Fathom (FTHM) S-1IPO registration

We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus and in any free writing prospectus we prepare or authorize. Neither we nor the Selling Shareholder has authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and neither we nor the Selling Shareholder take responsibility for any other information others may give you. We are not, and the Selling Shareholder is not, making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. The information in this prospectus is only accurate as of the date of this prospectus. Our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects may have changed since that date.

For investors outside the United States: We have not, and the Selling Shareholder has not, done anything that would permit the use of or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States.

Copies of some of the documents referred to herein have been filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, and you may obtain copies of those documents as described in this prospectus under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information.”

Unless the context indicates otherwise, as used in this prospectus, the terms “Fathom,” “we,” “us,” “our,” “the Company,” “our Company” and “our business” refer to Fathom Holdings Inc. and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, after giving effect to our corporate reorganization. For more information, please refer to the corporate reorganization described under “Business — Our Structure.” Unless the context otherwise requires, references to “common stock” refer to our common stock, no par value.

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this prospectus regarding our strategy, future operations, future product research or development, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “goals,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “target,” “potential,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “continue” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus include, but are not limited to, statements about:

We might not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking

Innovation has been critical to our ability to compete for clients and real estate agents. If competitors follow our practices or develop more innovative practices, our ability to achieve profitability may diminish or erode. For example, certain other brokerages could develop or license cloud-based office platforms that are equal to or superior to ours. If we do not remain on the forefront of innovation, we might not be able to achieve or sustain profitability.

The market for Internet products and services is characterized by rapid technological developments, evolving industry standards and customer demands, and frequent new product introductions and enhancements. Our future success will depend in significant part on our ability to continually improve the performance, features and reliability of our technological developments in response to both evolving demands of the marketplace and competitive product offerings, and there can be no assurance that we will be successful in doing so.

We might not be able to scale our business services and support quickly enough to meet the growing needs of our real estate agents. If we are not able to grow efficiently, our operating results could be harmed. As we add new agents, we will need to devote additional financial and human resources to improving our internal systems, integrating with third-party systems, and maintaining infrastructure performance. In addition, we will need to appropriately scale our internal business systems and our services organization, including support of our affiliated agents as our demographics expand over time. Any failure of, or delay in, these efforts could cause impaired system performance and reduced satisfaction from our agents. These issues could result in difficulty in both attracting and retaining agents. Even if we are able to upgrade our systems and expand our staff, such expansion may be expensive, complex, and place increasing demands on our management. We could also face inefficiencies or operational failures as a result of our efforts to scale our infrastructure and we might not be successful in maintaining adequate financial and operating systems and controls as we expand. Moreover, there are inherent risks associated with upgrading, improving and expanding our information technology systems. We cannot be sure that the expansion and improvements to our infrastructure and systems will be fully or effectively implemented on a timely basis, if at all. These efforts may reduce revenue and our margins and adversely impact our financial results.

To capture and retain market share in the various local markets that we serve, we must compete successfully against other brokerages for agents and for the consumer relationships that they bring. Our competitors could lower the fees that they charge to agents or could raise the compensation structure for those agents. Our competitors may have access to greater financial resources than us, allowing them to undertake expensive local advertising or marketing efforts. In addition, our competitors may be able to leverage local relationships, referral sources, and strong local brand and name recognition that we have not established. Our competitors could, as a result, have greater leverage in attracting both new and established agents in the market and in generating business among local consumers. Our ability to grow in the local markets that we serve will depend on our ability to compete with these local brokerages.

If we fail to continue to grow in the local markets we serve or if we fail to successfully identify and pursue new business opportunities, our long-term prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed, and our stock price may decline.

Participation in our commission plan represents a key component of our agent and broker value proposition. Agents might not understand or appreciate our value. In addition, agents might not appreciate other components of our value proposition including the systems and tools that we provide to agents, and the professional development opportunities we create and deliver. If agents do not understand the elements of our agent value proposition, or do not perceive it to be more valuable than the models used by most competitors, we might not be able to attract, retain and incentivize new and existing agents to grow our revenues.

To execute our business strategy, we must attract and retain highly qualified agents and other personnel. In particular, we compete with many other real estate brokerages for qualified agents who manage our operations in each state. We must also compete with technology companies for developers with high levels of experience in designing, developing and managing cloud-based software, as well as for skilled service and operations professionals, and we might not be successful in attracting and retaining the professionals we need. We might have difficulty in hiring and difficulty in retaining highly skilled personnel with appropriate qualifications. Many of the companies that we compete with for experienced personnel have greater resources than we do. In addition, in making decisions about where to work, in addition to cash compensation, people often consider the value of the stock options or other equity incentives they receive. If the price of our stock declines or experiences significant volatility, our ability to attract or retain personnel may be adversely affected. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our growth prospects could be severely harmed.

We intend to expand our operations into adjacent markets, such as rentals, mortgages, and home improvement, and into international geographies. We may incur losses or otherwise fail to enter these markets successfully. Our expansion into these markets will place us in competitive environments with which we are unfamiliar and involves various risks, including the need to invest significant resources and the possibility that returns on such investments will not be achieved for several years, or at all. In attempting to establish a presence in new markets, we expect to incur significant expenses and face various other challenges, such as expanding our sales force and management personnel to cover these markets.

We experienced net losses of approximately $1.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 and approximately $2.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. We cannot predict if we will achieve sustained profitability in the near future or at all. We expect to make significant future expenditures to develop and expand our business. In addition, once we are a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting, and other expenses that we do not currently have as a private company. These expenditures make it harder for us to achieve and maintain future profitability. Our recent growth in

For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 to the nine months ended September 30, 2019, our revenue grew from $55.4 million, $77.3 million, to $78.0 million, which represents a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 37.1%. In the future, our revenue may not grow as rapidly as it has over the past several years. We believe that our future revenue growth will depend, among other factors, on our ability to:

We may not be successful in our efforts to do any of the foregoing, and any failure to be successful in these matters could materially and adversely affect our revenue growth. You should not consider our past revenue growth to be indicative of our future growth.

The market to provide home listings and marketing services for the residential real estate industry is highly competitive and fragmented. Homes are not typically marketed exclusively through any single channel. Consumers can access home listings and related data through more than one source. Accordingly, current and potential competitors could aggregate a set of listings similar to ours. We compete with online real estate marketplaces, such as Zillow and Realtor.com, other real estate websites, and traditional offline media. We compete to attract consumers primarily on the basis of the number and quality of listings; user experience; the breadth, depth, and relevance of insights and other content on homes, neighborhoods, and professionals; brand and reputation; and the quality of mobile products. We compete to attract real estate professionals primarily on the basis of the quality of the website and mobile products, the size and attractiveness of the consumer audience, the quality and measurability of the leads we generate, the perceived return on investment we deliver, and the effectiveness of marketing and workflow tools. We also compete for advertisers against other media, including print media, television and radio, social networks, search engines, other websites, and email marketing. We compete primarily on the basis of the size and attractiveness of the audience; pricing; and the ability to target desired audiences.

Many of our existing and potential competitors have substantial competitive advantages, such as:

The success of our competitors could result in fewer users visiting our website and mobile applications, the loss of subscribers and advertisers, price reductions for our subscriptions and display advertising, weaker operating results, and loss of market share. Our competitors also might be able to provide users with products that are different from or superior to those we can provide, or to provide users with a broader range of products and prices.

We expect increased competition if our market continues to expand. In addition, current or potential competitors might be acquired by third parties with greater resources than ours, which would further strengthen these current or potential competitors and enable them to compete more vigorously or broadly with us. If we are not able to compete effectively, our business and operating results will be materially and adversely affected.

Seasons and weather traditionally impact the real estate industry. Spring and summer seasons historically reflect greater sales activity in comparison to fall and winter seasons. We have historically experienced lower revenues during the fall and winter seasons, as well as during periods of unseasonable weather, which reduces our operating income, net income, operating margins and cash flow. Real estate listings precede sales and a period of poor listings activity will negatively impact revenue. Past performance in similar seasons or during similar weather events can provide no assurance of future or current performance, and macroeconomic shifts in the markets we serve can conceal the impact of seasonality.

Home sales in successive quarters can fluctuate widely due to a wide variety of seasonal factors, including holidays, and the school year calendar’s impact on timing of family relocations. Our revenue and operating margins each quarter will remain subject to seasonal fluctuations, which may make it difficult to compare or analyze our financial performance effectively across successive quarters.

Tens of thousands of consumers, independent contractors, and employees have shared personal information with us during the normal course of our business processing residential real estate transactions. This includes, but is not limited to, social security numbers, annual income amounts and sources, consumer names, addresses, telephone and cell phone numbers, and email addresses.

The application, disclosure and safeguarding of this information is regulated by federal and state privacy laws. To comply with privacy laws, we invested resources and adopted a privacy policy outlining policies and procedures for the use of safeguarding personal information. This policy includes informing consumers, independent contractors and employees that we will not share their personal information with third parties without their consent unless required by law.

Privacy policies and compliance with federal and state privacy laws presents risk and we could incur legal liability for failing to maintain compliance. We might not become aware of all privacy laws, changes to privacy laws, or third- party privacy regulations governing the real estate business or be unable to comply with all of these regulations, given the rate of regulatory changes, ambiguities in regulations, contradictions in regulations between jurisdictions, and the difficulties in achieving both company-wide and region-specific knowledge and compliance.

As the number of our agents grows, our success will depend on our ability to expand, maintain and improve the technology that supports our business operations, including, but not limited to, our cloud office platform. Loss of key personnel or the lack of adequate staffing with the requisite expertise and training could impede our efforts in this regard. If our systems and technologies lack capacity or quality sufficient to service agents and their clients, then the number of agents who wish to use our products could decrease, the level of client service and transaction volume afforded by our systems could suffer, and our costs could increase. In addition, if our systems, procedures or controls are not adequate to provide reliable, accurate and timely financial and other reporting, we might not be able to satisfy regulatory scrutiny or contractual obligations with third parties and may suffer a loss of reputation. Any of these events could negatively affect our financial position.

Cybersecurity threats and incidents directed at us could range from uncoordinated individual attempts to gain unauthorized access to information technology systems to sophisticated and targeted measures aimed at disrupting business or gathering personal data of customers. In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store sensitive data, including proprietary business information and personal information about our customers. Our business, and particularly our cloud-based platform, is reliant on the uninterrupted functioning of our information technology systems. The secure processing, maintenance, and transmission of information are critical to our operations, especially the processing and closing of real estate transactions. Although we employ measures designed to prevent, detect, address, and mitigate these threats (including access controls, data encryption, vulnerability assessments, and maintenance of backup and protective systems), cybersecurity incidents, depending on their nature and scope, could potentially result in the misappropriation, destruction, corruption, or unavailability of critical data and confidential or proprietary information (our own or that of third parties, including potentially sensitive personal information of our customers) and the disruption of business operations. Any such compromises to our security could cause harm to our reputation, which could cause customers to lose trust and confidence in us or could cause agents to stop working for us. In addition, we may incur significant costs for remediation that may include liability for stolen assets or information, repair of system damage, and compensation to customers and business partners. We may also be subject to legal claims, government investigation, and additional state and federal statutory requirements.

The potential consequences of a material cybersecurity incident include regulatory violations of applicable U.S. and international privacy and other laws, reputational damage, loss of market value, litigation with third parties (which could result in our exposure to material civil or criminal liability), diminution in the value of the services we provide to our customers, and increased cybersecurity protection and remediation costs (that may include liability for stolen assets or information), which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our competitiveness and results of operations.

The performance and reliability of our systems and operations are critical to our reputation and ability to attract agents and teams of agents to join our Company as well as our ability to service home buyers and sellers. Our systems and operations are vulnerable to security breaches, interruption or malfunction due to certain events beyond our control, including natural disasters, such as earthquakes, fire and flood, power

We operate in a heavily regulated industry with regulated labor classifications which present significant risk in general for each potential instance where we fail to maintain compliance.

Our agents can be classified as either employees or independent contractors, and we could potentially misclassify or fail to consistently achieve compliance. Classifications and compliance are subject to the Internal Revenue Service regulations and applicable state law guidelines and penalties.

Classifications, regulations and guidelines for agents are subject to judicial and agency interpretation as well as periodic changes. Changes, or any indication of changes, may adversely impact our workforce classifications, expenses, compensation, commission structure, roles and responsibilities and broker organization.

Beyond workforce regulations and classifications, there exist complex, heavily regulated federal, state and local authority laws, regulations and policies governing our real estate business.

In general, the laws, rules and regulations that apply to our business practices include, without limitation, the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or RESPA, the federal Fair Housing Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and federal advertising and other laws, as well as comparable state statutes; rules of trade organization such as NAR, local MLSs, and state and local AORs; licensing requirements and related obligations that could arise from our business practices relating to the provision of services other than real estate brokerage services; privacy regulations relating to our use of personal information collected from the registered users of our websites; laws relating to the use and publication of information through the Internet; and state real estate brokerage licensing requirements, as well as statutory due diligence, disclosure, record keeping and standard-of-care obligations relating to these licenses. The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an anti-trust investigation of some of our biggest competitors, and they are defendants in related lawsuits that could negatively impact our industry.

