CFN Enterprises Inc. - Annual Report: 2020 (Form 10-K)

Overview

We owned and operated CAKE and getcake.com, a marketing technology company that provided a proprietary solution for advanced analytics, attribution and campaign optimization for digital marketers, and we sold this business on June 18, 2019. We contemporaneously acquired assets from Emerging Growth LLC related to its cannabis industry focused sponsored content and marketing business, or the CFN Business. Our initial ongoing operations will consist primarily of the CFN Business and we will continue to pursue strategic transactions and opportunities.

The CFN Business generates revenue through sponsored content, including articles, press releases, videos, podcasts, advertisements and other media, email advertisements and other marketing campaigns run on behalf of public and private companies in the cannabis industry, helping them reach accredited, retail and institutional investors. Most revenue is generated through contracts involving a monthly cash payment.

The CFN Business’ primary expenses come from advertising on platforms like Twitter and Facebook and from employee salaries and contractor fees. The CFN Business’ content is primarily produced by a team of freelance writers and video content is produced through various vendors. The CFN Business also incurs hosting and development costs associated with maintaining and improving its website, web applications, and mobile applications. The CFN Business operates several media platforms, including CannabisFN.com, the CannabisFN iOS app, the CFN Media YouTube channel, the CFN Media podcast, and other venues. These properties are designed to educate and inform investors interested in the cannabis industry, as well as provide a platform for the clients of the CFN Business to reach investors. The CFN Business distributes content across numerous online platforms, including the CannabisFN.com website, press releases, financial news syndicates, search engines, YouTube, iTunes, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others.

The CFN Business targets the legal cannabis industry. According to Grand View Research, the global cannabis industry is expected to reach $146.4 billion by 2025, driven by the legalization of medical and adult-use cannabis across a growing number of jurisdictions. According to the Marijuana Index, there are approximately 400 public companies involved in the cannabis industry, which represents the primary target market of the CFN Business. The CFN Business’ services are designed to help private companies prepare to go public and public companies grow their shareholder base through sponsored content and marketing outreach. The success of the CFN Business depends on the legal status of cannabis, investor demand for cannabis investments, investor demand for Psychedelics, investor and consumer demand for CBD and numerous other external factors.

The CFN Business competes with other public relations firms for clients, as well as online publishers for investors. Public relations competition includes investor awareness firms like Stockhouse Publishing, Catalyst Xchange, Stonebridge Partners and Midan Ventures. Online publisher competition includes firms like New Cannabis Ventures, Leafly and High Times. The CFN Business is regulated by rules established by the SEC, FINRA, and certain federal and state cannabis regulations.

Late in 2020, we launched an e-commerce network focused on the sale of general wellness CBD products.  Revenue generated from this new line of business has been minimal as of December 31, 2020.  However, we expect to grow and continue marketing this line of business in future periods.  

Our principal offices are located at 600 E. 8th Street, Whitefish, Montana 59937. Our telephone number there is: (833) 420-2636. Our corporate website is: www.cfnenterprisesinc.com, , the contents of which are not part of this annual report.

Our Common Stock is quoted on the OTCQB Marketplace under the symbol "CNFN." 

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Industry and Market Opportunity

Our Solutions

CFN Enterprises’ services are designed to help private companies prepare to go public and public companies grow their shareholder base through sponsored content and marketing outreach. The business targets the legal CBD, cannabis and psychedelics industries.

How we market our services

CFN Enterprises markets its services through its proprietary network of websites, including www.cannabisfn.com, social media channels and through its internal sales team.

Competition

CFN Enterprises competes with other public relations firms for clients, as well as online publishers for investors. Public relations competition includes investor awareness firms like Stockhouse Publishing, Catalyst Xchange, Stonebridge Partners and Midan Ventures. Online publisher competition includes firms like New Cannabis Ventures, Leafly and High Times.

Government Regulation

The CFN Business is regulated by rules established by the SEC, FINRA, and certain federal and state cannabis regulations.  

Employees

As of December 31, 2020, we had 5 full-time employees, including all of our executive officers. None of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, and we believe our relationships with our employees to be good.

Our business faces risks.  If any of the events or circumstances described in the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could suffer, and the trading price of our common stock could decline. Our investors and prospective investors should consider the following risks and the information contained under the heading "Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward Looking Statements" before deciding to invest in our common stock.

Our resources are limited and it may impact how we implement our growth strategy which may impact our operations.

Our resources are limited. Our working capital deficiency at December 31, 2020 amounts to $998,101. As we implement our growth strategy, poor strategic design or execution could impact negatively our operations and our cash flows. We expect that our expenses will continue to increase as we continue to develop and implement our products and services. Our capital requirements may vary materially from those currently planned if, for example, we incur unforeseen capital expenditures, incur unforeseen operating expenses, or make investments to maintain our competitive position. If this is the case, we may have to delay or abandon some or all of our development plans or otherwise forego market opportunities. We will need to generate significant revenues to be profitable in the future, and we may not generate sufficient revenues to be profitable on either a quarterly or annual basis in the future.

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We have a history of losses.

We have a history of losses and negative cash flows from operations. We had a net loss from continuing operations of approximately $1.3 million in 2020 and a net loss of approximately $6.0 million in 2019. Our operations have been financed primarily through proceeds from the issuance of equity, borrowing money through the issuance of promissory notes and use of a credit facility. We may continue to incur losses in the future.

We have substantial indebtedness and obligations to pay interest.

We currently have, and will likely continue to have, a substantial amount of indebtedness and obligations to pay interest from our preferred stock. Our indebtedness and interest obligations could, among other things, make it more difficult for us to satisfy our debt obligations, require us to use a large portion of our cash flow from operations to repay and service our debt and preferred stock or otherwise create liquidity problems, limit our flexibility to adjust to market conditions, place us at a competitive disadvantage and expose us to interest rate fluctuations. As of December 31, 2020, we had total debt outstanding of approximately $903,061, of which $188,249 was short term. As of December 31, 2020, we had 500 shares of Series A Preferred, Stock, each with a stated value of $1,000 per share which bears interest at 12% per annum, and 3,000 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, each with a stated value of $1,000 per share which bears interest at 6% per annum.

We expect to obtain the money to pay our expenses and pay the principal and interest on our indebtedness, interest on our preferred stock, and tax liabilities from cash flow from our operations and potentially from securities offerings. Accordingly, our ability to meet our obligations depends on our future performance and capital raising activities, which will be affected by financial, business, economic and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. If our cash flow and capital resources prove inadequate to allow us to pay the principal and interest on our debt, interest on our preferred stock and meet our other obligations, we could face substantial liquidity problems and might be required to dispose of material assets or operations, restructure or refinance our debt, which we may be unable to do on acceptable terms, and forego attractive business opportunities. In addition, the terms of our existing or future debt agreements may restrict us from pursuing any of these alternatives.

Our independent registered public accounting firm has expressed in its report to our 2020 audited consolidated financial statements a substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

We have not generated sufficient revenues from our operations to fund our activities and are therefore dependent upon external sources for financing our operations. There is a risk that we will be unable to obtain the necessary financing to continue our operations on terms acceptable to us or at all. As a result, our independent registered public accounting firm has expressed in its auditors’ report on the consolidated financial statements for December 31, 2020, a substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern. This going concern opinion could materially limit our ability to raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or debt securities or otherwise. Future reports on our financial statements may include an explanatory paragraph with respect to our ability to continue as a going concern. If we cannot continue as a going concern, our stockholders may lose their entire investment in the common stock.

