Professional Diversity Network, Inc. - Annual Report: 2019 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019

or

For the transition period from ________ to________

Commission file number: 001-35824

Professional Diversity Network, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

(312) 614-0950

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Yes [  ] No [X]

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
Yes [  ] No [X]

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes [X] No [  ]

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K [X]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check One):

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

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

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on June 28, 2019, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $8,202,979 (based on a price per share of $2.51, the price at which the common shares were last sold as reported on the NASDAQ Capital Market on such date).

There were 10,925,859 shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock as of May 1, 2020.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

PROFESSIONAL DIVERSITY NETWORK, INC.

FORM 10-K

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROFESSIONAL DIVERSITY NETWORK, INC.

PART I

Unless we specify otherwise, all references in this annual report on Form 10-K (the “Annual Report”) to “PDN,” “the Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Professional Diversity Network, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. This discussion contains forward-looking statements, which are based on our assumptions about the future of our business. Our actual results will likely differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Please read “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for additional information regarding forward-looking statements used in this Annual Report.

ITEM 1 - BUSINESS

Overview

The Company is a dynamic operator of professional networks with a focus on diversity. We use the term “diversity” (or “diverse”) to describe communities, or “affinities,” that are distinctly based on a wide array of criteria which may change from time to time, including ethnic, national, cultural, racial, religious or gender classification. We serve a variety of such communities, including Women, Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Disabled, Military Professionals, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT). Our goal is (i) to assist our registered users and members in their efforts to connect with like-minded individuals, identify career opportunities within the network and (ii) connect members with prospective employers while helping the employers address their workforce diversity needs. We believe that the combination of our solutions allows us to approach recruiting and professional networking in a unique way and thus create enhanced value for our members and clients.

On November 7, 2016, we consummated the issuance and sale of 1,777,417 shares of our common stock, par value $0.01 per share, to Cosmic Forward Limited (“CFL”), a Republic of Seychelles company wholly-owned by four Chinese investors. In January 2017, CFL purchased additional 312,500 shares from the Company, and immediately after such transaction CFL owned approximately 54.6% of the Company. In November 2019, CFL purchased additional 1,142,857 shares through a private stock transfer from an existing shareholder to enhance its ownership to approximately 31.5%, and as of the date of report CFL remains as the largest shareholder of the Company.

On December 1, 2016 our Board of Directors (“Board”) authorized the proper officers of the Company to take all action required to create subsidiaries in both Hong Kong and China in order to facilitate expansion of the Company’s business into China. In January of 2017, the Company established two Hong Kong subsidiaries, PDN (Hong Kong) International Education Ltd and PDN (Hong Kong) International Education Information Co., Ltd, and in March of 2017 the Company established its China subsidiary, PDN (China) International Culture Development Co. Ltd. (“PDN China”). In November of 2017, Jiangxi PDN Culture Media Co., Ltd became a consolidated variable interest entity controlled by the Company. Through these entities, we started to execute our strategic plan to build in China an entirely new networking, training and education businesses led by our former Chairman and CEO, Mr. Maoji (Michael) Wang.

On November 25, 2019, PDN China received a Seizure Decision Notice (the “Notice”) from the Yuexiu District Branch of the Police Department of Guangzhou City, PRC. The Notice stated that it is necessary to seize the assets of PDN China in connection with the criminal investigation of alleged illegal public fund raising by Gatewang Group, a separate company organized under the laws of the People’s Republic of China (“Gatewang”). At a meeting held on November 27, 2019, the Board resolved to establish a special committee (the “Special Committee”) of the Board, consisting of Ms. Courtney Shea, Mr. Michael Belsky and Mr. Haibin Gong, being all the members of the Board not appointed by CFL, to lead an independent investigation (the “Investigation”) of the Company’s operations in China, the recent resignation of the Company’s former Chairman and CEO, Mr. Maoji (Michael) Wang, the Seizure Decision Notice and related events and activities as the Special Committee deems appropriate. On December 12, 2019 the Special Committee engaged the law firm of King & Wood Mallesons LLP (“KWM”) to assist the Special Committee in connection with the Special Committee’s investigation of the Company’s operations in the People’s Republic of China and related events, in collaboration with the Company’s external auditor Ciro E. Adams CPA LLC.

The Investigation was concluded on April 16, 2020, and based upon the information obtained the investigation team did not find any evidence that the Company or PDN China has engaged in the alleged illegal fund-raising by Gatewang. The Company’s operations in China have been suspended since December 2019. On March 4, 2020 the Board decided to discontinue all of the Company’s operations in the People’s Republic of China. The results of China operations are presented in the attached consolidated income statements as net loss from discontinued operations. Please see “Business – Recent Developments” for more details.

The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) suspended the trading of the Company’s common stock after the Company notified Nasdaq of the receipt of the Notice. On January 2, 2020, the Company received a letter from Nasdaq stating that since the Company had not yet held an annual meeting of shareholders within twelve months of the end of the Company’s fiscal year end of 2018, it no longer complied with Nasdaq’s Listing Rules (the “Listing Rules”) for continued listing. The letter further stated that under the Listing Rules the Company had 45 calendar days to submit a plan to regain compliance and if Nasdaq accepts such plan, it can grant an exception of up to 180 calendar days from the fiscal year end, or until June 29, 2020, to regain compliance. As described in the Company’s 8-K filed on December 2, 2019, the Board of Directors decided to postpone the Company’s 2019 shareholder meeting pending the results of the Investigation. Since the Special Committee has concluded the Investigation, the Company plans to nominate a slate of directors to stand for election/reelection at the ‎combined 2019 and 2020 annual meeting, which is expected to take place in June 2020.‎ The Company has been communicating with Nasdaq with respect to the Investigation and intends to submit a plan to Nasdaq to regain compliance as soon as possible. Please see “Business – Recent Developments” for more details.

Our Strategy

Since November 2016, we began our efforts to leverage PDN’s assets to maximize profitability, beginning with refining operations and enhancing sales in order to transform the Company from historical losses to future profits. The Company currently provides services for employers’ who want to hire diverse talent, to individuals seeking to network on a professional level and to job seekers who desire to improve their professional situation.

The core diversity recruitment business expanded in 2017 to include executive placement services for leading companies seeking to hire diverse talent. This new business line addresses a need for employers who want to secure leading diverse talent in management, senior management and executive capacities. Initial efforts have been focused on securing talent in digital transformation and finance. Our diversity recruitment business provides additional value for our other business segments by providing our registered users and members with access to employment opportunity at leading companies.

Our strategy encompasses the following key elements:

Industry Overview

The diversity recruitment market is highly fragmented and is characterized by the following trends:

Our Solutions

We currently operate in two business segments: (i) Professional Diversity Network (“PDN Network”), which includes online professional networking communities with career resources tailored to the needs of various diverse cultural groups and (ii) National Association of Professional Women (“NAPW Network”), a women-only professional networking organization. In 2019, our PDN Network, and NAPW Network represented 54%, and 46% of our revenues, respectively. In 2018, we started transacting new memberships under the International Association of Women brand in the USA.

For financial information about our operating segments please see Note 17 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report.

NAPW Networking

The NAPW Network is a professional networking organization for women, with approximately 949,000 paid and unpaid members as of December 31, 2019. We use the term “member” to describe a consumer who has viewed our marketing material, opted into membership with the NAPW Network, provided demographic information and engaged in an onboarding call with a membership coordinator. Paid memberships provide greater access to networking opportunities and other membership perks, including access to upgraded packages. We believe NAPW Network is the most prominent women-only professional networking organization in the United States. Members of the NAPW Network enjoy a wealth of resources dedicated to developing their professional networks, furthering their education and skills and promoting their businesses and career accomplishments.

We provide NAPW Network members with opportunities to network and develop valuable business relationships with other professionals through NAPW’s website, as well as at events hosted at approximately 100 local chapters across the United States. PDN Network products and services are being deployed to provide enhanced value to the NAPW membership experience, which we believe will be an important component in increasing both the number of new memberships and renewals of existing memberships.

NAPW eChapter. NAPW operates a series of virtual national chapter meetings, The events are held online monthly, and include presentations by guest speakers including NAPW management, chapter presidents, or prominent members, and a panel discussion often including NAPW members on topics focused on inspiring professional women to tackle and overcome challenges encountered in their careers and businesses. Topics are aligned with NAPW’s content strategy and include discussions on finding and igniting your passion, turning passion into opportunity, building confidence and professional growth through taking on new challenges. The on-line events also include the opportunity for members to network with other participants in the live chat room. The events often attract approximately 1,000 registrants and 300-350 participants. We define registrants as those who enroll in an eChapter meeting but for some reason fail to attend, and participants as those who both enroll and attend. We track registrants, though they do not attend, because they are an indicator of our marketing reach and membership engagement.

NAPW eCoaching. NAPW also operates a monthly virtual coaching event, where members who are personal and professional coaches provide participants with insight and tips on how to overcome career and business challenges. Hosted by professional staff or NAPW’s National Director of Local Chapters, our unique virtual coaching platform connects our members with professional life and career coaches from within the NAPW membership base. Through this event, members gain insight, guidance and inspiration to help them maximize their personal and professional potential. Topics include the Power of Intentionality - Turning Good Intentions Into Actions, The Power of Authentic Communication, and Confident Steps To Create a Thriving Life. The on-line events also include the opportunity for members to network with other participants in the live chat room. The events have attracted approximately 800 - 1,000 registrants and 250 - 300 participants.

Professional Identity Management. Through the NAPW Network website, NAPW Network members are able to create, manage and share their professional identity online and promote themselves and their businesses. NAPW Network members can also promote their career achievements and their businesses through placement on the NAPW Network website’s home page, in proprietary press releases, in the online Member Marketplace and in monthly newsletter publications. In addition, the PDN Network provides members with direct access to employers seeking to hire professional women at a high level of connectivity and efficiency. Our synergies enable us to match members with our employment partners and then converse with the member to confirm such member’s desire to take the position to which we matched them, confirm that member is qualified for the position and directly notify the employer about a member that we have qualified and confirmed has competed an application within the employer’s recruitment system.

Networking Events. Historically, NAPW Network’s offline networking opportunities included monthly local chapter events and a large National Networking Conference NAPW. In 2018, we held Power Networking event in Houston, Texas. We expect to continue to leverage the existing PDN Network events platform to host NAPW networking events in major markets around the nation. Because PDN Network networking career events are already being conducted we have the ability to add an additional event for NAPW at the same venue, one hour after the PDN Network event ends, at a substantially lower cost compared to hosting a stand-alone NAPW event. Employers who sponsor the PDN Network career networking events will have the opportunity to participate in the NAPW event and meet with members to discuss employment opportunities in what we believe is an inviting and upscale networking environment. We believe that providing the opportunity for NAPW Registered Users to meet, outside of the monthly local chapter events and the single national event, will add value to all NAPW Registered Users through allowing them to attend any or all of our PDN Network events. Non-members may also attend, subject to certain restrictions.

Access to Knowledge. In addition to networking and promotional opportunities, NAPW Network also provides to its members the ability to further develop their skills and expand their knowledge base through monthly newsletters, online and in-person seminars, webinars and certification courses.

Upgraded Memberships and Ancillary Products. Upgraded packages include additional promotional and publicity tools as well as free access for the member and a guest to the National Networking Summits and continuing education programs; the press release package, which provides members with the opportunity to work with professional writers to publish personalized press releases and thereby secure valuable online presence; and the registry product, which allows members to create a durable, historical record chronicling their career achievements.

Partner Discounts. We also offer to NAPW Network members exclusive discounts on third-party products and services.

IAW Global Women’s Network. This network offers in-person networking with like-minded women to foster enhanced career connections and opportunities. Members can promote their brands, identify new career opportunities, and build lasting relationships at monthly meetings and events. These interactive events allow members to improve their verbal resumes, expand their networks, and hear from inspiring speakers. Regional and National Conferences provide inspirational panels, unique networking opportunities, and the chance for members to promote their business or services. Our partners allow members to explore events outside the US and create opportunities to network with women around the world.

PDN Network

Recruitment Solutions. The PDN Network consists of several online professional networking communities dedicated to serving diverse professionals in the United States and employers seeking to hire diverse talent. We use the word “professional” to describe any person interested in the Company’s websites presumably for the purpose of career advancement or related benefits offered by the Company, whether or not such person is employed and regardless of the level of education or skills possessed by such person. Our networking communities harness our relationship recruitment methodology to facilitate and empower professional networking within common affinities. We believe that those within a common affinity often are more aggressive in helping others within their affinity progress professionally. We operate these relationship recruitment affinity groups within the following sectors: Women, Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Disabled, Military Professionals, Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT), and Students and Graduates seeking to transition from education to career.

As of December 31, 2019, the Company had approximately 10,837,000 registered users. We use the term “registered user” to describe a consumer who has affirmatively visited one of our properties, opted into an affinity group and provided us with demographic or contact information enabling us to match them with employers and/or jobs, and to sell them ancillary products and services. We expect that continued registered user growth of the PDN Network will enable us to further develop our list of online professional diversity networking and career placement solutions. We currently provide access to our PDN Network websites to registered users at no cost. The Company is exploring various partnerships with other service providers to increase their offerings to both job seekers and employers. Our goal is to use an asset light approach to provide quality products and services, to increase our value to those we serve and drive additional capital without significant capital investments. For example, we announced our partnership with Diverst, the leading provider of Diversity & Inclusion software. Leveraging our existing assets through relationships with other technology firms such as Diverst allows us to grow our relationships with employers without investing in sophisticated, proprietary resources.

We offer to large and medium employers seeking to diversify their employment ranks, and to third party recruiters (i) real-time solutions that deliver diverse talent, (ii) advertising and promotion of their job opportunities to our networks of diverse professionals and (iii) assistance with posting their job opportunities to career agencies in a manner compliant with the regulations and requirements of the Equal Employment Opportunity OFCCP, including those of state and local governments. Our recruitment advertising solutions promote hiring and retention success by providing job seekers with information that we believe allows them to look beyond a corporate brand, deeper into employers’ core values. We use sophisticated technology to deliver recruitment advertising using internet banner ads and email marketing targeted by geography and occupation, based upon data from our audiences’ profiles and job searches on our websites. As of December 31, 2019, we had approximately 1,000 companies utilizing our products and services.

Networking Events. In addition to online networking, our registered users can participate in several local and national events held across the United States, including monthly NAPW local chapter meetings, business expos, charitable events and other events developed specifically to facilitate face-to-face networking with other professionals. In 2019, we held several Career Networking Conferences. We have often scheduled NAPW Network events before or after PDN Career Networking Conferences in order to create opportunities for employers participating in the PDN Network events to receive exposure to more candidates. In addition, we derive new members for both our PDN Network affinities and NAPW Network membership roll from participation in the events, promote retention among paying NAPW Network members and derive goodwill and positive publicity for our corporate brands.

Career Fairs. Through our events business, a part of our PDN Network business segment, we produce premier face-to-face recruiting events we call Professional & Technical Diversity Career Fairs. The Company’s diversity events help employers connect with a new marketplace of diverse professionals. Our events are the only events of their type endorsed by leading organizations such as the NAACP, Urban League, BDPA and others. Participating employers range from Fortune 500 companies to federal, state and local agencies and from smaller employers to non-profit organizations, all of which seek a proactive approach to diversity recruiting. We also produce career fairs as part of high-profile national events such as the NAACP National Convention, the Urban League National Conference and HBCU sorority and fraternity conferences. Since 2017 we host and produce virtual career fairs serving veterans, women and STEAM professionals.