Additionally, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contains the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, or the Mortgage Act, which imposes a number of additional requirements on lenders and servicers of residential mortgage loans, by amending certain existing provisions and adding new sections to RESPA and other federal laws. It also broadly prohibits unfair, deceptive or abusive acts and practices, and knowingly or recklessly providing substantial assistance to a covered person in violation of that prohibition. The penalties for noncompliance with these laws are also significantly increased by the Mortgage Act, which could lead to an increase in lawsuits against mortgage lenders and servicers.

Maintaining legal compliance is challenging and increases our costs due to resources required to continually monitor business practices for compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, and to monitor changes in the applicable laws themselves.

We might not be aware of all the laws, rules and regulations that govern our business, or be able to comply with all of them, given the rate of regulatory changes, ambiguities in regulations, contradictions in laws and regulations between jurisdictions, and the difficulties in achieving both company-wide and region-specific knowledge and compliance.

If we fail, or we have been alleged to have failed, to comply with any existing or future applicable laws, rules and regulations, we could be subject to lawsuits and administrative complaints and proceedings, as well as criminal proceedings. Our noncompliance could result in significant defense costs, settlement costs, damages and penalties.

Further, if we lose our ability to obtain and maintain all of the regulatory approvals and licenses necessary to conduct business as we currently operate, our ability to conduct business may be harmed. Lastly, any lobbying or related activities we undertake in response to mitigate liability of current or new regulations could substantially increase our operating expenses.

Upon becoming a public company, we will be required to comply with the SEC’s rules implementing Sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which will require management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports and provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our controls over financial reporting. Although we will be required to disclose changes made in our internal controls and procedures on a quarterly basis, we will not be required to make our first annual assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting, as well as a statement that our independent registered public accounting firm has issued an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, provided that our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until our first annual report required to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, following the later of the date we are deemed to be an “accelerated filer” or a “large accelerated filer,” each as defined in the Exchange Act, or the date we are no longer an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years.

In connection with the audit of our financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018, we identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018, we did not effectively apply the Internal Control —  Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, or the COSO framework, due primarily to an insufficient complement of personnel possessing the appropriate accounting and financial reporting knowledge and experience to determine the appropriate accounting for non-recurring transactions and transactions requiring more complex accounting judgment.

In addition, we utilize a general ledger system that is not integrated with BackAgent, the system utilized to track our revenue transactions. Ineffective control activities related to the reconciliation of BackAgent to the general ledger system resulted in material adjustments to revenue for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018. Finally, we did not maintain effective logical access and program change controls over the third-party systems, including BackAgent and the general ledger system.

Although management is working to remediate the material weakness by hiring additional qualified accounting and financial reporting personnel, and further evolving our accounting processes and systems, we cannot assure you that these measures will be sufficient to remediate the material weaknesses that has been identified or prevent future material weaknesses or significant deficiencies from occurring. Beginning in 2019, we implemented a new revenue tracking system and have enhanced the logical access and program

We may identify future material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting or fail to meet the demands that will be placed upon us as a public company, including the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley, and we may be unable to accurately report our financial results, or report them within the timeframes required by law or stock exchange regulations. We cannot assure that our existing material weakness will be remediated or that additional material weaknesses will not exist or otherwise be discovered, any of which could adversely affect our reputation, financial condition and results of operations.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act enacted in April 2012, and, for as long as we continue to be an “emerging growth company,” we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to have our independent registered public accounting firm audit our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We could be an “emerging growth company” for up to five years following the completion of this offering, although, if we have more than $1.07 billion in annual revenue, if the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of June 30 of any year, or we issue more than $1.0 billion of non-convertible debt over a three-year period before the end of that five-year period, we would cease to be an “emerging growth company” as of the following December 31. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we choose to rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result of any choices to reduce future disclosure, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

Under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards, and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

We depend on the industry experience and talent of our current executives, including our Founder and Chief Executive Officer Joshua Harley, and President and Chief Financial Officer Marco Fregenal. We also rely on individuals in key management positions within our operations, finance, and technology teams. We believe that our future results will depend, in part, upon our ability to retain and attract highly skilled and qualified management. The loss of our executive officers or any key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our operations because other officers might not have the experience and expertise to readily replace these individuals. To the extent that one or more of our top executives or other key management personnel depart from our company, our operations and business prospects may be adversely affected. In addition, changes in executives and key personnel could be disruptive to our business. We do not have any key person insurance.

Our employees or agents may, from time to time, bring lawsuits against us alleging injury, creating a hostile work place, discrimination, wage and hour disputes, sexual harassment, or other employment issues. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of discrimination and harassment claims against

Our intellectual property rights, including existing and future trademarks, trade secrets and copyrights, are important assets of the business. We have taken measures to protect our intellectual property, but these measures might not be sufficient or effective. We may bring lawsuits to protect against the potential infringement of our intellectual property rights and other companies, including our competitors, could make claims against us alleging our infringement of their intellectual property rights. There can be no assurance that we would prevail in such lawsuits. Any significant impairment of our intellectual property rights could harm our business.

As part of our growth strategy, we may evaluate the potential acquisition of businesses offering products or services that complement our services offerings. If we identify a business that we deem to be suitable for acquisition and complete an acquisition, our evaluation may prove faulty and the acquisition may prove unsuccessful. In addition, an acquisition may prove unsuccessful if we fail to effectively execute a post-acquisition integration strategy. We may be unable to successfully integrate the systems and personnel of the acquired businesses. An acquisition could negatively impact our culture or undermine its core values. Acquisitions could disrupt our existing operations or cause management to divert its focus from our core business. An acquisition could cause potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities or could cause us to assume or incur unknown or unforeseen liabilities. From time to time, we intend to evaluate other brokerages for acquisition in order to accelerate growth and might not succeed in identifying suitable candidates or we may acquire brokerages that negatively impact us.

Our business is highly dependent on a few significant technology vendors. In the event we were to lose one of our significant vendor partners, our business could be adversely affected because we could be forced to move this technology to another vendor, which would take significant time away from our management running our core business. Our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected by the loss of one key relationship, as it would take a significant amount of time to replace this relationship with uncertain results.

We intend to continue to make investments to support our business growth and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges, including the need to develop new features and products or enhance our existing products, improve our operating infrastructure, or acquire complementary businesses and technologies. Accordingly, we might need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences, and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any debt financing we secure in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which might make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. We might not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be impaired, and our business might be harmed.

We have experienced substantial growth in our business that has placed, and might continue to place, significant demands on our management and our operational and financial infrastructure. As our operations grow in size, scope, and complexity, we will need to improve and upgrade our systems and infrastructure. The expansion of our systems and infrastructure will require us to commit substantial financial, operational, and technical resources in advance of an increase in the volume of business, with no assurance that the volume of business will increase. Continued growth could also strain our ability to maintain reliable service levels for our users and advertisers, develop and improve our operational, financial, and management controls, enhance our reporting systems and procedures, and recruit, train, and retain highly skilled personnel.

Our products are accessed by a large number of users often at the same time. If the use of our marketplace continues to expand, we might not be able to scale our technology to accommodate increased capacity requirements, which might result in interruptions or delays in service. The failure of our systems and operations to meet our capacity requirements could result in interruptions or delays in service or impede our ability to scale our operations.

Managing our growth will require significant expenditures and allocation of valuable management resources. If we fail to achieve the necessary level of efficiency in our organization as it grows, our business, operating results, and financial condition would be harmed.

The real estate industry often involves litigation, ranging from individual lawsuits by unhappy buyers or sellers to large class actions and government investigations, like those some of our biggest competitors are currently facing for alleged anti-trust law violations. We often are involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business.

We cannot predict with certainty the cost of our defense, the cost of prosecution, insurance coverage, or the ultimate outcome of litigation and other proceedings filed by or against us, including remedies or damage awards. Adverse results in such litigation and other proceedings may harm our business and financial condition. Such litigation and other proceedings may include, but are not limited to, actions relating to intellectual property, commercial arrangements, negligence and fiduciary duty claims arising from our brokerage operations, actions against our title company alleging it knew or should have known others were committing mortgage fraud, standard brokerage disputes like the failure to disclose hidden defects in a property such as mold, vicarious liability based upon conduct of individuals or entities outside of our control, including our agents, third-party service or product providers, antitrust claims, general fraud claims, employment law claims, including claims challenging the classification of our agents as independent contractors and compliance with wage and hour regulations, and claims alleging violations of RESPA or state consumer fraud statutes. In addition, class action lawsuits can often be particularly burdensome given the breadth of claims, large potential damages and significant costs of defense. In the case of intellectual property litigation and proceedings, adverse outcomes could include the cancellation, invalidation or other loss of material intellectual property rights used in our business and injunctions prohibiting our use of business processes or technology that is subject to third party patents or other third-party intellectual property rights. In addition, we may be required to enter into licensing agreements (if available on acceptable terms) and be required to pay royalties.

The real estate industry generates a lot of litigation, which could harm our business, reputation, operating results, and liquidity. We have general liability and an errors and omissions insurance policy to help protect us against claims of inadequate work or negligent action. However, this insurance might not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or a claim otherwise covered by our insurance may exceed our coverage limits, or a claim might not be covered at all. We may be subject to errors or omissions claims that could have an adverse effect on us. Moreover, defending a suit, regardless of its merits, could entail substantial expense and require the time and attention of key management personnel.

We currently develop portions of our technology in Brazil and could in the future conduct operations in foreign jurisdictions. Conducting business in foreign countries involves inherent risks, including, but not limited to: difficulties in staffing, funding and managing foreign operations; unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; export restrictions; tariffs and other trade barriers; difficulties in protecting, acquiring, enforcing and litigating intellectual property rights; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; and potentially adverse tax consequences.

If we were to experience any of the difficulties listed above, or any other difficulties, any international development activities and our overall financial condition may suffer.

The residential real estate market tends to be cyclical and typically is affected by changes in general macroeconomic conditions which are beyond our control. These conditions include short-term and long-term interest rates, inflation, fluctuations in debt and equity capital markets, levels of unemployment, consumer confidence, geopolitical stability and the general condition of the U.S. and the global economy. The residential real estate market also depends upon the strength of financial institutions, which are sensitive to changes in the general macroeconomic and regulatory environment. Lack of available credit or lack of confidence in the financial sector could impact the residential real estate market, which in turn could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

For example, the U.S. residential real estate market has steadily improved in recent years after a significant and prolonged downturn, which began in the second half of 2005 and continued through 2011. However, we cannot predict whether the market will continue to improve. If the residential real estate market or the economy as a whole does not continue to improve, we may experience adverse effects on our business, financial condition and liquidity, including our ability to access capital and grow our business.

Any of the following could cause a decline in the housing or mortgage markets and have a material adverse effect on our business by causing periods of lower growth or a decline in the number of home sales or home prices which, in turn, could adversely affect our revenue and profitability:

demographic changes, such as a decrease in household formations; lower turnover in the housing market due to homeowners staying in the same home longer than in the past; slowing rate of immigration or population growth;

decrease in home ownership rates, declining demand for real estate and changing social attitudes toward home ownership;

•

changes in local, state and federal laws or regulations that affect residential real estate transactions or encourage ownership, including but not limited to changes in tax law in late 2017 that limit the deductibility of certain mortgage interest expense, the application of the alternative minimum tax, and real property taxes and employee relocation expense; or

acts of nature, such as hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters that disrupt local or regional real estate markets and which may, in some circumstances lead us to waive certain fees in impacted areas.

Our business is significantly impacted by the availability of financing at favorable rates or on favorable terms for homebuyers, which may be affected by government regulations and policies. Certain potential reforms such as the U.S. federal government’s conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, proposals to reform the U.S. housing market, attempts to increase loan modifications for homeowners with negative equity, monetary policy of the U.S. government, increases in interest rates and the Dodd-Frank Act may adversely impact the housing industry, including homebuyers’ ability to finance and purchase homes.

The monetary policy of the U.S. government, and particularly the Federal Reserve Board, which regulates the supply of money and credit in the U.S., significantly affects the availability of financing at favorable rates and on favorable terms, which in turn affects the domestic real estate market. Policies of the Federal Reserve Board can affect interest rates available to potential homebuyers. Further, we are affected by any rising interest rate environment. Changes in the Federal Reserve Board’s policies, the interest rate environment and mortgage market are beyond our control, are difficult to predict, and could restrict the availability of financing on reasonable terms for homebuyers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Since December 2015, the Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve Board has raised the target range for federal funds nine times, including three times in 2017 and four times in 2018, after leaving the federal funds interest rate near zero since late 2008. The pace of future increases in the federal funds rate is uncertain, although the Federal Open Market Committee has indicated it expects additional increases to occur. Historically, changes in the federal funds rate have led to changes in interest rates for other loans, but the extent of the impact on the future availability and price of mortgage financing cannot be predicted with certainty.