Our quarterly financial results will fluctuate, making it difficult to forecast our results of operation.

Our revenues and operating results may vary significantly from quarter to quarter due to a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:

Our current and future levels of expenditures are based primarily on our growth plans and estimates of expected future revenues. If our operating results fall below the expectation of investors, our stock price will likely decline significantly.

Our financial and operating performance may be adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The outbreak of a strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the U.S. has had an unfavorable impact on our business operations.  Our main customer market suffered its worst decline, decreasing our revenue.  Mandatory closures of businesses imposed by the federal, state and local governments to control the spread of the virus is disrupting the operations of our management, business and finance teams. In addition, the COVID-19 outbreak has adversely affected the U.S. economy and

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financial markets, which may result in a long-term economic downturn that could negatively affect future performance.  We took steps to diversify our revenue model by creating our CBD ecommerce business which has higher margins during the second half of 2020 and reduce our costs.  The extent to which COVID-19 will impact our business and our consolidated financial results further will depend on future developments which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time, but may result in a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We face risks related to the macro economy.

Continued uncertainty in global economic conditions continues to pose a risk to the overall economy and has adversely affected the online advertising market, which is now highly competitive. These economic conditions have impacted consumer confidence and customer demand for our products, as well as our ability to borrow money to finance our operations, to maintain our key employees, and to manage normal commercial relationships with our customers, suppliers and creditors. For example, customers have spent less on online advertising and other services. Although the economic outlook has improved since the credit crisis, if a worsening of current conditions or another economic crisis were to occur, our business and results of operations will continue to be negatively impacted.

The CFN Business provides services to persons engaged in the cannabis industry. Cannabis remains illegal under Federal law.

Despite the development of a regulated cannabis industry under the laws of certain states, these state laws regulating medical and adult cannabis use are in conflict with the Federal Controlled Substances Act, which classifies cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance and makes cannabis use and possession illegal on a national level. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the Federal government has the right to regulate and criminalize cannabis, even for medical purposes, and thus Federal law criminalizing the use of cannabis preempts state laws that regulate its use. Although the prior administration determined that it was not an efficient use of resources to direct Federal law enforcement agencies to prosecute those lawfully abiding by state laws allowing the use and distribution of medical and recreational cannabis, on January 4, 2018, the current administration issued the Sessions Memo announcing a return to the rule of law and the rescission of previous guidance documents. The Sessions Memo rescinds the Cole Memo which was adopted by the Obama administration as a policy of non-interference with marijuana-friendly state laws. The Sessions Memo shifts federal policy from a hands-off approach adopted by the Obama administration to permitting federal prosecutors across the country to decide how to prioritize resources to regulate marijuana possession, distribution and cultivation in states where marijuana use is regulated. There can be no assurance that federal prosecutors will not prosecute and dedicate resources to regulate marijuana possession, distribution and cultivation in states where marijuana use is regulated which may cause states to reconsider their regulation of marijuana which would have a detrimental effect on the marijuana industry. Any such change in state laws based upon the Sessions Memo and the Federal government’s enforcement of Federal laws could cause significant financial damage to us and our stockholders.

As the possession and use of cannabis is illegal under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, we may be deemed to be aiding and abetting illegal activities through the services and data that we provide to cannabis dispensaries, cultivators and consumers. As a result, we may be subject to enforcement actions by law enforcement authorities, which would materially and adversely affect our business.

Under Federal law, and more specifically the Federal Controlled Substances Act, the possession, use, cultivation, and transfer of cannabis is illegal. The CFN Business provides services to customers that are engaged in the business of possession, use, cultivation, and/or transfer of cannabis. As a result, law enforcement authorities, in their attempt to regulate the illegal use of cannabis, may seek to bring an action or actions against us, including, but not limited, to a claim of aiding and abetting another’s criminal activities. The Federal aiding and abetting statute provides that anyone who “commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.” As a result of such an action, we may be forced to cease operations and our investors could lose their entire investment. Such an action would have a material negative effect on our business and operations.

We face intense competition from other marketing service providers. 

We compete with many marketing service providers for consumers' attention and spending. Our competitors may have substantially greater capital, longer operating histories, greater brand recognition, larger customer bases and significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. Our competitors may also engage in more extensive development of their technologies and may adopt more comprehensive marketing and advertising campaigns than we can. Our competitors may develop products and service offerings that we do not offer or that are more sophisticated or more cost effective than our own. For these and other reasons, our competitors' products and services may achieve greater acceptance in the marketplace than our own, limiting our ability to gain market share and customer loyalty and to generate sufficient revenues to achieve a profitable level of operations. Our failure to adequately address any of the above factors could harm our business and operating results.

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In addition, as the barriers to entry in our market segment are not substantial, an unlimited number of new competitors could emerge, thereby making our goal of establishing a market presence even more difficult. Because our management expects competition in our market segment to continue to intensify, there can be no assurances we will ever establish a competitive position in our market segment.

If we are unable to attract new customers or sell additional services and functionality to our existing customers, our revenue growth will be adversely affected.

To increase our revenues, we must add new customers, encourage existing customers to renew their agreements on terms favorable to us, increase their usage of our solutions, and sell additional functionality to existing customers. As our industry matures, as interactive channels develop further, or as competitors introduce lower cost and/or differentiated products or services that are perceived to compete with ours, our ability to sell and renew based on pricing, technology and functionality could be impaired. As a result, we may be unable to renew our agreements with existing customers or attract new customers or new business from existing customers on terms that would be favorable or comparable to prior periods, which could have an adverse effect on our revenue and growth, as well as our profitability and financial condition.

We may not be successful in increasing our brand awareness.

We believe that developing and maintaining awareness of the CFN brand is critical to achieving widespread acceptance of our existing and future services and is an important element in attracting new customers. In order to build brand awareness, we must succeed in our marketing efforts and provide high quality services. Our efforts to build our brand will involve significant expense. Brand promotion activities may not yield increased revenue, and even if they do, any increased revenue may not offset the expenses we incurred in building our brand. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our brand, or incur substantial expenses in an unsuccessful attempt to promote and maintain our brand, we may fail to attract enough new customers or retain our existing customers to the extent necessary to realize a sufficient return on our brand-building efforts, and our business could suffer.

We depend on receipt of timely feeds from our content providers. 

We depend on Web browsers, ISPs and online service providers to provide access over the Internet to our product and service offerings. Many of these providers have experienced significant outages or interruptions in the past, and could experience outages, delays and other difficulties due to system failures unrelated to our systems. These types of interruptions could continue or increase in the future.

We rely on third-party computer hardware and software that may be difficult to replace or which could cause errors or failures of our service.

We rely on computer hardware purchased or leased and software licensed from third parties in order to offer our services. This hardware and software may not continue to be available to us at reasonable prices, or on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Any loss of the right to use any of this hardware or software could significantly increase our expenses and otherwise result in delays in the provisioning of our service until equivalent technology is either developed by us, or, if available, is identified, obtained and integrated, which could harm our business. Any errors or defects in third-party hardware or software could result in errors or a failure of our service which could harm our business. 