PDN(Hired). We use matching and targeting technology to match members with our partners on a renewing license basis, designed to provide the Company with increasing residual income as we add new partners and sell additional licenses. Though in its early stages, the PDN(Hired) product is a significant step towards increasing online sales in a scalable and residual manner. In 2017 we combined the functionality of these two products and relaunched them as PDN Quick. This product meets the increased demand of entry level and hourly workforce needs of our clients. The product is a solution for America’s shrinking unemployment rate which has decreased the amount of readily available hourly/part-time workers but driven demand higher for growing employers. The product has a unique Pay Only For Performance structure in which employers only pay when qualified and interested candidates are delivered directly to them for specific in-demand roles. The product utilizes SMS Texting technology to reach interested candidates which creates very little lag time and increased savings and efficiencies for both PDN and our clients. PDN Quick is offered to employers on a Cost Per Applicant (“CPA”) basis. This enables employers to pay only for applicants they receive, as opposed to a diversity outreach campaign that promotes job openings for a fixed amount based on the number of jobs offered and the duration of the job promotions.

PDN Diversity Placement. In 2018, the Company launched a diversity placement service that has initially focused on high demand positions in digital transformation and finance. We are currently recruiting for leading employers who pay a monthly license fee and a percentage of the first year’s annual salary plus bonus for candidates we source and they hire. We believe our superior brand positioning, large network of diverse talent and our vast employer relationships position us well for continued growth in this segment in 2020 and beyond.

Operations: Sales, Marketing and Customer Support

Sales and Marketing

We sell NAPW/IAW Network membership subscriptions offline through our NAPW/IAW Network sales force, which currently includes 4 sales professionals, all of whom sell initial membership services. We developed a secure, work-from-home technology along with a training and supervision platform aimed at reducing the overhead costs, increasing per-representative profitability, and offering our sales professionals flexible working arrangements. All sales representatives are capable of selling upgraded memberships and ancillary products.

Our PDN sales resources for recruitment and recruitment advertising products and services include a sales force with 7 sales professionals, third-party strategic partners who deliver employers with demand for our products, and technology, which facilitates e-commerce transactions. We market directly to employers and third-party recruiters. Our sales team uses a combination of telephone, email and face-to-face marketing, including personal visits to companies or their recruitment agencies, as well as appearances at industry and trade group events where diversity recruitment recruiters are in attendance. We have also formed strategic alliances with parties who are able to help extend our organic reach. In addition, we are developing purely online marketing channels to bring recruiters to us in bulk and use products based on a matching and targeting technology to facilitate sales. We have specialty units within our sales force dedicated to serving: (i) federal, state and local governments and companies and contractors who serve these governmental entities, (ii) small and medium sized businesses as defined by companies with less than 2,500 employees and (iii) large enterprises with greater than 2,500 employees.

Customer Support, Compliance and Testing

In addition to our sales professionals, we also employ support teams to provide customer support, compliance and testing. Our customer support teams work together to improve engagement with our members and to ensure a high degree of member satisfaction and retention. Our compliance team focuses on ensuring the integrity of the NAPW Network sales process. The team works closely with customer support and sales management to ensure that sales are conducted in an ethical manner and to identify sales representatives who would benefit from enhanced training. Our testing team consists of representatives who work with our Development and Executive teams to identify new lead-generation, sales and membership product opportunities, and to test those as well as new approaches to our current sales.

Our Strengths

We believe the following elements give us a competitive advantage to accomplish our mission:

We believe that the following elements give us a competitive advantage with respect to the NAPW Network:

Strategic Alliances

We consider our partner alliances to be a key value to our clients because it enables us to expand our job distribution and outreach efforts. We continue to expand our relationships with key strategic partners that we believe are valuable to our core clients, as noted in section “Our Strengths” above.

Operations: Geography

Our headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois, and houses our key executives, as well as many of our sales, marketing and IT personnel. We also have an office in Minnetonka, MN where our telesales team for our Events business is located. Websites for the PDN Network are hosted by Engine Yard. Engine Yard provides a robust and easy platform for our hosting needs, allowing us to scale up resources to meet our peak needs. It also allows us to quickly and easily deploy website updates. Our websites have backup and contingency plans in place in the event that an unexpected circumstance occurs.

We are in the process of winding down our offices in the People’s Republic of China, including an office in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, which also manages two other locations - Jiangxi and Beijing, China.

Intellectual Property

To protect our intellectual property rights, we rely on a combination of federal, state and common law rights, as well as contractual restrictions. We rely on trade secret, copyright and trademark rights to protect our intellectual property. We pursue the registration of our domain names and trademarks in the United States. Our registered trademarks in the United States include the “iHispano” mark with stylized logo, the “Black Career Network” mark with stylized logo, the “Professional Diversity Network” mark with our tagline “the power of millions for the benefit of one,” the name “National Association of Professional Women” and “NAPW,” and the name “International Association of Women” and “IAW.” We also own the copyrights to certain articles in NAPW publications. We strive to exert control over access to our intellectual property and customized technology by entering into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and contractors and confidentiality agreements with third parties in the ordinary course of our business.

Our efforts to protect our proprietary rights may not be successful. Any significant impairment of our intellectual property rights could adversely impact our business or our ability to compete. In addition, protecting our intellectual property rights is costly and time-consuming. Any unauthorized disclosure or use of our intellectual property could make it more expensive to do business and adversely affect our operating results.

Competition

We face significant competition in all aspects of our business. Specifically, with respect to our members and our recruitment consumer advertising and marketing solutions, we compete with existing general market online professional networking websites, such as LinkedIn and Monster Worldwide, Inc., as well as ethnic minority focused social networking websites, such as Black Planet and LatPro, and other companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter that are developing or could develop competing solutions. We also generally compete with online and offline enterprises, including newspapers, television and direct mail marketers that generate revenue from recruiters, advertisers and marketers, and professional organizations. With respect to our hiring solutions, we also compete with traditional online recruiting companies such as Career Builder, talent management companies such as Taleo, and traditional recruiting firms.

Larger, more well-established companies may focus on professional networking and could directly compete with us. Other companies might also launch new competing services that we do not offer. Nevertheless, we believe that our focus on diverse online professional networking communities and the number of registered users or members, as the case may be, overall and within each affinity that we serve, are competitive strengths in our market.

Government Regulation

We are subject to a number of federal, state and foreign laws and regulations that affect companies conducting business on the Internet. These laws are still evolving and could be amended or interpreted in ways that could be detrimental to our business. In the United States and abroad, laws relating to the liability of providers of online services for activities of their users and other third parties are currently being tested by a number of claims, including actions based on invasion of privacy and other torts, unfair competition, copyright and trademark infringement and other theories based on the nature and content of the materials searched, the advertisements posted or the content provided by users. Any court ruling or other governmental action that imposes liability on providers of online services for the activities of their users and other third parties could materially harm our business. In addition, rising concern about the use of social networking technologies for illegal conduct, such as the unauthorized dissemination of national security information, money laundering or supporting terrorist activities may in the future produce legislation or other governmental action that could require changes to our products or services, restrict or impose additional costs upon the conduct of our business or cause users to abandon material aspects of our service.

In the area of information security and data protection, many states have passed laws requiring notification to users when there is a security incident, or security breach for personal data, or requiring the adoption of minimum information security standards that are often unclear and difficult to implement. The costs of compliance with these laws are significant and may increase in the future. Further, we may be subject to significant liabilities if we fail to comply with these laws.

We are also subject to federal, state and foreign laws regarding privacy and protection of member data. We post on our websites our privacy policy and terms of use. Compliance with privacy-related laws may be costly. However, any failure by us to comply with our privacy policy or privacy-related laws could result in proceedings against us by governmental authorities or private parties, which could be detrimental to our business. Further, any failure by us to protect our members’ privacy and data could result in a loss of member confidence in us and ultimately in a loss of members and customers, which could adversely affect our business.

Because our services are accessible worldwide, certain foreign jurisdictions may claim that we are required to comply with their laws, including in jurisdictions where we have no local entity, employees or infrastructure.

Our direct marketing operations with respect to the NAPW Network are subject to various federal and state “do not call” list requirements. The Federal Trade Commission has created a national “do not call” registry. Under these federal regulations, consumers may have their phone numbers added to the national “do not call” registry. Generally, we are prohibited from calling anyone on that registry. In September 2003, telemarketers were granted access to the registry and are now required to compare their call lists against the national “do not call” registry at least once every 31 days. Telemarketers are required to pay a fee to access the registry. Enforcement of the “do not call” provisions began in late 2003, and the rule provides for fines of up to $16,000 per violation and other possible penalties. These rules may be construed to limit our ability to market our products and services to new customers. Further, we may incur penalties if we do not conduct our telemarketing activities in compliance with these rules.

Seasonality

Our quarterly operating results are affected by the seasonality of employers’ businesses. Historically, demand for employment hiring is lower during the first quarter and typically increases during the remainder of the year.

Employees

As of December 31, 2019, we had a total of 50 employees; 38 were full time employees in various U.S. locations and 12 full-time employees in China. We also regularly engage independent contractors to perform various services. As of December 31, 2019, we engaged 2 independent contractors. None of our employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We believe that we have good relationships with our employees.

Corporate History

We were incorporated in Illinois in October 2003 under the name of IH Acquisition, LLC and changed our name to iHispano.com LLC in February 2004. In 2007, we changed our business platform and implemented technology to become the operator of communities of professional networking sites for diverse professionals. In March 2012, we changed our name to Professional Diversity Network, LLC. In March 2013, we completed our initial public offering and converted from an Illinois LLC to a Delaware corporation. In September 2014 we acquired the NAPW Network through a merger of NAPW, Inc., a New York corporation (“Old NAPW”) with and into NAPW Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and our wholly-owned subsidiary (“Merger Sub”). Upon the closing of the merger under the Agreement and Plan of Merger, between Merger Sub, Old NAPW and Matthew B. Proman, the sole shareholder of Old NAPW, dated July 11, 2014 (the “Merger Agreement”), Old NAPW ceased to exist and Merger Sub continued as the surviving corporation, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, which was renamed to NAPW, Inc.

We started our operations in China in March 2017. We established two entities in Hong Kong, PDN (Hong Kong) International Education Ltd and PDN (Hong Kong) International Education Information Co., Ltd in January 2017, and the Company established its China subsidiary, PDN (China) International Culture Development Co. Ltd in March 2017. In November of 2017, Jiangxi PDN Culture Media Co., Ltd became a consolidated variable interest entity controlled by the Company. On March 4, 2020, the Board decided to discontinue all China operations. Please see “Business – Recent Developments” for more details.

Our principal executive offices are located at 801 W. Adams Street, Suite 600, Chicago, Illinois, 60607 and our telephone number is (312) 614-0950. Our website address is www.ipdnusa.com. References to our website addressed in this report are provided as a convenience and do not constitute, and should not be viewed as an incorporation by reference of the information contained on, or available through, the website. Therefore, such information should not be considered part of this report.

Recent Developments

On November 25, 2019, PDN China received a Seizure Decision Notice (the “Notice”) from the Yuexiu District Branch of the Police Department of Guangzhou City, the People’s Republic of China. The Notice stated that it is necessary to seize the assets of PDN China in connection with the criminal investigation of alleged illegal public fund raising by Gatewang Group (the “Gatewang Case”), a separate company organized under the laws of the People’s Republic of China (“Gatewang”), with which Mr. Maoji (Michael) Wang, the former Chairman and CEO of the Company (“Michael Wang”) is affiliated, who was subsequently held in custody by the local police department.

In response to such events, on December 12, 2019 the Board established the Special Committee to investigate the situation (the “Investigation”), and ‎retained the international law firm of King & Wood Mallesons (“KWM”) to assist the Special Committee in connection with the Special Committee’s investigation of the Company’s operations in the People’s Republic of China and related events, ‎ in collaboration with the Company’s external auditor Ciro E. Adams CPA LLC. KWM conducted research into public records in China, and interviewed the relevant divisions of the Public Security Bureau in China and any related witnesses in relation to the operations and specific transactions that had some relationship to the Gatewang entities. On April 16, 2020, based upon the information obtained, the investigation team concluded that it did not find any evidence that the Company or PDN China has engaged in the criminal activity of illegal fund-raising as alleged against Gatewang.

The Investigation also revealed that three entities and two ‎individuals (the “Payors”), who appeared to be related to Gatewang, collectively paid RMB 14.25 million to PDN China on behalf of ‎EGBT Foundation Ltd., a private placement investor that purchased ‎1,265,823 shares of our common stock (approximately 11.6%) in September 2019 (the “EGBT Transaction”)‎. To the knowledge of the Investigation team, the bank account holding the proceeds of ‎the EGBT Transaction is still frozen by the Chinese authorities, although the seizure of PDN ‎China’s assets by the local police had been lifted on March 23, 2020. Such funds may continue to be subject to the PRC government’s jurisdiction if the source of funds is actually (or perceived to be) connected to Gatewang, which will likely complicate the decision by the Chinese authorities to unfreeze PDN China’s bank account. If and when the bank account is unfrozen, the Company will consider whether the EGBT Transaction needs to be unwound or further documented to be in full compliance with applicable law.

The Company’s operations in China have been suspended since December 2019. On March 4, 2020 the Board decided to discontinue all of the Company’s operations in the People’s Republic of China, namely PDN (China) International Culture Development Co. Ltd.‎, a wholly owned subsidiary of ‎the Company, Jiangxi PDN Culture Media Co., Ltd. (“PDN Jiangxi”), a variable interest entity ‎‎controlled by of the Company‎, and the joint venture between PDN Jiangxi, Guangzhou ‎Zengcheng District Zhili Education ‎Training Center and Guangzhou Angye Education ‎Consulting Co. Ltd.‎

On March 31, 2020, the Company closed the private placement with Malven Group Limited, a company established under the laws of the British Virgin Islands (“Malven”), pursuant to which Malven purchased 1,939,237 shares (approximately 17.8%) of our common stock at $0.7735 per share for gross proceeds of $1,500,000. The Company’s management and board of directors are closely monitoring and actively assessing the situation and exploring other strategic alternatives.

The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) suspended the trading of the Company’s common stock after the Company notified Nasdaq of the receipt of the Notice. On January 2, 2020, the Company received a letter from Nasdaq stating that since the Company had not yet held an annual meeting of shareholders within twelve months of the end of the Company’s fiscal year end of 2018, it no longer complied with Nasdaq’s Listing Rules (the “Listing Rules”) for continued listing. The letter further stated that under the Listing Rules the Company had 45 calendar days to submit a plan to regain compliance and if Nasdaq accepts such plan, it can grant an exception of up to 180 calendar days from the fiscal year end, or until June 29, 2020, to regain compliance. As described in the Company’s 8-K filed on December 2, 2019, the Board of Directors decided to postpone the Company’s 2019 shareholder meeting pending the results of the Investigation. Since the Special Committee has concluded the Investigation, the Company plans to nominate a slate of directors to stand for election/reelection at the ‎combined 2019 and 2020 annual meeting, which is expected to take place in June 2020.‎ The Company has been communicating with Nasdaq with respect to the Investigation and intends to submit a plan to Nasdaq to regain compliance as soon as possible.