In addition, a reduction in government support for home financing, including the possible winding down of GSEs could further reduce the availability of financing for homebuyers in the U.S. residential real estate market. In connection with the U.S. federal government’s conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it provided billions of dollars of funding to these entities during the real estate downturn, in the form of preferred stock investments to backstop shortfalls in their capital requirements. No consensus has emerged in Congress concerning potential reforms relating to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, so we cannot predict either the short- or long-term effects of such regulation and its impact on homebuyers’ ability to finance and purchase homes.

The Dodd-Frank Act, which was passed to more closely regulate the financial services industry, created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), an independent federal bureau, which enforces consumer protection laws, including various laws regulating mortgage finance. The Dodd-Frank Act also established new standards and practices for mortgage lending, including a requirement to determine a prospective borrower’s ability to repay a loan, removing incentives to originate higher cost mortgages, prohibiting prepayment penalties for non-qualified mortgages, prohibiting mandatory arbitration clauses, requiring additional disclosures to potential borrowers and restricting the fees that mortgage originators may collect. Rules implementing many of these changes protect creditors from certain liabilities for loans that meet the requirements for “qualified mortgages.” The rules place several restrictions on qualified mortgages, including caps on certain closing costs. These and other rules promulgated by the CFPB could have a significant impact on the availability of home mortgages and how mortgage agents and lenders transact business. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act contained provisions that require GSEs, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to retain an interest in the credit risk arising from the assets they securitize. This may serve to reduce GSEs’ demand for mortgage loans, which could have a material adverse effect on the mortgage industry, and may reduce the availability of mortgages to certain borrowers.

While we are continuing to evaluate all aspects of legislation, regulations and policies affecting the domestic real estate market, we cannot predict whether or not such legislation, regulation and policies may increase down payment requirements, increase mortgage costs, or result in increased costs and potential litigation for housing market participants, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

The occurrence of natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, fires, explosions, pandemic disease and man-made disasters, including acts of terrorism and military actions, could adversely affect our operations, results of operations or financial condition, even if home values and buyers’ access to financing has not been affected.

As a public company, we will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations, even as a “smaller reporting company,” will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming, or costly, and increase demand on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly, and current reports with respect to our business and operating results. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight may be required. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could harm our business and operating results. Although we have already hired additional employees to comply with these requirements, we may need to hire more resources in the future, which will increase our costs and expenses.

In addition, changing laws, regulations, and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure create uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations, and standards are subject to varying

We also expect that being a public company combined with these new rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors also could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified management and members of our Board, particularly to serve on our audit committee and compensation committee.

As a result of disclosure of information in this prospectus and in filings required of a public company, our business and financial condition will become more visible, which we believe may result in threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties. If such claims are successful, our business and operating results could be harmed. Even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and materially harm our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Prior to this offering, there was no market for shares of our common stock. An active trading market for our common stock might never develop or be sustained, which could depress the market price of our common stock and affect your ability to sell our shares. The initial public offering price will be determined through negotiations between us and the representatives of the underwriters and might bear no relationship to the price at which our common stock will trade following the completion of this offering. The trading price of our common stock following this offering is likely to be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors include:

•

our operating performance and the operating performance of similar companies;

•

the overall performance of the equity markets;

•

announcements by us or our competitors of acquisitions, business plans, or commercial relationships;

•

threatened or actual litigation;

•

•

•

large volumes of sales of our shares of common stock by existing shareholders; and

•

Securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the overall market and in the market price of a company’s securities. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs, divert our management’s attention and resources, and harm our business, operating results, and financial condition.

We intend to retain any future earnings to finance the development and expansion of our business. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the near future. The declaration, payment and amount of any future dividends will be made at the discretion of our Board, and will depend

Upon completion of this offering, there will be        shares of our common stock outstanding (or        shares, if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares). The        shares being sold in this offering will be freely tradeable immediately after this offering (except for shares purchased by affiliates) and of the 48,198,725 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2019 (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares),        shares are freely tradable shares under Rule 144 that are not subject to a lock-up,        shares may be sold upon expiration of lock-up agreements 180 days after the date of this offering (subject in some cases to volume limitations). In addition, as of December 31, 2019, there were outstanding options to purchase 195,000 shares of our common stock that, if exercised, will result in these additional shares becoming available for sale upon expiration of the lock-up agreements. A large portion of these shares and options are held by a small number of persons. Sales by these shareholders or option holders of a substantial number of shares after this offering could significantly reduce the market price of our common stock.

We also intend to register all common stock that we may issue under our stock plans. Effective upon the completion of this offering, an aggregate of         shares of our common stock will be reserved for future issuance under these plans. Once we register these shares, which we plan to do shortly after the completion of this offering, they can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to the lock-up agreements referred to above. If a large number of these shares are sold in the public market, the sales could reduce the trading price of our common stock. See “Shares Eligible for Future Sale” for a more detailed description of sales that may occur in the future.

The initial public offering price will be substantially higher than the net tangible book value of each outstanding share of common stock immediately after this offering. If you purchase common stock in this offering, you will suffer immediate and substantial dilution. At an assumed initial public offering price of $       with net proceeds to us of  $       million, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses, investors who purchase shares in this offering will have contributed approximately      % of the total amount of funding we have received to date, but will only hold approximately      % of the total voting rights. The dilution will be $       per share in the net tangible book value of the common stock from the assumed initial public offering price. In addition, if outstanding options or warrants to purchase shares of our common stock are exercised, there could be further dilution. For more information refer to “Dilution”.

We cannot specify with certainty the particular uses of the net proceeds we will receive from this offering. Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds, including for any of the purposes described in “Use of Proceeds”. Accordingly, you will have to rely on the judgment of our management with respect to the use of the proceeds, with only limited information concerning management’s specific intentions. Our management might spend a portion or all of the net proceeds from this offering in ways that our shareholders do not desire or that might not yield a favorable return. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could harm our business. Pending their use, we might invest the net proceeds from this offering in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value.

The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and our capitalization as of September 30, 2019:

The following information of our cash and cash equivalents and capitalization following the completion of this offering is illustrative only and will change based on the actual public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. You should read this table together with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) the as adjusted amount of each of cash and cash equivalents, additional paid in capital, total stockholders’ (deficit) equity and total capitalization by approximately $      million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, each increase (decrease) of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares offered by us at the assumed initial public offering price per share of  $      per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash and cash equivalents, additional paid in capital, total stockholders’ (deficit) equity and total capitalization by approximately $      million.

The number of shares of our common stock outstanding in the table above excludes:

We generate revenue primarily from commissions on completed real estate transactions.

We recognize commission-based revenue on the closing of a transaction, less the amount of any closing-cost reductions. Commission revenue is affected by the number of real estate transactions we close, the mix of transactions, home sale prices, and commission rates.

Through our stock plans, we intend to offer an equity incentive program where all of our agents can receive, in lieu of cash commissions at the closing of sales transactions, common stock grants that vest in three years based on continued affiliation with our company.

Effective January 1, 2019, agents can also receive stock grants when they refer an agent to join us and the agent closes their first sale after joining our company.

Cost of revenue consists primarily of agent commissions less fees paid to us by our agents. We expect cost of revenue to continue to rise in proportion to the expected increase in revenue.

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel costs, stock-based compensation, and fees for professional services. Professional services are principally comprised of external legal, audit, and tax services. In the short term, we expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollars due to the anticipated growth of our business and to meet the increased compliance requirements associated with our transition to, and operation as, a public company. However, in the long term, we anticipate general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue to decrease over time.

Marketing expenses consist primarily of expenses for online and traditional advertising, as well as costs for marketing and promotional materials. Advertising costs are expensed as they are incurred. We expect marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we expand advertising programs and we anticipate marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue to decrease over time.

From inception until the completion of the Exchange Transactions, we did not record any U.S. federal or state income tax benefits for the net losses we had incurred because our legal entities were pass-through tax entities. Subsequent to the Exchange Transactions, we have not recorded any U.S. federal or state income tax benefits for the net losses we have incurred due to our uncertainty of realizing a benefit from those items. As of September 30, 2019, and December 31, 2018, we had federal net operating loss carryforwards of  $4,914,955 and $2,135,093 and state net operating loss carryforwards of  $2,271,649 and $941,411, respectively. Losses will begin to expire, if not utilized, in 2032. Utilization of the net operating loss carryforwards may be subject to an annual limitation according to Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as amended, and similar state law provisions.

Net cash used in operating activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 consisted of a net loss of  $2.7 million, offset by non-cash charges of  $1.7 million, including $1.6 million of share-based compensation expense. Changes in assets and liabilities were primarily driven by a $0.3 million decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities due primarily to the timing of payments, partially offset by a by a $0.5 million decrease in accounts receivable due primarily to an increase in the number of real estate transactions completed, and a $0.6 million decrease in amounts due from affiliates due to payment received for amounts owed.

Net cash provided by operating activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 consisted of a net loss of  $0.2 million, offset by non-cash charges for depreciation and amortization expense and bad debt expense of  $0.1 million and share-based compensation expense of  $0.2 million. Changes in assets and liabilities were primarily driven by a $0.6 million decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities, due primarily to the timing of payments, partially offset by a $0.7 million decrease in accounts receivable due to fewer transactions completed at the end of the quarter in which the payment was collected after the quarter end.

Net cash used in investing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 consisted of purchases of capitalized software as well as computers and equipment.

Net cash used in investing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 consisted of purchases of capitalized software as well as computers and equipment.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 consisted of $0.6 million of proceeds from issuance of common stock offset by our principal payments on an outstanding loan.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 consisted of $1.5 million of proceeds from issuance of common stock in a private placement and $0.1 million of net proceeds from related party notes issued by us, partially offset by the purchase of Fathom Realty membership interest for $0.1 million and our payments on an outstanding loan.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 consisted of a net loss of $1.6 million, offset by non-cash charges of  $0.4 million including $0.3 million of share-based compensation expense. Changes in assets and liabilities were primarily driven by a $0.9 million increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities, due primarily to the timing of payments, partially offset by a $0.2 million increase in accounts receivable due to fewer transactions completed at the end of the quarter in which the payment was collected after the quarter end.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 consisted of a net loss of $0.4 million, offset by non-cash charges for of depreciation and amortization expense and bad debt expense. Changes in assets and liabilities were primarily driven by a $0.7 million increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities, due primarily to the timing of payments, partially offset by a $0.6 million increase in accounts receivable due to fewer transactions completed at the end of the quarter in which the payment was collected after the quarter end.

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily consisted of $0.2 million in purchases of capitalized software and purchases of computers and equipment.

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 consisted of purchases of computers and equipment.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 consisted of $1.7 million of proceeds from issuance of common stock and $0.1 million from proceeds from notes payable, partially offset by the purchase of Fathom Realty membership interests for $0.1 million and the principal payments by us on an outstanding loan.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 consisted of $0.4 million of proceeds from notes, partially offset by $0.2 million of payments on those notes and principal payments by us on an outstanding loan.

Discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”). The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, revenue, and expenses at the date of the financial statements. Generally, we base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions in accordance with GAAP that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Critical accounting policies and estimates are those that we consider the most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations because they require our most difficult, subjective, or complex judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain.

We have a history of negative cash flows from operations and operating losses, and experienced net losses of approximately $0.4 million and $1.6 million in the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018, and approximately $2.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. Additionally, we anticipate further expenditures associated with the process of expanding the business. Combined with our levels of working capital, management determined these conditions raised substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern. Management believes that its planned budget, which includes continued increases in the number of our agents and transactions at rates consistent with historical growth, and the

Our revenue consists of commissions charged to individual customers (i.e. the seller or buyer of a residential property) on each real estate transaction completed, net of any closing-cost reductions. We are contractually obligated to provide for the fulfillment of transfers of real estate between buyers and sellers. We provide these services ourselves and control the services of our agents necessary to legally transfer the real estate. As such, we are defined as the Principal. As Principal, we satisfy our obligation upon the closing of a real estate transaction. As Principal, and upon satisfaction of our obligation, we recognize revenue in the gross amount of consideration we expect we are entitled to receive. We calculate the transaction price by applying the Company’s portion of the agreed upon commission rate to the property’s selling price. We may provide services to the buyer, seller, or both parties to a transaction. When we provide services to the seller in a transaction, we recognize revenue for our portion of the commission, which is calculated as the sales price multiplied by the commission rate less the commission separately distributed to the buyer’s agent, or the “sell” side portion of the commission. When we provide services to the buyer in a transaction, we recognize revenue in an amount equal to the sales price for the property multiplied by the commission rate for the “buy” side of the transaction. In instances in which we represent both the buyer and the seller in a transaction, we recognize the full commission on the transaction. Commissions revenue contains a single performance obligation that is satisfied upon the closing of a real estate transaction, at which point the entire transaction price is earned. We are not entitled to any commission until the performance obligation is satisfied and are not owed any commission for unsuccessful transactions, even if services have been provided.

While the rest of this prospectus details what we do, I believe the why and how are just as important as the what, if not more important. I hope to do that for you here.

