to: (i) 0.25% of our fully diluted common equity as of the date of our IPO, or 120,916 shares, upon the Company’s achievement of a market capitalization threshold of $1,000,000,000; and (ii) 0.25% of our fully diluted common equity as of the date of our IPO, or 120,916 shares, upon the Company’s achievement of a market capitalization threshold of $2,000,000,000, in each case, to the extent the applicable market capitalization threshold value was not previously achieved in connection with any previous grant made under the Howard IPO Award, and subject to Mr. Howard’s continued service to the Company through each applicable award date. All such RSUs granted pursuant to the Howard IPO Award would be fully vested and the maximum number of Class B common stock issuable upon settlement of such RSUs will not exceed 1.0% of our fully diluted common equity (as described above).

In February 2020, Mr. Howard received 120,916 RSUs upon the Company’s achievement of a market capitalization threshold of $1,000,000,000. In October 2020, Mr. Howard received 120,916 shares

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upon the Company’s achievement of a market capitalization threshold of $2,000,000,000. The Company recognized approximately $2.0 million of stock-based compensation expense during 2020 in relation to these awards.

Mr. Howard is not entitled to any further awards under the Howard IPO Award.

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