HubSpot (HUBS) Risk Factors

Our future success depends on our ability to adapt and innovate our customer platform. To attract new customers and increase revenue from existing customers, we need to continue to enhance and improve our offerings to meet customer needs at prices that our customers are willing to pay. Such efforts will require adding new functionality and responding to technological advancements, including AI and machine learning, which will increase our research and development costs. If we are unable to develop new applications that address our customers' needs, or to enhance and improve our platform in a timely manner, we may not be able to maintain or increase market acceptance of our platform. Our ability to grow is also subject to the risk of future disruptive technologies. Access and use of our customer platform is provided via the cloud, which, itself, was disruptive to the previous enterprise software model. If new technologies emerge that are able to deliver inbound marketing software and related applications at lower prices, more efficiently, more conveniently or more securely, such technologies could adversely affect our ability to compete.

Our success is dependent, in part, upon protecting our proprietary technology. We rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade secret laws and contractual restrictions to establish and protect our proprietary rights in our products and services. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may be inadequate. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property if we are unable to enforce our rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property. Any of our trademarks or other intellectual property rights may be challenged by others or invalidated through administrative process or litigation. Furthermore, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights are uncertain. Additionally, the intellectual property ownership and license rights, including copyrights and patents surrounding AI technologies, which we are increasingly building into our product offerings, has not been fully addressed by U.S. courts or other federal or state laws or regulations, and the use or adoption of AI technologies in our products and services may expose us to copyright infringement or other intellectual property misappropriation claims. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy our technology and use information that we regard as proprietary to create products and services that compete with ours. Some license provisions protecting against unauthorized use, copying, transfer and disclosure of our offerings may be unenforceable under the laws of certain jurisdictions and foreign countries. In addition, the laws of some countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. To the extent we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our technology and proprietary information may increase. We enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants and enter into confidentiality agreements with the parties with whom we have strategic relationships and business alliances. No assurance can be given that these agreements will be effective in controlling access to and distribution of our products and proprietary information. Further, these agreements may not prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our platform and offerings. We may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights and to protect our trade secrets. Such litigation could be costly, time consuming and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation, could delay further sales or the implementation of our platform and offerings, impair the functionality of our platform and offerings, delay introductions of new features or enhancements, result in our substituting inferior or more costly technologies into our platform and offerings, or injure our reputation.

Social and ethical issues relating to the use of new and evolving technologies such as AI in our offerings, may result in reputational harm and liability, and may cause us to incur additional research and development costs to resolve such issues. We are increasingly building AI into many of our offerings, including early-stage generative AI features. As with many innovations, AI presents risks and challenges that could affect its adoption, and therefore our business. If we enable or offer solutions that draw controversy due to their perceived or actual impact on human rights, privacy, employment, or in other social contexts, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm or legal liability. Potential government regulation related to AI use and ethics may also increase the burden and cost of research and development in this area, and failure to properly remediate AI usage or ethics issues may cause public confidence in AI to be undermined, which could slow adoption of AI in our products and services. The rapid evolution of AI will require the application of resources to develop, test and maintain our products and services to help ensure that AI is implemented ethically in order to minimize unintended, harmful impact.

Our business activities are subject to various restrictions under U.S. and other global export controls and trade and economic sanctions laws, including the U.S. Commerce Department's Export Administration Regulations and economic and trade sanctions regulations maintained by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we and certain of our employees could be subject to civil or criminal penalties and reputational harm. Obtaining the necessary authorizations, including any required license(s), for a particular transaction may be time-consuming, is not guaranteed, and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities. Furthermore, export control laws and economic sanctions laws prohibit certain transactions with embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments, persons and entities. These sanctions laws with which we must comply may also change rapidly from time to time as a result of geopolitical events, such as the imposition of sanctions on Russia as a result of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Although we take precautions to prevent unlawful transactions and business relationships with sanction targets, the possibility exists that we could inadvertently provide our products and services to persons or entities prohibited by U.S and other global sanctions regimes. This could result in negative consequences to us, including government investigations, enforcement actions resulting in civil and/or criminal penalties and reputational harm.