When I entered the real estate industry, I saw a gap widening between the commission split a traditional brokerage charged their agent on each sale and the value that agent received compared to what that agent could now get on their own in this new technology driven era. I recognized that there was a real value to being a member of a large brokerage but I did not and do not believe that value is worth 50%, 30%, or even 20% of the agent’s commission.

At the time, I saw an emerging commission model that had potential. It offered the industry’s best splits but gave agents very little or nothing in return. I saw an opportunity to marry the best of both worlds and bridge the gap between the high service, high fee brokerages and the low service, low fee brokerages.

My goal when creating our company was to build a brand that provided all the support, technology, tools, and training that an agent would otherwise get from a large traditional brokerage but at a small flat-fee per transaction. In other words, we strive to provide our agents with the greatest value in the industry.

The term “100% commission” has been given to companies with a commission model like ours, meaning the agent keeps 100% of their commission minus a flat transaction fee. This model, when managed properly, allows agents to provide the highest level of service to their clients without sacrificing anything.

Over the years, I have been recognized by major industry analysts as a leader in real estate. I was recognized on the Swanepoel Power 200 list as one of the most influential people in real estate in 2019, as a Trendsetter in 2018 by the same Swanepoel Power 200, and a Game Changer in 2019 by Real Trends. I have been recognized as the Top Large Company Leader in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2018 by the Dallas Morning News Top 100 Places to Work, across all industries, and we were ranked as the #1 Top Place to Work. In just 8 years, we grew to become the #16 largest independent brokerage and #37 largest brokerage overall, according to the Real Trends 500 report. We have also been named to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing businesses in the United States each year from 2014 through 2017 and the Inc. 5000 in 2018 and 2019.

I am very proud of our company, but it is not about me. I did not build it alone. I surrounded myself with people who are smarter and wiser than me. We share a singular vision and we built our company together. We have a team of incredible and diverse leaders with whom I am proud to serve beside.

There’s an age-old saying that we subscribe to: “Whoever wants to be great must first become a servant to all.” It speaks of servant leadership long before it was ever a catchphrase. I believe this is one of the most powerful concepts in business once one fully understands why it matters and how it works.

Our core belief is simple: the more a real estate agent truly serves his or her clients and places their needs first, the more willing those clients are to recommend the agent to their friends and family. The same holds true for us at the corporate level. Many real estate brokerages push their local managers to focus on recruiting. While we recognize recruiting is vital to continued growth and increased market penetration, we believe there is a better way and have proven that over the years. Our tremendous growth speaks for itself.

At Fathom, we ask our local managers to focus first on serving our agents and helping them grow their business. By changing the focus, two important things happen. First, by helping each agent increase his or her productivity, we are more likely to increase our number of transactions, generate more revenue, and attract more agents. In fact, the average agent who has been with Fathom for four years grew their sales by 49%. Second, by truly placing our agents’ needs first, they become advocates for our company and are more likely to recommend us to other agents they meet. Why does that matter? Simply put, we believe a large team of happy agents can recruit far more new agents than one manager can recruit alone. Now, multiply that across hundreds of markets and you have an army of evangelists.

I truly believe that our company is the next evolution of the real estate brokerage. Through our 100% commission model, real estate agents are able to build a more profitable business by allowing them to keep the highest percentage of their commission possible without sacrificing support, technology, or training. We

Fathom Holdings Inc. was founded in 2010 as a cloud-based, technology-driven real estate brokerage company. Our low-overhead business model leverages our proprietary software platform for management of real estate brokerage back-office functions, without the cost of physical brick and mortar offices or of redundant personnel. As a result, we are able to offer our agents the ability to keep significantly more of their commissions compared to traditional real estate brokerage firms. We believe we offer our agents some of the best technology, training, and support available in the industry. We also offer our agents valuable benefits, including equity in our Company if they achieve revenue and growth goals, as well as what we believe is relatively broad and affordable healthcare coverage. We believe our commission structure, business model and our focus on treating our agents well attract more agents and higher producing agents to join and stay with our Company.

Our commission model is designed to empower real estate agents to build a more profitable business by allowing them to keep a high percentage of their commission without sacrificing support, technology, or training. We believe that by simply joining our company, agents from traditional model brokerages can increase their income by 25% on average. More importantly, agents are able to take that increase and reinvest it into their marketing thereby increasing their number of transactions and revenue.

Generally speaking, there are only two ways to make more money in real estate: increase revenue or decrease expenses. In a slowing housing market, it’s difficult to increase revenue when agents are fighting over a piece of a smaller pie. Our low flat transaction fee provides agents money to outspend their competition on marketing while netting the same amount of money as an agent at a traditional brokerage. With our low flat transaction fee, even during a decline in the housing market where home sales decline by 20%, we believe most real estate agents can net as much income as they did the year before at a traditional brokerage. In other words, they may close 20% fewer homes but could earn the same income as before.

Traditional brokerage companies retain between 20% and 50% in commission splits with their brokers. Below is an example of a traditional brokerage company’s commission model assuming a 30% split, versus our commission model. This is an example of potential commission savings, and results similar to the example below are not guaranteed.

We recognize revenue primarily through the commissions that our agents charge their clients. From the gross commission revenue, we keep a flat transaction fee of  $450 and the remainder is paid to the agent. This $450 transaction fee is charged for the agent’s first 12 sales per agent’s anniversary year and then $99 per sale for the rest of their anniversary year. For leases, we recognize revenue through lease commissions negotiated between our agents and landlords, and we retain $85 per transaction and the remainder is paid to the agent. Each year, every agent also pays a fee of  $500 on their first sale (recognized in Cost of Revenue

Our goal is to be one of the leading 100% commission real estate brokerages in the United States while offering superior customer service, state of the art technology, and a great company culture. We have grown rapidly since inception, and plan to accelerate our growth through the following aspects of our vision:

We operate as a cloud-based real estate brokerage by utilizing our consumer-facing website, https://www.FathomRealty.com, and our internal proprietary technology, IntelliAgent®, to manage our brokerage operations. Through our website, we provide buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants with access to all of the available properties for sale or lease on the multiple listing service, or MLS, in each of the markets in which we operate. We provide each of our agents their own personal website that they can modify to match their personal branding. Our website also gives consumers access to our network of professional real

Internally, we use our technology to provide agents with opportunities to increase their profitability, reduce risk, and develop professionally, while fostering a culture that values collaboration, strength of community, and commitment to serving the consumer’s best interests. We provide our agents with the systems, support, professional development and infrastructure designed to help them succeed in unpredictable, and often challenging, economic conditions. This includes delivering 24/7 access to collaborative tools and training for real estate agents.

Specifically, using advanced Internet-based software, we can improve compliance and oversight while providing, at no cost to our agents, technology tools and services to our agents and their customers, including:

Our proprietary IntelliAgent® real estate technology platform is designed to provide a suite of brokerage and agent level tools, technology, business processes, business intelligence and reporting, training, customer relationship management, social media marketing, marketing repository, and marketing, along with a marketplace for add-on services and third-party technology. Our IntelliAgent rollout strategy began with the core technology needed by every real estate brokerage to manage its agents, its agents’ transactions, commission structures, payments, and compliance, as well as the ability to gain a better understanding as to what is happening in the business through business intelligence and robust reporting. Our technology roadmap for IntelliAgent includes brokerage and agent level websites, content creation and management, customer relationship management, social media marketing, agent reviews, goal setting, accountability, expense tracking, training platform, marketing repository, and APIs for integration with third-party tools. We intend for IntelliAgent to be more than just a technology platform for Fathom; we might someday use a simplified version of IntelliAgent as a platform to unify independent brokerages through a smarter broker network allowing them to effectively compete against larger regional and national brands. This should allow us to monetize a portion to our technology and generate revenue from small brokerages and agents who would not otherwise join our company. We believe that IntelliAgent also provides us with the platform needed to more fully integrate services companies that are, or become, part of the Fathom Holdings network. This deeper integration is designed to encourage a higher level of agent adoption of our various services companies and therefore create a better agent experience, customer experience, and generate higher revenues for our company and add value for our shareholders.

We believe that agents deliver unique value to the specific customers they serve in different ways depending upon the knowledge, skills or niche of the agent and the needs and desires of the customers. We also believe that customers work with agents because of the agent’s skills and service individually and

In a recent study by NAR, only 2% of home buyers choose their agent because of the brand they are with. We believe, home buyers and sellers choose the agent because of their individual marketing prowess, professionalism, and personality. To capitalize on this, we focus on helping our agents improve professionally and increase their financial ability to invest in their personal marketing, and therefore capture a greater percentage of customers. We believe our business model is particularly attractive to productive agents, as illustrated by the following chart:

The lower overall cost of operating our business via the cloud has enabled us to offer our agents a 100% commission model. Consequently, this higher commission paid to our agents combined with our unique delivery of support services and the flexibility it provides for agents has facilitated our growth over the past several years. We also differentiate ourselves by not charging our agents royalties or franchise fees. A commission calculator on our website allows agents to determine how much money they could make if they join our company.

We believe we offer agents further opportunity to increase their overall revenue and income, because they can invest the additional income earned under our fee structure in incremental marketing.

Currently, our primary market is the United States. We currently operate in more than 75 cities or regions, which are located in the following 24 states or districts:

The residential real estate brokerage industry is highly competitive with low barriers to entry for new participants. We believe that recruitment and retention of independent sales agents and independent sales agent teams are critical to the business and financial results of a brokerage. Competition for independent sales agents in our industry is high and has intensified particularly for the more productive independent sales agents. Competition for independent sales agents is generally subject to numerous factors, including remuneration and benefits, other expenses borne by independent sales agents, leads or business opportunities generated for the independent sales agent from the brokerage, independent sales agents’ perception of the value of the broker’s brand affiliation, marketing and advertising efforts by the brokerage or franchisor, technology, continuing professional education, and other services provided by the brokerage or franchisor.

We compete with three major categories of competitors:

Many of our competitors are much larger than us, with more capital to fund growth and survive downturns, and greater brand awareness. Some of our competitors are also increasingly well-funded, which strengthens their competitive position and ability to offer aggressive compensation arrangements to top-performing sales agents. Moreover, a growing number of companies are competing in non-traditional ways for a portion of the gross commission income generated by home sale transactions. For example, listing aggregators and other web-based real estate service providers not only compete with our business by establishing relationships with independent sales agents and/or buyers and sellers of homes, they also increasingly charge brokerages and independent sales agents for advertising on their sites.

Our ability to successfully compete is important to our prospects for growth. Our ability to compete may be affected by the recruitment, retention and performance of independent sales agents, the location of offices and target markets, the services provided to independent sales agents, the fees charged to independent sales agents, the number and nature of competing offices in the vicinity, affiliation with a recognized brand name, community reputation, technology and other factors. Our success may also be affected by national, regional and local economic conditions.

We have a registered trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the name and logo of “IntelliAgent,” as it relates to real estate and associated industries. We have a pending application with the USPTO for the name and logo of  “Fathom Realty” in the same space. We also own the rights to the domain names FathomRealty.com, FathomCareers.com and IntelliAgent.com.

We have developed and own the IntelliAgent software. We also license third-party software and other proprietary technology upon which we depend. While we currently depend on our relationship with these vendors to provide our services in the short-term, we believe other alternatives are available in the longer term, should they be needed, to license or develop replacement technology.

While there can be no assurance that we will be able to protect our proprietary rights and information, we intend to assert our intellectual property rights against any infringement. While an assertion of our rights could result in a substantial cost and diversion of management effort, we believe the protection and defense against infringement of our intellectual property rights are essential to our business. There is also risk that someone else will claim that we are violating their intellectual property rights, which could cost money and time to defend, even if successful.

Seasons and weather traditionally impact the real estate industry. Continuous poor weather or natural disasters negatively impact listings and sales. Spring and summer seasons historically reflect greater sales periods in comparison to fall and winter seasons. The latter periods also tend to see greater agent attrition. We have historically experienced lower revenues during the fall and winter seasons, as well as during periods of unseasonable weather, which reduces our operating income, net income, operating margins and cash flow.

Real estate listings precede sales and a period of poor listing activity will negatively impact revenue. Past performance in similar seasons or during similar weather events can provide no assurance of future or current performance, and macroeconomic shifts in the markets we serve can conceal the impact of poor weather and/or seasonality.

Home sales in successive quarters can fluctuate widely due to a wide variety of factors, including holidays, national or international emergencies, the school year calendar’s impact on timing of family relocations, interest rate changes, speculation of pending interest rate changes and the overall macroeconomic market. Our revenue and operating margins each quarter will remain subject to seasonal fluctuations, poor weather and natural disasters and macroeconomic market changes that may make it difficult to compare or analyze our financial performance effectively across successive quarters.

Furthermore, the residential real estate market and the real estate industry in general is often cyclical, characterized by protracted periods of depressed home values, lower buyer demand, inflated rates of foreclosure and often changing regulatory or underwriting standards applicable to mortgages. The best example of this was the significant downturn in the U.S. residential real estate market between 2005 and 2011. Such depressed real estate cycles are often followed by extended periods of higher buyer demand, lower available real estate supply and increasing home values. While we believe we are well-positioned to compete during a downturn, our business is affected by these cycles in the residential real estate market, which can make it difficult to compare or analyze our financial performance effectively across successive periods.