If our security measures are breached and unauthorized access is obtained to a customer’s data or our data or our information technology systems, our service may be perceived as not being secure, customers may curtail or stop using our service and we may incur significant legal and financial exposure and liabilities.

Our service involves the storage and transmission of customers’ proprietary information, and security breaches could expose us to a risk of loss of this information, and to litigation and possible liability. These security measures may be breached as a result of third-party action, including intentional misconduct by computer hackers, by employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, during the transfer of data to additional data centers or at any time, and may result in someone obtaining unauthorized access to our customers’ data or our data, including our intellectual property and other confidential business information, or our information technology systems. Additionally, third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or customers into disclosing sensitive information such as user names, passwords or other information in order to gain access to our customers’ data or our data, including our intellectual property and other confidential business information, or our information technology systems. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, or to sabotage systems, change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. In addition, our customers may authorize third party technology providers, via our various Application Programming Interfaces, to access their customer data. Because we do not control the transmissions between our customers and third-party technology providers, or the processing of such data by third-party technology providers, we cannot ensure the

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complete integrity or security of such transmissions or processing. Any security breach could result in a loss of confidence in the security of our service, damage our reputation, disrupt our business, lead to legal liability and negatively impact our future sales.

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

Our future performance and success is heavily dependent upon the continued active participation of our current senior management team, including our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brian Ross. The loss of any of their services could have a material adverse effect on our business development and our ability to execute our growth strategy, resulting in loss of sales and a slower rate of growth. We do not maintain any "key person" life insurance for any of our employees.

We may be subject to infringement claims on proprietary rights of third parties for software and other content that we distribute or make available to our customers.

We may be liable or alleged to be liable to third parties for software and other content that we distribute or make available to our customers:

Any alleged liability could harm our business by damaging our reputation.  Any alleged liability could also require us to incur legal expenses in defense and could expose us to awards of damages and costs including, but not limited to, treble damages for willful infringement, and would likely divert management's attention which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We cannot assure you that third parties will not claim infringement by us with respect to past, current, or future technologies. Participants in our markets may be increasingly subject to infringement claims as the number of services and competitors in our industry segment grows. In addition, these risks are difficult to quantify in light of the continuously evolving nature of laws and regulations governing the Internet. Any claim relating to proprietary rights, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming, result in costly litigation, cause service upgrade delays or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements, and we cannot assure you that we will have adequate insurance coverage or that royalty or licensing agreements will be available on terms acceptable to us or at all. Further, we plan to offer our services and applications to customers worldwide, including to customers in foreign countries that may offer less protection for our intellectual property than the United States. Our failure to protect against misappropriation of our intellectual property and claims against us that we are infringing the intellectual property of third parties could have a negative effect on our business, revenues, financial condition and results of operations.

Evolving government regulation could adversely affect our business prospects.

We do not know with certainty how existing laws governing issues such as property ownership copyright and other intellectual property issues, taxation, illegal or obscene content, regulated industries, retransmission of media, personal privacy and data protection will apply to the Internet or to the distribution of multimedia and other proprietary content over the Internet. Most of these laws were adopted before the advent of the Internet and related technologies and therefore do not address the unique issues associated with the Internet and related technologies. Depending on how these laws developed and are interpreted by the judicial system, they could have the effect of:

Because of this rapidly evolving and uncertain regulatory environment, both domestically and internationally, we cannot predict how existing or proposed laws and regulations might affect our business.

In addition, as Internet commerce continues to evolve, increasing regulation by federal, state or foreign agencies becomes more likely. In addition, taxation of services provided over the Internet or other charges imposed by government

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agencies or by private organizations for accessing the Internet may also be imposed. Any regulation imposing greater fees for Internet use or restricting information exchange over the Internet could result in a decline in the use of the Internet and the viability of Internet-based services, which could harm our business.

Dilutive securities may adversely impact our stock price.

As of December 31, 2020, the following securities exercisable into shares of our Common Stock were outstanding: 

These securities represent, as of December 31, 2020, approximately 7.4%% of our Common Stock on a fully diluted, as exercised basis. 3,160,000 of the shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to the exercise of options are beneficially owned by our management. In addition, our preferred stock is convertible into shares of our common stock at a conversion price to be mutually determined between us and the holders in the future, and could result in the issuance of a significant number of shares of common stock. The exercise of any of these options or warrants, both of which have fixed prices, or conversion of our preferred stock, may materially adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock and will have a dilutive effect on our existing stockholders.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, current and potential stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which would harm the value of our stock.

Effective internal control over financial reporting is necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, effectively prevent fraud and operate as a public company. We have discovered areas of our internal control over financial reporting that need improvement. If we are unable to adequately maintain or improve our internal control over financial reporting, we may report that our internal controls are ineffective. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our reputation and operating results would be negatively impacted. Ineffective internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information which could have a negative effect on the market price of our Common Stock and which could result in regulatory proceedings against us by, among others, the SEC.

We have not voluntarily implemented various corporate governance measures, in the absence of which stockholders may have more limited protections against interested director transactions, conflicts of interest and similar matters.

Federal legislation, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and The Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, has resulted in the adoption of various corporate governance measures designed to promote the integrity of the corporate management and the securities markets. Some of these measures have been adopted in response to legal requirements. Others have been adopted by companies in response to the requirements of national securities exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market. Among the corporate governance measures that are required under the rules of national securities exchanges are those that address the board of directors' independence, audit committee oversight, and the adoption of a code of ethics. We have not yet adopted some of these corporate governance measures and, since our securities are not listed on a national securities exchange, we are not required to do so. We have not adopted corporate governance measures such as an audit committee or other independent committees of our Board of Directors.  In the absence of audit, nominating and compensation committees comprised of at least a majority of independent directors, decisions concerning matters such as compensation packages to our senior officers and recommendations for director nominees may be made by a majority of directors who have an interest in the outcome of the matters being decided. Prospective investors should bear in mind our current lack of corporate governance measures in formulating their investment decisions.

The limited market for our Common Stock will make our stock price more volatile.  Therefore, you may have difficulty selling your shares.

The market for our Common Stock is limited and we cannot assure you that a larger market will ever be developed or maintained. Currently, our Common Stock is quoted on the OTCQB Marketplace. Securities quoted on the OTCQB Marketplace typically have low trading volumes.  Market fluctuations and volatility, as well as general economic, market and political conditions, could reduce our market price. As a result, this may make it difficult or impossible for our shareholders to sell our Common Stock.

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There are generally no restrictions on the resale of our outstanding Common Stock.  Sales by existing shareholders may depress the share price of our Common Stock and may impair our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities when needed.

The possibility that substantial amounts of outstanding Common Stock may be sold in the public market may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Common Stock.  This could negatively affect the market price of our Common Stock and could impair our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities.

Sales of shares of our Common Stock to the public may adversely impact our stock price.

Sales of shares of our Common Stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Common Stock and may make it more difficult for our stockholders to sell their common stock at desirable prices. We are unable to predict the effect that sales may have on the prevailing market price of our Common Stock.

Some of the shares issued and options granted under our stock plan may have been issued in transactions that were not exempt from registration under certain state securities laws, the result of which is that the holders of these shares and/or options may have rescission rights that could require us to reacquire the shares and/or options.