As a provider of a cloud-based inbound marketing, sales and customer service software platform, we may be subject to potential liability for the activities of our customers on or in connection with the data they store on our servers. Although our customer terms of use prohibit illegal use of our services by our customers and permit us to take down websites or take other appropriate actions for illegal use, customers may nonetheless engage in prohibited activities or upload or store content with us in violation of applicable law or the customer's own policies, which could subject us to liability or harm our reputation. Furthermore, customers may upload, store, or use content on our customer platform that may violate our policy on acceptable use which prohibits content that is threatening, abusive, harassing, deceptive, false, misleading, vulgar, obscene, or indecent. While such content may not be illegal, use of our customer platform for such content could harm our reputation resulting in a loss of business. Several U.S. federal statutes may apply to us with respect to various customer activities: - The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 ("DMCA"), provides recourse for owners of copyrighted material who believe that their rights under U.S. copyright law have been infringed on the Internet. Under the DMCA, based on our current business activity as an Internet service provider that does not own or control website content posted by our customers, we generally are not liable for infringing content posted by our customers or other third parties, provided that we follow the procedures for handling copyright infringement claims set forth in the DMCA. Generally, if we receive a proper notice from, or on behalf, of a copyright owner alleging infringement of copyrighted material located on websites we host, and we fail to expeditiously remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing material or otherwise fail to meet the requirements of the safe harbor provided by the DMCA, the copyright owner may seek to impose liability on us. Technical mistakes in complying with the detailed DMCA take-down procedures could subject us to liability for copyright infringement. - The Communications Decency Act of 1996 ("CDA"), generally protects online service providers, such as us, from liability for certain activities of their customers, such as the posting of defamatory or obscene content, unless the online service provider is participating in the unlawful conduct. Under the CDA, we are generally not responsible for the customer-created content hosted on our servers. Consequently, we do not monitor hosted websites or prescreen the content placed by our customers on their sites. However, the CDA does not apply in foreign jurisdictions and we may nonetheless be brought into disputes between our customers and third parties which would require us to devote management time and resources to resolve such matters and any publicity from such matters could also have an adverse effect on our reputation and therefore our business. - In addition to the CDA, the Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act (the "SPEECH Act"), provides a statutory exception to the enforcement by a U.S. court of a foreign judgment for defamation under certain circumstances. Generally, the exception applies if the defamation law applied in the foreign court did not provide at least as much protection for freedom of speech and press as would be provided by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or by the constitution and law of the state in which the U.S. court is located, or if no finding of defamation would be supported under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or under the constitution and law of the state in which the U.S. court is located. Although the SPEECH Act may protect us from the enforcement of foreign judgments in the United States, it does not affect the enforceability of the judgment in the foreign country that issued the judgment. Given our international presence, we may therefore, nonetheless, have to defend against or comply with any foreign judgments made against us, which could take up substantial management time and resources and damage our reputation. Although these statutes and case law in the United States have generally shielded us from liability for customer activities to date, court rulings in pending or future litigation may narrow the scope of protection afforded us under these laws. In addition, laws governing these activities are unsettled in many international jurisdictions, or may prove difficult or impossible for us to comply with in some international jurisdictions. Also, notwithstanding the exculpatory language of these bodies of law, we may become involved in complaints and lawsuits which, even if ultimately resolved in our favor, add cost to our doing business and may divert management's time and attention. Finally, other existing bodies of law, including the criminal laws of various states, may be deemed to apply or new statutes or regulations may be adopted in the future, any of which could expose us to further liability and increase our costs of doing business. Additionally, HubSpot payments, our end-to-end payment solution as well as our Stripe payment processing integration (together with HubSpot payments, the "Payments" offering), are both built within Commerce Hub and are susceptible to potentially illegal or improper uses, including money laundering, terrorist financing, fraudulent or illegal sales of goods or services, piracy of software, movies, music, and other copyrighted or trademarked information, bank fraud, securities fraud, pyramid or ponzi schemes, or the facilitation of other illegal or improper activity. While we engage a third party as our registered payment facilitator, the use of Payments for illegal or improper uses may subject us to claims (including claims brought by our third-party payment processor), government and regulatory requests, inquiries, or investigations that could result in liability, and harm our reputation. Moreover, certain activity that may be legal in one jurisdiction may be illegal in another jurisdiction, and a merchant may be found responsible for intentionally or inadvertently importing or exporting illegal goods, resulting in liability for us. Owners of intellectual property rights or government authorities may seek to bring legal action against providers of payments solutions, including Payments, that are peripherally involved in the sale of infringing or allegedly infringing items. Any threatened or resulting claims could result in reputational harm, and any resulting liabilities, loss of transaction volume, or increased costs could harm our business. If Payments is used for illegal or improper uses, we may incur substantial losses as a result of claims from merchants and their buyers, including consumers. Allowances for transaction losses that we have established may be insufficient to cover incurred losses. Moreover, if measures to detect and reduce the risk of fraud are not effective and our loss rate is higher than anticipated, Payments and our business could be negatively impacted.