We serve the residential real estate industry which is regulated by federal, state and local authorities as well as private associations or state sponsored associations or organizations. We are required to comply with federal, state, and local laws, as well as private governing bodies’ regulations, which, when combined, results in a highly-regulated industry.

We are also subject to federal and state regulations relating to employment, contractor, and compensation practices. Except for our employed state agents, all agents in our brokerage operations have been retained as independent contractors, either directly or indirectly through third-party entities formed by these independent contractors for their business purposes. With respect to these independent contractors, like most brokerage firms, we are subject to the Internal Revenue Service regulations and applicable state law guidelines regarding independent contractor classification. These regulations and guidelines are subject to judicial and agency interpretation.

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974, as amended, or RESPA, became effective on June 20, 1975. RESPA requires lenders, mortgage agents, or servicers of home loans to provide borrowers with pertinent and timely disclosures regarding the nature and costs of the real estate settlement process. RESPA also protects borrowers against certain abusive practices, such as kickbacks, and places limitations upon the use of escrow accounts. RESPA also requires detailed disclosures concerning the transfer, sale, or assignment of mortgage servicing, as well as disclosures for mortgage escrow accounts.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act, moved authority to administer RESPA from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or the CFPB. The CFPB released a five-year strategic plan in February 2018 indicating that it intends to continue to focus on protecting consumer rights while engaging in rulemaking to address unwarranted regulatory burdens. As a result, the regulatory framework of RESPA applicable to our business may be subject to change. The Dodd-Frank Act also increased regulation of the mortgage industry, including: (i) generally prohibiting lenders from making residential mortgage loans unless a good faith determination is made of a borrower’s creditworthiness based on verified and documented information; (ii) requiring the CFPB to enact regulations, to help assure that consumers are provided with timely and understandable information about residential mortgage loans that protect them against unfair, deceptive and abusive practices; and (iii) requiring federal regulators to establish minimum national underwriting guidelines for residential mortgages that lenders will be allowed to securitize without retaining any of the loans’ default risk. In addition, federal fair housing laws generally make it illegal to discriminate against protected classes of individuals in housing or brokerage services. Other federal laws and regulations applicable to our business include (i) the Federal Truth in Lending Act of 1969; (ii) the Federal Equal Credit Opportunity; (iii) the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act; (iv) the Fair Housing Act; (v) the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; (vi) the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act; (vii) the Consumer Financial Protection Act; (viii) the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act; and (ix) the Do Not Call/Do Not Fax Act and other federal and state laws pertaining to the privacy rights of consumers, which affects our opportunities to solicit new clients.

Real estate and brokerage licensing laws and requirements vary from state to state. In general, all individuals and entities lawfully conducting businesses as real estate agents or sales associates must be licensed in the state in which they carry on business and must at all times be in compliance.

States require a real estate broker to be employed by the brokerage firm or permit an independent contractor classification, and the broker may work for another broker conducting business on behalf of the sponsoring broker.

States may require a person licensed as a real estate agent, sales associate or salesperson, to be affiliated with a broker in order to engage in licensed real estate brokerage activities or allow the agent, sales associate or salesperson to work for another agent, sales associate or salesperson conducting business on behalf of the sponsoring agent, sales associate or salesperson. Agents, sales associates or salespersons are generally classified as independent contractors; however, real estate firms can also offer employment.

Engaging in the real estate brokerage business requires obtaining a real estate broker license (although in some states the licenses are personal to individual agents). In order to obtain this license, most jurisdictions require that a member or manager be licensed individually as a real estate broker in that jurisdiction. If applicable, this member or manager is responsible for supervising the licensees and the entity’s real estate brokerage activities within the state.

Real estate licensees, whether they are salespersons, individuals, agents or entities, must follow the state’s real estate licensing laws and regulations. These laws and regulations generally specify minimum duties and obligations of these licensees to their clients and the public, as well as standards for the conduct of business, including contract and disclosure requirements, record keeping requirements, requirements for local offices, escrow trust fund management, agency representation, advertising regulations and fair housing requirements.

Most states have local regulations (city or county government) that govern the conduct of the real estate brokerage business. Local regulations generally require additional disclosures by the parties to a real estate transaction or their agents, or the receipt of reports or certifications, often from the local governmental authority, prior to the closing or settlement of a real estate transaction as well as prescribed review and approval periods for documentation and broker conditions for review and approval.

Beyond federal, state and local governmental regulations, the real estate industry is subject to rules established by private real estate groups and/or trade organizations, including, among others, state Associations of REALTORS® (AOR), and local Associations of REALTORS® (AOR), the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), and local Multiple Listing Services (MLSs). “REALTOR” and “REALTORS” are registered trademarks of the National Association of REALTORS®.

Each third-party organization generally has prescribed policies, bylaws, codes of ethics or conduct, and fees and rules governing the actions of members in dealings with other members, clients and the public, as well as how the third-party organization’s brand and services may or might not be deployed or displayed.

As of September 30, 2019, we had 15 full-time employees.

Our operations are overseen directly by management. Our management oversees all responsibilities in the areas of corporate administration, training, agent relations, business development, technology, and research. We intend to expand our current management to retain skilled employees with experience relevant to our business. Our management’s relationships with agents and technology providers should provide the foundation through which we can continue to grow our business in the future.

As of September 30, 2019, we had approximately 3,629 agents whom we classify as independent contractors. None of our employees or agents are represented by unions, and we believe our employee and agent relations are good.

Our principal executive office is located at 211 New Edition Court, Suite 211, Cary, North Carolina, 27511. Our total office space at the principal executive office is approximately 3,400 square feet and has lease terms expiring on November 30, 2020. We believe our office space is adequate for at least the next 12 months.

We also lease office space located at 24800 Chrisanta Drive, Suite 140, Mission Viejo, California, 92691. This office space is approximately 1980 square feet and has lease terms expiring on December 31, 2020. We primarily use this office space for our accounting team.

In addition, we lease office space in Phoenix, Arizona; Bentonville, Arkansas; Hollywood, Florida; Cumming, Georgia; and Greenville, South Carolina with leases expiring in 2020. None of these leases are individually material to our business model and all have either an option to renew or are located in major markets with adequate opportunities to continue business operations at terms satisfactory to us.

We are not involved in any litigation that we believe could have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations. There is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or by any court, public board, government agency, self-regulatory organization or body pending or, to the knowledge of our executive officers, threatened against or affecting our Company or our officers or directors in their capacities as such.

The following table sets forth information concerning our directors and executive officers as of September 30, 2019:

Joshua Harley, our founder, has been our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 2009. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Harley served as Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Texas Home Central. Prior to that, Mr. Harley was an Internet Manager at Highland Homes from 2005 to 2007. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Harley served as Founder and President of Everdrive Solutions, assisting with outsourced internet sales. Prior to this, Mr. Harley served in various IT recruiter roles. From 1995 until 2003, Mr. Harley served in the United States Marine Corps.

Among other experience, qualifications, attributes and skills, we believe Mr. Harley’s perspective as a large shareholder, his extensive leadership and experience as our Chief Executive Officer, his knowledge of our operations, and oversight of our business bring to our Board critical strategic planning and operational leadership that qualify him to serve as one of our directors.

Marco Fregenal has been our Chief Financial Officer since 2012. He has also served as our President since January 1, 2018. Prior to this, Mr. Fregenal served as our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer from May 1, 2012 to December 31, 2017. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Fregenal served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of EvoApp Inc, a provider of social media business intelligence, from 2009 to 2012. He was also the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial officer of Carpio Solutions, an information technology solutions company, from 2007 to 2009. Mr. Fregenal received a B.S. in economics from Rutgers University and a Masters in Econometrics and Operations Research from Monmouth University.

We believe Mr. Fregenal’s extensive financial experience, his knowledge of our operations and oversight of our business qualify him to serve as one of our directors.

Samantha Giuggio has served as our Chief Broker Operations Officer since June 2019. Prior to this, she served as Senior Vice President from October 2015 to June 2019. From April 2014 to October 2015, Ms. Giuggio served as our Regional Vice President and Vice President of Operations. She also served as our District Director RDU from February 2013 to April 2014. She served as an Agent and Group Leader Training Coordinator with us prior to this. Ms. Giuggio received an associates in hospitality management from Holyoke Community College.

Christopher Bennett has served on our Board since February 2019. From September 2005 to the present, Mr. Bennett has served as Chief Executive Officer and Founder of 97th Floor, a marketing agency that focuses on search, content, social, paid media and digital marketing. From April 2017 to the present, Mr. Bennett has been the managing partner of 7Sixty Ventures, a partnership acting as angel investors in start-up companies.

We believe Mr. Bennett’s extensive management and marketing skills qualify him to serve as one of our directors.

Jeffrey Coats has served on our Board since February 2019. Mr. Coats was the Chief Executive Officer of AutoWeb, Inc. (formerly Autobytel, Inc.), an online automotive sales company, from December 2008 until his retirement in April 2018. Prior to this, he served as Managing Director of Southgate Alternative Investments from April 2006 to December 2008. Mr. Coats served as Chief Executive Officer of Mikronite Technologies Group Inc. from March 2002 to April 2006. Mr. Coats served on the board of directors of Autoweb from August 1996 to September 2018, and Tell on Demand since September 2014. Mr. Coats received a B.A. from the University of Georgia and an MBA from the American Graduate School of International Management.

We believe Mr. Coats’ experience as a director of various companies, and his management experience, qualify him to serve as one or our directors.

David Hood has served on our Board since May 2019. Mr. Hood served as audit partner at Ernst & Young in Raleigh from 2005 until his retirement in 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Hood was the Vice President, Finance at Quintiles Americas, currently known as IQVIA Holdings Inc, a leading global provider of contract research services, from 1993 to 2000, where he helped take the company public. Mr. Hood received a B.S. in accounting from Guilford College and is a Certified Public Accountant.

We believe Mr. Hood’s experience in taking organizations public, capital raises, merger and acquisition transactions and financial acumen, qualify him to serve as one of our directors.

Glenn Sampson has served on our Board since February 2019. Mr. Sampson served in various positions at Exxon Mobil Corporation from 1965 until his retirement in 2000, with his most recent position being Manager, Data Management, in the Controller’s Department. Since retirement he has served in various volunteer roles. Mr. Sampson received his B.S. from Stanford University and a M.B.A. from Northwestern University.

We believe Mr. Sampson’s more than five decades of general and financial management experience qualify him to serve as one of our directors.

Jennifer Venable has served on our Board since February 2019. From April 2013 to the present, Ms. Venable has served as Vice President and General Counsel at Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. From September 2009 to April 2013, Ms. Venable was General Counsel at Alfresco Software, Inc. Prior to that, Ms. Venable served as Commercial Counsel and as Senior Partner Manager of Red Hat, Inc. from September 2002 to July 2009 and as in-house counsel for an internet start-up and in private practice. Ms. Venable received her BA in Government and Sociology from The College of William and Mary and her JD from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

There is no family relationship between any director, executive officer or person nominated to become a director or executive officer other than Mr. Sampson who is Mr. Harley’s father-in-law.

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that our Board must consist of between one and nine directors, and such number of directors within this range may be determined from time to time by resolution of our Board or our shareholders. We currently have seven directors.

Our restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws also provide that our directors may be removed with or without cause if the number or votes cast to remove such director exceeds the number of votes cast not to remove him or her. An election of our directors by our shareholders will be determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the shareholders entitled to vote on the election.

In February 2019, we established an audit committee, a nominating and governance committee, and a compensation committee. We apply the definition of independence used by The Nasdaq Stock Market to make a determination on the independence of our directors.

Our audit committee consists of David Hood (Chair), Jeffrey Coats and Jennifer Venable. Our compensation committee consists of Jeffrey Coats (Chair), Christopher Bennett and David Hood. Our nominating and governance committee consists of Jennifer Venable (Chair), Christopher Bennett and Jeffrey Coats. Our Board adopted written charters for each of these committees in August of 2019, all of which are available on our website, https://www.FathomRealty.com. In addition, from time to time, special committees may be established under the direction of our Board when necessary to address specific issues.

Our Board has undertaken a review of the independence of our directors and has determined that Chris Bennett, Jeffrey Coats, David Hood and Jennifer Venable are independent within the meaning of The Nasdaq Stock Market listing rules and meet the additional test for independence for audit committee members imposed by SEC regulation and The Nasdaq Stock Market listing rules.

The audit committee consists of David Hood (Chair), Jeffrey Coats and Jennifer Venable and is responsible for, among other things:

Our Board has affirmatively determined that under The Nasdaq Stock Market definitions, Mr. Hood meets the definitions of both an “audit committee financial expert” and an “independent director” for purposes of serving on an audit committee, and is so designated.

The compensation committee consists of Jeffrey Coats (Chair), Christopher Bennett and David Hood and is responsible for, among other things:

The nominating and corporate governance committee consists of Jennifer Venable (Chair), Christopher Bennett, and Jeffrey Coats and is responsible for, among other things:

The following discussion of compensation arrangements should be read with the compensation tables and related disclosures set forth below. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that are based on our current plans and expectations regarding future compensation programs, see “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” Actual compensation programs that we adopt may differ materially from the programs summarized in this discussion.