Some of the shares issued and options granted under our equity compensation plan may not have been exempt from registration or qualification under the securities laws of certain states. We previously became aware that we may not have had a valid exemption for the issuance of these options and shares exercised upon exercise of these options under certain state laws. Because of the lack of registration and, potentially, the lack of a valid exemption from registration, the options we granted and the shares issued upon exercise of these options may have been issued in violation of certain state securities laws and may be subject to rescission.

If such shares and options are subject to rescission, we could be required to make payments to the holders of these shares and options in an amount not yet determinable by us. If any or all of the offerees reject the rescission offer, we may continue to be liable under state securities laws for payments to the offerees. If it is determined that we offered securities without properly registering them under state law, or securing an exemption from registration, regulators could impose monetary fines or other sanctions as provided under these laws. 

Our Common Stock is subject to the “penny stock” rules of the SEC, and the trading market in our Common Stock is limited.  This makes transactions in our Common Stock cumbersome and may reduce the value of your shares.

The SEC has adopted Rule 3a51-1 which establishes the definition of a "penny stock," for the purposes relevant to us, as any equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share or with an exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions.  For any transaction involving a penny stock, unless exempt, Rule 15g-9 requires:

In order to approve a person's account for transactions in penny stocks, the broker or dealer must:

The broker or dealer must also deliver, prior to any transaction in a penny stock, a disclosure schedule prescribed by the SEC relating to the penny stock market, which, in highlight form:

Generally, brokers may be less willing to execute transactions in securities subject to the "penny stock" rules. This may make it more difficult for investors to dispose of our Common Stock and cause a decline in its market value.

Disclosure also has to be made about the risks of investing in penny stocks in both public offerings and in secondary trading and about the commissions payable to both the broker-dealer and the registered representative, current quotations for the securities and the rights and remedies available to an investor in cases of fraud in penny stock transactions. Finally, monthly statements have to be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and information on the limited market in penny stocks.

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We could become subject to litigation that could be costly, result in the diversion of management’s attention and require us to pay damages.

From time to time, we may become involved in legal proceedings. Though we are not currently subject to any such proceedings, adverse outcomes in such proceedings may result in significant monetary damages or injunctive relief that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business and could divert management’s attention.

None.

On June 20, 2019, we entered into a Lease Agreement with Emerging Growth, LLC for the lease of office space in Whitefish, Montana, for a period of one year at a rate of $1,500 per month. On August 5, 2020, the Company entered into a lease agreement with Emerging Growth, LLC for additional office space in Whitefish, Montana, replacing its previous lease from June 20, 2019. The term of the lease commenced on September 1, 2020 for a period of one year at a rate of $4,500 per month.  The lease contains an option for the Company to renew the lease for a period of one additional year at a monthly rent subject to a 3% increase. On March 30, 2021, we entered into a new lease agreement for these premises commencing April 1, 2021 for a period of three years at a rate of $4,500 per month, which lease contains an option for the Company to renew the lease for a period of one additional year at a monthly rent subject to a 3% increase.

We leased office space in Santa Monica, California under a short-term lease for $1,000 per month. The lease was terminated in March 2020 and the Company has no further obligations under this lease.

We believe that our current leases are adequate and sufficient for our needs in the immediate future.

From time to time, we may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business. We are not presently a party to any legal proceedings that we currently believe, if determined adversely to us, would individually or taken together have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition or cash flows.   

Not applicable.

PART II

Our Common Stock is quoted on the OTCQB Marketplace under the symbol “CNFN.” Quotations on the OTCQB Marketplace reflect prices between dealers, do not include retail mark-ups, markdowns, and commissions and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

Stockholders

As of December 31, 2020, there were 124 stockholders of record of our Common Stock.

Dividend Policy

We have not declared or paid any cash dividends on our Common Stock since inception and we do not intend to pay any cash dividends on our Common Stock in the foreseeable future. We intend to retain any future earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business. Any future decision to pay dividends on Common Stock will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will be dependent upon our fiscal condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors our Board of Directors may deem relevant.

Not applicable.

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The following information should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and accompanying notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Overview

We owned and operated CAKE and getcake.com, a marketing technology company that provided a proprietary solution for advanced analytics, attribution and campaign optimization for digital marketers, and we sold this business on June 18, 2019. We contemporaneously acquired assets from Emerging Growth LLC related to its cannabis industry focused sponsored content and marketing business, or the CFN Business. Our initial ongoing operations will consist primarily of the CFN Business and we will continue to pursue strategic transactions and opportunities.

The CFN Business generates revenue through sponsored content, including articles, press releases, videos, podcasts, advertisements and other media, email advertisements and other marketing campaigns run on behalf of public and private companies in the cannabis industry, helping them reach accredited, retail and institutional investors. Most revenue is generated through contracts involving a monthly cash payment.

The CFN Business’ primary expenses come from advertising on platforms like Twitter and Facebook and from employee salaries and contractor fees. The CFN Business’ content is primarily produced by a team of freelance writers and video content is produced through various vendors. The CFN Business also incurs hosting and development costs associated with maintaining and improving its website, web applications, and mobile applications. The CFN Business operates several media platforms, including CannabisFN.com, the CannabisFN iOS app, the CFN Media YouTube channel, the CFN Media podcast, and other venues. These properties are designed to educate and inform investors interested in the cannabis industry, as well as provide a platform for the clients of the CFN Business to reach investors. The CFN Business distributes content across numerous online platforms, including the CannabisFN.com website, press releases, financial news syndicates, search engines, YouTube, iTunes, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others.

The CFN Business targets the legal cannabis industry. According to Grand View Research, the global cannabis industry is expected to reach $146.4 billion by 2025, driven by the legalization of medical and adult-use cannabis across a growing number of jurisdictions. According to the Marijuana Index, there are approximately 400 public companies involved in the cannabis industry, which represents the primary target market of the CFN Business. The CFN Business’ services are designed to help private companies prepare to go public and public companies grow their shareholder base through sponsored content and marketing outreach. The success of the CFN Business depends on the legal status of cannabis, investor demand for cannabis investments, investor demand for Psychedelics, investor and consumer demand for CBD and numerous other external factors.

The CFN Business competes with other public relations firms for clients, as well as online publishers for investors. Public relations competition includes investor awareness firms like Stockhouse Publishing, Catalyst Xchange, Stonebridge Partners and Midan Ventures. Online publisher competition includes firms like New Cannabis Ventures, Leafly and High Times. The CFN Business is regulated by rules established by the SEC, FINRA, and certain federal and state cannabis regulations.

Late in 2020, we launched an e-commerce network focused on the sale of general wellness CBD products.  Revenue generated from this new line of business has been minimal as of December 31, 2020.  However, we expect to grow and continue marketing this line of business in future periods.   

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Results of Operations

The following are the results of our operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2019:

Net Revenues

Our revenues are generated from the sale of promotional service packages to customers ranging from 3 to 6 months. We offer different packages tailored to the type and stage of the potential customer, such as public companies looking to increase their shareholder base, as well as private companies potentially looking to go public and attract capital and publicity. Our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2019 represents revenue recognized for the period from June 21, 2019 through December 31, 2019 subsequent to the purchase of the CFN Business. We expect this be our primary source of revenue going forward.

Our revenue during the year ended December 31, 2020 was lower than the same period in 2019, as the volume of new contracts entered into with customers has decreased in 2020 due in-part to COVID-19 and the impacts on our customers and the industry in which we operate. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we had 26 contracts in progress, whereas we had 31 contracts in 2019. We expect these trends to continue for the foreseeable future.