As a multinational organization, we may be subject to taxation in several jurisdictions around the world with increasingly complex tax laws, the application of which can be uncertain. The amount of taxes we pay in these jurisdictions could increase substantially as a result of changes in the applicable tax principles, including increased tax rates, new tax laws or revised interpretations of existing tax laws and precedents, or challenges to our tax positions by tax authorities, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, financial condition or operating results. In addition, the authorities in these jurisdictions could review our tax returns and impose additional tax, interest and penalties, and the authorities could claim that various withholding requirements apply to us or our subsidiaries or assert that benefits of tax treaties are not available to us or our subsidiaries, or assert that we are subject to tax in a jurisdiction where we believe we have not established a taxable nexus, often referred to as a "permanent establishment" under international tax treaties, any of which could have a material impact on us, our financial condition or our operating results.

Our handling of data across our products and services is subject to a variety of laws and regulations, including regulation by various government agencies, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), and various state, local and foreign agencies. We collect personal data and other data from our customers, prospects, partners, third-party providers and publicly available sources. We also handle personal data about our customers' customers. We use this information to provide services to our customers, to support, expand and improve our business. We may also share customers' personal data with third parties as authorized by the customer or as described in our privacy policy. The U.S. federal and various state and foreign governments have adopted or proposed limitations on the collection, processing, distribution, use, storage and safeguarding of personal data. In the United States, the FTC and many state attorneys general are applying federal and state privacy and consumer protection laws to impose standards for the online collection, use and dissemination of personal and other data. However, these obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other requirements or our practices. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with privacy or data security laws, policies, legal obligations or industry standards or any security incident that results in the unauthorized, disclosure, release or transfer of personal data or other customer data may result in governmental enforcement actions, litigation, fines and penalties and/or adverse publicity, and could cause our customers to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business. Laws and regulations governing privacy, data protection and cybersecurity are rapidly evolving, and changes to such laws and regulations could require us to change features of our platform or restrict our customers' ability to collect and use email addresses, page viewing data and other personal data, which may reduce demand for our platform. Our failure to comply with federal, state and foreign privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations could harm our ability to successfully operate our business and pursue our business goals. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (the "CCPA"), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (the "CPRA"), among other things, require covered companies to provide new disclosures to California residents and afford such individuals the ability to opt out of the sales or sharing of their personal data. In addition to increasing our potential exposure to regulatory enforcement, the CCPA also provides for violations and a limited private right of action, which may increase our exposure to civil litigation. Numerous other states have passed comprehensive privacy and data security laws, which impose obligations on covered businesses similar – but not identical – to those under the CCPA. A number of other states have proposed similar or sector specific privacy legislation, and the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that may preempt some or all of such U.S. state privacy laws, providing a more robust private right of action. Through executive and legislative action, the federal government has also taken steps to restrict data transactions involving persons affiliated with China, Russia, and other countries of concern. The evolving complexity of privacy and data security legislation in the U.S. may complicate our compliance efforts and further increase our risk of regulatory enforcement, penalties and litigation. In addition, many foreign jurisdictions in which we do business, including the European Union, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and others have laws and regulations dealing with the collection and use of personal data obtained from their residents, which are more restrictive in certain respects than those in the U.S. Laws and regulations in these jurisdictions apply broadly to the collection, use, storage, disclosure and security of personal data that identifies or may be used to identify an individual. In relevant part, these foreign laws and regulations may affect our ability to engage in lead generation activities by imposing heightened requirements, such as affirmative opt-ins or other consent prior to sending commercial correspondence, obtaining leads or engaging in electronic tracking activities that aid our marketing and business intelligence. We may be required to modify our policies, procedures, and data processing measures in order to address requirements under these or other privacy, data protection, or cyber security regimes, and may face claims, litigation, investigations, or other proceedings regarding them and may incur related liabilities, expenses, costs, and operational losses. In connection with the operation of some of our business lines, such as business intelligence services, we collect, process and share business contact information or other personal data individuals make available in their professional capacity. We may be subject to additional requirements under privacy and data protection laws that could lead to additional compliance costs, regulatory scrutiny, and reputational risks that may affect our business. For example, we may be required to send notifications to individuals and respond to higher volumes of data privacy requests, which may require substantial costs and expenses, or reduce the potential value of our business intelligence services. We may also receive data from third-party vendors (e.g., data brokers) in connection with such services. While we have implemented certain contractual measures with such vendors to protect our interests, we are ultimately unable to verify with complete certainty the source of such data, how it was received, and that such information