The discussion below includes a review of our compensation decisions with respect to fiscal year 2019 for our “named executive officers,” or NEOs, namely our principal executive officer and our two other most highly compensated executive officers. Our NEOs for fiscal year 2019 were:

In 2019, we compensated our NEOs through base salary, as described below. Our officers are also eligible for the standard benefits programs we offer all employees.

(9)

There were no outstanding equity awards held by our NEOs as of December 31, 2019.

Our Board has adopted and our shareholders have approved a 2017 Stock Plan and a 2019 Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan. The number of shares issued, number of shares reserved for issuance, number of shares underlying outstanding stock options and number of shares remaining available for future issuance under each plan, as of December 31, 2019, are as follows:

Our Board adopted the Fathom Ventures, Inc. 2017 Stock Plan (the “2017 Plan”) on May 5, 2017, and our shareholders approved the 2017 Plan on May 11, 2017. The 2017 Plan was amended upon approval by our Board and shareholders on September 11, 2018 to reflect the change in our name from Fathom Ventures, Inc. to Fathom Holdings Inc. and to reflect the effect of a 10-for-1 stock split and later 1-for-2 reverse stock split conducted in 2018.

We adopted the 2017 Plan to promote the success and enhance our value by linking the individual interests of employees, non-employee directors, contractors and consultants, to those of our shareholders and by providing those individuals with an incentive. The 2017 Plan provides us with flexibility in our ability to motivate, attract, and retain the services of employees, non-employee directors, contractors and consultants.

Stock Awards.   The 2017 Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options, as defined in Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), non-statutory stock options, stock bonuses, and stock purchase rights (collectively, “stock rights”). Incentive stock options may be granted only to our employees, or our parent company (if any) and any of our present or future subsidiaries. All other awards may be granted to employees, non-employee directors, contractors and consultants.

Share Reserve.   As of December 31, 2019, 1,911,624 shares of our common stock pursuant to restricted stock awards and 195,000 options have been issued under the 2017 Plan and no shares of our common stock remain available for future stock right awards under the 2017 Plan.

Administration.   The 2017 Plan provides for administration by our Board or a committee of our Board. Our Board may increase the size of the committee and appoint additional members, remove members of the committee and appoint new members, fill vacancies on the committee, or remove all members of the committee and directly administer the 2017 Plan. We refer to our Board or the committee appointed to administer the 2017 Plan in this summary as the “Committee.” Subject to the restrictions of the 2017 Plan, the Committee determines to whom we grant incentive awards under the 2017 Plan, the terms of the award, including the exercise or purchase price, the number of shares subject to the stock right and the exercisability of the award. All questions of interpretation are determined by the Committee, and its decisions are final and binding upon all participants, unless otherwise determined by our Board.

Stock Options.   Two types of stock options may be granted under the 2017 Plan. Incentive stock options within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code may be granted solely to our employees (and employees of our parent and subsidiary corporations, if any). Non-statutory stock options, which do not qualify for any special tax treatment under Section 422 of the Code, may be granted to employees, non-employee directors, contractors and consultants.

The Committee determines the price per share of options granted under the 2017 Plan on the date of grant, and in the case of incentive stock options the price per share must be at least 100% of the fair market value per share at the time of grant. The price per share of any incentive stock option granted to an employee who owns stock possessing more than 10% of the voting power of all classes of our stock must equal at least 110% of the fair market value of the Series B common stock on the date of grant. To the extent that the aggregate fair market value, determined at the time of grant, of shares of our Series B common stock with respect to which incentive stock options are exercisable for the first time by an option holder during any calendar year under any of our equity plans exceeds $100,000, such options will not qualify as incentive stock options.

Payment of the exercise price for a stock option may be made by delivery of cash or a check, or, in the discretion of the Committee, the exercise price may be paid through any other form of consideration and method of payment permitted by law and the 2017 Plan, including (a) the delivery of already-owned shares of our Series B common stock, (b) the delivery of the grantee’s personal recourse promissory note, (c) through the surrender of shares issuable upon exercise of the option (i.e., a net exercise), (d) through a broker-assisted cashless exercise, or (e) any combination of the above.

Options granted under the 2017 Plan will become exercisable at the rate specified by the Committee. Stock options granted under the 2017 Plan, whether incentive stock options or non-statutory options, generally expire 10 years from the date of grant, except that incentive stock options granted to an employee who owns stock possessing more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of our stock are not exercisable for longer than five years after the date of grant.

Stock Bonuses and Purchase Rights.   The 2017 Plan provides for shares of our Series B common stock to be awarded or provided as opportunities to purchase our Series B common stock to participants as an incentive for the performance of services for us or our affiliates. The Committee may determine the purchase price to be paid for such stock, if any, and other terms of such purchase or award.

Termination of Employment or Affiliation.   The 2017 Plan provides that if a grantee ceases to provide us with Continuous Service (as defined in the 2017 Plan) or an affiliate other than by reason of death or disability or termination for cause, the grantee may exercise any stock right held by him or her to the extent it could have been exercised on the date of termination until the stock right’s specified expiration date. In the event the grantee exercises any incentive stock option after the date that is three months following the date of termination, such incentive stock option will be converted into a non-statutory stock option. When a grantee’s Continuous Service ends for Cause (as defined in the 2017 Plan) then the grantee’s right to exercise a stock right ends immediately.

Our Board adopted the Fathom Holdings Inc. 2019 Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”) on August 6, 2019, and our shareholders approved the 2019 Plan on August 8, 2019. We adopted the 2019 Plan to promote the success and promote the growth of the market value of our common stock by linking the individual interests of employees, directors, and consultants, to those of our shareholders and by providing those individuals with an incentive. The 2019 Plan allows us the flexibility to motivate, attract, and retain the services of employees, directors, and consultants without impacting our liquidity or cash reserves.

Share Reserve.   As of December 31, 2019,1,074,594 shares of our common stock pursuant to restricted stock awards have been issued under the 2019 Plan and 3,925,406 shares of our common stock remain available for future stock right awards under the 2019 Plan.

Administration.   The 2019 Plan is administered by our Board or a committee designated by our Board. With respect to grants of awards to our officers or directors, the 2019 Plan is administered in a manner that permits such grants and related transactions to be exempt from Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). We refer to our Board or the committee appointed to administer the 2019 Plan in this summary as the “plan administrator.” The plan administrator has the full authority to select recipients of the grants, determine the extent of the grants, establish additional terms, conditions, rules or procedures to accommodate rules or laws of applicable non-U.S. jurisdictions, adjust awards and to take any other action deemed appropriate; however, no action may be taken that is inconsistent with the terms of the 2019 Plan.

Available Shares.   Subject to adjustment upon certain corporate transactions or events, a maximum of 5,000,000 shares of our Common Stock may be issued under the 2019 Plan. Any shares covered by an award that is forfeited, canceled, or expires shall be deemed to have not been issued for purposes of determining the maximum aggregate number of shares which may be issued under the 2019 Plan. Shares that actually have been issued under the 2019 Plan pursuant to an award shall not be returned to the 2019 Plan and shall not become available for future issuance under the 2019 Plan, other than unvested shares that are forfeited or repurchased by us. In the event any option or other award granted under the 2019 Plan is exercised through the tendering of shares (either actually or through attestation), or in the event tax withholding obligations are satisfied by tendering or withholding shares, any shares so tendered or withheld are not again available for awards under the 2019 Plan. To the extent that cash is delivered in lieu of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of a stock right, then we shall be deemed, for purposes of applying the limitation on the number of shares, to have issued the number of shares of Common Stock which we were entitled to issue upon such exercise. Shares of Common Stock we reacquire on the open market or otherwise using cash proceeds from the exercise of options shall not be available for awards under the 2019 Plan.

Eligibility and Types of Awards.   The 2019 Plan permits us to grant stock awards, including stock options, stock appreciation rights (“SARs”, restricted stock, restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and dividend equivalent rights to our employees, directors, and consultants.

Stock Options.   A stock option may be an incentive stock option within the meaning of, and qualifying under, Section 422 of the Code, or a non-statutory stock option. However, only our employees (or employees of our parent or subsidiaries, if any) may be granted incentive stock options. Incentive and non-statutory stock options are granted pursuant to option agreements adopted by the plan administrator. The plan administrator determines the exercise price for a stock option, within the terms and conditions of the 2019 Plan, provided that the exercise price of a stock option cannot be less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. Options granted under the 2019 Plan will become exercisable at the rate specified by the plan administrator.

The plan administrator determines the term of the stock options granted under the 2019 Plan, up to a maximum of 10 years, except in the case of certain incentive stock options, as described below. Unless the terms of an option holder’s stock option agreement provide otherwise, if an option holder’s relationship with us, or any of our affiliates, ceases for any reason other than disability or death, the option holder may exercise any options otherwise exercisable as of the date of termination, but only during the post-termination exercise period designated in the option holder’s stock option award agreement. The

Acceptable consideration for the purchase of common stock issued upon the exercise of a stock option will be determined by the plan administrator and may include (a) cash or check, (b) delivery of a promissory note, (c) a broker-assisted cashless exercise, (d) the tender of common stock previously owned by the option holder, (e) a net exercise of the option, (f) past or future services rendered, (g) any combination of the foregoing methods of payment, and (h) any other form of consideration permitted by the plan administrator.

Unless the plan administrator provides otherwise, awards generally are not transferable, except by will or the laws of descent and distribution.

To the extent that the aggregate fair market value, determined at the time of grant, of shares of our common stock with respect to which incentive stock options are exercisable for the first time by an option holder during any calendar year under any of our equity plans exceeds $100,000, such options will not qualify as incentive stock options. A stock option granted to any employee who, at the time of the grant, owns or is deemed to own stock representing more than 10% of the voting power of all classes of stock may not be an incentive stock option unless (a) the option exercise price is at least 110% of the fair market value of the stock subject to the option on the date of grant, and (b) the term of the incentive stock option does not exceed five years from the date of grant.

Stock Appreciation Rights.   SARs may be granted under the 2019 Plan either concurrently with the grant of an option or alone, without reference to any related stock option. The plan administrator determines both the number of shares of Common Stock related to each SAR and the exercise price for a SAR, within the terms and conditions of the 2019 Plan, provided that the exercise price of a SAR cannot be less than 100% of the fair market value of the Common Stock subject thereto on the date of grant. In the case of a SAR granted concurrently with a stock option, the number of shares of Common Stock to which the SAR relates will be reduced in the same proportion that the holder of the stock option exercises the related option.

The plan administrator determines whether to deliver cash in lieu of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of a SAR. If Common Stock is issued, the number of shares of Common Stock that will be issued upon the exercise of a SAR is determined by dividing (a) the number of shares of Common Stock as to which the SAR is exercised multiplied by the amount of the appreciation in such shares, by (b) the fair market value of a share of Common Stock on the exercise date.

If the plan administrator elects to pay the holder of the SAR cash in lieu of shares of common stock, the holder of the SAR will receive cash equal to the fair market value on the exercise date of any or all of the shares that would otherwise be issuable.

The exercise of a SAR related to a stock option is permissible only to the extent that the stock option is exercisable under the terms of the 2019 Plan on the date of surrender. Any incentive stock option surrendered will be deemed to have been converted into a non-statutory stock option immediately prior to such surrender.

Restricted Stock.   Restricted stock awards are awards of shares of our Common Stock that are subject to established terms and conditions. The plan administrator sets the terms of the restricted stock awards, including the size of the restricted stock award, the price (if any) to be paid by the recipient and the vesting schedule and criteria (which may include continued service to us for a period of time or the achievement of performance criteria). If a recipient’s service terminates before the restricted stock is fully vested, all of the unvested shares generally will be forfeited to, or repurchased by, us.

Dividend Equivalent Rights.   Dividend equivalent rights entitle the recipient to compensation measured by dividends paid with respect to a specified number of shares of common stock.

Performance-Based Compensation.   The 2019 Plan outlines our procedures for grants of performance-based awards under the plan, meaning awards structured so that they will vest only upon the achievement of performance criteria established by the plan administrator for a specified performance period. The plan administrator will establish the performance goals before the 90th day of the applicable performance period (or, if the performance period is less than a year, no later than the number of days which is equal to 25% of the performance period).

The business measures that may be used to establish the performance criteria may include one of, or combination of, the following:

Changes in Capitalization.   In the event of a change in the number of shares of our common stock through stock split, reverse stock split, stock dividend, combination or reclassification of our common stock, then the number of shares covered by each outstanding award and the number of shares which have been authorized for issuance under the 2019 Plan but have not yet been granted or have been returned to the 2019 Plan, will be proportionately adjusted, and appropriate adjustments will be made in the purchase and/or exercise prices per share.

Corporate Transactions.   Effective upon the consummation of a corporate transaction, all outstanding awards under the 2019 Plan will terminate unless they are assumed in connection with the corporate transaction.