On April 2, 2020 the Company received another letter from Nasdaq stating that‎ the Company no longer complies with Listing Rules because it did not file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 (the “2019 10-K”) by the due date, March 30, 2020. The letter also stated that the Company has 60 calendar days to submit a plan to regain compliance and, if the plan is accepted by Nasdaq, Nasdaq can grant an exception of up to 180 calendar days from the due date, or until September 28, 2020, to regain compliance. The Company previously filed a Form 8-K on April 1, 2020 (the “Extension 8-K”) disclosing its inability to timely file the 2019 10-K by the original deadline of March 30, 2020 due to circumstances related to COVID-19 and seeking to rely on the SEC order dated March 4, 2020 (Release No. 34-88318) (the “SEC Order”) to extend the due date for the filing of its 2019 10-K until May 14, 2020 (45 days after the original due date). However, due to personnel change and other technical issues, the Extension 8-K was filed two days after the March 30, 2020 deadline for automatic extension under the SEC Order, and thus was not effective to obtain the automatic extension. Upon filing of this Annual Report, the Company believes that the deficiency should be adequately addressed.

ITEM 1A - RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes, before making an investment in our common stock. If any of the following risks are realized, our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business and Financial Condition

We have incurred net losses, our liquidity has been significantly reduced and we could continue to incur losses and negative cash flow in the future.

We recorded a net loss from continuing operations of approximately $2.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 and $13.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. Our revenues declined from $7.6 million to $5.0 million during 2019, however, our costs and expenses substantially decreased from $22.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2018, to $8.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2019. In addition, we used $3.3 million in cash flow from continuing operations during the year ended December 31, 2019. We will need to increase revenues and implement aggressive cost management to achieve profitability and positive cash flow from operations. Despite our efforts, including our restructuring and cost-cutting program, we may not achieve profitability or positive cash flow in the future, and even if we do, we may not be able to sustain being profitable.

Upon the investigation on the Gatewang Case, Yuexiu Police has frozen PDN China’s bank account. If the funds are frozen for a long time or the Board later decides to unwind the EGBT Transaction, we may face a cash shortage

The market for online professional networks is highly competitive, and if we are unable to compete effectively our sales and results of operations will suffer.

We face significant competition in all aspects of our business, and we expect such competition to increase, particularly in the market for online professional networks.

Our industry is rapidly evolving and is becoming increasingly competitive. Larger and more established online professional networking companies, such as LinkedIn or Monster Worldwide, may focus on the online diversity professional networking market and could directly compete with us. Rival companies or smaller companies, including application developers, could also launch new products and services that could compete with us and gain market acceptance quickly. Individual employers have and may continue to create and maintain their own network of diverse candidates.

We also expect that our existing competitors will focus on professional diversity recruiting. A number of these companies may have greater resources than we do, which may enable them to compete more effectively. For example, our competitors with greater resources may partner with wireless telecommunications carriers or other Internet service providers that may provide Internet users, especially those that access the Internet through mobile devices, incentives to visit our competitors’ websites. Such tactics or similar tactics could decrease the number of our visits, unique visitors and number of users and members, which would materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

Additionally, users of online social networks, such as Facebook, may choose to use, or increase their use of, those networks for professional purposes, which may result in those users decreasing or eliminating their use of our specialized online professional network. Companies that currently do not focus on online professional diversity networking could also expand their focus to diversity networking. LinkedIn may develop its own proprietary online diversity network and compete directly against us. To the extent LinkedIn develops its own network or establishes alliances and relationships with others, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially harmed. Finally, other companies that provide content for professionals could develop more compelling offerings that compete with us and adversely impact our ability to keep our members, attract new members or sell our solutions to customers.

If we do not continue to attract new members to the NAPW Network, or if existing NAPW Network members do not renew their subscriptions, renew at lower levels or on less favorable terms, or fail to purchase additional offerings, we may not achieve our revenue projections, and our operating results would be harmed.

In order to grow the NAPW Network, we must continually attract new members to the NAPW Network, sell additional product and service offerings to existing NAPW Network members and increase the level of renewals. Our ability to do so depends in large part on the success of our sales and marketing efforts. Unlike companies that provide more tangible products, the nature of our product and service offerings is such that members may decide to terminate or not renew their agreements because they do not see their cancellation as causing significant disruptions to their own businesses.

We must demonstrate to NAPW Network members that our product and service offerings provide them with access to an audience of influential, affluent and highly-educated women. However, potential members may not be familiar with our product and service offerings or may prefer other more traditional products and services for their professional advancement and networking needs. The rate at which we expand the NAPW Network’s membership base or increase its members’ renewal rates may decline or fluctuate because of several factors, including the prices of product and service offerings, the prices of products and services offered by competitors or reductions in their professional advancement and networking spending levels due to macroeconomic or other factors and the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of our offerings. If we do not attract new members to the NAPW Network or if NAPW Network members do not renew their agreements for our product and service offerings, renew at lower levels or on less favorable terms or do not purchase additional offerings, our revenue may grow more slowly than expected or decline.

We may not be able to successfully identify and complete sufficient acquisitions to meet our growth strategy, and even if we are able to do so, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of these acquisitions.

Part of our growth strategy is to acquire companies that we believe will add to and/or expand our service offerings.

Identifying suitable acquisition candidates can be difficult, time-consuming and costly, and we may not be able to identify suitable candidates or complete acquisitions in a timely manner, on a cost-effective basis or at all. Even if we complete an acquisition, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisition. Actual cost savings and synergies which may be achieved from an acquired entity may be lower than expected and may take a longer time to achieve than we anticipate. Our acquisitions have previously required, and any similar future transactions may also require, significant efforts and expenditures, in particular with respect to integrating the acquired business with our historical business. We may encounter unexpected difficulties, or incur unexpected costs, in connection with acquisition activities and integration efforts, which include:

If we fail to successfully complete the integration of an acquired entity, or to realize the anticipated benefits of the integration of an acquired entity, our financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We rely heavily on our information systems and if our access to this technology is impaired, or we fail to further develop our technology, our business could be significantly harmed.

Our success depends in large part upon our ability to store, retrieve, process and manage substantial amounts of information, including our database of our members. To achieve our strategic objectives and to remain competitive, we must continue to develop and enhance our information systems. Our future success will depend on our ability to adapt to rapidly changing technologies, to adapt our information systems to evolving industry standards and to improve the performance and reliability of our information systems. This may require the acquisition of equipment and software and the development, either internally or through independent consultants, of new proprietary software. Our inability to design, develop, implement and utilize, in a cost-effective manner, information systems that provide the capabilities necessary for us to compete effectively would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our direct sales strategy, which requires personal interaction with employers and third-party recruiters, may limit our ability to grow recruitment revenue and recruitment advertising revenue.

As part of our strategy to market our products and services directly to employers and third-party recruiters, we rely on our direct sales force for recruitment revenue and recruitment advertising revenue. We currently employ professionals in sales, sales support and marketing who are trained in selling our products and services. Since its creation in 2013, we have been optimizing the direct sales team and refining the manner in which our products and services are sold. While the Company made progress in growing its direct sales, we have not matured the sales force to the point of predictability, nor have we sold enough services to achieve profitability. There is no assurance that our direct sales strategy we will yield sufficient recruitment revenue and recruitment advertising revenue in the future.

We may not timely and effectively scale and adapt our existing technology and network infrastructure to ensure that our websites are accessible within an acceptable load time.

An element that is key to our continued growth is the ability of our members and other users that we work with to access any of our websites within acceptable load times. We call this website performance. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, website disruptions, outages and other performance problems due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors, capacity constraints due to an overwhelming number of users accessing our websites simultaneously, and denial of service or fraud or security attacks. In some instances, we may not be able to identify the cause or causes of these website performance problems within an acceptable period of time.

If any of our websites are unavailable when users attempt to access them or they do not load as quickly as users expect, users may seek other websites to obtain the information or services for which they are looking, and may not return to our websites as often in the future, or at all. This would negatively impact our ability to attract members and other users and increase engagement on our websites. To the extent that we do not effectively address capacity constraints, upgrade our systems as needed and continually develop our technology and network architecture to accommodate actual and anticipated changes in technology, our business, operating results and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

Our systems are vulnerable to natural disasters, acts of terrorism and cyber-attacks.

Our systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from catastrophic occurrences such as earthquakes, floods, fires, power loss, telecommunication failures, terrorist attacks, cyber-attacks and similar events. For systems which are not based in cloud storage, we have implemented a disaster recovery program, maintained by a third-party vendor, which allows us to move production to a back-up data center in the event of a catastrophe. Although this program is functional, it does not yet provide a real-time back-up data center, so if our primary data center shuts down, there will be a period of time that such website will remain shut down while the transition to the back-up data center takes place. Despite any precautions we may take, the occurrence of a natural disaster or other unanticipated problems at our hosting facilities could result in lengthy interruptions in our services. Although we carry cyber security insurance our claims may exceed the insurance coverage, and we may not be fully compensated by third party insurers in the event of service interruption or cyber-attack. Furthermore, our business may never recover from such an event.

If our security measures are compromised, or if any of our websites are subject to attacks that degrade or deny the ability of members or customers to access our solutions, members and customers may curtail or stop use of our solutions.

Our members provide us with information relevant to their professional networking and/or career-seeking experience with the option of having their information become public or remain private. If we experience compromises to our security that result in website performance or availability problems, the complete shutdown of our websites or the loss or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, our members may lose trust and confidence in us, and will use our websites less often or stop using our websites entirely. Further, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees, members or customers to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to our information or our members’ or customers’ information. Because the methods used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently, often are not recognized until launched against a target and may originate from less regulated and remote areas around the world, we may be unable to proactively address these methods or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any or all of these issues could negatively impact our ability to attract new members and increase engagement by existing members, cause existing members to close their accounts or existing customers to cancel their contracts, subject us to lawsuits, regulatory fines or other action or liability, thereby materially and adversely affecting our reputation, our business, operating results and financial condition.

The widespread adoption of different smart phones, smart phone operating systems and mobile applications, or apps, could require us to make substantial expenditures to modify or adapt our websites, applications and services.

The number of people who access the Internet through devices other than personal computers, including personal digital assistants, smart phones and handheld tablets or computers, has increased dramatically in the past few years and we believe this number will continue to increase. Each manufacturer or distributor of these devices may establish unique technical standards, and our services may not work or be viewable on these devices as a result. Furthermore, as new devices and new platforms are continually released, it is difficult to predict the problems we may encounter in developing versions of our services for use on these alternative devices and we may need to devote significant resources to the creation, support and maintenance of such devices. Our websites are designed using responsive technology and are built to provide a positive user experience on a user’s Internet device, whether a mobile phone, and tablet, laptop or personal computer. If we are slow to develop products and technologies that are compatible with such devices, we might fail to capture a significant share of an increasingly important portion of the market for our services.

If Internet search engines’ methodologies are modified or our search result page rankings decline for other reasons, our member engagement and number of members and users could decline.

We depend in part on various Internet search engines, such as Google, Bing and Yahoo!, to direct a significant amount of traffic to our websites. Our ability to maintain the number of visitors directed to our websites is not entirely within our control. Our competitors’ search engine optimization (“SEO”) efforts may result in their websites receiving a higher search result page ranking than ours, or Internet search engines could revise their methodologies in an attempt to improve their search results, which could adversely affect the placement of our search result page ranking. If search engine companies modify their search algorithms in ways that are detrimental to our new user growth or in ways that make it harder for our members to use our websites, or if our competitors’ SEO efforts are more successful than ours, overall growth in our member base could slow, member engagement could decrease, and we could lose existing members. These modifications may be prompted by search engine companies entering the online professional networking market or aligning with competitors. Our websites have experienced fluctuations in search result rankings in the past, and we anticipate similar fluctuations in the future. Any reduction in the number of users directed to our websites would materially harm our business and operating results. Our platform includes connectivity across the social graph, including websites such as Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter. If for any reason these websites discontinue or alter their current open platform policy it could have a negative impact on our user experience and our ability to compete in the same manner we do today.

Wireless communications providers may give their customers greater access to our competitors’ websites.

Wireless communications providers may provide users of mobile devices greater access to websites that compete with our websites at more favorable rates or at faster download speeds. This could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, operating results and financial condition. Creation of an unequal playing field in terms of Internet access could significantly benefit larger and better capitalized companies competing with us.

The effect of significant declines in our ability to generate revenue may not be reflected in our short-term results of operations.

We recognize revenue from sales of our hiring solutions over the life of a contract (typically 12 months) beginning the first month after the contract is signed. As a result, a significant portion of the revenue we report in each quarter is generated from agreements entered into during previous quarters. In addition, we may be unable to adjust our fixed costs in response to reduced revenue. Accordingly, the effect of significant declines in our ability to generate revenue may not be reflected in our short-term results of operations.

The reported number of our registered users is higher than the number of actual individual users, and a substantial majority of our visits are generated by a minority of our users.

The reported number of members in our networks is higher than the number of actual individual members because some members have multiple registrations, other members have died or become incapacitated, and others may have registered under fictitious names. Given the challenges inherent in identifying these accounts, we do not have a reliable system to accurately identify the number of actual members, and thus we rely on the number of members as our measure of the size of our networks. Further, a substantial majority of our members do not visit our websites on a monthly basis, and a substantial majority of our visits are generated by a minority of our members and users. If the number of our actual members does not meet our expectations or we are unable to increase the breadth and frequency of our visiting members, then our business may not grow as fast as we expect, which would materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

The existing global economic and financial market environment has had, and may continue to have, a negative effect on our business and operations.

Demand for our services is sensitive to changes in the level of economic activity. Many companies hire fewer employees when economic activity is slow. Following the financial crisis in 2008, unemployment in the U.S. increased and hiring activity was limited. Although the economy has begun to recover and unemployment in the U.S. has improved, if the economy does not continue to recover or worsens, or unemployment returns to high levels, demand for our services and our revenue may be reduced. In addition, lower demand for our services may lead to lower prices for our services. The volatility in global financial markets may also limit our ability to access the capital markets at a time when we would like, or need, to raise capital, which could have an impact on our ability to react to changing economic and business conditions. Accordingly, if the economy does not fully recover or worsens, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Our growth strategy may fail as a result of changing social trends.

Our business is dependent on the continuity of certain social trends, such as the increasing socialization of the Internet, the demographic trend towards women’s career advancement, the growing ethnic diversity of the United States population and labor force, a regulatory environment that promotes diversity in the workplace, the growing ethnic population’s spending power and the acceptance and growth of online recruitment and advertising. Some or all of these trends may change overtime. For example, increased privacy concerns may jeopardize the growth of online social and professional network websites. Furthermore, it is possible that people may not want to identify in online social or professional networks with a focus on diversity at all. Or alternatively, people who belong to more than one diversity group (such as Hispanic-American females, among others) may not be drawn to our websites, which singularly focus on one specific diversity group. Our strategy may fail as a result of these changing social trends, and if we do not timely adjust our strategy to adapt to changing social trends, we will lose members, and our business, operating results and financial condition would be materially and adversely affected.