was collected and is being shared with us in compliance with all applicable data privacy laws. Furthermore, the uncertain and shifting regulatory environment and trust climate may cause concerns regarding data privacy and may cause our vendors, customers, users, or our customers' customers to decline to provide the data necessary to allow us to offer some of our services to our customers and users effectively, or could prompt individuals to opt out of our collection of their personal data. Concern regarding our use of the personal data collected when performing our services could keep prospective customers from subscribing to our services. Within the European Union, the EU GDPR, and in the United Kingdom, the EU GDPR as incorporated into the laws of the United Kingdom ("UK") (the "UK GDPR" together with the EU GDPR, the "GDPR"), impose heightened obligations and risk upon our business and substantially increases the penalties to which we could be subject in the event of any non-compliance. Non-compliance with the GDPR and the related national data protection laws of the European Union Member States may result in monetary penalties of up to €20 million (£17.5 million) or 4% of worldwide annual revenue, whichever is higher. The proliferation of privacy and data protection laws has heightened risks and uncertainties concerning cross-border transfers of personal data and other data, which could impose significant compliance costs and expenses on our business, increase our potential exposure to regulatory enforcement and/or litigation, and have a negative effect on our existing business and on our ability to attract and retain new customers. To enable the transfer of personal data outside of the European Union or United Kingdom, adequate safeguards must be implemented in compliance with data protection laws. On June 4, 2021, the European Commission published new versions of its Standard Contractual Clauses ("SCCs"), which are required for all transfers of personal data from the European Union to third countries (including the U.S). The United Kingdom is not subject to the new SCCs but has its own equivalent, being the international data transfer agreement and/or UK Addendum ("IDTAs"). Our customer agreements include the updated SCCs and UK IDTAs. Under the new SCCs and IDTAs, companies are also required to assess the risk of a data transfer on a case-by-case basis by undertaking a transfer impact assessment, and may be required to adopt additional measures to accomplish transfers of personal data to the United States and other third countries. There continue to be concerns about whether the SCCs will face additional challenges. On July 10, 2023, the European Commission approved the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework ("DPF") to support transfers of personal data from the EU to companies in the U.S. Because we have maintained our certification under the previously invalidated Privacy Shield, we have now automatically become subject to the DPF and are required to maintain policies and procedures to comply with the DPF principles. We may be subject to regulatory enforcement by the FTC if we are found to be noncompliant with any of the DPF principles, and this regulatory enforcement may lead to significant civil penalties. Until the remaining legal uncertainties regarding SCCs, DPF and other transfer mechanisms are settled, we will continue to face uncertainty as to whether our customers will be permitted to transfer personal data to the United States for processing by us as part of our platform services. Our customers may view data transfer mechanisms as being too costly, too burdensome, too legally uncertain or otherwise objectionable and therefore decide not to do business with us. We publicly post documentation regarding our practices concerning the collection, processing, use and disclosure of data. Although we endeavor to comply with our published policies and documentation, we may at times fail to do so or be alleged to have failed to do so. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our privacy policies or any applicable privacy, security or data protection, information security or consumer-protection related laws, regulations, orders or industry standards could expose us to costly litigation, significant awards, fines or judgments, civil and/or criminal penalties or negative publicity, and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The publication of our privacy policy and other documentation that provide promises and assurances about privacy and security can subject us to potential state and federal action if they are found to be deceptive, unfair, or misrepresentative of our actual practices, which could, individually or in the aggregate, materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If our privacy or data security measures fail to comply with current or future laws and regulations, we may be subject to claims, legal proceedings or other actions by individuals or governmental authorities based on privacy or data protection regulations and our commitments to customers or others, as well as negative publicity and a potential loss of business. Moreover, if future laws and regulations limit our subscribers' ability to use and share personal data or our ability to store, process and share personal data, demand for our solutions could decrease, our costs could increase, and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed. Separately, as the regulatory framework for machine learning technology and AI evolves, it is possible that new laws and regulations will be adopted, or that existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in ways that would affect our business and the ways in which we use AI and machine learning technology, our financial condition and our results of operations, including as a result of the cost to comply with such laws or regulations. For example, the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act ("AI Act") - the world's first comprehensive AI law - entered into force on August 1, 2024 and, with some exceptions, become effective on August 2, 2026. This legislation imposes significant obligations on providers and deployers of high-risk artificial intelligence systems, and encourages providers and deployers of artificial intelligence systems to account for EU ethical principles in their development and use of these systems. If we develop or use AI systems that are governed by the AI Act, it may necessitate ensuring higher standards of data quality, transparency, and human oversight, as well as adhering to specific ethical, accountability, and administrative requirements, some of which may increase our costs and compliance obligations. Further, potential government regulation related to AI use and ethics may also increase the cost of research and development in this area, and failure to properly remediate AI usage or ethics issues may cause public confidence in AI to be undermined, which could slow adoption of AI in our products and services.

