Veritone Inc (VERI)

[KVM]

Not going to hit earnout. But paying them 11 mil any way. According to that idiot CFO they designed earnout to protect Veri shareholders. What a bunch of crap. Management has no problem lying and screwing their shareholders. We should contact SEC lawyers about this bullshit.

[LYNXMUSIC]

Yes but aren’t we waiting to see the payout considering they may not hit the numbers agreed upon. Guidance has been adjusted, why are we paying them early?

[KVM]

Stand corrected not all on cash. Approximately 176000 in shares or $1.2 mil So 10 mil in cash..

[KVM]

This was going to happen any way at the end of 2022. Just happens 3 months early for at least 11 mil.

[LYNXMUSIC]

Why the fuck are we paying pandologic in cash?!? Can someone please explain?

[GBR]

In return for this payment, these clauses in the original agreement are now terminated.


During the period commencing on the Closing Date and ending on the earlier of an Early Trigger Event or the end of the 2022 Earn-Out Period, Buyer shall:

(i) cause the Company to maintain and operate its business in the ordinary course as a separate business unit of Buyer;

(ii) provide the funding subject to and in accordance with the Business Plan and Budget;

(v) not terminate without cause any of the Management Shareholders; and (vi) not take, or cause the Company to take, any action with the intention of avoiding the achievement of the targets for any Earn-Out Amount or reducing the Earn-Out Amount.

Looks like maybe something is going to happen with Pandologic

[KVM]

Those bastards should be paid in Veri stock not cash. Have no idea why Banta doesn't speak up. Probably in cohoots with them.

[KVM]

That amendment is BS. Paid Pandologic not according to original agreement but since not going to be earnout let's just paid them no matter what. Banta and rest of stockholders should be furious. I'm losing a million bucks on this f____in stock. They should pay me foer my losses. I'm out and staying out of this piece of garbage and lying management.

[GBR]

Well hopefully they have a solid relationship with Amazon, but Veritone investors will be the last to know. Just have to take Chad's word for everything. That's the guy that said back in May the "the market massively overreacted to Amazon's comments with respect to its impact on our business.". Can you imagine having to evaluate an investment based solely on what Chad Steelberg says? That's basically what we're doing. lol.

[LYNXMUSIC]

I went through their recruitment process like 4 months ago as I was going for their cloud engineer position. It was an awful experience. Disorganized, unprofessional and was not efficient at all. I got to the 4th stage and final interview after my assessment and preliminary interviews to then find out they somehow lost my records. Ultimately after 3 months they said I wasn’t hired. I’ve heard stories of ppl with similar experiences. I don’t think they’ll phase out pando anytime soon. But, who knows

[GBR]

Amazon appears to be focused on building out their own recruiting technology. Wonder if they will ultimately ditch Pando altogether.

https://www.amazon.jobs/en/teams/people-technology


https://www.amazon.jobs/en/jobs/2224310/business-intelligence-engineer-aws-talent-acquisition-data-analytics-tada

[cpeter7]

Just saw this from LinkedIn interesting but need more than just possible connections.

RS liked this post and also another post related to Amazon
https://analyticsindiamag.com/amazon-unveils-new-ai-language-model-that-beats-gpt-3/

[GBR]

Seems to me that Veritone should be fairly well positioned for B2C ventures with voice, metaverse, and aiWare. or Veritone could serve as the underlying platform for a partner to pursue B2C opportunities. Awhile back, Veritone trademarked Socialaudio, wonder if they have plans for that. Also trademarked "Own Your Clone", haven't seen that surface yet.

[beni2020]

I told Chad years ago that he should consider b2c opportunities and not b2b as that is how you will grow faster and more profitably. my continued harassment of BA and RS and MZ amounts to nothing more than venting yet they know it makes more sense.. The most popular and profitable companies are in the b2c type of enterprise...

[GBR]

I hear you. I don't think there is any money in applications like redact. So as long as DOJ and EPA simply use redact, we are SOL as far as revenues go. But I guess it gets their foot in the door.

From what I gather from the Steelbergs, Veritone is done creating apps, at least for Government.
What I'm looking for is the various partners who, as the Steelbergs say, are supposed to be creating applications on aiWARE. I mean, if Veritone is not creating fed gov't applications on aiWare, then somebody better be, because that was a lot of time and money spent investing in Fedramp and marketing the various levels of government.