Our revenue for 2020 also included $8,948 relating to sales of product from our e-commerce network focused on the sale of general wellness CBD products.  This network was launched during the fourth quarter of 2020.  We expect our revenue related to this e-commerce business to increase in future periods as we continue to grow and market this business line.     

Costs of Revenue

Our cost of revenue primarily represents costs incurred associated with performing services under our customer contracts acquired under the CFN Business. We expect for our cost of revenue to increase proportionately with increases in revenues recognized in future periods. During 2020, the cost of revenue did not increase proportionately with revenue as our main customer market suffered a decline while certain online fixed costs remained the same.

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Operating Expenses

Our operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 decreased by $4,812,435 as compared to the prior year period. This decrease is primarily due to impairment charges of $3,767,541 for 2019, including $541,724 related to the impairment of marketing-related intangibles and $3,225,817 related to the impairment of goodwill generated from the acquisition of the CFN Business in connection with the Emerging Growth Agreement. We had no impairment charges in 2020.  Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased in 2020 by $1,044,894 as compared to 2019 primarily due to additional legal and professional fees associated with the closing of the asset purchase agreement, or the Asset Purchase Agreement, with CAKE Software Inc. for the sale of the CAKE Business and the asset purchase agreement, or the Emerging Growth Agreement, with Emerging Growth, LLC for the purchase of the CFN Business and the reporting regulatory requirements associated with these transactions in 2019.  We had no such transactions in 2020.  

Discontinued Operations

Effective June 18, 2019, we sold substantially all of our assets associated with the CAKE Business for total proceeds of $20,892,667. Accordingly, we had a gain from discontinued operations during the year ended December 31, 2019 of $14,391,173, which includes the gain on sale of the CAKE Business of $19,473,080 offset by losses from the CAKE business through June 18, 2019. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we had a loss on discontinued operations resulting primarily from the loss on foreign currency translation associated with dissolving our subsidiary in the UK.  

Liquidity and Capital Resources

On May 15, 2019, we entered into the Asset Purchase Agreement to sell substantially all of our assets related to the CAKE Business. Concurrent with this agreement, we also entered into the Emerging Growth Agreement where we acquired certain assets from Emerging Growth, LLC related to its sponsored content and marketing business for purchase price consideration consisting in part of $420,000 in cash. In September 2019, we received proceeds of $500,000 from a note payable. On May 6, 2020, we received $263,000 in the form of a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, or the PPP, which is a program of the U.S. Small Business Administration, or the SBA, established under the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act,, as well $150,000 in proceeds from a loan with the SBA on June 24, 2020. Our plan to continue as a going concern includes raising additional capital in the form of debt or equity, growing the business acquired under the Emerging Growth Agreement and managing and reducing operating and overhead costs. We cannot provide any assurance that unforeseen circumstances that could occur at any time within the next twelve months or thereafter will not increase the need for us to raise additional capital on an immediate basis.

These matters, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. These financial statements do not include any adjustments to the amounts and classification of assets and liabilities that may be necessary should we be unable to continue as a going concern.

The following is a summary of our cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.

As of December 31, 2020, we had unrestricted cash of $160,115. 

Net cash used in operating activities was approximately $500,000 during the year ended December 31, 2020, compared with approximately $7.0 million during the same period in 2019. The decrease in cash used in operating activities during 2020 was primarily due to a higher net loss from continuing operations in 2019 of approximately $6.0 million as compared to approximately $1.3 million in 2020.  In addition, we used a higher amount of cash in 2019 for the payment of a large number of accounts payable and accrued expenses at the time of closing of the Asset Purchase Agreement on June 18, 2019.

Net cash used in investing activities amounted to approximately $206,000 during the year ended December 31, 2020, compared with cash provided by investing activities of approximately $20.5 million during the same period in 2019. Cash provided by investing activities in 2019 consisted primarily of proceeds from the sale of the CAKE Business of approximately $20.9 million, offset by cash used of $420,000 for the acquisition of assets pursuant to the Emerging Growth Agreement. During 2020, our cash

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used in investing activities consisted primarily of $200,000 for a 9.8% investment made in an outside company in the cannabis-related business.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $763,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to net cash used in financing activities of approximately $13.5 million for the same period in 2019. Cash provided by financing activities in 2020 resulted from proceeds from notes payable of $413,000 and proceeds from the sale of common stock of $410,000, which stock was issued in January, 2021, offset by payments of preferred stock dividend of $60,000.  Cash used in financing activities in 2019 consisted of payments of approximately $11.8 million to repay the principal amounts outstanding under our credit facilities, repayment of promissory notes of $2.7 million and repayment of related party notes of $300,000. These repayments occurred at the time of closing of the Asset Purchase Agreement on June 18, 2019 for the sale of the CAKE Business. The cash used in financing activities in 2019 was offset by proceeds from credit facility borrowings of $900,000, as well as proceeds of $500,000 from a note payable in September 2019.

Description of Indebtedness

As of June 18, 2019, upon the closing of the Asset Purchase Agreement for the sale of the CAKE Business, all existing debt at the time was either paid off or settled through the exchange of outstanding principal into Series A Preferred Stock.

On September 10, 2019, we entered into a promissory note payable whereby we borrowed $500,000 bearing interest at 8% per annum. Interest on the note is payable quarterly on the first business day of December, March, June and September commencing December 1, 2019. Outstanding principal on the note is due in full on September 30, 2022.

In connection with the promissory note payable on September 10, 2019, we issued warrants to purchase 500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.10 per share. The warrants expire on September 10, 2024 and are fully vested upon issuance. The note was discounted by $17,624 allocated from the valuation of the warrants issued. The discount recorded on the note is being amortized as interest expense through the maturity date, which amounted to $5,884 and $1,801 for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, the net book value of the promissory note amounted to $490,061 including the principal amount outstanding of $500,000 net of the remaining discount of $9,939.

On May 6, 2020, the Company entered into a promissory note, or the Note, with Pacific Western Bank, evidencing an unsecured loan, or the Loan, in the amount of $263,000 made to the Company under the PPP. The PPP is a program of the SBA established under the CARES Act. Under the PPP, the proceeds of the Loan may be used to pay payroll and make certain covered interest payments, lease payments and utility payments, or the Qualifying Expenses. The Company intends to use the entire Loan amount for Qualifying Expenses under the PPP. Under the terms of the CARES Act, PPP loan recipients can be granted forgiveness for all or a portion of the loan granted under the PPP, with such forgiveness to be determined, subject to limitations, based on the use of the loan proceeds for payment of Qualifying Expenses and the Company maintaining its payroll levels over certain required thresholds under the PPP. The terms of any forgiveness also may be subject to further requirements in any regulations and guidelines the SBA may adopt. No assurance can be provided that the Company will obtain forgiveness of the Note in whole or in part.

The interest rate on the Loan is 1.0% per annum. The Note matures on May 6, 2022. On December 1, 2020 and on the first day of each month thereafter until May 1, 2022, the Company must make monthly payments of $14,727 under the Loan that is not forgiven in accordance with the terms of the PPP and related accrued interest thereon. The Note contains events of default and other conditions customary for a Note of this type. As of December 31, 2020, the current portion of the Loan due within the next 12 months amounted to $188,249.  The Company has applied for full forgiveness of the amounts due under this Note.  

