Follow the bouncing 10-Q!

[chipotle]

Yep, NetPoodles finally put out its 10-Q report. This is the quarterly financial statement all public companies must file with the SEC. For my own morbid amusement value, the last few times they've filed one I've put the numbers into a spreadsheet and done simple lifespan projections. (I'm hardly a statistics major, but I learned how to do basic analysis along with data mining at Intermedia.)

Three months ago, I'd predicted they'd have $2.97M left on hand at the end of March. According to today's report, they had $2.95M. Pretty darn close. The grim satisfaction only goes so far, though: if their burn rate remains around $775K a month--and it certainly hasn't gone down significantly in April and May--they really do run out of money in July.

The previous 10-Q report said as much; before the ones filed this year, they always said "Management believes the Company has enough operating capital for at least twelve months," whether the numbers supported it or not. Both this 10-Q and the one they put out in February (covering the last quarter of 2001) just said "through July 1." All the 10-Qs before this one said things like:

To the extent necessary, the Company intends to raise additional monies from the sale of its capital stock to meet its funding needs over the next 12 to 24 months. There can be no assurance that the Company will have sufficient capital to finance its operations. If the Company is unable to generate funds internally or raise additional monies from the sale of its capital stock, management intends to institute cost saving measures that will significantly reduce the Company's overhead expenses.

This one said something more like:

The Company has entered into an agreement with investment bankers to raise additional funds. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in these efforts. If the Company is unable to generate funds internally through the sale of its products, or raise additional monies through financing arrangements, management intends to curtail its operations.

If I recall my dusty knowledge of Accountant-ese, "curtail its operations" doesn't mean "scale back" as much it means "shut down."

Meanwhile, my lease is up, my car has scheduled maintenance due, and two voicemail messages left with the recruiter who called on Friday went unanswered.

Yay.

I'm telling myself I'm not worried yet, but I think I'm going to adjust my budget with the assumption that I have at most three more paychecks.

Comments

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

The flashing neon sign now has a few more bells and whistles. It was a good idea to check out the 10-Q form.

-- Brent

[rafn.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an accurate assessment of the situation to me. Definitely time to start the hunt in earnest for the next job. Having been on both sides of the management fence through similar situations in the past the only thing you can expect to hear from the upper echelons is useless drivel as they try to keep the business salable while they prepare to jump ship.

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

Hey, useless drivel has been one of our chief products!

[chastmastr.livejournal.com]

Eek. Caffeinated soap.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/caffeine/5a65.shtml