Hopefully that is news that is supposed to be coming shortly, whenever that is. In any case, I found the aiWare revenues from 2nd quarter to be somewhat encouraging, so maybe that reflects growth from partner created aiWare apps, and a sign of more encouraging growth in aiWare to come.

[beni2020]

Great news but without any commensurate revenue it's all for nothing. Shortly comes to mind a few million times. Less than a million dollars last year after two years of approval they never miss a chance to disappoint

[GBR]

After checking the Fedramp marketplace about 10,000 times over the past couple years, Veritone finally has another authorization, the EPA. We knew it was coming, but now finally listed on Fedramp along with DOJ. Maybe more authorizations to come.

[LYNXMUSIC]

Also tired of these pointless tweets. You been on Twitter for 7 years and have 4 thousand followers? Terrible marketing. My 12 year old niece has more followers smh. Sorry just venting now

[GBR]

Have to keep in mind the CMO recommending customers contact Deloitte instead of Veritone. It's frustrating, but I don't think the silence equates to incompetence or failure. aiWare is growing nicely according to their numbers. Still relatively small, but if it keep growing at that pace, the numbers will no longer be small, and would make sense that the stock should eventually get attention. JMO

[GBR]

If they can't grow the share price from today's level, then they are incompetent, and aiWare is nothing near what they claim it is. I don't believe that. But this is embarrassing, and they deserve to have disgusted shareholders. Can't believe Banta stays with them.

Realistically though, I have to believe that they are engaged with something strategic, whether it succeeds or not. Pando was just too quiet about Pandoselect. Even today, you have to fill out and submit a form to find out about Pandoselect. Why? Why not just provide a thorough description on the website? They don't market aiWare.

I just think they are engaged with partners on integrating aiWare onto their own platforms. Nobody is going to adopt aiWare as a standalone platform. If anything, they will license and integrate the aiWare platform. Hopefully they are having success with that, and the aiWare numbers reflect that next earnings. But they have to know, they are doing no favors for their shareholders.

[GBR]

Nobody even stepping up to pay 250 million for the company.

[LYNXMUSIC]

You’re probably right. Should of sold when this was $38 and had an offer.

[KVM]

Who is going to pay 1 bil for this company

[LYNXMUSIC]

Just sell the company for $20 share price and be done with it.

[KVM]

Definition of shortly implies the
" immediate future". Think will send to CFO.

[GBR]

shortly

[GBR]

Yeah everything indicates they were gearing up for growth in the second half of this year. Aggressive hiring. Integrated Workday and Oracle. Said tipping point back in March and May. Then Amazon stops hiring, and we still have not heard anything about what the growth opportunity was that prompted all the hiring and workday and oracle integration. So definitely looks like the bottom fell out, and the stock reflects it.

Everything looks like a massive miscalculation until they indicate otherwise. But if massive miscalculation, they better have a plan B or like you say onto dilution.

[LYNXMUSIC]

Definitely overhype. Most of these press releases don’t equate to any revenue or any significant changes. A lot of these “partnerships” are probably services we give away for free so we look good on paper. If you look at the partnerships and clients we have you would think we rack up over a billion in revenue. Ceo is a salesman.. that’s what he’s good at. Overhyping. It’s a good quality if you already have a solid product. We don’t. Nonetheless,I hope something changes quick. Amazon cranks up in the 4th season, maybe pandologic can benefit then. But one things for sure, hiring employees with no clear direction will get us broke or more share dilution. Either way, I’m really praying for my portfolio sake there’s something I’m missing.

[GBR]

Still no September investor presentation. Must be because the big news is coming shortly lol

[GBR]

I'm not convinced Veritone is a pump and dump. Like you say, they didn't dump. Definitely overhyped, but I think they really believe what they say. They may engage in a lot of wishful thinking, and are really shooting for the moon with aiWare. But unlike Tom Siebel, I think Steelbergs really have conviction and passion in what they are trying to accomplish, despite the fact that it is a long shot. Tom Siebel too set in his ways and old school, just using the same recipe he used for Siebel Systems, and now has to revamp to consumption based.

I like Veritone's prospects going forward more than C3. Another thing is that Veritone is very much involved in advertising and M&E, really working on the front lines. C3 more of an AI consultant type that I wonder if they truly understand the businesses that they are trying to sell into.