On June 24, 2020, the Company entered into a Loan Authorization and Agreement with the SBA under which the Company borrowed $150,000, and issued to the SBA a note and security agreement for the amount borrowed. Outstanding borrowings accrue interest at a rate of 3.75% per annum, and installment payments, including principal and interest, of $731 are due monthly and begin 12 months from the date of the loan agreement. The balance of any remaining principal and interest is due 30 years from the date of the loan agreement. As collateral for the borrowing, the Company granted the SBA a security interest in substantially all assets of the Company.

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Future scheduled maturities of long-term debt are as follows.

Obligations Under Preferred Stock

On June 20, 2019, existing debtholders were issued an aggregate of 500 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, each with a stated value per share of $1,000, as conversion of $500,000 worth of outstanding promissory notes. The Series A Preferred Stock bears interest at 12% per annum, and is convertible into our common stock at the election of the holder at a conversion price per share to be mutually agreed between us and the holder in the future, and be redeemable at our option following the third year after issuance, without voting rights or a liquidation preference.

On June 20, 2019, we issued 3,000 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, each with a stated value of $1,000 per share, to Emerging Growth, LLC as part of the Emerging Growth Agreement. The aggregate fair value of $687,000 was recorded as part of the acquisition price of the net assets acquired from Emerging Growth, LLC. The Series B Preferred Stock bears interest at 6% per annum and is convertible into our common stock at the election of Emerging Growth, LLC at a conversion price per share to be mutually agreed between us and Emerging Growth, LLC in the future, without voting rights or a liquidation preference, except with respect to accrued penalty interest.

Other outstanding obligations at December 31, 2020

Warrants

As of December 31, 2020, 5,256,944 shares of our common stock are issuable pursuant to the exercise of warrants.

Options

As of December 31, 2020, 3,160,000 shares of our common stock are issuable pursuant to the exercise of options.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements.

COVID-19

In March 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 caused by a novel strain of the coronavirus was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, and the outbreak has become increasingly widespread in the United States, including each of the areas in which we operate. While to date we have not been required to stop operating, COVID-19 has had and is expected to continue to have an adverse effect on the financial condition of us and our customers. The outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S. has had an unfavorable impact on our business operations.  Our main customer market suffered its worst decline, decreasing our revenue.  Mandatory closures of businesses imposed by the federal, state and local governments to control the spread of the virus is disrupting the operations of our management, business and finance teams. In addition, the COVID-19 outbreak has adversely affected the U.S. economy and financial markets, which may result in a long-term economic downturn that could negatively affect future performance.  We took steps to diversify our revenue model by creating our CBD ecommerce business which has higher margins during the second half of 2020 and reduce our costs.  The extent to which COVID-19 will impact our business and our consolidated financial results further will depend on future developments which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time, but may result in a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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Climate Change

Our opinion is that neither climate change, nor governmental regulations related to climate change, have had, or are expected to have, any material effect on our operations. 

Critical Accounting Policies 

Accounts Receivable

The Company’s account receivables are due from customers relating to contracts to provide investor relation services. Collateral is currently not required. The Company also maintains allowances for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from the inability of the Company’s customers to make payments. The Company periodically reviews these estimated allowances, including an analysis of the customers’ payment history and creditworthiness, the age of the trade receivable balances and current economic conditions that may affect a customer’s ability to make payments as well as historical collection trends for its customers as a whole. Based on this review, the Company specifically reserves for those accounts deemed uncollectible or likely to become uncollectible. When receivables are determined to be uncollectible, principal amounts of such receivables outstanding are deducted from the allowance. The allowance for doubtful accounts as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 amounted to $183,750 and $163,750, respectively.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC, 606, the core principle of which is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for those goods or services. To achieve this core principle, five basic criteria must be met before revenue can be recognized: (1) identify the contract with a customer; (2) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (3) determine the transaction price; (4) allocate the transaction price to performance obligations in the contract; and (5) recognize revenue when or as the Company satisfies a performance obligation. 

Subsequent to the closing of the Emerging Growth Agreement on June 20, 2019, the Company’s revenue is generated from the sale of promotional service packages to its customers ranging from 3 to 6 months. The Company offers different packages tailored to the type and stage of the potential customer, such as public companies looking to increase their shareholder base, as well as private companies potentially looking to go public and attract capital and publicity. The services provided by the Company include advertising, publishing of interviews and articles across its network and featuring of client content on its newsletters and social media. The packages all have fixed prices that are billed monthly over the terms of the agreement in even amounts. The Company recognizes revenue for its performance obligation associated with its contracts with customers over time as work is performed, which is deemed to occur evenly throughout the duration of the contract. This also reflects the pattern in which costs are incurred on performing the contracts. To the extent revenue recognized on contracts at each period end exceeds collections, the amounts are reflected as accounts receivable. To the extent collections on contracts at each period end exceeds revenue recognized, the amounts are reflected as deferred revenue.

Income Taxes

Income taxes are accounted for in accordance with the provisions of ASC Topic 740, Accounting for Income Taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amounts expected to be realized, but no less than quarterly.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost and are depreciated on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives of five years. Maintenance and repairs are charged to expense as incurred. Significant renewals and betterments are capitalized. 

Goodwill

The Company’s goodwill represents the excess of purchase price over tangible and intangible assets acquired, less liabilities assumed arising from business acquisitions. Goodwill is not amortized, but is reviewed for potential impairment on an annual basis at the reporting unit level. There was an impairment charge of $3,225,817 during the year ended December 31, 2019 related to the impairment of goodwill acquired from the Emerging Growth Agreement.

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Investment

On December 24, 2020, the Company acquired a 9.8% interest in the outstanding stock of a privately held company.  As the stock has no readily determinable fair value, the Company accounts for this stock received using the cost method, less adjustments for impairment.  At each reporting period, management reviews the status of the investment to determine if any indicators of impairment have occurred.  There were no impairment charges recorded related to investments during the year ended December 31, 2020 or 2019.

Long-Lived Assets

In accordance with ASC 360-10, the Company evaluates long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their net book value may not be recoverable. When such factors and circumstances exist, the Company compares the projected undiscounted future cash flows associated with the related asset or group of assets over their estimated useful lives against their respective carrying amount. Impairment, if any, is based on the excess of the carrying amount over the fair value, based on market value when available, or discounted expected cash flows, of those assets and is recorded in the period in which the determination is made. There was an impairment charge of $541,724 during the year ended December 31, 2019 related to the impairment of marketing-related intangible assets acquired from the Emerging Growth Agreement.

Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per share are calculated by dividing income available to stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during each period. Diluted earnings per share are computed using the weighted average number of common and dilutive common share equivalents outstanding during the period. Dilutive common share equivalents consist of shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options, warrants and preferred stock (calculated using the modified-treasury stock method). As of December 31, 2020, the Company had 3,160,000 outstanding stock options and 5,256,944 outstanding warrants and 3,500 preferred stock which were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share because their effects were anti-dilutive.  As of December 31, 2019, the Company had 6,320,000 outstanding stock options, 7,543,944 outstanding warrants and 3,500 preferred stock which were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share because their effects were anti-dilutive. As a result, the basic and diluted earnings per share are the same for each of the periods presented.