The plan administrator has the authority, exercisable either in advance of any actual or anticipated corporate transaction or at the time of an actual corporate transaction, and exercisable at the time of the grant of an award under the 2019 Plan or any time while an award remains outstanding, to provide for the full or partial automatic vesting and exercisability of one or more outstanding unvested awards under the 2019 Plan and the release from restrictions on transfer and repurchase or forfeiture rights of such awards in connection with a corporate transaction on such terms and conditions as the plan administrator may specify. The plan administrator may also condition any such award’s vesting and exercisability or release from such limitations upon the subsequent termination of the continuous service of the holder of the award within a specified period following the effective date of the corporate transaction. The plan administrator may provide that any awards so vested or released from such limitations in connection with a corporate transaction shall remain fully exercisable until the expiration or sooner termination of the award.

Amendment and Termination.   Our Board generally may amend, suspend, or terminate the 2019 Plan. However, our Board may not make certain amendments to the 2019 Plan without shareholder approval, such as an increase in the number of shares reserved under the 2019 Plan, modifications to the provisions of the 2019 Plan regarding the grant of incentive stock options, modifications to the provisions of the 2019 Plan regarding the exercise prices at which shares may be offered pursuant to options, extension of the 2019 Plan’s expiration date and certain modifications to awards, such as reducing the exercise price per share, canceling and regranting new awards with lower prices per share than the original prices per share of the canceled awards, or canceling any awards in exchange for cash or the grant of replacement awards with an exercise price that is less than the exercise price of the original awards.

The 2019 Plan will expire on August 8, 2029.

Our directors who are employed by us do not receive any additional compensation for serving on our Board, and our non-employee directors will not receive compensation following the registration of the shares of our common stock, except as described below.

Effective April 16, 2019, each non-employee director will receive an annual retainer of  $15,000 per year in cash compensation, as well as $25,000 in one-year time-vesting stock options. In addition, we will pay the Audit and Compensation Committee chairs the following cash and equity fees for each quarter they serve in such position:

The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our common stock, as of September 30, 2019, and immediately after completion of this offering, for:

For purposes of the table below, the column entitled “Shares Beneficially Owned Before the Offering” is based on a total of 46,719,768 shares of our common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2019, which does not give effect to our reverse stock split on a        for        share basis to be effective immediately prior to the consummation of this offering. The column entitled “Shares Beneficially Owned after the Offering—No Exercise of Underwriters’ Option” is based on        shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering, including the        shares of our common stock that we are selling in this offering and assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ option. The column entitled “Shares Beneficially Owned after the Offering—Full Exercise of Underwriters’ Option” is based on        shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering, including the shares of our common stock that we are selling in this offering and assumes the exercise in full of the underwriter’s option.

Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC and includes voting or investment power with respect to the securities. Shares of common stock that may be acquired by an individual or group within 60 days of September 30, 2019, pursuant to the exercise of options, warrants or other rights, are deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of such individual or group, but are not deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person shown in the table. The underwriters have an option to purchase up to        additional shares of our common stock from us and up to        additional shares of our common stock from the selling shareholders to cover overallotments.

The shares of the selling shareholder will not be sold in the event the underwriter fails to exercise its option to purchase additional shares, in which case the shares will be sold as part of the over-allotment.

Except as otherwise noted, each person named in the table has sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares shown as beneficially owned by them, subject to applicable community property laws. The business address of each person below is 211 New Edition Court, Suite 211, Cary, North Carolina, 27511, unless otherwise indicated below.

The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock as of the date of this prospectus. Because it is only a summary, it does not contain all the information that may be important to you. For a complete description of our capital stock, you should refer to our Restated Articles of Incorporation and our Amended and Restated Bylaws, and to the provisions of applicable North Carolina law.

Our authorized capital stock consists of 100,000,000 shares of common stock with no par value, of which 46,719,768 shares were issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2019. Our common stock may be issued from time to time without prior approval by our shareholders. Our common stock may be issued for such consideration as may be fixed from time to time by our Board.

Our company, a North Carolina corporation, is authorized to issue 100,000,000 shares of common stock with no par value per share. Each share of common stock shall have one vote per share for all purposes. The holders of a majority of the shares entitled to vote, present in person or represented by proxy shall constitute a quorum at all meetings of our shareholders. Our common stock does not provide preemptive, subscription or conversion rights and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions or rights. Our common stock holders are not entitled to cumulative voting for election of our Board. In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our Company, holders of common stock are entitled to share ratably in all of our assets remaining after payment of liabilities.

Holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends as may be declared by our Board out of funds legally available therefor as well as any distributions to the security holder. We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock, and do not expect to pay such dividends in the foreseeable future.

As of September 30, 2019, we had outstanding options to purchase an aggregate of 195,000 shares of our common stock, with a weighted average exercise price of  $1.00 per share, under our 2017 Stock Plan.

The following paragraphs summarize certain provisions of our articles of incorporation, bylaws and North Carolina law that may have the effect, or be used as a means, of delaying or preventing attempts to acquire us take control of our company, or to remove or replace incumbent directors, that are not first approved by our Board, even if those proposed actions are favored by our shareholders.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. Future sales of our common stock in the public market or the perception that sales may occur, could materially adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock at such time and our ability to raise equity capital in the future.

Upon consummation of this offering, we will have       shares of our common stock outstanding (or       shares, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full). Of these shares, the       shares sold in this offering (or       shares, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full) will be freely tradable without further restriction or registration under the Securities Act, except that any shares purchased by our affiliates may generally only be sold in compliance with Rule 144, which is described below. Of the remaining outstanding shares,       shares will be freely tradable shares under Rule 144 that are not subject to a lock-up,       shares may be sold upon expiration of lock-up agreements 180 days after the date of this offering (subject in some cases to volume limitations).

In connection with this offering, we, each of our directors, executive officers and certain shareholders, will enter into lock-up agreements described under “Underwriting” that restrict the sale of our securities for up to 180 days after the date of this prospectus, subject to certain exceptions or an extension in certain circumstances.

Following the lock-up periods described above, all of the shares of our common stock that are restricted securities or are held by our affiliates as of the date of this prospectus will be eligible for sale in the public market in compliance with Rule 144 under the Securities Act.

The shares of our common stock sold in this offering will generally be freely transferable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except that any shares of our common stock held by an “affiliate” of ours may not be resold publicly except in compliance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act or under an exemption under Rule 144 or otherwise. Rule 144 permits our common stock that has been acquired by a person who is an affiliate of ours, or has been an affiliate of ours within the past three months, to be sold into the market in an amount that does not exceed, during any three-month period, the greater of:

•

one percent of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding; or

•

the average weekly reported trading volume of our common stock for the four calendar weeks prior to the sale.

Such sales are also subject to specific manner of sale provisions, a six-month holding period requirement, notice requirements and the availability of current public information about us.

Rule 144 also provides that a person who is not deemed to have been an affiliate of ours at any time during the three months preceding a sale, and who has for at least six months beneficially owned shares of our common stock that are restricted securities, will be entitled to freely sell such shares of our common stock subject only to the availability of current public information regarding us. A person who is not deemed to have been an affiliate of ours at any time during the three months preceding a sale, and who has beneficially owned for at least one year shares of our common stock that are restricted securities, will be entitled to freely sell such shares of our common stock under Rule 144 without regard to the current public information requirements of Rule 144.

Rule 701 generally allows a shareholder who purchased shares of our common stock pursuant to a written compensatory plan or contract and who is not deemed to have been an affiliate of the Company during the immediately preceding 90 days to sell these shares in reliance upon Rule 144, but without being

The following is a general discussion of material U.S. federal income tax considerations with respect to the ownership and disposition of shares of our common stock applicable to non-U.S. holders (as defined below) who acquire such shares in this offering and hold such shares as a capital asset within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Code (generally, property held for investment).

For purposes of this discussion, a “non-U.S. holder” means a beneficial owner of our common stock (other than an entity or arrangement that is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is not, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, any of the following:

This discussion is based on current provisions of the Code, the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder, judicial opinions, published positions of the IRS and other applicable authorities, each as of the date hereof. All of these authorities are subject to change and differing interpretations, possibly with retroactive effect, and any such change or differing interpretation could result in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those discussed below. This discussion does not address all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be relevant to a particular non-U.S. holder in light of such non-U.S. holder’s individual circumstances. This discussion might not apply, in whole or in part, to particular non-U.S. holders in light of their individual circumstances or to holders subject to special treatment under the U.S. federal income tax laws (such as, for example, insurance companies, tax-exempt organizations, financial institutions, agents or dealers in securities, “controlled foreign corporations,” “passive foreign investment companies,” partnerships (or other entities or arrangements treated as partnerships) for U.S. federal income tax purposes or other “flow-through” entities or investors therein, non-U.S. holders that hold our common stock as part of a straddle, hedge, conversion transaction or other integrated investment, and certain U.S. expatriates). This discussion also does not address any considerations under U.S. federal tax laws other than those pertaining to the income tax, nor does it address any considerations under any state, local or non-U.S. tax laws. In addition, this discussion does not address any considerations with respect to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2010 (including the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder, any intergovernmental agreements entered in connection therewith and any laws, regulations or practices adopted in connection with any such agreement). Prospective investors should consult with their own tax advisors as to the particular tax consequences to them of the ownership and disposition of shares of our common stock, including with respect to the applicability and effect of any U.S. federal, state, local or non-U.S. income tax laws or any tax treaty, and any changes (or proposed changes) in tax laws or interpretations thereof.

If a partnership (or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds our common stock, the tax treatment of a partner in such partnership will generally depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. Persons who are, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, treated as partners in a partnership holding our common stock should consult their tax advisor as to the particular U.S. federal income tax consequences applicable to them.

In general, subject to the discussion below regarding “effectively connected” dividends, any distribution we make to a non-U.S. holder with respect to shares of our common stock that constitutes a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a rate of 30% of the gross amount, unless the non-U.S. holder is eligible for an exemption from, or reduced rate of, such withholding tax under an applicable tax treaty and the non-U.S. holder provides proper certification of its eligibility for such exemption or reduced rate. A distribution with respect to shares of our common stock will constitute a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing the adjusted basis in the non-U.S. holder’s shares of our common stock and, to the extent it exceeds the adjusted basis in the non-U.S. holder’s shares of our common stock, as gain from the sale or exchange of such stock.

Dividends we pay to a non-U.S. holder that are effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by such non-U.S. holder within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, are attributable to a permanent establishment of such non-U.S. holder in the United States) will not be subject to U.S. withholding tax, as described above, if the non-U.S. holder complies with applicable certification and disclosure requirements. Instead, such dividends generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis, in the same manner as if the non-U.S. holder were a United States person as defined under the Code. Any such “effectively connected” dividends received by a foreign corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes may be subject to an additional branch profits tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable tax treaty).

Gain on Sale or Other Disposition of Common Stock

In general, a non-U.S. holder will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain realized upon the sale or other disposition of the non-U.S. holder’s shares of our common stock unless:

Gain described in the first bullet point above generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax, net of certain deductions, at regular U.S. federal income tax rates, generally in the same manner as if the non-U.S. holder were a United States person as defined under the Code. If the non-U.S. holder is a foreign corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the branch profits tax described above also may apply to such effectively connected gain.

Gain described in the second bullet point above generally will be subject to a flat 30% tax, which gain may be offset by U.S. source capital losses, if any, of the non-U.S. holder.

We believe we are not, and do not anticipate becoming, a USRPHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, no assurance can be given that we are not or will not become a USRPHC. If we were or were to become a USRPHC, however, any gain recognized on a sale or other disposition of our common stock by a non-U.S. holder that did not own (directly, indirectly or constructively) more than 5% of our common stock during the applicable period would not be subject to U.S. federal income tax, provided that our common stock is “regularly traded on an established securities market” (within the meaning of Section 897(c)(3) of the Code).

We have entered into an underwriting agreement with Roth Capital Partners, LLC, or Roth Capital, in connection with this offering. Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement, we have agreed to sell to the underwriter, and the underwriter has agreed to purchase, at the public offering price less the underwriting discounts set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, the number of shares of common stock at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, the number of shares of common stock set forth below:

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriter against specified liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, and to contribute to any payments the underwriter is required to make in respect thereof.

We have granted the underwriter an over-allotment option. This option, which is exercisable for up to 45 days after the date of this prospectus, permits the underwriter to purchase up to an aggregate of           additional shares of common stock (equal to 15% of the common stock sold in this offering) at the public offering price per share, less underwriting discounts and commissions, solely to cover over-allotments, if any. If the underwriter exercises this option in whole or in part, then the underwriter will be committed, subject to the conditions described in the underwriting agreement, to purchase the additional shares of common stock.

The underwriter has advised us that the underwriter proposes to offer the shares of common stock to the public at the initial public offering price per share set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. The underwriter may offer shares to securities dealers at that price less a concession of not more than $      per share of which up to $      per share may be reallowed to other dealers. After the initial offering to the public, the public offering price and other selling terms may be changed by the underwriter.