The regulatory environment favorable to promoting diversity in the workplace may change.

Federal and state laws and regulations require certain companies engaged in business with governmental entities to report and promote diverse hiring practices. Repeal or modification of such laws and regulations could decrease the incentives for employers to actively seek diverse employee candidates through networks such as ours and materially affect our revenues.

If our member profiles are out-of-date, inaccurate or lack the information that users and customers want to see, we may not be able to realize the full potential of our networks, which could adversely impact our future growth.

We do not impose any selective or qualification criteria on membership and do not verify that any member of a particular Company website qualifies as a member of the ethnic, cultural or other group identified by that website. If our members do not update their information or provide accurate and complete information when they join our networks or do not establish sufficient connections, the value of our networks may be negatively impacted because our value proposition as diversity professional networks and as a source of accurate and comprehensive data will be weakened. For example, our hiring solutions customers may find that certain members misidentify their ethnic, national, cultural, racial, religious or gender classification, which could result in mismatches that erode customer confidence in our solutions. Similarly, incomplete or outdated member information would diminish the ability of our marketing solutions customers to reach their target audiences and our ability to provide research data to our customers. Therefore, we must provide features and products that demonstrate the value of our networks to our members and motivate them to add additional, timely and accurate information to their profile and our networks. If we fail to successfully motivate our members to do so, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Our business depends on strong brands, and any failure to maintain, protect and enhance our brands would hurt our ability to retain or expand our base of members, enterprises and professional organizations, or our ability to increase their level of engagement.

We have devoted significant resources to develop our brands, particularly NAPW. That brand is predicated on the idea that professional women will trust it and find value in building and maintaining their professional identities and reputations on the NAPW Network platform. Maintaining, protecting and enhancing all of our brands is critical to expanding the base of members for the NAPW Network and PDN Network and increasing their engagement with the product and services offerings of the Company, and will depend largely on our ability to maintain member trust, be a technology leader and continue to provide high-quality offerings, which we may not do successfully in the future. Despite our efforts to protect our brands and prevent their misuse, if others misuse any of our brands or pass themselves off as being endorsed or affiliated with the NAPW Network or the PDN Network, it could harm our reputation and our business could suffer. If members of any of our networks or potential members determine that they can use other platforms, such as social networks, for the same purposes as or as a replacement for the NAPW Network or the PDN Network, or if they choose to blend their professional and social networking activities, our brands and the business of the Company could be harmed. Members of any of our networks could find that new product or service offerings that are introduced are difficult to use or may feel that they degrade their experience with our organization, which could harm the reputation of the networks and the Company for delivering high-quality offerings. Our brands are also important in attracting and maintaining high performing employees. If we do not successfully maintain strong and trusted brands for our networks, our business can be materially and adversely affected.

Failure to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights could materially harm our business and operating results.

We regard the protection of our intellectual property as critical to our success. In particular, we must maintain, protect and enhance our brands. We strive to protect our intellectual property rights by relying on federal, state and common law rights, as well as contractual restrictions. In the ordinary course, we enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and contractors, and confidentiality agreements with parties with whom we conduct business in order to limit access to, and disclosure and use of, our proprietary information and customized technology platform. However, these contractual arrangements and the other steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property may not prevent the misappropriation of our proprietary information or deter independent development of similar technologies by others.

We pursue the registration of our domain names, trademarks and service marks in the United States and in certain locations outside the United States. Effective trademark, trade dress and domain names are expensive to develop and maintain, both in terms of initial and ongoing registration requirements and the costs of defending our rights. We are seeking to protect our trademarks and domain names, a process that is expensive and may not be successful.

Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights or determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights claimed by others. Any litigation of this nature, regardless of outcome or merit, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management and technical resources, any of which could adversely affect our business and operating results. We may incur significant costs in enforcing our trademarks against those who attempt to imitate our brands. If we fail to maintain, protect and enhance our intellectual property rights, our business and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

We process, store and use personal information and other data, which subjects us to governmental regulation, enforcement actions and other legal obligations or liability related to data privacy and security, and our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could materially and adversely affect our business.

We receive, store and process personal information and other member data, and we enable our members to share their personal information with each other and with third parties. There are numerous federal, state, local and foreign laws regarding privacy and the storing, sharing, use, processing, disclosure and protection of personal information and other member data, the scope of which are changing, subject to differing interpretations and may be inconsistent between countries or conflict with other rules. We generally comply with industry standards and adhere to the terms of our privacy policies and privacy-related obligations to third parties (including voluntary third-party certification bodies such as TRUSTe). We strive to comply with all applicable laws, policies, legal obligations and industry codes of conduct relating to privacy and data protection. However, it is possible that these obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our privacy policies, our privacy-related obligations to users or other third parties, or our privacy-related legal obligations, or any compromise of security that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of personally identifiable information or other member data, may result in governmental enforcement actions, litigation or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others and could cause our members and customers to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our business. Additionally, if third parties we work with, such as customers, vendors or developers, violate applicable laws or our policies, such violations may also put our members’ information at risk and could in turn have an adverse effect on our business.

Public scrutiny of Internet privacy issues may result in increased regulation and different industry standards, which could deter or prevent us from providing our current products and solutions to our members and customers, thereby materially harming our business.

The regulatory framework for privacy issues worldwide is currently in flux and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Practices regarding the collection, use, storage, transmission and security of personal information by companies operating over the Internet have recently come under increased public scrutiny. The U.S. government, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce, has announced that it is reviewing the need for greater regulation for the collection of information concerning consumer behavior on the Internet, including regulation aimed at restricting certain on-line tracking and targeted advertising practices. In addition, various government and consumer agencies have also called for new regulations and changes in industry practices.

Our business could be adversely affected if legislation or regulations are adopted, interpreted or implemented in a manner that is inconsistent with our current business practices or that require changes to these practices, the design of our websites, products, features or our privacy policy. In particular, the success of our business has been, and we expect will continue to be, driven by our ability to use the data that our members share with us in accordance with each of our website privacy policies and terms of use. Therefore, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected by any significant change to applicable laws, regulations or industry practices regarding the use or disclosure of data our members choose to share with us, or regarding the manner in which the express or implied consent of consumers for such use and disclosure is obtained. Such changes may require us to modify our products and features, possibly in a material manner, and may limit our ability to develop new products and features that make use of the data that our members voluntarily share with us.

Our business is subject to a variety of U.S. laws and regulations, many of which are unsettled and still developing and which could subject us to claims or otherwise materially harm our business.

We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States, including laws regarding data retention, privacy and consumer protection, which are continually evolving and developing. The scope and interpretation of the laws that are or may be applicable to us are often uncertain and may be conflicting. For example, laws relating to the liability of providers of online services for activities of their users and other third parties are currently being tested by a number of claims, including actions based on invasion of privacy and other torts, unfair competition, copyright and trademark infringement, and other theories based on the nature and content of the materials searched, the ads posted or the content provided by users. In addition, regulatory authorities are considering a number of legislative and regulatory proposals concerning data protection and other matters that may be applicable to our business. It is difficult to predict how existing laws will be applied to our business and the new laws to which we may become subject. See the discussion included in “Business – Government Regulation” beginning on page 12 of this Annual Report.

If we are not able to comply with these laws or regulations or if we become liable under these laws or regulations, we could be harmed, and we may be forced to implement new measures to reduce our exposure to this liability. This may require us to expend substantial resources or to discontinue certain solutions, which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the increased attention focused upon liability issues as a result of lawsuits and legislative proposals could materially harm our reputation or otherwise impact the growth of our business. Any costs incurred as a result of this potential liability could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are currently party to litigation and may in the future be subject to additional legal proceedings and litigation which may be costly to defend and could materially and adversely affect our business results or operating and financial condition.

We are currently party to litigation and may be party to additional lawsuits in the normal course of business. Results of the litigation to which we are a party cannot be predicted with certainty and there can be no assurance that this litigation will be resolved in our favor. These matters are described in more detail under the heading “Legal Proceedings.” Litigation in general is often expensive and disruptive to normal business operations. We may face in the future allegations and lawsuits that we have infringed the intellectual property and other rights of third parties, including patents, privacy, trademarks, copyrights and other rights. Litigation, particularly intellectual property and class action matters, may be protracted and expensive, and the results are difficult to predict. Adverse outcomes may result in significant settlement costs or judgments, require us to modify our products and features while we develop non-infringing substitutes or require us to stop offering certain features.

From time to time, we may face claims against companies that incorporate open source software into their products, claiming ownership of, or demanding release of, the source code, the open source software and/or derivative works that were developed using such software, or otherwise seeking to enforce the terms of the applicable open source license. These claims could also result in litigation, require us to purchase a costly license or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our solutions, any of which could have a negative effect on our business and operating results.

Our success depends in large part upon our management and key personnel. Our inability to attract and retain these individuals could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We are highly dependent on our management and other key employees. The skills, knowledge and experience of our management team, are critical to the growth of our business. In particular, Mr. Adam He, our Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, provides significant leadership in every aspect of our business operations and strategic direction. Mr. He is supported by a talented group of knowledgeable executives in business operations, sales and marketing, including Joseph Bzdyl our Executive VP of Operations. Our future performance will be dependent upon the continued successful service of members of our management and key employees. We do not maintain life insurance for any of the members of our management team or other key personnel. Competition for management in our industry is intense, and although we have entered into employment agreements with certain members of our management team, we may not be able to retain our management and key personnel or attract and retain new management and key personnel in the future, which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We have expanded our business into the Peoples’ Republic of China and Hong Kong, which could subject us to risks which could negatively affect our business.

Following the investment in our business by CFL, we expanded our business into China and Hong Kong, which may expose us to risks uniquely affecting the Chinese market. These risks include, among others, changes in economic conditions in China and Hong Kong (including consumer spending, unemployment levels and wage and commodity inflation), local consumer preferences, the regulatory environment, as well as increased media scrutiny of our business and industry, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and increased competition. In addition, any significant or prolonged deterioration in U.S.-China relations could adversely affect our China operations if Chinese consumers become reluctant to use our websites or become registered users or members of our networks. Chinese law may regulate the scope of our business conducted within China. Our business is therefore subject to numerous uncertainties based on the policies of the Chinese government, as they may change from time to time.

The Board decided on March 4, 2020 to discontinue all China operations.

In addition, the ongoing coronavirus outbreak emanating from China in December of 2019 has resulted in increased travel restrictions and extended shutdown of certain businesses in the region. We have suspended PDN most China businesses between January 25th and March 21st to comply with local city administration’s lock-down policy, these or any further political or governmental developments or health concerns could result in social, economic and labor instability. These uncertainties could have a material adverse effect on the continuity of our business and our results of operations and financial condition.

Regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the Internet in China may adversely affect our business, and we may be liable for information displayed on, retrieved from, or linked to our Internet websites.

The government of China has adopted certain regulations governing Internet access and the distribution of news and other information over the Internet. Under these regulations, Internet content providers and Internet publishers are prohibited from posting or displaying over the Internet content that, among other things, violates Chinese laws and regulations, impairs the national dignity of China, or is obscene, superstitious, fraudulent or defamatory as determined by the applicable Chinese regulatory authorities. Failure to comply with these requirements, even inadvertently, could result in the revocation of required licenses and the closure of our websites. The website operator may also be held liable for such prohibited information displayed on, retrieved from or linked to such website. In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has published regulations that subject website operators to potential liability for content included on their websites and the actions of users and others using their websites, including liability for violations of Chinese laws prohibiting the dissemination of content deemed to be socially destabilizing. The Ministry of Public Security has the authority to order any local Internet service provider, to block any Internet website maintained outside China at its sole discretion. Periodically, the Ministry of Public Security has stopped the dissemination over the Internet of information which it believes to be socially destabilizing. The State Secrecy Bureau, which is directly responsible for the protection of State secrets of the Chinese government, is authorized to block any website it deems to be leaking state secrets or failing to meet the relevant regulations relating to the protection of state secrets in the dissemination of online information. If we are determined to violate these regulations, even if the offending content is not generated by us, we could be subject to civil or criminal penalties, fines, revocation of our Internet service provider license and other penalties which could materially impair our operations and our ability to continue in business. As these regulations are subject to interpretation by the relevant authorities, it may not be possible for us to determine in all cases the type of content that could result in liability for us as a website operator. Further, to the extent that the regulations relate to information contained on a website regardless of whether the information is placed on the Internet by the website owner or by a third party, we may not be able to control or restrict the content of other Internet content providers linked to or accessible through our websites, or content generated or placed on our websites by our users, despite our attempt to monitor such content. To the extent that regulatory authorities find any portion of our content objectionable, they may require us to limit or eliminate the dissemination of such information or otherwise curtail the nature of such content on our websites, which may reduce our user traffic and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may be subject to significant penalties for violations of those regulations arising from information displayed on, retrieved from or linked to our websites, including a suspension or shutdown of our operations.

An occurrence of an uncontrollable event such as the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively affect our operations and financial results.

In recent years, there have been outbreaks of epidemics in various countries, including China. Recently, there was an outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) in China, which has spread rapidly to many parts of the world, including the U.S. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), which continues to spread throughout the U.S. and the world, as a pandemic. The outbreak is having an impact on the global economy, resulting in rapidly changing market and economic conditions. Similar to many businesses in the travel sector, our business has been materially adversely impacted by the recent COVID-19 outbreak and associated restrictions on travel that have been implemented. After Chicago placed ‘stay-at-home’ order effective March 21, 2020, the Company temporarily put all employees work remotely and cancelled several events. Since January 25, 2020, our PDN China offices had followed ‘stay-at-home’ order from China Department of Health and suspended most operations. After Illinois placed ‘stay-at-home’ order effective March 21, 2020, the Company temporarily put all employees work remotely and cancelled several events. These have had a materially adverse impact on the Company’s cash flows from operations and caused a liquidity crisis.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

We may be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market

On April 24, 2019, the Company received a letter from Nasdaq notifying the Company that it is not in compliance with the minimum stockholders’ equity requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1) requires listed companies to maintain stockholders’ equity of at least $2.5 million. In the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2018, the Company reported stockholders’ equity of $(1,110,788), which is below the minimum stockholders’ equity required for continued listing pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1). Further, as of April 24, 2019, the Company does not meet the alternatives of market value of listed securities or net income from continuing operations.

Through several rounds of private placement transactions, the shareholders’ equity of the Company as of September 16th, 2019 is $3,662,223. The Company believes that it has regained compliance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5550(b) as a result of the Private Placements.

On January 2, 2020, the Company received another letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC stating that since the Company has not yet held an annual meeting of shareholders within twelve months of the end of the Company’s fiscal year end, it no longer complies with Nasdaq’s Listing Rules (the “Listing Rules”) for continued listing. As described in the Company’s 8-K filed on December 2, 2019, the Board of Directors of the Company resolved to postpone the Company’s 2019 shareholder meeting pending the results of the independent investigation being conducted by the special committee of the Board with assistance from independent outside legal counsel and auditor. On March 6 2020, the Company submitted a plan to regain compliance and if Nasdaq accepts such plan, it can grant an exception of up to 180 calendar days from the fiscal year end, or until June 29, 2020, to regain compliance.