Our strategy is to sell subscriptions to our customer platform to mid-sized businesses, but we have sold and will continue to sell to organizations ranging from small businesses to enterprises. Our gross margins can vary depending on numerous factors related to the implementation and use of our customer platform, including the sophistication and intensity of our customers' use of our platform and the level of professional services and support required by a customer. Sales to enterprise customers may entail longer sales cycles and more significant selling efforts. Selling to small businesses may involve greater credit risk and uncertainty. If there are changes in the mix of businesses that purchase our platform or the mix of the product plans purchased by our customers, our gross margins could decrease and our operating results could be adversely affected.We have in the past completed acquisitions and may acquire or invest in other companies or technologies in the future, which could divert management's attention, fail to meet our expectations, result in additional dilution to our stockholders, increase expenses, disrupt our operations or harm our operating results. We have in the past acquired, and we may in the future acquire or invest in, businesses, products or technologies that we believe could complement or expand our platform, enhance our technical capabilities or otherwise offer growth opportunities. For example, in December 2023, we acquired Clearbit, a B2B data provider, and in October 2024, we acquired Cacheflow, a B2B subscription billing management and CPQ solution. We may not be able to fully realize the anticipated benefits of historical or any future acquisitions. The pursuit of potential acquisitions may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various expenses related to identifying, investigating and pursuing suitable acquisitions, whether or not they are consummated. There are inherent risks in integrating and managing acquisitions. If we acquire additional businesses, we may not be able to assimilate or integrate the acquired personnel, operations and technologies successfully or effectively manage the combined business following the acquisition and our management may be distracted from operating our business. We also may not achieve the anticipated benefits from the acquired business due to a number of factors, including: unanticipated costs or liabilities associated with the acquisition; incurrence of acquisition-related costs, which would be recognized as a current period expense; inability to generate sufficient revenue to offset acquisition or investment costs; the inability to maintain relationships with customers and partners of the acquired business; the difficulty of incorporating acquired technology and rights into our platform and of maintaining quality and security standards consistent with our brand; delays in customer purchases due to uncertainty related to any acquisition; the need to integrate or implement additional controls, procedures and policies; challenges caused by distance, language and cultural differences; harm to our existing business relationships with business partners and customers as a result of the acquisition; the potential loss of key employees; use of resources that are needed in other parts of our business and diversion of management and employee resources; and use of substantial portions of our available cash or the incurrence of debt to consummate the acquisition. Acquisitions also increase the risk of unforeseen legal and compliance liabilities, including for potential violations of applicable law or industry rules and regulations, arising from prior or ongoing acts or omissions by the acquired businesses which are not discovered by due diligence during the acquisition process, including data handling and privacy violations. Generally, if an acquired business fails to meet our expectations, our operating results, business and financial condition may suffer. Acquisitions could also result in dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. In addition, a significant portion of the purchase price of companies we acquire may be allocated to goodwill and other intangible assets, which must be assessed for impairment at least annually. If our acquisitions do not ultimately yield expected returns, we may be required to make charges to our operating results based on our impairment assessment process, which could harm our results of operations.