With Veritone, we see a lot of meaningless press releases, mostly on M&E and advertising. Hardly ever see press releases on aiWare, meaningless or not. So when he hypes during the earnings calls, don't understand why they don't hype in press releases. Even if they don't get any aiWare contracts, they could still be sending out press releases on aiWare, but they don't. Seem to be confident in their partnership arrangements. So basically let partners handle the other verticals, while Veritone focused directly on M&E. Might come out OK if they can control expenses and run efficiently.

[KVM]

Reminds me of classic pump and dump. But in this case didn't dump because have been pumping so long if sold any shares would be in jail.

[KVM]

Well again we will have to wait for another EC for numbers. Words at this point are meaningless. And have given up on any material PR like they have been saying are coming for the last 4 years.

[GBR]

Just don't get it. Steelbergs could have been selling in the 40s all day long. They are either nuts, or they have managed to keep aiWare potential a secret all this time. Much safer to go with the fact that they are nuts. Then again, maybe they have enough money so are not concerned with their veritone shares.

[KVM]

Last EC down to 4 analysts. Wouldn't be surprised if we see 2 at next EC.

[KVM]

Yea have BS investors for 8 years now. Went public in 2014 and no better off now than they were then. Just triple employees.

[GBR]

Yes it does appear that they maintain relationships with firms for engineering talent

[GBR]

I don't understand the energy vertical. An advertising and M&E company Spends several years developing iderms but underlying tech could be applied to healthcare and other verticals. Now iderms commercially ready but still an M&E company trying to sell energy tech. Revenues for energy still not meaningful but doesn't matter, still keep pushing. Need cash flow with the amount of debt hanging over their head but still content to invest and grow nascent businesses. Just would like to have some news that really underscores why they have been committed to all these unrelated businesses. I realize it's because of aiWare land and expand strategy but they can't afford to do this forever. Maybe we get something whenever they get around to implementing the new marketing material about largest AI ecosystem. Still all looks like a pipe dream and the stock reflects it .

[KVM]

Saw on Linkin someone looking to hire freelance developers for special projects. And RS liked.

[KVM]

Looks like still hiring though. That hasn't slowed down from what I can tell.

[KVM]

And what about energy. Zemetra stated energy potential is why he came to Veri. But he says alot of useless shit.

[GBR]

I just find it remarkable that we get what in hindsight has been over hyped BS during the earning calls. Yet aiWare gross 70 percent year over year in 2nd Qtr, almost triples from 1st to 3rd, and they are quiet on aiWare. Although still relatively small numbers Why not be announcing aiware success. I understand NDA agreements but they could be announcing things genetically without naming names. And no apparent concern for the share price. They had acquisition plans so thought they would have a concern for the share price so they could maximize purchasing power. But no concern for share price. No aiware marketing. Just M&E and metaverse.

[KVM]

Got that right.

[GBR]

He's been pretty smart about not buying the stock. lol

[KVM]

And doesn't understand the meaning of shortly.

[KVM]

Again CFO not in touch with what's going on with company. How can you financially budget for employees and expansion if have no clue what sales, engineering or what rest of company is doing. Can't bunker down in your home especially at C suite level and run company efficiently. JMO.

[GBR]

Can't forget this quote from over a year ago.

"When we think about the DOD, this is really taking the platform and igniting it into new use cases. We're going to announce some things here very shortly, super exciting things, where the government is effectively endorsing us in terms of top of the food chain, to its channel partners in terms of task orders, etc." - Michael Zemetra, CFO 6/10/21

[GBR]

I think aiWare is a capability that can be licensed by others such as C3 and the IP integrated into their existing platforms. That's basically what BA said a couple years ago. More of a capability than a product. Aiware makes sense to me and seems like it would have success. Only thing is I don't know how easy aiware capabilities can be duplicated by those who wish to try to work around Veritone IP or those who choose not to work with Veritone. Veritone rarely discusses the strength of there IP/patents.

[GBR]

Sorry, been driving all day. Sounds like a good plan to me. We need something.

[KVM]

Thought. Is it possible that Cai3 could would adopt Aiware. Would result in less engineering manpower and fit in with their new consumption business model. Would aldo fit in with Fed contacting for Aiware. Thoughts?

[KVM]

Still hiring. Pando just added 3 more.