Nasdaq will continue to monitor the Company’s ongoing compliance and, if at the time of its next periodic report the Company does not evidence compliance, it may be subject to delisting. If we are delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market, we and our shareholders could face significant material adverse consequences including:

● a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

● a determination that our ordinary shares are a “penny stock,” which will require brokers trading in our ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules, possibly resulting in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our ordinary shares;

● a limited amount of analyst coverage; and

● a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

Our significant stockholder and our directors and executive officers have substantial control over the Company and could limit your ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including changes of control.

Cosmic Forward Limited (“CFL”) beneficially owned approximately 31.49% of our common stock as of March 31, 2020. As a result of its ownership CFL is able to influence significantly all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors. In addition, our directors and executive officers and their affiliated entities, in the aggregate, beneficially own approximately 1.37% of our outstanding common stock as of March 31, 2020. Stockholders other than these principal stockholders are therefore likely to have little influence on decisions regarding such matters. These stockholders may have interests that differ from yours, and they may vote in a way with which you disagree and that may be adverse to your interests. The concentration of ownership of our common stock may have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change of control of our Company, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their common stock as part of a sale of our Company and may affect the market price of our common stock. This concentration of ownership also limits the number of shares of stock likely to be traded in public markets and therefore will adversely affect liquidity in the trading of our common stock. This concentration of ownership of our common stock may also have the effect of influencing the completion of a change in control that may not necessarily be in the best interests of all of our stockholders.

The market price for our securities may be subject to wide fluctuations and the value of an investment in our common stock may decline.

The trading price of our common stock has been, and is likely to continue to be, volatile. Since shares of our common stock were sold in our initial public offering at a price of $64.00 per share, our stock price has ranged from $0.87 to $3.52 during the fiscal year of 2019. In addition to the factors discussed in this Annual Report, the trading price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:

The securities of technology companies, especially Internet companies, have experienced wide fluctuations subsequent to their initial public offerings, including trading at prices below the initial public offering prices. Factors that could affect the price of our common stock include risk factors described in this section. In addition, the securities markets have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to the operating performance of particular industries or companies. These market fluctuations may also have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

Substantial future sales of shares of our common stock could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of (i) substantial sales of our common stock, particularly sales by CFL and/or our directors, executive officers, employees, or other significant stockholders, (ii) a large number of shares of our common stock becoming available for sale, or (iii) the perception in the market that holders of a large number of shares intend to sell their shares. As a result of the consummation of the issuance and sale of 1,777,417 shares of our common stock to CFL in November 2016, and a subsequent issuance to CFL of an additional 312,500 shares in January 2017, and additional purchase of 1,142,857 shares from another shareholder in November 2019, CFL owns approximately 31.49% of our outstanding common stock as of March 31, 2020, with respect to which CFL has the right to require the Company to register the public resale under a registration statement filed with the SEC. The eventual resale of some or all of such shares, or the perception that such sale or sales could be imminent, could result in a material decline in the market value of our common stock. We have also filed a universal shelf registration statement on Form S-3, with the SEC on September 7, 2018, which was declared effective on September 18, 2018. This registration statement provides for the issuance of shares of our common stock, preferred stock, depositary shares, rights, warrants, units and debt securities up to an aggregate amount of $25,000,000.

In addition, the Company’s 2013 Equity Compensation Plan (the “2013 Plan”) was adopted for the purpose of providing equity incentives to employees, officers, directors and consultants including options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, other equity awards, annual incentive awards and dividend equivalents. The Company amended the 2013 Plan to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock under the Plan from 225,000 shares to 615,000 shares, which the Company’s stockholders approved on June 26, 2017. The Company further amended the 2013 Plan to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock under the Plan by 300,000 shares, which the Company’s stockholders approved and ratified on November 8, 2018. The Company is now authorized to issue 915,000 shares under the amended 2013 Plan. For more information about our 2013 Equity Compensation Plan, please see Note 14 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report. Finally, in February 2017 we registered the public resale of up to 246,445 shares of our common stock by White Winston Select Asset Funds LLC. This registration statement was declared effective on February 13, 2017.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our Company more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our common stock.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that:

These provisions may frustrate or prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an “interested” stockholder. Finally, because CFL holds a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock, CFL’s approval will be necessary to effect any change in control.

Our failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in material misstatements in our financial statements, which could require us to restate financial statements, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and could have an adverse effect on our stock price or our debt ratings.

Our management determined that as of December 31, 2019, our internal control over financial reporting had a material weakness related to deficiencies in controls over the application of complex accounting principles, timely and complete financial statement reviews and procedures to ensure all required disclosures are made in our financial statements. Specifically, (i) relevant operating information was not adequately used to develop accounting and financial information and served as a basis for reliable financial reporting, (ii) employees lacked full technical competence and training necessary for the nature and complexity of the entity’s activities, (iii) supporting analysis was not prepared for each nonroutine event or transaction that requires management’s judgement and/or estimate, and (iv) accounting procedures relevant to foreign subsidiaries were not sufficiently formal that management could determine whether the control objective is met, documentation supporting the procedures were in place, and personnel routinely knew the procedures that needed to be performed . During 2019, we completed certain measures to remediate material weaknesses related to our internal control over financial reporting that had been identified as of December 31, 2018. Specifically, we (i) improved segregation of duties within our accounting and financial reporting functions, (ii) improved GAAP training of internal staff, and (iii) engaged an outside consultant to assist the Company on complex GAAP matters. Although these measures greatly helped improve our internal controls, they did not fully remediate deficiencies in controls.

Additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting may be identified in the future. Any failure to maintain existing or implement required new or improved controls, or any difficulties we encounter in their implementation, or in remediating identified weakness, could result in additional control deficiencies, cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements. The existence of a material weakness could result in errors in our financial statements that could result in a restatement of financial statements and cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. If we are unable to effectively remediate material weaknesses in a timely manner, investors could lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could have an adverse effect on our stock price.

We have lost our “emerging growth company” status under the JOBS Act, which could increase the costs and demands placed upon our management.

We were deemed an emerging growth company until December 31, 2018. Since we have lost emerging growth company status, we expect the costs and demands placed upon our management to increase, as we would have to comply with additional disclosure and accounting requirements, particularly if our public float should exceed $250 million on the last day of our second fiscal quarter in any fiscal year following our initial public offering, which would disqualify us as a smaller reporting company.

We do not intend to pay dividends in the foreseeable future.

We do not intend to declare or pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We anticipate that we will retain all of our future earnings for use in the development of our business and for general corporate purposes. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investments.

You will have limited ability to bring an action against certain of our directors and officers, or to enforce a judgment against them, because the majority of our directors and officers reside outside the United States.

A significant number of our directors and officers reside outside the United States and substantially all of the assets of those persons are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against these individuals in China in the event that you believe your rights have been infringed under the applicable securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of China may render you unable to enforce a judgment against the assets of our directors and officers.

CFL holds participation rights and other rights that could affect our ability to raise funds.

Under our stockholders agreement with CFL and each of its shareholders, Maoji (Michael) Wang, Jingbo Song, Yong Xiong Zheng and Nan Nan Kou (collectively, the “CFL Shareholders”), we granted to CFL and the CFL Shareholders a participation right with respect to any future issuances of common stock by the Company, such that CFL and the CFL Shareholders may purchase an amount of shares necessary to maintain CFL’s then-current beneficial ownership interest, up to a maximum of 54.64% of our then-outstanding common stock, on a fully-diluted basis, subject to certain exceptions. This participation right could limit our ability to enter into equity financings and to raise funds from third parties.

In connection with the stockholders agreement with CFL and the CFL Shareholders, we also granted to CFL and the CFL Shareholders unlimited demand, shelf and piggyback registration rights, effective upon the expiration of CFL’s initial lock-up period, to require us to effect a registration under the Securities Act of a resale of the shares of common stock held by CFL. This may create the perception of a large number of shares of our common stock becoming available for sale or the perception in the market that holders of a large number of shares intent to sell their shares, especially if CFL were to exercise its registration rights, thereby potentially further limiting our ability to enter into equity financings and to raise funds from third parties.

Techniques employed by short sellers may drive down the market price of the Company’s common stock.

Short selling is the practice of selling securities that the seller does not own, but rather has borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical securities back at a later date to return to the lender. The short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the value of the securities between the sale of the borrowed securities and the purchase of the replacement shares, as the short seller expects to pay less in that purchase than it received in the sale. As it is therefore in the short seller’s best interests for the price of the stock to decline, many short sellers (sometime known as “disclosed shorts”) publish, or arrange for the publication of, negative opinions regarding the relevant issuer and its business prospects in order to create negative market momentum and generate profits for themselves after selling a stock short. While traditionally these disclosed shorts were limited in their ability to access mainstream business media or to otherwise create negative market rumors, the rise of the Internet and technological advancements regarding document creation, videotaping and publication by weblog (“blogging”) have allowed many disclosed shorts to publicly attack a company’s credibility, strategy and veracity by means of so-called research reports that mimic the type of investment analysis performed by large Wall Street firm and independent research analysts.

These short attacks have, in the past, led to selling of shares in the market, on occasion in large scale and broad base. Issuers who have limited trading volumes and are susceptible to higher volatility levels than U.S. domestic large-cap stocks can be particularly vulnerable to such short attacks.

Reports and information have been published about us which have occasionally been followed by a decline in our stock price. It is not clear what additional effects the negative publicity will have on the Company, if any, other than potentially affecting the market price of our common stock. Additionally, such allegations against the Company could negatively impact its business operations and stockholders’ equity, and the value of any investment in the Company’s stock could be reduced.

ITEM 1B - UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not applicable.

ITEM 2 - PROPERTIES

We lease approximately 11,454 square feet of space for our headquarters in Chicago, Illinois under a lease that expires on June 30, 2020. We also lease approximately 300 square feet of office space in Minnetonka, Minnesota for our Events division under a quarter-to-quarter lease.

We lease approximately 7,970 square feet office space in Guangzhou, China under a non-cancelable lease arrangement that provides for payments on a graduated basis through December 31, 2019, which is now under month by month basis.

We lease approximately 1,950 square feet of office space in Jiangxi Province, China under a non-cancelable lease arrangement that expired on January 30, 2020, which is now under month by month basis. The Company is in the process of terminating all office leases in China.

We believe that our current facilities are adequate to meet our current needs. We may expand our facilities or add new facilities as we add employees and enter new geographic markets, and we believe that suitable additional or alternative space will be available as needed to accommodate ongoing operations and any such growth. However, we expect to incur additional expenses in connection with such new or expanded facilities.

ITEM 3 - LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

In a letter dated October 12, 2017, White Winston Select Asset Funds (“White Winston”) threatened to assert claims against the Company in excess of $2 million based on White Winston’s contention that the Company’s conduct delayed White Winston’s ability to sell shares in the Company during a period when the Company’s stock price was generally falling. On April 30, 2018, White Winston filed a lawsuit, entitled White Winston Select Asset Funds, LLC v. Professional Diversity Network, Inc., No. 18-cv-10844, (the “Federal Action”) in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, asserting federal jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship. The four-count complaint in the Federal Action alleged that White Winston is entitled to recover compensatory damages of $1,708,233, plus attorneys’ fees, treble damages and other amounts. White Winston served the complaint on July 12, 2018, and the Company moved to dismiss the entire action for failure to state a claim. On October 15, 2018, prior to addressing the motion to dismiss, the Court issued an order noting that White Winston (which is a limited liability company) had failed to allege the citizenship of its members and ordered White Winston to show cause that complete diversity exists between the parties and that the Court had jurisdiction. On October 23, 2018, White Winston dismissed the Federal Action without prejudice. On December 18, 2018, White Winston filed a complaint in Massachusetts Superior Court in Suffolk County in Boston alleging the same claims and rights to relief as in the Federal Action. The Company has moved to once again to dismiss the complaint in its entirety for failure to state a claim. The entire motion package, comprised of the Company’s motion to dismiss and accompanying memorandum, White Winston’s opposition, and the Company’s reply brief, were filed with the court on Monday, March 25, 2019. This motion was not granted. We have since then substantially completed all of the discovery process and will begin expert witness disclosures. The Company denies liability for all claims.

NAPW is a defendant in a Nassau County (NY) Supreme Court case, whereby TL Franklin Avenue Plaza LLC has sued NAPW Case index No. LT-000421/2018, with respect to NAPW’s former Garden City NY Premises. NAPW had surrendered the Premises to the Landlord, and the Landlord is suing NAPW for the balance of the rent due under the Lease Term. The case is currently being litigated, and we are currently in the fact damages phase of the litigation.

The Company is a party to a proceeding captioned Gerbie, et al. v. Professional Diversity Network, Inc. (U.S. Dist. Ct., N.D. Ill.), a putative class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. A settlement has been reached and case has been dismissed by the court. The Company believes that its practices and procedures were compliant with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and admitted no fault.

The Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, NAPW, Inc., are parties to a proceeding captioned Deborah Bayne, et al. vs. NAPW, Inc. and Professional Diversity Network, Inc., No. 18-cv-3591 (E.D.N.Y.), filed on June 20, 2018 and alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and certain provisions of the New York Labor Law. The Company disputes that it or its subsidiary violated the applicable laws or that either entity has any liability and intends to vigorously defend against these claims. The matter is in the final stages of discovery and we have completed depositions of relevant witnesses. The potential financial impact on the Company is still uncertain at this point.

We are also generally subject to legal proceedings and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business.

ITEM 4 - MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5 - MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock has been listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “IPDN” since March 5, 2013. Prior to that date, there was no public trading market for our common stock.

On November 26, 2019 (the last trading day before the trading halt by NASDAQ), the closing price of our common stock was $ 0.91 per share.

Holders

As of May 1, 2020, we had 61 holders of record of our common stock. Since certain of our shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, the foregoing number is not representative of the number of beneficial owners of our common stock.

Dividends

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to use the net proceeds from any offerings of our securities and our future earnings, if any, to finance the further development and expansion of our business and do not intend or expect to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Payment of future cash dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors after taking into account various factors, including our financial condition, operating results, current and anticipated cash needs, outstanding indebtedness and plans for expansion and restrictions imposed by lenders, if any.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

During the 2019 fiscal year, the Company sold approximately 3.8 million ‎shares of its common stock in ‎return for approximately $6.6 million gross proceeds pursuant to several private placement transactions‎. The Company’s Form 8-Ks filed on June 14, August 6 and September 10, 2019 are incorporated herein by reference.

In addition, on March 31, 2020 the Company closed a private placement with Malven Group Limited, a company established under the laws of the British Virgin Islands (“Malven”), in connection with the purchase by Malven of 1,939,237 shares of our common stock at a price of $0.7735 per share for gross proceeds of $1,500,000. The Company’s Form 8-K filed on March 27, 2020 is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 6 - SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

Not applicable.

ITEM 7 - MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” in Part II of this Annual Report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements, which are based on our assumptions about the future of our business. Our actual results will likely differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Please read “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for additional information regarding forward-looking statements used in this Annual Report.