Our overall performance depends, in part, on worldwide economic conditions. In recent months, we have observed increased economic uncertainty in the United States and abroad. Impacts of such economic weakness include: - falling overall demand for goods and services, leading to reduced profitability;- reduced credit availability;- higher borrowing costs;- reduced liquidity;- changes in the labor market;- supply chain disruptions;- volatility in credit, equity and foreign exchange markets; and - bankruptcies. These developments could lead to inflation, higher interest rates, and uncertainty about business continuity, which may adversely affect our business and our results of operations. As our customers react to global economic conditions and the potential for a global recession, we may see them reduce spending on our products and take additional precautionary measures to limit or delay expenditures and preserve capital and liquidity. Reductions in spending on our solutions, delays in purchasing decisions, lack of renewals, inability to attract new customers, as well as pressure for extended billing terms or pricing discounts, would limit our ability to grow our business and could negatively affect our operating results and financial condition.

While we seek to partner with organizations that mitigate their business risks associated with climate change, we recognize that there are inherent risks wherever business is conducted. Any of our primary locations may be vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. For example, our offices globally may experience climate-related events at an increasing frequency, including drought, water scarcity, heat waves, cold waves, wildfires and resultant air quality impacts and power shutoffs associated with wildfire prevention. While this danger has a low-assessed risk of disrupting normal business operations, it has the potential to disrupt employees' abilities to commute to work or to work from home and stay connected effectively. Furthermore, it is more difficult to mitigate the impact of these events on our employees to the extent they work from home. Climate-related events, including the increasing frequency of extreme weather events and their impact on the U.S.'s, Europe's and other major regions' critical infrastructure, have the potential to disrupt our business, our third-party suppliers and/or the business of our customers, and may cause us to experience higher attrition, losses and additional costs to maintain or resume operations. Regulatory developments, changing market dynamics and stakeholder expectations regarding climate change may impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. To inform our disclosures and take potential action as appropriate, we are working to align our reporting with emerging disclosure and accounting standards such as the Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the Global Reporting Initiative, as well as new disclosure requirements from regulators.

We believe that maintaining our thought leadership position in inbound marketing, sales, services, operations, commerce and content management is an important element in attracting new customers. We devote significant resources to develop and maintain our thought leadership position, with a focus on identifying and interpreting emerging trends in the inbound experience, shaping and guiding industry dialog and creating and sharing the best inbound practices. Our activities related to developing and maintaining our thought leadership may not yield increased revenue, and even if they do, any increased revenue may not offset the expenses we incurred in such effort. We rely upon the continued services of our management and employees with domain expertise with inbound marketing, sales, services, operations, and content management, and the loss of any key employees in this area could harm our competitive position and reputation. If we fail to successfully grow and maintain our thought leadership position, we may not attract enough new customers or retain our existing customers, and our business could suffer.