The following table summarizes the underwriting discounts and commissions and proceeds, before expenses, to us assuming both no exercise and full exercise by the underwriter of its over-allotment option:

We estimate the expenses of this offering payable by us, not including underwriting discounts and commissions, will be approximately $      .

Upon the closing of this offering, we have agreed to issue to the underwriter warrants, or the underwriter warrants, to purchase a number of shares of common stock equal to up to 7% of the total shares sold in the initial closing of this public offering. The underwriter warrants will be exercisable at a per

The underwriter warrants and the shares of common stock underlying the underwriter warrants have been deemed compensation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, and are therefore subject to a 180-day lock-up pursuant to Rule 5110(g)(1) of FINRA. The underwriter, or permitted assignees under such rule, may not sell, transfer, assign, pledge, or hypothecate the underwriter warrants or the securities underlying the underwriter warrants, nor will the underwriter engage in any hedging, short sale, derivative, put, or call transaction that would result in the effective economic disposition of the underwriter warrants or the underlying shares for a period of 180 days from the effective date of the registration statement. Additionally, the underwriter warrants may not be sold transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated for a 180-day period following the effective date of the registration statement except to any underwriter and selected dealer participating in this offering and their bona fide officers or partners. The underwriter warrants will provide for adjustment in the number and price of the underwriter warrants and the shares of common stock underlying such underwriter warrants in the event of recapitalization, merger, stock split or other structural transaction, or a future financing undertaken by us.

Until twelve (12) months from the closing of this offering, the underwriter shall have an irrevocable right of first refusal to act as placement agent or underwriter, at the underwriter’s sole discretion, for any public equity, equity-linked or debt securities offering for our company, or any successor to or any subsidiary of ours, on customary terms. The underwriter will not have more than one opportunity to waive or terminate the right of first refusal in consideration of any payment or fee.

The underwriter does not intend to confirm sales of the securities offered hereby to any accounts over which they have discretionary authority.

We, each of our directors, officers and certain of our stockholders, have agreed for a period of (i) 180 days after the date of this prospectus in the case of our directors and officers and (ii) 180 days after the date of this prospectus in the case of our company, without the prior written consent of the underwriter, not to directly or indirectly:

issue (in the case of us), offer, pledge, assign, encumber, announce the intention to sell, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any of our shares of capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our shares of capital stock; or

•

in the case of us, file or cause the filing of any registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to any shares of common stock or other capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our common stock or other capital stock; or

complete any offering of our debt securities, other than entering into a line of credit, term loan arrangement or other debt instrument with a traditional bank; or

•

enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of our securities, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of shares of our common stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise;

sell, agree to sell, offer or sell, solicit offers to purchase, grant any call option, warrant or other right to purchase, purchase any put option or other right to sell, pledge, borrow or otherwise dispose of our securities;

A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the websites maintained by the underwriter or selling group members. The underwriter may agree to allocate a number of securities to selling group members for sale to its online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the underwriter and selling group members that will make internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations. Other than the prospectus in electronic format, the information on these websites is not part of, nor incorporated by reference into, this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, has not been approved or endorsed by us, and should not be relied upon by investors.

In connection with this offering, the underwriter may engage in stabilizing transactions, over-allotment transactions, syndicate-covering transactions, penalty bids and purchases to cover positions created by short sales.

Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase shares so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum, and are engaged in for the purpose of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the shares while this offering is in progress.

Over-allotment transactions involve sales by the underwriter of shares in excess of the number of shares the underwriter is obligated to purchase. This creates a syndicate short position which may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of shares over-allotted by the underwriter is not greater than the number of shares that they may purchase in the over-allotment option. In a naked short position, the number of shares involved is greater than the number of shares in the over-allotment option. The underwriter may close out any short position by exercising its over-allotment option and/or purchasing shares in the open market.

Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of shares in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions. In determining the source of shares to close out the short position, the underwriter will consider, among other things, the price of shares available for purchase in the open market as compared with the price at which it may purchase shares through exercise of the over-allotment option. If the underwriter sells more shares than could be covered by exercise of the over-allotment option and, therefore, have a naked short position, the position can be closed out only by buying shares in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriter is concerned that after pricing there could be downward pressure on the price of the shares in the open market that could adversely affect investors who purchase in this offering.

Penalty bids permit the underwriter to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the shares originally sold by that syndicate member are purchased in stabilizing or syndicate covering transactions to cover syndicate short positions.

These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our shares of common stock or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of our shares of common stock. As a result, the price of our common stock in the open

The underwriter and its affiliates may in the future provide various investment banking, commercial banking and other financial services for us and our affiliates for which they may in the future receive customary fees.

Other than in the United States, no action has been taken by us or the underwriter that would permit a public offering of the securities offered by this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. The securities offered by this prospectus may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, nor may this prospectus or any other offering material or advertisements in connection with the offer and sale of any such securities be distributed or published in any jurisdiction, except under circumstances that will result in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations of that jurisdiction. Persons into whose possession this prospectus comes are advised to inform themselves about and to observe any restrictions relating to this offering and the distribution of this prospectus. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities offered by this prospectus in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or a solicitation is unlawful.

This prospectus is not a disclosure document under Chapter 6D of the Australian Corporations Act, has not been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and does not purport to include the information required of a disclosure document under Chapter 6D of the Australian Corporations Act. Accordingly, (i) the offer of the securities under this prospectus is only made to persons to whom it is lawful to offer the securities without disclosure under Chapter 6D of the Australian Corporations Act under one or more exemptions set out in section 708 of the Australian Corporations Act, (ii) this prospectus is made available in Australia only to those persons as set forth in clause (i) above, and (iii) the offeree must be sent a notice stating in substance that by accepting this offer, the offeree represents that the offeree is such a person as set forth in clause (i) above, and, unless permitted under the Australian Corporations Act, agrees not to sell or offer for sale within Australia any of the securities sold to the offeree within 12 months after its transfer to the offeree under this prospectus.

The information in this document does not constitute a public offer of the securities, whether by way of sale or subscription, in the People’s Republic of China (excluding, for purposes of this paragraph, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macau Special Administrative Region and Taiwan). The securities may not be offered or sold directly or indirectly in the PRC to legal or natural persons other than directly to “qualified domestic institutional investors.”

The information in this document has been prepared on the basis that all offers of securities will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Directive 2003/71/EC (“Prospectus Directive”), as implemented in Member States of the European Economic Area (each, a “Relevant Member State”), from the requirement to produce a prospectus for offers of securities.

An offer to the public of securities has not been made, and may not be made, in a Relevant Member State except pursuant to one of the following exemptions under the Prospectus Directive as implemented in that Relevant Member State:

This document is not being distributed in the context of a public offering of financial securities (offre au public de titres financiers) in France within the meaning of Article L.411-1 of the French Monetary and Financial Code (Code monétaire et financier) and Articles 211-1 et seq. of the General Regulation of the French Autorité des marchés financiers (“AMF”). The securities have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France.

This document and any other offering material relating to the securities have not been, and will not be, submitted to the AMF for approval in France and, accordingly, may not be distributed or caused to distributed, directly or indirectly, to the public in France.

Such offers, sales and distributions have been and shall only be made in France to (i) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) acting for their own account, as defined in and in accordance with Articles L.411-2-II-2 and D.411-1 to D.411-3, D. 744-1, D.754-1 and D.764-1 of the French Monetary and Financial Code and any implementing regulation and/or (ii) a restricted number of non-qualified investors (cercle restreint d’investisseurs) acting for their own account, as defined in and in accordance with Articles L.411-2-II-2° and D.411-4, D.744-1, D.754-1 and D.764-1 of the French Monetary and Financial Code and any implementing regulation.

Pursuant to Article 211-3 of the General Regulation of the AMF, investors in France are informed that the securities cannot be distributed (directly or indirectly) to the public by the investors otherwise than in accordance with Articles L.411-1, L.411-2, L.412-1 and L.621-8 to L.621-8-3 of the French Monetary and Financial Code.

The information in this document does not constitute a prospectus under any Irish laws or regulations and this document has not been filed with or approved by any Irish regulatory authority as the information has not been prepared in the context of a public offering of securities in Ireland within the meaning of the Irish Prospectus (Directive 2003/71/EC) Regulations 2005 (the “Prospectus Regulations”). The securities have not been offered or sold, and will not be offered, sold or delivered directly or indirectly in Ireland by way of a public offering, except to (i) qualified investors as defined in Regulation 2(l) of the Prospectus Regulations and (ii) fewer than 100 natural or legal persons who are not qualified investors.

The securities offered by this prospectus have not been approved or disapproved by the Israeli Securities Authority (the ISA), or ISA, nor have such securities been registered for sale in Israel. The shares may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in Israel, absent the publication of a prospectus. The ISA has not issued permits, approvals or licenses in connection with this offering or publishing the prospectus; nor has it authenticated the details included herein, confirmed their reliability or completeness, or rendered an opinion as to the quality of the securities being offered. Any resale in Israel, directly or indirectly, to the public of the securities offered by this prospectus is subject to restrictions on transferability and must be effected only in compliance with the Israeli securities laws and regulations.

The offering of the securities in the Republic of Italy has not been authorized by the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission (Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa, “CONSOB” pursuant to the Italian securities legislation and, accordingly, no offering material relating to the securities may be distributed in Italy and such securities may not be offered or sold in Italy in a public offer within the meaning of Article 1.1(t) of Legislative Decree No. 58 of 24 February 1998 (“Decree No. 58”), other than:

Any offer, sale or delivery of the securities or distribution of any offer document relating to the securities in Italy (excluding placements where a Qualified Investor solicits an offer from the issuer) under the paragraphs above must be:

Any subsequent distribution of the securities in Italy must be made in compliance with the public offer and prospectus requirement rules provided under Decree No. 58 and the Regulation No. 11971 as amended, unless an exception from those rules applies. Failure to comply with such rules may result in the sale of such securities being declared null and void and in the liability of the entity transferring the securities for any damages suffered by the investors.

The securities have not been and will not be registered under Article 4, paragraph 1 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948), as amended (the “FIEL”) pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements applicable to a private placement of securities to Qualified Institutional Investors (as defined in and in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 3 of the FIEL and the regulations promulgated thereunder). Accordingly, the securities may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan other than Qualified Institutional Investors. Any Qualified Institutional Investor who acquires securities may not resell them to any person in Japan that is not a Qualified Institutional Investor, and acquisition by any such person of securities is conditional upon the execution of an agreement to that effect.

This document is not being distributed in the context of a public offer of financial securities (oferta pública de valores mobiliários) in Portugal, within the meaning of Article 109 of the Portuguese Securities Code (Código dos Valores Mobiliários). The securities have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in Portugal. This document and any other offering material relating to the securities have not been, and will not be, submitted to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (Comissăo do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários) for approval in Portugal and, accordingly, may not be distributed or caused to distributed, directly or indirectly, to the public in Portugal, other than under circumstances that are deemed not to qualify as a public offer under the Portuguese Securities Code. Such offers, sales and distributions of securities in Portugal are limited to persons who are “qualified investors” (as defined in the Portuguese Securities Code). Only such investors may receive this document and they may not distribute it or the information contained in it to any other person.

This document has not been, and will not be, registered with or approved by Finansinspektionen (the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority). Accordingly, this document may not be made available, nor may

The securities may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (“SIX”) or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This document has been prepared without regard to the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. Neither this document nor any other offering material relating to the securities may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.

Neither this document nor any other offering material relating to the securities have been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this document will not be filed with, and the offer of securities will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

This document is personal to the recipient only and not for general circulation in Switzerland.

Neither this document nor the securities have been approved, disapproved or passed on in any way by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates or any other governmental authority in the United Arab Emirates, nor have we received authorization or licensing from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates or any other governmental authority in the United Arab Emirates to market or sell the securities within the United Arab Emirates. This document does not constitute and may not be used for the purpose of an offer or invitation. We may not render services relating to the securities within the United Arab Emirates, including the receipt of applications and/or the allotment or redemption of such shares.

No offer or invitation to subscribe for securities is valid or permitted in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Neither the information in this document nor any other document relating to the offer has been delivered for approval to the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom and no prospectus (within the meaning of section 85 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended (“FSMA”)) has been published or is intended to be published in respect of the securities. This document is issued on a confidential basis to “qualified investors” (within the meaning of section 86(7) of FSMA) in the United Kingdom, and the securities may not be offered or sold in the United Kingdom by means of this document, any accompanying letter or any other document, except in circumstances which do not require the publication of a prospectus pursuant to section 86(1) FSMA. This document should not be distributed, published or reproduced, in whole or in part, nor may its contents be disclosed by recipients to any other person in the United Kingdom.

Any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of FSMA) received in connection with the issue or sale of the securities has only been communicated or caused to be communicated and will only be communicated or caused to be communicated in the United Kingdom in circumstances in which section 21(1) of FSMA does not apply us.

In the United Kingdom, this document is being distributed only to, and is directed at, persons (i) who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) (investment professionals) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotions) Order 2005 (“FPO”), (ii) who fall within the categories of persons referred to in Article 49(2)(a) to (d) (high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.) of the FPO or (iii) to whom it may otherwise be lawfully communicated