Overview

We are an operator of professional networks with a focus on diversity, employment, education and training. We use the term “diversity” (or “diverse”) to describe communities, or “affinities,” that are distinct based on a wide array of criteria, including ethnic, national, cultural, racial, religious or gender classification. We serve a variety of such communities, including Women, Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Disabled, Military Professionals, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+).

We currently operate in two business segments: (i) Professional Diversity Network (“PDN Network”), which includes online professional networking communities with career resources tailored to the needs of various diverse cultural groups and employers looking to hire members of such groups, and (ii) National Association of Professional Women (“NAPW Network”), a women-only professional networking organization. On March 4, 2020 the Board decided to discontinue all of the Company’s operations in the People’s Republic of China, ( “China Operations”), which focused on providing tools, products and services in China to assist women, students and business professionals in personal and professional development.

Our value proposition is simple: (i) we provide a robust online and in-person network for our women members to make professional and personal connections for our diverse audience of women: African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Veterans, individuals with disabilities and members of the gay community (with the ability to roll out to our other affinities); (ii) we assist our registered users, or members, in their efforts to connect with like-minded individuals and identify career opportunities within the network; (iii) we help employers address their workforce diversity needs by connecting them with the right candidates; and (iv) we leverage our U.S. expertise and China connections to deliver these values to China, one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for professional networking.

In 2019, our PDN Network and NAPW Network businesses represented 52% and 48% of our revenues, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, we had approximately 10.8 million registered users in our PDN Network and approximately 949,000 registered users, or members, in the NAPW Network. Included in 949,000 NAPW Network registered users, there were 6,000, and 13,000 paid members as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We believe that the combination of our solutions allows us to approach recruiting and professional networking in a unique way and thus create enhanced value for our members and customers.

On March 4, 2020, our Board of Directors (the “Board”) decided to discontinue all operations in China. The resolution approved by the Board does not contemplate a sale of the business unit or a sale of any assets to a third-party for its China operations, but to effectively cease operations, which will commence during the second quarter of 2020. Accordingly, all historical financial results associated with the China operations have been reclassified to discontinued operations and current and prior period financial results have been reclassified. China operations were previously disclosed as a reportable operating segment as “China Operations”.

Sources of Revenue

We generate revenue from (i) paid membership subscriptions and related services, (ii) recruitment services, (iii) product sales, (iv) education and training and (v) consumer advertising and consumer marketing solutions. The following table sets forth our revenues from each product as a percentage of total revenue for the periods presented. The period-to-period comparison of financial results is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Paid Membership Subscriptions and Related Services. Paid Membership Subscriptions and Related Services. We offer paid membership subscriptions through our NAPW Network, a women-only professional networking organization, operated by our wholly-owned subsidiary. Members gain access to networking opportunities through a members-only website at www.iawomen.com and “virtual” eChapter events which occur in a webcast setting as well as through in-person networking at approximately 100 local chapters nationwide, additional career and networking events such as the National Networking Summit Series, Power Networking Events and the PDN Network events. NAPW members also receive ancillary (non-networking) benefits such as educational discounts, shopping, and other membership perks. The basic package is the Initiator level, which provides online benefits only. Upgrades to an Innovator membership include the Initiator benefits as well as membership in local chapters, and access to live in-person events. The most comprehensive level, the Influencer, provides all the aforementioned benefits plus admission to exclusive “live” events and expanded opportunities for marketing and promotion, including the creation and distribution of a press release, which is prepared by professional writers and sent over major newswires. Additionally, all memberships offer educational programs with discounts or at no cost, based on the membership level. NAPW Membership is renewable and fees are payable on an annual or monthly basis, with the first fee payable at the commencement of the membership. NAPW Membership subscriptions represented approximately 99.8% and 99.6% of revenue attributable to the NAPW Network business segment for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

As part of the launch of IAW in the United States, the Company began to offer a monthly membership option in January 2018, in addition to an annual membership option. While this has increased the number of new members registering, membership revenue is received on a monthly rather than an annual basis. The new IAW is focused on delivering member benefits and providing value to those who join as paid members.

Recruitment Services. We provide recruitment services through PDN Network to medium and large employers seeking to diversify their employment ranks. Our recruitment services include recruitment advertising, job postings, semantic search technology and paid access to, and placement in, or advertising around our career and networking events. The majority of recruitment services revenue comes from job recruitment advertising. We also offer to businesses subject to the regulations and requirements of the Equal Employment Opportunity Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (“OFCCP”) our OFCCP compliance product, which combines diversity recruitment advertising with job postings and compliance services. For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, recruitment advertising revenue constituted approximately 94.6% and 90.7%, respectively, of the revenue attributable to the PDN Network business segment.

Product Sales. We offer to new purchasers of our NAPW memberships the opportunity to purchase a commemorative wall plaque at the time of purchase. They may purchase up to two plaques at that time. Product sales represented approximately 0.2% and 0.4% of revenue attributable to the NAPW Network business segment for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Consumer Advertising and Consumer Marketing Solutions. We work with partner organizations to provide them with integrated job boards on their websites which offer their members or customers the ability to post recruitment advertising and job openings. We generate revenue from fees charged for those postings. For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, consumer advertising and marketing represented approximately 5.4% and 9.3%, respectively, of the revenue attributable to the PDN Network business segment.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue primarily consists of costs of producing job fair and other events, revenue sharing with partner organizations, costs of web hosting and operating our websites for the PDN Network. Costs of producing wall plaques, hosting member conferences and local chapter meetings are also included in the cost of revenue for NAPW Network.

Key Metrics

We believe that one of the key metrics in evaluating and measuring our performance is the number of registered users. We define the number of registered users as (i) the number of individual job seekers who affirmatively visited one of PDN Network’s properties, opted into an affinity group and provided us with demographic or contact information enabling us to match them with employers and/or jobs (PDN Network registered users); and (ii) the number of consumers who have viewed our marketing material, opted into membership in the NAPW Network, provided demographic information and engaged in an onboarding call with a membership coordinator (NAPW Network registered users). We believe that a higher number of registered users will result in increased sales of our products and services, as customers will have access to a larger pool of professional talent. However, a higher number of registered users will not immediately translate to increased revenue, as there is a lag between the time we acquire a registered user through our lead-generation process and the time we generate revenue from a registered user by selling them one of our paid products or services.

The following table sets forth the number of registered users as of the periods presented:

Non-GAAP Financial Measure

Adjusted EBITDA

We believe Adjusted EBITDA provides a meaningful representation of our operating performance that provides useful information to investors regarding our financial condition and results of operations. Adjusted EBITDA is commonly used by financial analysts and others to measure operating performance. Furthermore, management believes that this non-GAAP financial measure may provide investors with additional meaningful comparisons between current results and results of prior periods as they are expected to be reflective of our core ongoing business. However, while we consider Adjusted EBITDA to be an important measure of operating performance, Adjusted EBITDA and other non-GAAP financial measures have limitations, and investors should not consider them in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Further, Adjusted EBITDA, as we define it, may not be comparable to EBITDA, or similarly titled measures, as defined by other companies.

The following table provides a reconciliation of net loss from continuing operations to Adjusted EBITDA, the most directly comparable GAAP measure reported in our consolidated financial statements:

Results of Operations

Revenues

Total Revenues

The following tables set forth our revenue for the periods presented. The period-to-period comparison of financial results is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Total revenues decreased $2,596,000, or 34.1%, from $7,621,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018 to $5,025,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease is mainly the result of management’s focus on reduction in sales and operations workforce as a means to improved efficiencies and operational effectiveness while rebranding the business.

Revenues by Segment

The following table sets forth each operating segment’s revenues for the periods presented. The period-to-period comparison is not necessarily indicative of future results.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, our PDN Network generated $2,592,000 in revenues compared to $2,835,000 generated in the prior year period, a decrease of $243,000 or 8.6%. The decrease was a mainly a result of lower sales staffing and resources in 2019 compared to 2018.

Membership fees and related services and products sales attributable to the NAPW Network of $2,433,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 and represented a reduction of $2,353,000 from the comparable period in 2018, or 49.2%. As a part of rebuilding the NAPW business, the Company drastically altered its membership acquisition model and is focused on expanding an organic acquisition strategy as well and strengthening local chapters.

Costs and Expenses

The following tables set forth our costs and expenses for the periods presented (certain items may not foot due to rounding). The period-to-period comparison of financial results is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Total costs and expenses decreased for the year ended December 31, 2019 to $8,021,000 compared to $22,160,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018. This decrease of 64.0% is primarily the result of an impairment charge of $8,047,000 that was recorded in our NAPW segment during 2018, combined with $2,241,000 or 34.4% decrease in general and administrative expenses, a $1,896,000 or 72.9% decrease in depreciation and amortization expenses, and $1,496,000 or 40.9% decrease in sales and marketing expenses.

Costs and Expenses by Segment

The following table sets forth each operating segment’s costs and expenses for the periods presented. The period-to-period comparison is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Costs and expenses decreased by $12,856,000, or 82.6%, in the NAPW Network segment primarily as a result of an $8,047,000 impairment charge that was recorded during 2018, $1,896,000 or 72.9% decrease in depreciation and amortization expense, $1,496,000 or 40.9% decrease in sales and marketing expenses, and $2,241,000 or 34.4% decrease in general & administrative expenses as a result of management’s focus on cost reductions, which included reductions in our sales force and lead generation expenses.

Costs and expenses slightly decreased by $37,000, or 1.2%, in the PDN Network segment primarily due to $91,000, or 10.0% decrease in costs of sales, offset by $48,000, or 3.2% increase in sales and marketing expenses.

Costs and expenses decreased by $1,245,000, or 34.5% in the Corporate Overhead segment as a result of management’s continuous efforts to reduce corporate level expenses. The large reduction in expenses was primarily due to $412,000, or a 64.7% decrease in stock-based compensation, and $133,000, or 50.1% decrease in audit fees.

Operating Expenses

Cost of revenues: Cost of revenues during the year ended December 31, 2019 was $884,000, a decrease of $116,000, or 11.6%, from $1,000,000, during the year ended December 31, 2018, as a result of lower revenues by $2,596,000, or 34.1%, which resulted in a corresponding decrease in cost of revenue.

Sales and marketing expense: Sales and marketing expense for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $2,159,000, a decrease of $1,496,000, or 40.9%, from $3,655,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018. The decrease is mainly attributable to a decrease of $1,544,000, or 71.7% at our NAPW segment, due to $614,000, or 68.0% year-over-year reduction in the personnel cost, $558,000 reduction in digital advertising expenses, $185,000 reduction in sales commissions, and overall better marketing cost management.

General and administrative expense: General and administrative expenses decreased by $2,241,000, or 34.4%, to $4,274,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease was a result of a decrease of $1,005,000, or 42.1% in our NAPW segment mainly due to $478,000 decrease in personnel costs, a $196,000 decrease in rent expense, and a decrease of $933,000, or 25.8% in our Corporate Overhead, primarily due to $412,000, or 64.7% decrease in stock based compensation, and $133,000, or 50.1% decrease in audit fees.

Litigation settlements: Litigation settlement for year ended December 31, 2018 represented primarily potential settlement accrued for various cases.

Impairment charge: As a result of the recurring operating losses incurred in NAPW since its acquisition in September 2014, the Company undertook a review of the carrying amount of its goodwill as of September 30, 2018. Accordingly, the Company recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $5,251,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018. Additionally, the Company undertook a review of the carrying amount of its long-lived intangible assets as of December 31, 2018 and recorded an impairment charge of $2,796,000.

Depreciation and amortization expense: Depreciation and amortization expense for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $704,000, compared to $2,600,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018, a decrease of $1,896,000, or 72.9%. The decrease was mainly the result of $2,796,000 impairment charge recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018 against long-lived intangible assets in our NAPW segment. Amortization of the intangible assets is listed in Note 6 to Consolidated Financial Statements of this Annual Report.

Other Income (Expenses)

Other income for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $26,000 compared to other income of $18,000 during the year ended December 31, 2018. The change in other income was primarily attributable to lower interest expense incurred in the current year.

Income Tax Benefit

The effective income tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2019 was 6.0%, resulting in an income tax benefit of $177,000. The effective income tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2018 was 9.7%, resulting in an income tax benefit of $1,353,000. The majority of the difference in the effective income tax rate was due to a goodwill and other intangible assets impairment charge of $8,047,000 that was recognized during the year ended December 31, 2018. As a result of the Tax Act, the U.S. statutory rate was lowered from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018.

Discontinued Operations

In March 2020, our Board decided to suspend all China operations generated by the former CEO, Michael Wang. The results of operations for China operations are presented in the consolidated statements of operation and comprehensive loss as loss from discontinued operations.

On May 25, 2018, the Company sold Noble Voice to a long-time customer of the Company and exited the business segment previously conducted by Noble Voice. The sales included all property, equipment, intangible assets, and other long-term assets. The Company retained cash, receivables, payables, and other current and non-current assets and liabilities. The purchase price was $200,000 and the gain on the transaction was approximately $64,000.

The following table presents results from discontinued operations for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

Net loss

The following table sets forth each operating segment’s net income or loss for the periods presented. The period-to-period comparison is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Consolidated Net Loss from Continuing Operations. As the result of the factors discussed above, during the year ended December 31, 2019, we incurred a net loss of $2,792,000 from continuing operations, a decrease of 78.8% from net loss for the year ended December 31, 2018. The changes were primarily attributable to a $8,047,000 impairment charge taken against NAPW Network in 2018 year and continuing efforts to reduce sales and marketing and general administrative expenses.  

NAPW Network Net Loss. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we incurred a net loss of $319,000, compared to $9,771,000 for the prior year period. The decrease in net loss was primarily attributable to a $8,047,000 impairment charge taken in the fourth quarter of 2018, a $1,092,000 decrease in personnel costs, a $558,000 reduction in digital advertising expenses, and $185,000 reduction in sales commissions, partially offset by a reduction in revenues of $2,353,000.

PDN Network Net Loss. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we incurred a net loss of $168,000 compared to the net loss of $136,000 incurred for the year ended December 31, 2018. This increase in net loss was primarily attributable to lower revenues in the current year.

Corporate Overhead. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we incurred a net loss of $2,305,000, a decrease of $955,000, compared to a net loss of $3,260,000 incurred during the year ended December 31, 2018. The decrease in net loss is primarily a result of $412,000 decrease in stock-based compensation expense, and $133,000 decrease in audit fees.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The following table summarizes our liquidity and capital resources as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, and is intended to supplement the more detailed discussion that follows:

As of December 31, 2019, we had cash and cash equivalents of $634,000 compared to cash and cash equivalents of $106,000 at December 31, 2018. Our principal sources of liquidity are our cash and cash equivalents, including the net proceeds from the issuances of common stock. As of December 31, 2019, we had a working capital deficit of approximately $2,114,000, compared to a working capital deficiency of approximately $3,384,000 as of December 31, 2018. We had an accumulated deficit of approximately $88,772,000 at December 31, 2019. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we generated a net loss from continuing operations of approximately $2,792,000 and used cash from continuing operations of approximately $3,290,000.

While we have aggressively reduced operating and overhead expenses, and while we continue to focus on our overall profitability, we have continued to generate negative cash flows from operations, and we expect to incur net losses for the foreseeable future, especially considering the negative impact COVID-19 will have on our liquidity and financial position. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on our ability to further implement our business plan, raise capital, and generate revenues. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if we unable to continue as a going concern.