Share-Based Payment

The Company accounts for stock-based compensation in accordance with ASC Topic 718, Compensation-Stock Compensation, or ASC 718. Under the fair value recognition provisions of this topic, stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as an expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is the vesting period.

The Company has elected to use the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to estimate the fair value of its options, which incorporates various subjective assumptions including volatility, risk-free interest rate, expected life, and dividend yield to calculate the fair value of stock option awards. Compensation expense recognized in the statements of operations is based on awards ultimately expected to vest and reflects estimated forfeitures. ASC 718 requires forfeitures to be estimated at the time of grant and revised, if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates.

Common stock awards

The Company has granted common stock awards to non-employees in exchange for services provided. The Company measures the fair value of these awards using the fair value of the services provided or the fair value of the awards granted. The fair value of the awards is recognized on a straight-line basis as services are rendered. The share-based payments related to common stock awards for the settlement of services provided by non-employees is recorded on the consolidated statement of comprehensive loss in the same manner and charged to the same account as if such settlements had been made in cash.

Warrants

In connection with certain financing, consulting and collaboration arrangements, the Company has issued warrants to purchase shares of its common stock. The outstanding warrants are standalone instruments that are not puttable or mandatorily redeemable by the holder and are classified as equity awards. The Company measures the fair value of the awards using the Black-Scholes option pricing model as of the measurement date. Warrants are recorded at fair value as expense over the requisite service period or at the date of issuance, if there is not a service period.

Not applicable.

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The information required by this item is included in Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

None.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures 

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer), we conducted an evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15(d)-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act). Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer) concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2020 (the end of the period covered by this report).

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting 

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for our Company. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets, (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.

As required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the related rule of the SEC, management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting using the Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) developed by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.  Based on this assessment, management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2020. 

Auditor Attestation

This annual report does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting.  Management’s report was not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission that permit us to provide only management’s report in this annual report. 

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting 

During the year ended December 31, 2020, in order to remediate the segregation of duties and other deficiencies initially created by the departure of our accounting department in June 2019, we hired accounting consultants to perform our account reconciliations and other day-to-day accounting requirements. The internal control structure was also documented and assessed in the areas of financial reporting and disclosure controls as it relates to our continuing operations. In addition, we revised and improved the use of our systems for getting appropriate approvals for purchases and other activities that require authorization. However, our ability to file timely reports is heavily dependent on having the necessary financial resources to pay consultants and other service providers involved with performing key elements of our disclosure and financial reporting controls.  Our current financial condition, brought on in-part by COVID-19, has temporarily hindered our ability to file timely reports for this reason which has now been remedied.  As a result, we have assessed our disclosure controls and controls over financial reporting as ineffective.  

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Given the timing of events, the following information is included in this Form 10-K pursuant to Item 1.01 “Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement: and Item 3.02 “Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities” of Form 8-K in lieu of filing a Form 8-K.

Effective March 29, 2021, the Company and Emerging Growth reached an agreement whereby the Company issued 1.75 million shares of its common stock with a value of $105,000 to Emerging Growth as payment for $105,000 in outstanding accrued interest on the Series B Preferred Stock through March 31, 2021.  The shares were issued under the exemption provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, as not involving a public offering.

On March 30, 2021, we entered into a new lease agreement with Emerging Growth for our premises in Whitefish, Montana, commencing April 1, 2021 for a period of three years at a rate of $4,500 per month, which lease contains an option for the Company to renew the lease for a period of one additional year at a monthly rent subject to a 3% increase.

PART III

The following table sets forth the names, ages and principal position of our executive officers and directors as of December 31, 2020:

Brian Ross. Mr. Ross has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer and director since November 2005, and as our Chairman of the Board since March 2013. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Business Development for iMall, Inc. from 1994 and became Director of Investor Relations in June 1997. iMall, Inc. was acquired by Excite@Home in October 1999. Mr. Ross then served as a Business Development Manager in Excite@Home’s E-Business Services Group until December 1999. After the sale of iMall, Mr. Ross was a founding investor of GreatDomains Inc. which was sold in October 2000 to Verisign. Between 2000 and 2003, he was Director of Business Development for Prime Ventures Inc., a leading Venture Partner firm focusing on early stage companies in Southern California. In July 2004, Mr. Ross became a founding investor in E-force Media, a diversified online marketing company where he acted as interim Director of Business Development. Mr. Ross attended UC Santa Barbara.

We believe that Mr. Ross is qualified to serve as a director for the following reasons: Mr. Ross, who is one of our founders, is an Internet industry veteran with over two decades of experience.  He has been our Chief Executive Officer for more than ten years and he has a proven track record with the aforementioned companies, which were all operating in online marketing solutions and e-commerce. Additionally, Mr. Ross has played an important role in the development and growth of various Internet companies, taking them from start-up companies through the various stages of their growth cycle.

Frank Lane. Mr. Lane was appointed as the President of CFN Media in June 2019 following our acquisition of the CFM Media assets from Emerging Growth, LLC, where he had been employed since 2012. Mr. Lane founded CFN Media in 2013. Mr. Lane has 15 years of experience working with capital markets specialists in both the U.S. and Canada, including national exchanges, investment bankers, institutional funders, brokers and agencies to deliver digital communications services to leading public and private companies across North America. Mr. Lane graduated with a BSEE and a minor in physics from Seattle University in 1989.

Mario Marsillo Jr. Mr. Marsillo has been a director since April 2014 and our Director of Corp Development since August 1, 2019. Mr. Marsillo was until June 30, 2019 the Managing Director of Private Equity for Network 1 Financial Securities Inc., or Network 1, a New Jersey based FINRA member firm offering a wide array of investment banking services and has been with Network 1 since 2010. Prior to his association with Network 1, Mr. Marsillo acquired Skyebanc, Inc., a registered broker dealer, with a specialty towards private equity, and served as its Vice President of Private Equity and Business Development. Mr. Marsillo currently holds the Series 7, 63 79, and 24 FINRA qualifying examinations. Mr. Marsillo attended the City University of New York.

We believe Mr. Marsillo is qualified to serve as a director because Mr. Marsillo is a sophisticated businessman with investment banking and private equity experience, was an early investor in us and has previously assisted us in raising capital.

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Code of Ethics

We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct Ethics that applies to the registrant's principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions. We will provide a copy of our Code of Ethics, free of charge, upon request.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors has not yet established any committees, including an Audit Committee, a Compensation Committee or a Nominating Committee. The typical functions of such committees are currently being undertaken by our Board of Directors.

Audit Committee Financial Expert

Currently no member of our Board of Directors is an audit committee financial expert.

The following table sets forth, for the last two completed fiscal years, all compensation paid, distributed or accrued for services rendered to us by (i) all individuals serving as our principal executive officer or acting in a similar capacity during the last completed fiscal year, regardless of compensation level; and (ii) our two most highly compensated executive officers, other than the principal executive officer, who were serving as executive officers at the end of the last completed fiscal year and whose total compensation exceeded $100,000:

Summary Compensation Table

We have no plans or arrangements with respect of remuneration received or that may be received by our executive officers named in the table above to compensate such officers in the event of termination of employment (as a result of resignation, retirement or change of control) or a change of responsibilities following a change of control, except if we elect to terminate Mr. Ross’ employment without cause during the term of his respective employment agreement as described below, each shall be entitled to a severance payment of the greater of the remaining payments due on the term of the agreement or an annual base salary of one year, and all unvested options, bonuses and other compensation shall vest on the date of termination. 

Employment Agreements

We have written employment agreements with all of our employees. The main terms of the executive employment agreements of Brian Ross, our Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Frank Lane, our President of CFN Media, are summarized below.

Mr. Ross’ employment agreement, as amended, was effective as of November 9, 2012, and continues until the earlier of June 30, 2021 or its earlier termination or expiration. Under the agreement Mr. Ross is entitled to an annual base salary of $275,000. Mr. Ross is entitled to an annual raise of three percent and additional annual raises and bonuses at the discretion of our Board of Directors. Any bonuses awarded will not exceed thirty percent of Mr. Ross’s base salary. If we do not make monthly salary payments during the term of his employment, such salary will accrue without interest. Mr. Ross is entitled to other

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benefits, including, reimbursement for reasonable business expenses and health insurance premiums. In addition, in 2007 and 2012, Mr. Ross was granted non-qualified stock options to purchase up to an aggregate of 5,100,000 of our shares, of which 3,100,000 are exercisable at December 31, 2017. The employment agreement may be terminated by us without cause upon 30-days prior written notice. If we elect to terminate Mr. Ross’s employment without cause during the term of his employment, he shall be entitled to a severance payment of the greater of the remaining payments due on the term of the agreement or an annual base salary of one year and all unvested options, bonuses and other compensation shall vest on the date of termination. We may also terminate the agreement and Mr. Ross’s employment upon his illness or disability for a continuous period of more than 45 days, his death or for cause. The agreement contains customary confidentiality and assignment of work product provisions.

Mr. Lane’s employment agreement was effective as of June 21, 2019. Mr. Lane’s employment with us is at will. Mr. Lane is entitled to an annual base salary of $230,000. Mr. Lane is also entitled to other customary benefits including reimbursement for reasonable business expenses and payment of health insurance premiums. The agreement contains customary confidentiality and assignment of work product provisions.

Pension, Retirement or Similar Benefit Plans

There are no arrangements or plans in which we provide pension, retirement or similar benefits for directors or executive officers. Our directors and executive officers may receive stock options at the discretion of our Board in the future.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End

The following table presents the outstanding equity awards held as of December 31, 2020 by our Executive Officers.

Director Compensation 

There was no director’s compensation paid during the year ended December 31, 2020.

As of December 31, 2020, we had 104,792,209 shares of our Common Stock issued and outstanding. The following, table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our Common Stock as of March 31, 2021 by:

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Securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans. 

The table below provides information regarding all compensation plans as of the end of the most recently completed fiscal year (including individual compensation arrangements) under which equity securities of the registrant are authorized for issuance.  Our stock option plan, or the Plan, was adopted effective as of December 15, 2006 and options may be granted under the Plan through December 14, 2016; the Plan is now expired.  The Plan was amended effective as of May 17, 2006, May 5, 2011, and May 27, 2012 to increase the number of shares available under the Plan for non-qualified stock options from 4,300,000 to 22,500,000. The Plan was amended effective May 24, 2012 to increase the number of options that may be granted in any year to any optionee from 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 shares. The Plan permitted the grant of both incentive stock options (if our shareholders approve the plan) and non-qualified stock options. In addition, in 2014, we issued warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 5,050,000 shares of our Common Stock to certain of our executive officers as individual compensation arrangements.

Related Person Transactions

None.

Director Independence

As our Common Stock is currently quoted on the OTCQB Marketplace, we are not subject to the rules of any national securities exchange which require that a majority of a listed company’s directors and specified committees of the Board of Directors meet independence standards prescribed by such rules. We believe that none of our directors would qualify as "independent" if we were subject to the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The following table summarizes the fees of RBSM LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm billed for each of the last two fiscal years for audit services and other services:

(1) Consists of fees billed for professional services rendered in connection with the audit of our annual financial statements, review of our Form 10-K, review of our interim financial statements included in our Form 10-Q and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with year-end statutory and regulatory filings or engagements.

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(2) Consists of fees billed for professional services for our tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.

We do not have an Audit Committee. Our Board of Directors pre-approves all auditing services and permissible non-audit services provided to us by our independent registered public accounting firm. All fees listed above were pre-approved in accordance with this policy. 

PART IV

All other schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulations of the SEC are not required under the related instructions, or are inapplicable, and therefore have been omitted.

24

25

*     Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

**   Filed herewith.

*** Furnished herewith.

None. 

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Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

CFN ENTERPRISES INC.

By:    /s/ Brian Ross

Brian Ross

President and Chief Executive Officer

Date: March 31, 2021

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

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CFN ENTERPRISES INC. 

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019

Index to Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedules

The following consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedules are included on the pages indicated:

F-1

To the Board of Directors and
Stockholders of CFN Enterprises, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of CFN Enterprises, Inc. and Subsidiary (the Company) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, changes in stockholders’ deficit, and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the financial statements). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

The Company's Ability to Continue as a Going Concern

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations and will require additional capital to continue as a going concern.  This raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans regarding these matters are also described in Note 1. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

F-2

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

Critical audit matters are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. We determined that there were no critical audit matters.

F-3

CFN ENTERPSISES INC.

F-4

CFN ENTERPRISES INC.

F-5

CFN ENTERPRISES INC. 

F-6

CFN ENTERPRISES INC.

From January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020

F-7

CFN ENTERPRISES INC.

F-8

CFN ENTERPRISES INC.

December 31, 2020 and 2019

NOTE 1: ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Organization

CFN Enterprises Inc., formerly known as Accelerize Inc., or the Company, is a Delaware corporation incorporated on November 22, 2005 which owned and operated CAKE, a Software-as-a-Service platform providing online tracking and analytics solutions for advertisers and online marketers. The Company provided software solutions for businesses interested in expanding their online advertising spend. Effective October 22, 2019, the Company filed a certificate of amendment to its certificate of incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware to change its corporate name to CFN Enterprises Inc.

On May 15, 2019, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement, or the Asset Purchase Agreement, with CAKE Software, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a subsidiary of Constellation Software Inc., an Ontario, Canada corporation (TSX: CSU), or Constellation, pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell substantially all of the assets associated with its CAKE and Journey by CAKE business, or the CAKE Business, to Constellation for a base purchase price of $19,400,000 plus or minus an estimated closing date adjustment based on the net tangible assets of the CAKE Business at the closing, a holdback of $500,000 adjusted pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement and payable on the first anniversary of the closing date, and a three year earnout equal to 30% of the amount that the annual net revenue of the CAKE Business exceeds $13,750,000 and payable within 120 days on each of the first, second and third end of month anniversaries of the closing date. The sale of the assets of the CAKE Business pursuant to the Asset Purchase Agreement closed on June 18, 2019, and the Company received proceeds of $20,892,667, net of the estimated closing date adjustment.

As of the closing date, Constellation acquired all of the assets used by the Company in the CAKE Business and assumed the Company’s post-closing obligations under certain vendor, customer and other commercial contracts related to the CAKE Business, including the Company’s lease for its headquarters in Newport Beach, California. The Company’s cash and cash equivalents, and the assets associated with its Accelerize trademark, are excluded from the sale of the CAKE Business. Constellation offered employment to certain of the Company’s employees following the closing date.