We are closely monitoring operating costs and capital requirements. Our Management also made efforts in 2019 and 2018 to contain and reduce cost, including terminating non-performing employees and eliminating certain positions, replacing and negotiating with certain vendors, implementing a new approval process overseeing travel and other expenses, and significantly reducing the cash compensation for independent board directors. We also sold our Noble Voice business on May 25, 2018 to reduce operating losses and cash burns. If we are still not successful in sufficiently reducing our costs, we may then need to dispose of our other assets or discontinue business lines.

On November 16, 2018, we entered into a revolving credit facility agreement with GNet Tech Holdings Public Limited Company (“GNet”), that matures on May 31, 2020, under which we can draw up to GBP £1,500,000 (approximately $2,000,000). Interest is payable on any outstanding principal balance at a rate equal to the LIBOR rate plus 4%. Amounts drawn under this facility are payable at the end of one, three, or six months periods at our election. On January 14, 2019, we drew $293,000 under this facility and repaid it on June 7, 2019. At June 30, 2019, we did not have any outstanding debt under this facility. At March 31, 2020, approximately $2,000,000 was available for us to draw. The facility expires on May 20, 2020 and we will not be renewing this facility.

From January 9, 2019 to August 15, 2019, we sold an aggregate of 248,104 shares of our common stock at a purchase price ranging from $1.146 to $3.96 per share, representing 120% of the closing price the trading day immediately prior to the date of subscription. As of the date of this Annual Report, we received in the aggregate gross proceeds of $514,928 under this private placement. All of the purchasers are residents of the People’s Republic of China.

On August 5, 2019, we entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with one purchaser Ms. Yingling Wu (the “Purchaser Wu”), pursuant to which the Purchaser Wu agreed to purchase 1,142,857 shares (the “Shares”) of our common stock for $1.75 per share for gross proceeds of $2,000,000 (the “Purchase Price”). Wu’s shares were further transferred to CFL on November 15, 2019.

On September 5 and 9, 2019, we entered into Stock Purchase Agreements with Ms. Yao Wei Ling, an individual and a resident of the People’s Republic of China (“Yao”), in connection with the purchase by Yao of 442,830 shares of our common stock (collectively the “Yao Shares”), Mr. Gao Yin Chun, an individual and a resident of the People’s Republic of China (“Gao”), in connection with the purchase by Gao of 189,873 shares of our common stock (collectively the “Gao Shares”), and EGBT Foundation Ltd., a Singapore public company limited by guarantee (“EGBT”), in connection with the purchase by EGBT of 1,265,823 shares of our common stock. These transactions occurred at a price of $1.58 per share for gross proceeds of $699,673, $300,000, and $2,000,000, respectively.  The closing of the transactions with Yao and Gao took place on September 10, 2019. The closing of the EGBT transaction took place on September 30, 2019. Due to the investigation on the Gatewang Case, Yuexiu Police has frozen our PDN China’s bank account and most of the proceeds received from the EGBT common stock issuance are frozen and are unable to be used by us currently. Please see “Business – Recent Developments” for more details.

On March 22, 2020, we entered into an agreement with Malven Group Limited, a company established under the laws of the British Virgin Islands (“Malven”), in connection with the purchase by Malven of 1,939,237 shares of our common stock at a price of $0.7735 per share for gross proceeds of $1,500,000. The closing of the transaction took place on March 31, 2020.

We currently anticipate that our available funds and cash flow from operations may not be sufficient to meet our working capital requirements for the twelve months subsequent to the issuance of our financial statements. In order to fund our operations, we will need to increase revenues or raise capital by the issuance of stock. However, there can be no assurances that our business plans and actions will be successful, that we will generate anticipated revenues, or that unforeseen circumstances will not require additional funding sources in the future or effectuate plans to conserve liquidity. Future efforts to raise additional funds may not be successful or they may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. In addition, due to China’s foreign currency control, the Company cannot move money between China and the USA freely. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) regulate the flow of foreign exchange in and out of the country strictly. We need to get approval from Chinese government to move money from China to the U.S. which might take extra time.

We collect membership fees generally at the commencement of the membership term or at renewal periods thereafter. The memberships we sell are for one year and we defer recognition of the revenue from membership sales and renewals and recognize it ratably over the twelve-month period. Starting January 2, 2018, we also offer a monthly membership for IAW USA for which we collect a fee on a monthly basis. Our PDN Network also sells recruitment services to employers, generally on a one-year contract basis. This revenue is also deferred and recognized over the life of the contract. Our payment terms for PDN Network customers range from 30 to 60 days. We consider the difference between the payment terms and payment receipts a result of transit time for invoice and payment processing and to date have not experienced any liquidity issues as a result of the payments extending past the specified terms. Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments consist primarily of cash on deposit with banks and investments in money market funds, corporate and municipal debt and U.S. government and U.S. government agency securities.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers cash and cash equivalents to include all short-term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and have original maturities of three months or less.

Net Cash Used in Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $3,290,000. We had a net loss of $2,792,000, write off of accounts payable of $376,000, payments of lease obligations of $164,000, which was partially offset by non-cash depreciation and amortization of $704,000, stock-based compensation expense of $225,000, amortization of leases of $151,000, and deferred tax expense of $177,000. Changes in operating assets and liabilities used $872,000 of cash during the year ended December 31, 2019, consisting primarily of decreases in accounts payable, deferred revenue and accrued expenses, partially offset by increases in accounts receivable. Net cash used in operating activities from discontinued operations was $3,183,594, which primarily consisted of the fund in PDN China’s frozen bank account due to the Gatewang Case.

Net cash used in operating activities from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $3,601,000. We had a net loss of $13,167,000 during the year ended December 31, 2018, and a deferred tax benefit of $1,183,000, which was partially offset by non-cash impairment charge of $8,047,000, depreciation and amortization of $2,600,000, stock-based compensation expense of $800,000, and a write-off of a security deposit of $171,000. Changes in operating assets and liabilities used $975,000 of cash during the year ended December 31, 2018, consisting primarily of decreases in deferred revenue, and accrued expenses, partially offset by increases in accounts payable.

Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities from continuing operations during the year ended December 31, 2019 was $3,000, mainly consisting of investments in developed technology.

Net cash used in investing activities from continuing operations during the year ended December 31, 2018 was $120,000, which primarily represented costs incurred to develop technology.

Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities from continuing operations during the year ended December 31, 2019 was $6,615,000, consisting of $1,100,000 in gross proceeds from sale of 500,000 shares of common stock to one purchaser at a purchase price $2.20 per share, $2,000,000 in gross proceeds from sale of 1,142,857 shares of common stock to one purchaser at a purchase price $1.75 per share, $700,000 in gross proceeds from sale of 442,830 shares of common stock to one purchaser at a purchase price $1.58 per share, $300,000 in gross proceeds from sale of 189,873 shares of common stock to one purchaser at a purchase price $1.58 per share, $2,000,000 in gross proceeds from sale of 1,265,823 shares of common stock to EGBT Foundation Ltd., a Singapore public company at a purchase price $1.58 per share, a $515,000 in gross proceeds from sale of 248,104 shares of common stock ranging from $1.146 to $3.96 per share, representing 120% of the closing price the trading day immediately prior to the date of subscription to citizens of the People’s Republic of China, and $289,000 in gross proceeds from short-term loan from Guangzhou Zhongtianshengxiang Technology.

Net cash provided by financing activities from continuing operations during the year ended December 31, 2018 was $3,422,000, consisting of $1,487,000 in gross proceeds from the January 29, 2018 sale and issuance of 380,295 shares of common stock at a price of $3.91 per share to Mr. Shengqi Cai, an individual and a resident of the People’s Republic of China, $1,435,000 in gross proceeds from the June 25, 2018 sale of 496,510 shares of common stock at a price of $2.89 per share to China EWI International Finance Group Co., Limited, a limited liability company based in the People’s Republic of China, and $500,000 in gross proceeds from November 5, 2018 issuance of a convertible promissory note by GNet Tech, a related party through one of the Company’s shareholders.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Since inception, we have not engaged in any off-balance sheet activities as defined in Regulation S-K Item 303(a)(4).

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to exercise considerable judgment with respect to establishing sound accounting policies and in making estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of our assets and liabilities, our recognition of revenues and expenses, and disclosure of commitments and contingencies at the date of the consolidated financial statements.

We base our estimates on our historical experience, knowledge of our business and industry, current and expected economic conditions, the attributes of our products, the regulatory environment, and in certain cases, the results of outside appraisals. We periodically re-evaluate our estimates and assumptions with respect to these judgments and modify our approach when circumstances indicate that modifications are necessary. These estimates and assumptions form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources.

While we believe that the factors we evaluate provide us with a meaningful basis for establishing and applying sound accounting policies, we cannot guarantee that the results will always be accurate. Since the determination of these estimates requires the exercise of judgment, actual results could differ from such estimates.

While our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements included at the end of this Annual Report, we believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical to aid you in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results and affect the more significant judgments and estimates that we use in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

Accounts Receivable

Our policy is to reserve for uncollectible accounts based on our best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in our existing accounts receivable. We periodically review our accounts receivable to determine whether an allowance for doubtful accounts is necessary based on an analysis of past due accounts and other factors that may indicate that the realization of an account may be in doubt. Account balances deemed to be uncollectible are charged to the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

The Company accounts for goodwill and intangible assets in accordance with ASC 350, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (“ASC 350”). ASC 350 requires that goodwill and other intangibles with indefinite lives should be tested for impairment annually or on an interim basis if events or circumstances indicate that the fair value of an asset has decreased below its carrying value.

Goodwill is tested for impairment at the reporting unit level on an annual basis (December 31 for the Company) and between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying value. The Company considers its market capitalization and the carrying value of its assets and liabilities, including goodwill, when performing its goodwill impairment test.

When conducting its annual goodwill impairment assessment, the Company initially performs a qualitative evaluation of whether it is more likely than not that goodwill is impaired. If it is determined by a qualitative evaluation that it is more likely than not that goodwill is impaired, the Company then compares the fair value of the Company’s reporting unit to its carrying or book value. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, goodwill is not impaired and the Company is not required to perform further testing. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the Company will measure any goodwill impairment losses as the amount by which the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit.

Capitalized Technology Costs

We account for capitalized technology costs in accordance with ASC 350-40, Internal-Use Software (“ASC 350-40”). In accordance with ASC 350-40, we capitalize certain external and internal computer software costs incurred during the application development stage. The application development stage generally includes software design and configuration, coding, testing and installation activities. Training and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred, while upgrades and enhancements are capitalized if it is probable that such expenditures will result in additional functionality. Capitalized software costs are amortized over the estimated useful lives of the software assets on a straight-line basis, generally not exceeding three years.

Business Combinations

ASC 805, Business Combinations (“ASC 805”), applies the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations to all acquisitions where the acquirer gains a controlling interest, regardless of whether consideration was exchanged. ASC 805 establishes principles and requirements for how the acquirer : a) recognizes and measures in its financial statements the identifiable assets acquired, the liabilities assumed, and any non-controlling interest in the acquiree; b) recognizes and measures the goodwill acquired in the business combination or a gain from a bargain purchase; and c) determines what information to disclose to enable users of the financial statements to evaluate the nature and financial effects of the business combination. Accounting for acquisitions requires the Company to recognize, separately from goodwill, the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed at their acquisition-date fair values. Goodwill as of the acquisition date is measured as the excess of consideration transferred and the net of the acquisition-date fair values of the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed. While the Company uses its best estimates and assumptions to accurately value assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date, the estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. As a result, during the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, the Company may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period or final determination of the values of assets acquired or liabilities assumed, whichever comes first, any subsequent adjustments are recorded to the consolidated statements of comprehensive loss.

Revenue Recognition

Our principal sources of revenue are recruitment revenue, consumer marketing and consumer advertising revenue, membership subscription fees, and product sales. Recruitment revenue includes revenue recognized from direct sales to customers for recruitment services and events, as well as revenue from our direct ecommerce sales. Revenues from recruitment services are recognized when the services are performed, evidence of an arrangement exists, the fee is fixed or determinable and collectability is probable. Our recruitment revenue is derived from agreements through single and multiple job postings, recruitment media, talent recruitment communities, basic and premier corporate memberships, hiring campaign marketing and advertising, e-newsletter marketing and research and outreach services.

Consumer marketing and consumer advertising revenue is recognized either based upon a fixed fee for revenue sharing agreements in which payment is required at the time of posting, or billed based upon the number of impressions (the number of times an advertisement is displayed) recorded on the websites as specified in the customer agreement.

Revenue generated from NAPW Network membership subscriptions is recognized ratably over the 12-month membership period, although members pay their annual fees at the commencement of the membership period. Starting January 2, 2018, we also offer a monthly membership for which we collect fees on a monthly basis and we recognize revenue in the same month as the fees are collected. Revenue from related membership services are derived from fees for development and set-up of a member’s personal on-line profile and/or press release announcements. Fees related to these services are recognized as revenue at the time the on-line profile is complete and press release is distributed.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K, including Part I, Item 1. “Business” and Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements concern expectations, beliefs, projections, plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Specifically, this Annual Report contains forward-looking statements regarding:

These forward-looking statements reflect our current views about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We wish to caution readers that certain important factors may have affected and could in the future affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. The most important factors that could prevent us from achieving our goals, and cause the assumptions underlying forward-looking statements and the actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by those forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following:

Additional factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect our results, are discussed in Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report beginning on page 13, and in our subsequent filings with the SEC. You should consider these factors, risks and uncertainties when evaluating any forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements represent our views as of the date of this Annual Report, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date of this Annual Report.

ITEM 7A - QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Not applicable.

ITEM 8 - FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

The Company’s financial statements required by this item are included on pages F-1 through F-27 of this Annual Report. See Item 15(a)(l) for a listing of financial statements provided.

ITEM 9 - CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.

None.

ITEM 9A - CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As of December 31, 2019, our management conducted an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures; as is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). We recognize that there are material weaknesses related to our internal controls. Therefore, our interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective, as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This includes ensuring that information required to be disclosed was recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Furthermore, to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management, with the participation of our interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (principal executive officer and principal financial officer), is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act. We have designed our internal controls to provide reasonable assurance that our financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (U.S. GAAP), and include those policies and procedures that:

Our management conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting as of December 31, 2019. In making this evaluation, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in its 2013 Internal Control — Integrated Framework.

Based on this evaluation, our interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer has concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting were not effective as of the end of the period covered in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Management undertook several remediation actions, including centralization of the US accounting and HR operations and improved segregation of duties within our accounting and financial reporting functions. We also improved GAAP training of internal staff and engaged an outside consultant to assist the Company on complex GAAP matters. Although these measures greatly helped to improve our internal controls, they did not fully remediate deficiencies in controls. Despite this, our management has concluded that the financial statements included in this report fairly present in all material respects our financial position and results of operations.

This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of the Company’s registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by the Company’s registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the SEC that permit the Company to provide only management’s report in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A material weakness is a control deficiency or a combination of control deficiencies that result in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected. Our management had concluded that, as of December 31, 2019, we did not maintain effective controls over the preparation, review, presentation and disclosure of our financial statements. Specifically, we noted the following.

Plan for Remediation of Material Weakness

During 2019, we continued our initiatives to improve and remediate material weaknesses related to our internal control over financial reporting for the period ended December 31, 2018. Specifically:

We anticipate that the actions described above and resulting improvements in controls will strengthen the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and will, over time, address the related material weakness. However, because many of the controls in the Company’s system of internal controls rely extensively on manual review and approval, the successful operation of these controls may be required for several quarters prior to management being able to conclude that the material weakness has been remediated.

Limitations on the Effectiveness of Controls

The effectiveness of any system of internal control over financial reporting, including ours, is subject to inherent limitations, including the exercise of judgment in designing, implementing, operating and evaluating the controls and procedures, and the inability to eliminate misconduct completely. Accordingly, any system of internal control over financial reporting, including ours, no matter how well designed and operated, can only provide reasonable, not absolute assurances. In addition, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. We intend to continue to monitor and upgrade our internal controls as necessary or appropriate for our business, but cannot assure you that such improvements will be sufficient to provide us with effective internal control over financial reporting.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 we continued to undertake efforts to enhance the overall internal control structure. We implemented additional review and approval policies and procedures within our operations. There have been no other changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal controls over financial reporting.

ITEM 9B - OTHER INFORMATION

None.

PART III

ITEM 10 - DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Board of Directors

Set forth below is the name of each member of our current Board, as well as each such person’s age, his or her current principal occupation (which has continued for at least the past five years unless otherwise indicated) together with the name and principal business of the company that employs such person, if any, the period during which such person has served as a director of the Company, all positions and offices that such person holds with the Company and such person’s directorships over the past five years in other companies with a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) or subject to the requirements of Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act or companies registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the specific experience, qualifications, attributes or skills that led to the conclusion that such person should serve as a director of the Company. There are no family relationships between our executive officers and directors.

(1) Member of our audit committee.

(2) Member of our compensation committee.

(3) Member of our nominating and corporate governance committee.

Hao (Howard) Zhang has been a member of the Board since November 2016, further selected as Chair of the Board in March 2020. Mr. Zhang is a private investor based in China. Mr. Zhang has served as a director of Wealth Power Global Trading Limited since June 2015. Mr. Zhang was originally appointed to our Board under the terms of a stockholders’ agreement entered into between the Company and CFL, our majority stockholder, which agreement grants to CFL the right to designate one director nominee for every 9.9% of the total voting power of our common stock that CFL beneficially owns, up to a maximum of six directors.

Michael D. Belsky has been a member of the board since January 2018. Mr. Belsky is the Executive Director of the Center for Municipal Finance at Harris and teaches a course on the fundamentals of municipal bonds as part of the Municipal Finance Certificate Program. Mr. Belsky has over 30 years of experience in the Municipal Bond Industry. Mr. Belsky spent most of his career as Group Managing Director of the Public Finance Group at Fitch Ratings. He worked at the rating agency from 1993 to 2008 and was named top rating agency executive in public finance by institutional investors three years in a row (Smith’s Research and Ratings Review Municipal All Star Team, 2005–07). Mr. Belsky began his career in 1984 as a municipal bond analyst at the Northern Trust Company. He subsequently worked as a municipal bond underwriter and as a public finance investment banker. In 1989 he established and began managing a public finance department for Mesirow Financial, a regional investment bank in Chicago. Mr. Belsky also served two terms as a member of the City Council in Highland Park, Illinois (1995–2003), and two terms as mayor (2003–11). Under his leadership the city received national recognition in the areas of environmental sustainability, budgeting, financial reporting, affordable housing and local health initiatives. The city maintained a triple-A rating by Moody’s Investors Service throughout his tenure. From 2008 to 2011 Mr. Belsky was a member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, a national body that sets accounting and financial reporting standards for state and local governments. Mr. Belsky is a recognized expert in municipal finance and has spoken at numerous conferences and seminars, including at Bloomberg and the Greenwich Round Table. He was recently asked by the SEC to testify as an expert in hearings on secondary market disclosure in the municipal bond market. He has lectured on public finance at Northwestern University, the LBJ School at the University of Texas, the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, the Graduate Program in City Management at Northern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois. Mr. Belsky received a BA in urban studies from Lake Forest College and an MA in public policy from the University of Chicago.

Haibin Gong has extensive experience in the fashion industry in China and was one of the earliest Chinese international male models. Since April 2017, Mr. Gong has been serving as the Legal Representative of Jiangshan Culture and Tourism Development Co., Ltd. Since 2010, Mr. Gong has been serving as the Secretary General and Chief Negotiator of Asian Professional Modeling Committee. In addition, since 2010, Mr. Gong has been serving as President and Secretary General at “MRS GLOBE”, a beauty contest sponsored by the US charity WIN Fund for married women globally. MRS GLOBE has been held in various countries around the world since 1996, having global influence and receiving support from many celebrity politicians. Mr. Gong is very influential in the fashion and women circles in China. He also actively promotes interactions among various women’s associations and seminars, which greatly promotes the development of women’s career.

Lida Fang has extensive experience and resources in the media industry and has been actively promoting the career development of Chinese women. From March 2001, Ms. Fang has been serving as the editor in chief of magazine Illustrated Newspaper of Macao, Hong Kong and Taiwan. From 2001 to 2017, Ms. Fang served as a member of the committee of Beijing Liaison Committee of China Democratic National Construction Association. Since 2008, Ms. Fang has been working as the vice academic dean of Beijing Charity Academy. Ms. Fang received her MBA from Beihang University in 2004 and her bachelor degree in Computer Science from HeFei University of Technology in 1985.

Courtney C. Shea joined our Board on March 22, 2019. She has over 30 years of professional experience in municipal advisory and investment banking. Ms. Shea is a managing member of Columbia Capital Management, LLC, which she joined in 2013. She served as the head of Chicago office and senior vice president at Acacia Financial Group, Inc. from 2009 to 2013. She was also the head of Chicago office and managing director of Siebert Branford Shank & Co, LLC from 2006 to 2008. She served as the national department manager at LaSalle Financial Services from 2001 to 2006. Ms. Shea has been a member of the Board of Center for Municipal Finance at Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago since 2016 and a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers since 2010. She chaired the Illinois State Securities Advisory Committee from 1995 to 1998 and was a member there from 1991 to 1995. She was also a member of the State of Illinois Banking Board from 2001 to 2002. In addition, Ms. Shea established the National Women in Public Finance as a co-founder in 1996. Ms. Shea received her MBA degree from the University of Chicago in 1985, her Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University Law School in 1983 and her bachelor degree in Economics from University of Notre Dame in 1980.

Executive Officers

The following table provides the name, age and position of each of our executive officers. There are no family relationships between or among our executive officers and directors.

Xin (Adam) He joined us in January 2018, initially serving as audit committee chair of the Board until his appointment as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer in March 2019 and Interim Chief Executive Officer in November 2019. Previously, He was Chief Financial Officer of Wanda USA Group, a Fortune Global 500 company since May 2012, where he managed two projects: a 101-story landmark “Vista Tower” development in downtown Chicago, and NYSE traded AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc., the largest movie exhibitor owning and operating 660 theatres primarily located in the United States. He also served as an independent board director at several Nasdaq listed companies. From 2010 to 2012, he served as Financial Controller of NYSE listed Xinyuan Real Estate Co., a top developer of large scale, high quality residential real estate projects. Previously, Mr. He served as an auditor at Ernst & Young, LLP in New York, and held various roles at Chinatex Corporation and an architecture company. He is a member of the Financial Executives International and vice chair of the China General Chamber of Commerce Chicago. Mr. He obtained a Master of Science in Taxation from Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, and a Master of Science in Accounting from Seton Hall University in New Jersey. He is a Certified Public Accountant, both in China and in US.

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires that our executive officers and directors, and persons who own more than ten percent of a registered class of our equity securities, file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. Executive officers, directors and greater-than-ten percent stockholders are required by SEC regulations to furnish us with all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely on our review of the copies of the forms received by us and written representations from certain reporting persons that they have complied with the relevant filing requirements, we believe that, during the year ended December 31, 2019, all of our executive officers, directors and greater-than-ten percent stockholders complied with all Section 16(a) filing requirements, except that, due to administrative error, the following forms were filed late:

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to all of our employees, officers and directors, including those officers responsible for financial reporting. The code of business conduct and ethics is available on our corporate website at www.ipdnusa.com. Any amendment to, or waiver from, a provision of such code of ethics will be posted on our website. Information on the Company’s website is not incorporated by reference herein.

Committees of the Board

Audit Committee. The Audit Committee was established for the purpose of overseeing the Company’s accounting and financial reporting processes and audits of the Company’s financial statements. The Audit Committee’s primary functions are:

The Audit Committee currently consists of Michael Belsky (Audit Committee Chair), Lida Fang and Courtney C. Shea, each of whom are independent under the rules of the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. The Audit Committee meets periodically with the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, both with and without management present. The Board has determined that Ms. Shea is an “audit committee financial expert” within the meaning of Item 407 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act. A copy of the Audit Committee charter is posted and available on the Corporate Governance link of the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website, www.prodivnet.com. Information on the Company’s website is not incorporated by reference herein.

Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee operates under a charter approved by the Board. The Compensation Committee’s primary functions are:

The Compensation Committee currently consists of Michael D. Belsky (Compensation Committee Chair), Hao (Howard) Zhang and Haibin Gong. The Compensation Committee also has authority to delegate its responsibilities to a subcommittee. The Company and the Compensation Committee may, from time to time, directly retain the services of consultants or other experts to assist the Company or the Compensation Committee, as the case may be, in connection with executive compensation matters. The Compensation Committee does not believe the risks from the Company’s compensation policies and practices for its employees would be reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company.

A copy of the Compensation Committee charter is posted and available on the Corporate Governance link of the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website, www.ipdnusa.com. Information on the Company’s website is not incorporated by reference herein.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee operates under a charter approved by the Board. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee’s primary functions are:

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee currently consists of Hao (Howard) Zhang (Committee Chair), Michael D. Belsky and Lida Fang. A copy of the charter of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is posted and available on the Corporate Governance link of the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website, www.ipdnusa.com. Information on the Company’s website is not incorporated by reference herein.

ITEM 11 - EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

In this section, we describe our compensation programs and policies and the material elements of compensation for the year ended December 31, 2019 for our Chief Executive Officer, and our most highly compensated executive officers, other than our Chief Executive Officer, whose total compensation was in excess of $100,000. Other than as disclosed below, we did not have any other employee whose compensation was such that executive compensation disclosure would be required but for the fact that they were not executive officers as of the end of the last fiscal year. We refer to all individuals whose executive compensation is disclosed herein as our “named executive officers.”

All share and share-based numbers in the below tables and footnotes thereto reflect the Company’s one-for-eight reverse stock split effected on September 27, 2016.

Summary Compensation Table

The following table provides information regarding the compensation earned during the years ended December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 by the persons who served as our Chief Executive Officer and our two most highly compensated executive officers, other than our Chief Executive Officer, whose total compensation was in excess of $100,000.

Employment Agreements with Named Executive Officers

He’s Employment Agreement

On March 11, 2019 (the “He Effective Date”), the Company entered into an employment agreement (the “He Employment Agreement”) with Mr. He, which He Employment Agreement continues until terminated in writing by either party or earlier terminated pursuant to the provisions of the He Employment Agreement. Under the He Employment Agreement, Mr. He will receive an annual base salary of $200,000, subject to adjustment in the sole discretion of the Board or the Compensation Committee of the Board; provided however, that such annual base salary may not be decreased during Mr. He’s employment period. Mr. He will be eligible to receive an annual incentive bonus in an amount equal to up to fifty percent (50%) of his base salary, based upon the achievement of one or more performance goals, targets, measurements and other factors, established for such year by the Compensation Committee. Mr. He will also participate in all benefit plans and programs, subject to certain conditions and exceptions, as are generally provided by the Company to its other senior executive employees.

Under the terms of the He Employment Agreement, Mr. He is subject to non-solicitation, non-competition and non-interference restrictive covenants during his employment and for the 12-month period following his last day of employment with the Company. The He Employment Agreement also contains customary confidentiality, work product and return of Company property covenants.

In addition, Mr. He is entitled to severance pay if he is terminated without “cause” or resigns for “good reason,” each as defined in the He Employment Agreement. Upon such termination, Mr. He will be entitled to receive an amount equal to 30 days of his base salary, any earned but unpaid bonus for the year prior to the year of termination, and the pro rata portion of any bonus earned for the year in which termination occurs, as well as continuation of applicable benefits for a period of six months following his termination.

In connection with the approval of the He Employment Agreement, Mr. He also received a non-qualified stock option to purchase 30,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The option will vest in accordance with the following schedule: (i) 1/3 of the shares underlying the option will vest immediately upon award, (ii) 1/3 of the shares underlying the option will vest on the first anniversary of the He Effective Date, and (iii) 1/3 of the shares underlying the option will vest on the second anniversary of the He Effective Date.

Outstanding Equity Awards at December 31, 2019

The following table sets forth the equity awards we have made to our named executive officers that were outstanding as of December 31, 2019.

Director Compensation

During 2019, we paid our non-employee directors the following fees in cash: (1) $5,000 annual retainer fee, (2) $25,000 of Restricted Stock Units, (3) a $1,000 retainer for those directors serving on the Audit Committee and a $4,000 retainer for the Audit Committee Chair, (4) a $500 retainer for those directors for serving on the Compensation Committee and a $1,000 retainer for the Compensation Committee Chair, (4) a $500 retainer for those directors serving on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a $1,000 retainer for the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Chair.

Messrs. Wang, He, and Ms. Jones served as our executive officers during 2019. As executive officers, these individuals are not compensated for their service as directors.

The following table details the total compensation earned by the Company’s non-employee directors in 2019:

The table below sets forth the unexercised options held by each of our non-employee directors outstanding as of December 31, 2019.

The table below sets forth the number of Restricted Stock Units held by each of our non-employee directors outstanding as of December 31, 2019.

ITEM 12 - SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

Equity Compensation Plan Information

Security Ownership of Management and Certain Beneficial Owners

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our Common Stock as of May 1, 2020 by:

The percentage ownership information shown in the table is based upon a total of 10,925,859 shares of Common Stock outstanding as of May 1, 2020.

Information with respect to beneficial ownership has been furnished by each director, officer or beneficial owner of more than 5% of our Common Stock. We have determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC. These rules generally attribute beneficial ownership of securities to persons who possess sole or shared voting power or investment power with respect to those securities. In addition, the rules include shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to the exercise of stock options or warrants that are either immediately exercisable or exercisable on or before the date that is 60 days after the date of this proxy statement. These shares are deemed to be outstanding and beneficially owned by the person holding those options for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of that person. Unless otherwise indicated, the persons or entities identified in this table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares shown as beneficially owned by them, subject to applicable community property laws.

Unless otherwise noted below, the address for each person or entity listed in the table is c/o Professional Diversity Network, 801 W. Adams Street, Sixth Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60667.

ITEM 13 - CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE