10-Q

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

x QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2016

o TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _________________ to _________________

Commission File No.: 001-37703

IZEA, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Nevada	37-1530765
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

480 N. Orlando Avenue, Suite 200 Winter Park, FL	32789
(Address of principal executive offices)	(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:   (407) 674-6911

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes  x    No  o

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

Large accelerated filer  o		Accelerated filer  o
Non-accelerated filer  o	(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)	Smaller reporting company x

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

APPLICABLE ONLY TO CORPORATE REGISTRANTS

 As of May 4, 2016, there were 5,342,153 shares of our common stock outstanding.

Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2016

Table of Contents

	Page
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2016 (unaudited) and December 31, 2015	3
Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015	4
Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Stockholders’ Equity for the three months ended March 31, 2016	5
Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015	6
Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements	7
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	20
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	27
Item 4.  Controls and Procedures	28
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings	29
Item 1A. Risk Factors	29
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds	30
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities	30
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures	30
Item 5. Other Information	30
Item 6. Exhibits	31
Signatures	33

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1 - FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

IZEA, Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

	March 31, 2016		December 31, 2015
	(Unaudited)
Assets
Current:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	10,064,454	$	11,608,452
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $190,000 and $139,000	2,976,322		3,917,925
Prepaid expenses	530,485		193,455
Other current assets	40,028		16,853
Total current assets	13,611,289		15,736,685
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation of $506,566 and $445,971	582,173		596,008
Goodwill	2,468,289		2,468,289
Intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization of $926,101 and $730,278	1,610,368		1,806,191
Software development costs, net of accumulated amortization of $247,393 and $207,514	856,974		813,932
Security deposits	116,149		117,946
Total assets	$	19,245,242	$	21,539,051

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$	1,055,800		$	995,275
Accrued expenses	1,118,667			908,519
Unearned revenue	3,378,237			3,584,527
Current portion of deferred rent	28,451			14,662
Current portion of capital lease obligations	—			7,291
Current portion of acquisition costs payable	900,492			844,931
Total current liabilities	6,481,647			6,355,205
Deferred rent, less current portion	85,534			102,665
Acquisition costs payable, less current portion	—			889,080
Warrant liability	2,208			5,060
Total liabilities	6,569,389			7,352,010
Stockholders’ equity:
Common stock, $.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; 5,341,404 and 5,222,951, respectively, issued and outstanding	534			522
Additional paid-in capital	49,517,460			48,436,040
Accumulated deficit	(36,842,141		)	(34,249,521		)
Total stockholders’ equity	12,675,853			14,187,041
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	19,245,242		$	21,539,051

See accompanying notes to the unaudited consolidated financial statements.

3

IZEA, Inc.

Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016			2015
Revenue	$	5,465,950		$	4,135,494
Cost of sales	3,101,369			2,441,491
Gross profit	2,364,581			1,694,003
Operating expenses:
General and administrative	2,580,001			1,860,514
Sales and marketing	2,359,663			1,581,487
Total operating expenses	4,939,664			3,442,001
Loss from operations	(2,575,083		)	(1,747,998		)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(21,339		)	(18,770		)
Change in fair value of derivatives, net	2,852			(2,505,951		)
Other income, net	950			1,807
Total other income (expense)	(17,537		)	(2,522,914		)
Net loss	$	(2,592,620	)	$	(4,270,912	)
Weighted average common shares outstanding – basic and diluted	5,300,520			2,884,883
Basic and diluted loss per common share	$	(0.49	)	$	(1.48	)

See accompanying notes to the unaudited consolidated financial statements.

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IZEA, Inc.

Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Stockholders’ Equity

	Common Stock			Additional Paid-In			Accumulated			Total Stockholders’
	Shares	Amount		Capital			Deficit			Equity
Balance, December 31, 2015	5,222,951	$	522	$	48,436,040		$	(34,249,521	)	$	14,187,041
Stock issued for payment of acquisition liability	114,398	11		848,821			—			848,832
Stock issued for payment of services	4,055	1		31,249			—			31,250
Stock issuance costs	—	—		(3,622		)	—			(3,622		)
Stock-based compensation	—	—		204,972			—			204,972
Net loss	—	—		—			(2,592,620		)	(2,592,620		)
Balance, March 31, 2016	5,341,404	$	534	$	49,517,460		$	(36,842,141	)	$	12,675,853

See accompanying notes to the unaudited consolidated financial statements.

5

IZEA, Inc.

Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016			2015
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net loss	$	(2,592,620	)	$	(4,270,912	)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used for operating activities:
Depreciation	60,595			47,019
Amortization of software development costs and other intangible assets	235,702			127,277
Provision for losses on accounts receivable	51,000			—
Stock-based compensation	204,972			142,331
Value of stock and warrants issued or to be issued for payment of services	31,250			35,050
Change in fair value of derivatives, net	(2,852		)	2,505,951
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effects of business acquired:
Accounts receivable	890,603			34,698
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	(360,205		)	(23,845		)
Accounts payable	60,525			4,949
Accrued expenses	225,461			50,363
Unearned revenue	(206,290		)	(181,541		)
Deferred rent	(3,342		)	548
Net cash used for operating activities	(1,405,201		)	(1,528,112		)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of equipment	(46,760		)	(28,985		)
Increase in software development costs	(82,921		)	—
Acquisition, net of cash acquired	—			(995,286		)
Security deposits	1,797			—
Net cash used for investing activities	(127,884		)	(1,024,271		)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from exercise of options & warrants	—			5,264
Stock issuance costs	(3,622		)	—
Payments on capital lease obligations	(7,291		)	(14,592		)
Net cash used for financing activities	(10,913		)	(9,328		)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(1,543,998		)	(2,561,711		)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	11,608,452			6,521,930
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	$	10,064,454		$	3,960,219
Supplemental cash flow information:
Cash paid during the year for interest	$	230		$	2,362
Non-cash financing and investing activities:
Fair value of warrants issued	$	—		$	7,700
Acquisition costs payable for assets acquired	$	—		$	4,192,639
Acquisition costs paid through issuance of common stock	$	848,832		$	—

See accompanying notes to the unaudited consolidated financial statements.

6

IZEA, Inc.

Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

NOTE 1.    SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Unaudited Interim Financial Information

The accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2016, the consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the consolidated statement of stockholders' equity for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and the consolidated statements of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 are unaudited but include all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of our financial position at such dates and our results of operations and cash flows for the periods then ended in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). The consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date but, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), does not include all of the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the entire fiscal year. These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 30, 2016.

Nature of Business

IZEA, Inc. (together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, "we," "us," "our" or the "Company") was founded in February 2006 under the name PayPerPost, Inc. and became a public company incorporated in the state of Nevada in May 2011. On March 9, 2016, the Company formed IZEA Canada, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary incorporated in Ontario, Canada to operate as a sales office for its Canadian customers beginning in the second quarter of 2016. On April 5, 2016, the Company filed Articles of Merger with the Secretary of State of Nevada to effect the merger of its wholly-owned, non-operating subsidiary, IZEA Innovations, Inc., a Delaware corporation originally incorporated on September 19, 2006, into the parent operations of IZEA, Inc., a Nevada corporation. The Company is headquartered near Orlando, Florida with additional offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto, and a sales presence in New York, Detroit and Boston.

The Company operates online marketplaces that facilitate transactions between brands and influential content creators. These creators produce and distribute text, videos and photos on behalf of brands through websites, blogs and social media channels. The Company's technology enables transactions to be completed at scale through the management of content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics and payment processing.

On January 30, 2015, the Company purchased all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Ebyline, Inc. (“Ebyline”) (see Note 2). Based in Los Angeles, California, Ebyline operates an online marketplace that enables publishers to access a network of over 15,000 content creators ranging from writers to illustrators in 84 countries. Over 2,000 fully vetted individuals in the Ebyline network have professional journalism credentials with backgrounds at well-known media outlets. Ebyline’s proprietary workflow is utilized by leading media organizations to obtain the content they need from professional content creators. In addition to publishers, Ebyline is leveraged by brands to produce custom branded content for use on their owned and operated sites, as well as third party content marketing and native advertising efforts.

The Company currently operates the Ebyline online marketplace along with its own online marketplace that connects brands with creators at IZEA.com as well as other white label marketplaces. IZEA.com and all white label sites are powered by the IZEA Exchange (“IZEAx”), a platform that handles content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics and payment processing. IZEAx is designed to provide a unified ecosystem that enables the creation of multiple types of content including blog posts, status updates, videos and photos through a wide variety of social channels including blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr, among others.

Reverse Stock Split

On January 6, 2016, the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment with the Secretary of State of Nevada to effect a reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding shares of its common stock at a ratio of one share for every 20 shares outstanding prior to the effective date of the reverse stock split. All current and historical information contained herein related to the share and per share information for the Company's common stock or stock equivalents reflects the 1-for-20 reverse stock split of the Company's outstanding shares of common stock that became market effective on January 11, 2016. There was no change in the number of the Company's authorized shares of common stock.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of IZEA, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ebyline. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

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IZEA, Inc.

Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The consolidated financial statements were prepared using the acquisition method of accounting with IZEA considered the accounting acquirer of Ebyline. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the purchase price is allocated to the underlying Ebyline tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their respective fair market values with any excess purchase price allocated to goodwill.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For purposes of the statement of cash flows, the Company considers all highly liquid debt instruments purchased with a maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Accounts Receivable and Concentration of Credit Risk

Accounts receivable are customer obligations due under normal trade terms. Uncollectibility of accounts receivable is not significant since most customers are bound by contract and are required to fund the Company for all the costs of an “opportunity,” defined as an order created by an advertiser for a creator to write about the advertiser’s product. If a portion of the account balance is deemed uncollectible, the Company will either write-off the amount owed or provide a reserve based on the uncollectible portion of the account. Management determines the collectibility of accounts by regularly evaluating individual customer receivables and considering a customer’s financial condition, credit history and current economic conditions. The Company had a reserve of $190,000 and $139,000 for doubtful accounts as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. Management believes that this estimate is reasonable, but there can be no assurance that the estimate will not change as a result of a change in economic conditions or business conditions within the industry, the individual customers or the Company. Any adjustments to this account are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as a general and administrative expense. Bad debt expense was less than 1% of revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015.

Concentrations of credit risk with respect to accounts receivable are typically limited because a large number of geographically diverse customers make up the Company’s customer base, thus spreading the trade credit risk. The Company also controls credit risk through credit approvals, credit limits and monitoring procedures. The Company performs credit evaluations of its customers but generally does not require collateral to support accounts receivable. At March 31, 2016, the Company had two customers which accounted for 26% of total accounts receivable in the aggregate. At December 31, 2015, the Company had one customer which accounted for 13% of total accounts receivable in the aggregate. The Company had two customers that accounted for 24% of its revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and one customer that accounted for 12% of its revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost, or if acquired in a business combination, at the acquisition date fair value. Depreciation and amortization is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:

Computer Equipment	3 years
Software Costs	3 years
Office Equipment	3 - 10 years
Furniture and Fixtures	5 - 10 years

Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the shorter of the term of the lease or the estimated useful lives of the improvements. Property and equipment under capital leases are depreciated over their estimated useful lives. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred. Expenditures for betterments and major improvements are capitalized and depreciated over the remaining useful lives of the assets. The carrying amounts of assets sold or retired and the related accumulated depreciation are eliminated in the year of disposal, with resulting gains or losses included in general and administrative expense. Depreciation expense on property and equipment recorded in general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $60,595 and $47,019 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Software Development Costs

In accordance with ASC 350-40, Internal Use Software and ASC 985-730, Computer Software Research and Development, research phase costs related to internal use software should be expensed as incurred and development phase costs including direct materials and services, payroll and benefits and interest costs may be capitalized. The Company amortizes software development costs equally over 5 years upon initial launch of the software or additional features. Amortization expense on software development costs recorded in general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $39,879 and $28,444 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

8

IZEA, Inc.

Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

As of December 31, 2015, future estimated amortization expense related to software development costs over the next five years is set forth in the following schedule:

Year ending December 31:	Software Amortization Expense
2016	$	204,289
2017	204,289
2018	204,289
2019	118,958
2020	82,107
	$	813,932

Intangible Assets

The Company acquired the majority of its intangible assets through its acquisition of Ebyline on January 30, 2015. The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets over a period of 12 to 60 months. Management reviews long-lived assets, including property and equipment, software development costs and other intangible assets, for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be recoverable. If an evaluation is required, the estimated future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset are compared with the asset's carrying amount to determine if there has been an impairment, which is calculated as the difference between the fair value of an asset and its carrying value. Estimates of future undiscounted cash flows are based on expected growth rates for the business, anticipated future economic conditions and estimates of residual values. Fair values take into consideration management estimates of risk-adjusted discount rates, which are believed to be consistent with assumptions that marketplace participants would use in their estimates of fair value. For the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, there were no impairment charges associated with the Company's long-lived assets.

The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets over a weighted average period of 3 years. Amortization expense on the Ebyline related identifiable intangible assets costs recorded in general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $195,823 and $98,833 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

As of December 31, 2015, future estimated amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets over the next five years is set forth in the following schedule:

Year ending December 31:	Amortization Expense
2016	$	765,794
2017	759,961
2018	148,849
2019	93,294
2020	38,293
Total	$	1,806,191

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase consideration of an acquired business over the fair value of the underlying net tangible and intangible assets. The Company has goodwill that has been recorded in connection with its acquisition of Ebyline. Goodwill is not amortized, but instead it is tested for impairment at least annually. In the event that management determines that the value of goodwill has become impaired, the Company will record a charge for the amount of impairment during the fiscal quarter in which the determination is made.

The Company performs its annual impairment tests of goodwill during the fourth quarter of each year, or more frequently, if certain indicators are present. Goodwill is required to be tested for impairment at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below the operating segment level, which is referred to as a component. Management identifies its reporting units by assessing whether components (i) have discrete financial information available; (ii) engage in business activities; and (iii) whether a segment manager regularly reviews the component's operating results. Net assets and goodwill of acquired businesses are allocated to the reporting unit associated with the acquired business based on the anticipated organizational structure of the combined entities. If two or more components are deemed economically similar, those components are aggregated into one reporting

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IZEA, Inc.

Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

unit when performing the annual goodwill impairment review. The Company has determined that prior to and after the acquisition of Ebyline, it had and continues to have one reporting unit.

Revenue Recognition

The Company derives its revenue from three sources: revenue from an advertiser when it pays for a social media publisher or influencer such as a blogger or tweeter ("creators") to share sponsored content with their social network audience ("Sponsored Revenue"), revenue when a publisher or company purchases custom branded content for use on its owned and operated sites, as well as third party content marketing and native advertising efforts ("Content Revenue") and revenue derived from various service and license fees charged to users of our platforms ("Service Fee Revenue").

For managed customers, the Company enters into an agreement to provide services that may require multiple deliverables in the form of (a) sponsored social items, such as blogs, tweets, photos or videos shared through social network offerings that provide awareness or advertising buzz regarding the advertiser's brand; (b) media advertisements, such as click-through advertisements appearing in websites and social media channels and (c) original content items, such as a research or news article, informational material or videos that a publisher or brand can use. The Company may provide one type or a combination of all types of these deliverables including a management fee on a statement of work for a lump sum fee. These deliverables are to be provided over a stated period that may range from one day to one year. Each of these items are considered delivered once the content is live through a public or social network or content has been delivered to the customer for their own use. Revenue is accounted for separately on each of the deliverables in the time frames set forth below. The statement of work typically provides for a cancellation fee if the agreement is canceled by the customer prior to completion of services. Payment terms are typically 30 days from the invoice date. If the Company is unable to provide a portion of the services, it may agree with the customer to provide a different type of service or to provide a credit for the value of those services that may be applied to the existing order or used for future services.

Sponsored Revenue is recognized and considered earned after an advertiser's sponsored content is posted through IZEAx and shared through a creator's social network for a requisite period of time. The requisite period ranges from 3 days for a tweet to 30 days for a blog, video or other form of content. Management fees related to Sponsored Revenue from advertising campaigns managed by the Company are recognized ratably over the term of the campaign which may range from a few days to several months. Content Revenue is recognized when the content is delivered to and accepted by the customer. Service Fee Revenue is generated when fees are charged to customers primarily related to subscription fees for different levels of service within a platform, licensing fees for white-label use of IZEAx, early cash-out fees if a creator wishes to take proceeds earned for services from their account when the account balance is below certain minimum balance thresholds and inactivity fees for dormant accounts. Service Fee Revenue is recognized immediately when the service is performed or at the time an account becomes dormant or is cashed out. Service Fee Revenue for subscription or licensing fees is recognized straight-line over the term of service. Self-service advertisers must prepay for services by placing a deposit in their account with the Company. The deposits are typically paid by the advertiser via credit card. Advertisers who use the Company to manage their social advertising campaigns or content requests may prepay for services or request credit terms. Payments received or billings in advance of services are recorded as unearned revenue until earned as described above.

All of the Company's revenue is generated through the rendering of services and is recognized under the general guidelines of SAB Topic 13 A.1 which states that revenue will be recognized when it is realized or realizable and earned. The Company considers its revenue as generally realized or realizable and earned once (i) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (ii) services have been rendered, (iii) the price to the advertiser or customer is fixed (required to be paid at a set amount that is not subject to refund or adjustment) and determinable, and (iv) collectibility is reasonably assured. The Company records revenue on the gross amount earned since it generally is the primary obligor in the arrangement, takes on credit risk, establishes the pricing and determines the service specifications.

Advertising Costs

Advertising costs are charged to expense as they are incurred, including payments to content creators to promote the Company. Advertising expense charged to operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 were approximately $111,000 and $118,000, respectively. Advertising costs are included in sales and marketing expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Deferred Rent

The Company’s operating leases for its office facilities contain rent abatements and predetermined fixed increases of the base rental rate during the lease term. The Company accounts for rental expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company records the difference between the straight-line expense and the actual amounts paid under the lease as deferred rent in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

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IZEA, Inc.

Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

Income Taxes

The Company has not recorded federal income tax expense due to the generation of net operating losses. Deferred income taxes are accounted for using the balance sheet approach which requires recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities. A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will not be realized. The Company incurs minimal state franchise tax in two states which is included in general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

The Company identifies and evaluates uncertain tax positions, if any, and recognizes the impact of uncertain tax positions for which there is a less than more-likely-than-not probability of the position being upheld when reviewed by the relevant taxing authority. Such positions are deemed to be unrecognized tax benefits and a corresponding liability is established on the balance sheet. The Company has not recognized a liability for uncertain tax positions. If there were an unrecognized tax benefit, the Company would recognize interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits in interest expense and penalties in operating expenses. The Company’s tax years subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service are 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative financial instruments are defined as financial instruments or other contracts that contain a notional amount and one or more underlying factors (e.g., interest rate, security price or other variable), require no initial net investment and permit net settlement. Derivative financial instruments may be free-standing or embedded in other financial instruments. Further, derivative financial instruments are initially, and subsequently, measured at fair value and recorded as liabilities or, in rare instances, assets. The Company accounts for derivative instruments in accordance with ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”), which requires additional disclosures about the Company’s objectives and strategies for using derivative instruments, how the derivative instruments and related hedged items are accounted for, and how the derivative instruments and related hedging items affect the financial statements. The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risk. Terms of equity instruments are reviewed to determine whether or not they contain embedded derivative instruments that are required under ASC 815 to be accounted for separately from the host contract, and recorded on the balance sheet at fair value. The fair value of derivative liabilities, if any, is required to be revalued at each reporting date, with corresponding changes in fair value recorded in current period operating results. Pursuant to ASC 815, an evaluation of specifically identified conditions is made to determine whether the fair value of warrants issued is required to be classified as equity or as a derivative liability.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company’s financial instruments are recorded at fair value. Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The valuation techniques are based on observable and unobservable inputs. Observable inputs reflect readily obtainable data from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect certain market assumptions. There are three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

• Level 1 – Valuation based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities.

• Level 2 – Valuation based on quoted market prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets.

• Level 3 – Valuation based on unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity, therefore requiring management’s best estimate of what market participants would use as fair value.

Fair value estimates discussed herein are based upon certain market assumptions and pertinent information available to management. The Company does not have any Level 1 or 2 financial assets or liabilities. The Company’s Level 3 financial liabilities measured at fair value consisted of its acquisition cost liability (see Note 2) and a warrant liability (see Note 3) as of March 31, 2016. Significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurement of the warrants include the estimated term and risk-adjusted interest rates. In developing our credit risk assumption used in the fair value of warrants, consideration was made of publicly available bond rates and US Treasury Yields. However, since the Company does not have a formal credit-standing, management estimated its standing among various reported levels and grades for use in the model. During all periods, management estimated that the Company's standing was in the speculative to high-risk grades (BB- to CCC in the Standard and Poor's Rating). Significant increases or decreases in the estimated remaining period to exercise or the risk-adjusted interest rate could result in a significantly lower or higher fair value measurement.

The respective carrying value of certain on-balance-sheet financial instruments approximated their fair values due to the short-term nature of these instruments. These financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts

11

IZEA, Inc.

Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

payable, unearned revenue and accrued expenses. Unless otherwise disclosed, the fair value of the Company’s capital lease obligations approximate their carrying value based upon current rates available to the Company.

Stock-Based Compensation

Stock-based compensation cost related to stock options granted under the May 2011 Equity Incentive Plan and August 2011 B Equity Incentive Plan (together, the "2011 Equity Incentive Plans") (see Note 5) is measured at the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and is recognized as a straight-lined expense over the employee’s requisite service period. The Company estimates the fair value of each option award on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model that uses the assumptions noted in the table below. The Company estimates the fair value of its common stock using the closing stock price of its common stock on the date of the option award. The Company estimates the volatility of its common stock at the date of grant based on the volatility of comparable peer companies that are publicly traded and have had a longer trading history than itself. The Company determines the expected life based on historical experience with similar awards, giving consideration to the contractual terms, vesting schedules and post-vesting forfeitures. The Company uses the risk-free interest rate on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury issues with an equivalent remaining term approximately equal to the expected life of the award. The Company has never paid any cash dividends on its common stock and does not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The Company used the following assumptions for options granted under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015:

	Three Months Ended
2011 Equity Incentive Plans Assumptions	March 31, 2016	March 31, 2015
Expected term	6 years	6 years
Weighted average volatility	52.68%	54.00%
Weighted average risk free interest rate	1.62%	1.50%
Expected dividends	—	—

The Company estimates forfeitures when recognizing compensation expense and this estimate of forfeitures is adjusted over the requisite service period based on the extent to which actual forfeitures differ, or are expected to differ, from such estimates. Changes in estimated forfeitures are recognized through a cumulative catch-up adjustment, which is recognized in the period of change, and a revised amount of unamortized compensation expense to be recognized in future periods. Average expected forfeiture rates were 10.41% and 13.93% during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Non-Employee Stock-Based Payments

The Company's accounting policy for equity instruments issued to consultants and vendors in exchange for goods and services follows the provisions of ASC 505, “Equity-Based Payments to Non-Employees.” The measurement date for the fair value of the equity instruments issued is determined at the earlier of (i) the date at which a commitment for performance by the consultant or vendor is reached or (ii) the date at which the consultant or vendor's performance is complete. The fair value of equity instruments issued to consultants that vest immediately is expensed when issued. The fair value of equity instruments issued to consultants that have future vesting and are subject to forfeiture if performance does not occur is recognized as expense over the vesting period. Fair values for the unvested portion of issued instruments are adjusted each reporting period. The change in fair value is recorded to additional paid-in capital. Stock-based payments related to non-employees is accounted for based on the fair value of the related stock or the fair value of the services, whichever is more readily determinable.

Segment Information

The Company does not identify separate operating segments for management reporting purposes. The results of consolidated operations are the basis on which management evaluates operations and makes business decisions.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

There are new accounting pronouncements issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") which are not yet effective.

12

IZEA, Inc.

Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASU 2014-09), which supersedes nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a five step process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, more judgment and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than are required under existing U.S. GAAP. The standard is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods therein, using either of the following transition methods: (i) a full retrospective approach reflecting the application of the standard in each prior reporting period with the option to elect certain practical expedients, or (ii) a retrospective approach with the cumulative effect of initially adopting ASU 2014-09 recognized at the date of adoption (which includes additional footnote disclosures). The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2014-09 on its consolidated financial statements and has not yet determined the method by which it will adopt the standard in the first quarter of 2018.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net)." The amendments in this ASU are intended to improve the operability and understandability of the implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations by amending certain existing illustrative examples and adding additional illustrative examples to assist in the application of the guidance. The effective date and transition of these amendments is the same as the effective date and transition of ASU 2014-09 stated above.

In April 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing (“ASU 2016-10”). ASU 2016-10 is intended to reduce the cost and complexity of applying the guidance in the FASB's new revenue standard on identifying performance obligations, and is also intended to improve the operability and understandability of the licensing implementation guidance. The effective date for ASU 2016-10 is the same as for ASU 2014-09, which will be the first quarter of 2018.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases. The new standard establishes a right-of-use (ROU) model that requires a lessee to record a ROU asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. The new standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. A modified retrospective transition approach is required for lessees for capital and operating leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements, with certain practical expedients available. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2016-02 on its consolidated financial statements.

NOTE 2.     PURCHASE ACQUISITION

Purchase Price and Acquisition Costs Payable

On January 30, 2015, the Company purchased all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Ebyline, pursuant to the terms of a Stock Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 27, 2015, by and among IZEA, Ebyline and the stockholders of Ebyline for a maximum purchase price to be paid over the next three years of $8,850,000.

	Estimated Gross Purchase Consideration		Initial Present and Fair Value		Remaining Present and Fair Value
	1/30/2015		1/30/2015		3/31/2016
Cash paid at closing	$	1,200,000	$	1,200,000	$	—
Guaranteed purchase price (a)	2,127,064		1,982,639		900,492
Contingent performance payments (b)	2,210,000		1,834,300		—
Acquisition costs to be paid by Ebyline shareholders (c)	—		—		—
Total estimated consideration	$	5,537,064	$	5,016,939	$	900,492
Current portion of acquisition costs payable					900,492
Long term portion of acquisition costs payable					—
Total acquisition costs payable					$	900,492

13

IZEA, Inc.

Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

(a) The Stock Purchase Agreement required a $1,200,000 cash payment at closing, a $250,000 stock payment on July 30, 2015 and a cash or stock payment of up to an additional $1,900,000 (subject to proportional reduction in the event Ebyline’s final 2014 revenue was below $8,000,000). Ebyline's final gross revenue for 2014 was $7,903,429. As such, the additional amount owed became $1,877,064 to be paid in two equal installments of $938,532 on January 30, 2016 and January 30, 2017. This guaranteed purchase price consideration was discounted to present value using our current borrowing rate of prime plus 2% (5.25%). Interest expense imputed on the acquisition costs payable in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $15,313 and $15,138 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Per the Stock Purchase Agreement, the Company issued 31,821 shares of its common stock valued at $250,000 to satisfy a portion of the guaranteed purchase price payment obligation on July 30, 2015. On January 29, 2016, the Company issued 114,398 shares of common stock valued at $848,832 to satisfy the annual installment payment of $938,532 less $89,700 in closing related expenses (see item (c) below).

(b) Total contingent performance payments up to $5,500,000 are to be paid based on Ebyline meeting certain revenue targets. The performance payments are to be made only if Ebyline achieves at least 90% of Content Revenue targets of $17,000,000 in 2015, $27,000,000 in 2016 and $32,000,000 in 2017. The fair value of the $5,500,000 of contingent performance payments was calculated using a Monte-Carlo simulation to simulate revenue over the next three years. Since the contingent consideration has an option like structure, a risk-neutral framework is considered appropriate for the valuation. The Company started with a risk-adjusted measure of forecasted revenue (using a risk-adjusted discount rate of 8.5%) and assumed it will follow geometric brownian motion to simulate the revenue at future dates. Once the initial revenue was estimated based off of projections made during the acquisition, payout was calculated for each year and present valued to incorporate the credit risk associated with these payments. The Company's initial value conclusion was based on the average payment from 100,000 simulation trials. The volatility used for the simulation was 35%. The Monte Carlo simulation resulted in a calculated fair value of contingent performance payments of $2,210,000 on January 30, 2015. Because the contingent performance payments are subject to a 17% reduction related to the continued employment of certain key employees, ASC 805-10-55-25 indicates that a portion of these payments be treated as potential compensation to be accrued over the term rather than allocated to the purchase price. Therefore, the Company reduced its overall purchase price consideration by $357,700 and recorded the initial present value of the contingent performance payments at $1,834,300. Based on actual results for 2015 and current projections for Content Revenue for 2016-2017, the Content Revenue for every year is expected to be below 90% of the required Content Revenues targets. Therefore, the Company reduced the fair value of contingent performance payments to zero by the end of 2015. The gain as a result of the decrease in the estimated fair value of contingent performance payments was recorded as a reduction of general and administrative expense in the Company's consolidated statement of operations during the year ended December 31, 2015.

(c) According to the stock purchase agreement, $89,700 in closing related expenses paid by Ebyline during the acquisition process are to be paid by the selling shareholders. These costs were deducted from the guaranteed payment on January 30, 2016.

Purchase Price Allocation

The final allocation of the purchase price as of January 30, 2015 is summarized as follows:

	Final Purchase Price Allocation
Current assets	$	738,279
Property and equipment	27,194
Identifiable intangible assets	2,370,000
Goodwill	2,468,289
Security deposits	18,553
Current liabilities	(605,376		)
Total estimated consideration	$	5,016,939

There are many synergies between the business operations of Ebyline and IZEA including a database of creators that can provide content and advertising and synergies between our online marketplaces that appeal to customers on both sides. The Ebyline operations are included in the consolidated financial statements beginning on the date of acquisition of January 30, 2015. The Ebyline operations contributed revenue of $2,493,507 and gross profit of $485,793 in the consolidated statement of operations

14

IZEA, Inc.

Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and revenue of $1,368,607 and gross profit of $135,406 in the consolidated statement of operations during the two months from January 31, 2015 through March 31, 2015.

The following unaudited pro forma summary presents consolidated information of IZEA, Inc. as if the business combination with Ebyline had occurred on January 1, 2014:

	Proforma
	Three Months Ended
	3/31/2015
Pro-Forma Revenue	$	4,845,608
Pro-Forma Cost of Sales	3,091,637
Pro-Forma Gross Profit	1,753,971
Pro-Forma Net Loss	(4,371,577		)

IZEA did not have any material, nonrecurring pro forma adjustments directly attributable to the business combination included in the reported pro forma revenue and earnings. The pro forma revenue and earnings calculations have been calculated after applying the Company's accounting policies on revenue recognition and adjusting the results to reflect the additional depreciation and amortization that would have been charged assuming the fair value adjustments to property and equipment and intangible assets had been applied from January 1, 2014. The Company incurred $77,406 in acquisition-related costs which are included in general and administrative expense on the Company's consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2015. These costs are reflected in pro forma earnings for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

NOTE 3.    DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The Company evaluates its warrants or other contracts to determine if those contracts or embedded components of those contracts qualify as derivatives to be separately accounted for in accordance with paragraph 810-10-05-4 and 815-40-25 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. The result of this accounting treatment is that the fair value of the derivative is marked-to-market each balance sheet date and recorded as a liability. In the event that the fair value is recorded as a liability, the change in fair value is recorded in the consolidated statement of operations as other income or expense. Upon registration of the shares, changes in price-based anti-dilution adjustments, conversion or exercise, as applicable, of a derivative instrument, the instrument is marked to fair value at the date of the occurrence of the event and then that fair value is reclassified to equity.

The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period. Instruments that are initially classified as equity that become subject to reclassification are reclassified to a liability at the fair value of the instrument on the reclassification date. Derivative instrument liabilities will be classified in the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement of the derivative instrument is expected within 12 months after the balance sheet date.

The following table summarizes the Company's activity and fair value calculations of its derivative warrants for the year ended December 31, 2015 and three months ended March 31, 2016:

	Linked Common Shares to Derivative Warrants		Warrant Liability
Balance, December 31, 2014	1,795,564		$	3,203,465
Exercise of warrants for common stock	(1,392,832	)	(5,348,408		)
Loss on exchange of warrants	—		1,197,821
Reclassification of fair value of 2014 Private Placement warrants to equity	(396,536	)	(1,181,638		)
Change in fair value of derivatives	—		2,133,820
Balance, December 31, 2015	6,196		5,060
Change in fair value of derivatives	—		(2,852		)
Balance, March 31, 2016	6,196		$	2,208

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The Company's warrants were valued on the applicable dates using a Binomial Lattice Option Valuation Technique (“Binomial”). Significant inputs into this technique as of December 31, 2015 and March 31, 2016 were as follows:

Binomial Assumptions	December 31, 2015	March 31, 2016
Fair market value of asset (1)	$7.66	$7.14
Exercise price	$25.00	$25.00
Term (2)	1.7 years	1.4 years
Implied expected life (3)	1.7 years	1.4 years
Volatility range of inputs (4)	83.00%	75.07%
Equivalent volatility (3)	83.00%	75.07%
Risk-free interest rate range of inputs (5)	1.06%	0.59%
Equivalent risk-free interest rate (3)	1.06%	0.59%

(1)  The fair market value of the asset was determined by using the Company's closing stock price as reflected in the OTCQB for the period ended December 31, 2015 and the Nasdaq Capital Market for the period ended March 31, 2016.

(2)  The term is the contractual remaining term, allocated among twelve equal intervals for purposes of calculating other inputs, such as volatility and risk-free rate.

(3)  The implied expected life, and equivalent volatility and risk-free interest rate amounts are derived from the binomial.

(4)  The Company does not have a market trading history upon which to base its forward-looking volatility. Accordingly, the Company selected peer companies that provided a reasonable basis upon which to calculate volatility for each of the intervals described in (2), above.

(5)  The risk-free rates used for inputs represent the yields on zero coupon U.S. Government Securities with periods to maturity consistent with the intervals described in (2), above.

NOTE 4.    COMMITMENTS & CONTINGENCIES

Litigation

From time to time, the Company may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Litigation is, however, subject to inherent uncertainties, and an adverse result in these or other matters may harm the Company's business. The Company is currently not aware of any legal proceedings or claims that it believes would or could have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on its operations or financial position.

NOTE 5.    STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

Authorized Shares

The Company has 200,000,000 authorized shares of common stock and 10,000,000 authorized shares of preferred stock, each with a par value of $0.0001 per share.

Reverse Stock Split

On January 6, 2016, the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment with the Secretary of State of Nevada to effect a reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding shares of its common stock at a ratio of one share for every 20 shares outstanding prior to the effective date of the reverse stock split. All current and historical information contained herein related to the share and per share information for the Company's common stock or stock equivalents reflects the 1-for-20 reverse stock split of the Company's outstanding shares of common stock that became market effective on January 11, 2016. There was no change in the number of the Company's authorized shares of common stock.

Nasdaq Uplisting

On January 25, 2016, the Company filed a registration statement on Form 8-A to register its securities pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act. Thereafter, on January 26, 2016, the Company's shares of common stock commenced trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol IZEA. Prior thereto, the Company's common stock was quoted on the OTCQB marketplace under the same symbol.

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Stock Issued for Purchases

On January 29, 2016, we issued 114,398 shares of common stock valued at $848,832 to the former Ebyline stockholders as settlement of our annual installment payment of $938,532 less $89,700 in closing related expenses owed as part of our January 2015 Stock Purchase Agreement.

Stock Issued for Services

The Company issued 4,055 shares of common stock valued at $31,250 to five directors for their service as directors of the Company during the three months ended March 31, 2016.

Total expense recognized for stock-based payments for services during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 was $31,250 and $27,450, respectively, all of which is included in general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of operations. The fair value of the services is based on the value of the Company's common stock over the term of service.

Warrant Transactions

Warrant Issuances:

On January 22, 2015, the Company issued a warrant to purchase 5,000 shares of its common stock to an investor relations consultant. The warrant was fully vested on the date of issuance, has an exercise price of $10.20 per share and expires on January 22, 2020. The fair value of the warrant upon issuance was $7,700 and the Company received $100 as compensation for the warrant. The fair value of the warrant issuance was recorded as an increase in additional paid-in capital in the Company's consolidated balance sheet and the net $7,600 compensation expense was recorded in general and administrative expense during the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Stock Options

In May 2011, the Board of Directors adopted the 2011 Equity Incentive Plan of IZEA, Inc. (the “May 2011 Plan”). The May 2011 Plan allows the Company to grant options to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares as an incentive for its employees and consultants.  As of March 31, 2016, the Company had 144,445 shares of common stock available for future grants under the May 2011 Plan.

On August 22, 2011, the Company adopted the 2011 B Equity Incentive Plan (the “August 2011 Plan”) reserving for issuance an aggregate of 4,375 shares of common stock under the August 2011 Plan. As of March 31, 2016, the Company had no shares of common stock available for future grants under the August 2011 Plan.

Under both the May 2011 Plan and the August 2011 Plan (together, the "2011 Equity Incentive Plans"), the Board of Directors determines the exercise price to be paid for the shares, the period within which each option may be exercised, and the terms and conditions of each option. The exercise price of the incentive and non-qualified stock options may not be less than 100% of the fair market value per share of the Company’s common stock on the grant date. If an individual owns stock representing more than 10% of the outstanding shares, the price of each share of an incentive stock option must be equal to or exceed 110% of fair market value. Unless otherwise determined by the Board of Directors at the time of grant, the right to purchase shares covered by any options under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans typically vest on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period as follows: 25% of options shall vest one year from the date of grant and the remaining options shall vest monthly, in equal increments over the following three years. The term of the options is up to ten years. The Company issues new shares to the optionee for any stock awards or options exercised pursuant to its equity incentive plans.

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A summary of option activity under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans for the year ended December 31, 2015 and three months ended March 31, 2016, is presented below:

Options Outstanding	Common Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Life (Years)
Outstanding at December 31, 2014	595,786		$	9.20	6.5
Granted	277,059		7.43
Exercised	—		—
Forfeited	(42,246	)	7.70
Outstanding at December 31, 2015	830,599		$	8.65	6.8
Granted	38,535		7.33
Exercised	—		—
Forfeited	(9,329	)	7.90
Outstanding at March 31, 2016	859,805		$	8.60	6.7
Exercisable at March 31, 2016	420,491		$	10.08	6.0

During the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, no options were exercised. The fair value of our common stock on March 31, 2016 was $7.14 per share. The intrinsic value on outstanding options as of March 31, 2016 was $835,350. The intrinsic value on exercisable options as of March 31, 2016 was $579,371.

A summary of the nonvested stock option activity under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans for the year ended December 31, 2015 and three months ended March 31, 2016, is presented below:

Nonvested Options	Common Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Weighted Average Remaining Years to Vest
Nonvested at December 31, 2014	372,092		$	4.00	3.0
Granted	277,059		3.84
Vested	(147,759	)	4.32
Forfeited	(39,466	)	3.44
Nonvested at December 31, 2015	461,926		$	3.84	2.8
Granted	38,535		3.68
Vested	(52,121	)	4.24
Forfeited	(9,026	)	4.00
Nonvested at March 31, 2016	439,314		$	3.76	2.8

Stock-based compensation cost related to stock options granted under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans is measured at the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and is recognized as an expense over the employee’s requisite service period. The Company estimates the fair value of each option award on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model that uses the assumptions stated in Note 1. Total stock-based compensation expense recognized on awards outstanding during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 was $204,972 and $142,331, respectively. Stock-based compensation expense was recorded as $20,268 to sales and marketing and $184,704 to general and administrative expense in the Company's consolidated statement of operations during the three months ended March 31, 2016. Stock-based compensation expense was recorded as $0 to sales and marketing and $142,331 to general and administrative expense in the Company's consolidated statement of operations during the three months ended March 31, 2015. Future compensation related to nonvested awards expected to vest of $1,558,403 is estimated to be recognized over the weighted-average vesting period of approximately three years.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

On April 16, 2014, stockholders holding a majority of the Company's outstanding shares of common stock, upon previous recommendation and approval of the Board of Directors, adopted the IZEA, Inc. 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”) and reserved 75,000 shares of the Company's common stock for issuance thereunder. Any employee regularly employed by the Company for 90 days or more on a full-time or part-time basis (20 hours or more per week on a regular schedule) is eligible to participate in the ESPP. The ESPP operates in successive six month offering periods commencing at the beginning of each fiscal

18

year half. Each eligible employee who elects to participate may purchase up to 10% of their annual compensation in common stock not to exceed $21,250 annually or 1,000 shares per offering period. The purchase price will be the lower of (i) 85% of the fair market value of a share of common stock on the first trading day of the offering period or (ii) 85% of the fair market value of a share of common stock on the last trading day of the offering period. The ESPP will continue until January 1, 2024, unless otherwise terminated by the Board. As of March 31, 2016, the Company had 61,215 remaining shares of common stock available for future grants under the ESPP.

NOTE 6.    EARNINGS (LOSS) PER COMMON SHARE

Basic earnings (loss) per common share is computed by dividing the net income or loss by the basic weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period presented. Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing the net income or loss by the total of the basic weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding plus the additional dilutive securities that could be exercised or converted into common shares during each period presented less the amount of shares that could be repurchased using the proceeds from the exercises.

	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2016			March 31, 2015
Net loss	$	(2,592,620	)	$	(4,270,912	)
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic and diluted	5,300,520			2,884,883
Basic and diluted loss per common share	$	(0.49	)	$	(1.48	)

The Company excluded the following weighted average items from the above computation of diluted loss per common share as their effect would be anti-dilutive:

	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2016	March 31, 2015
Stock options	841,911	636,992
Warrants	534,653	2,700,971
Restricted stock units	—	85,417
Total excluded shares	1,376,564	3,423,380

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ITEM 2 – MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

The following discussion and analysis is provided to increase the understanding of, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report. Historical results and percentage relationships among any amounts in these financial statements are not necessarily indicative of trends in operating results for any future period. This report contains “forward-looking statements.” The statements, which are not historical facts contained in this report, including this Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and notes to our consolidated financial statements, particularly those that utilize terminology such as “may” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “believes,” or “plans” or comparable terminology are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information, and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Future events and our actual results may differ materially from the results reflected in these forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, our ability to raise additional funding, our ability to maintain and grow our business, variability of operating results, our ability to maintain and enhance our brand, our development and introduction of new products and services, the successful integration of acquired companies, technologies and assets into our portfolio of software and services, marketing and other business development initiatives, competition in the industry, general government regulation, economic conditions, dependence on key personnel, the ability to attract, hire and retain personnel who possess the technical skills and experience necessary to meet the service requirements of our clients, our ability to protect our intellectual property, the potential liability with respect to actions taken by our existing and past employees, risks associated with international sales, and other risks described herein and in our other filings with the SEC.

All forward-looking statements in this document are based on information currently available to us as of the date of this report, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.  Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Company History

IZEA was founded in February 2006 under the name PayPerPost, Inc. and became a public company incorporated in the state of Nevada in May 2011. We are headquartered near Orlando, Florida with additional offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto and a sales presence in New York, Detroit and Boston.

Company Overview

IZEA operates online marketplaces that facilitate transactions between brands and influential content creators. These creators produce and distribute text, videos and photos on behalf of brands through websites, blogs and social media channels. Our technology enables transactions to be completed at scale through the management of content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics and payment processing.

We help power the creator economy, allowing everyone from college students and stay at home moms to celebrities the opportunity to monetize their content, creativity and influence. Advertisers benefit from buzz, traffic, awareness and sales, and creators earn cash compensation in exchange for their work and promotion.

On January 30, 2015, we purchased all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Ebyline. Based in Los Angeles, California, Ebyline operates an online marketplace that enables publishers to access a network of over 15,000 content creators ranging from writers to illustrators in 84 countries. Over 2,000 fully vetted individuals in the Ebyline network have professional journalism credentials with backgrounds at well-known media outlets. Ebyline’s proprietary workflow is utilized by leading media organizations to obtain the content they need from professional content creators. In addition to publishers, Ebyline is leveraged by brands to produce custom branded content for use on their owned and operated sites, as well as third party content marketing and native advertising efforts.

We derive revenue from three sources: revenue from an advertiser when it pays for a social media publisher or influencer such as a blogger or tweeter ("creators") to share sponsored content with their social network audience ("Sponsored Revenue"), revenue when a publisher or company purchases custom branded content for use on its owned and operated sites, as well as third party content marketing and native advertising efforts ("Content Revenue") and revenue derived from various service and license fees charged to users of our platforms ("Service Fee Revenue").

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We operate the Ebyline online marketplace and our own online marketplace that connects brands with creators at IZEA.com as well as other white label marketplaces. IZEA.com and all white label sites are powered by the IZEA Exchange (“IZEAx”), a platform that handles content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics and payment processing. IZEAx is designed to provide a unified ecosystem that enables the creation of multiple types of content including blog posts, status updates, videos and photos through a wide variety of social channels including blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr, among others.

Results of Operations for the Three Months EndedMarch 31, 2016 Compared to the Three Months EndedMarch 31, 2015

	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2016			March 31, 2015			$ Change			% Change
Revenue	$	5,465,950		$	4,135,494		$	1,330,456		32.2	%
Cost of sales	3,101,369			2,441,491			659,878			27.0	%
Gross profit	2,364,581			1,694,003			670,578			39.6	%
Operating expenses:
General and administrative	2,580,001			1,860,514			719,487			38.7	%
Sales and marketing	2,359,663			1,581,487			778,176			49.2	%
Total operating expenses	4,939,664			3,442,001			1,497,663			43.5	%
Loss from operations	(2,575,083		)	(1,747,998		)	(827,085		)	(47.3	)%
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(21,339		)	(18,770		)	(2,569		)	13.7	%
Change in fair value of derivatives, net	2,852			(2,505,951		)	2,508,803			(100.1	)%
Other income, net	950			1,807			(857		)	(47.4	)%
Total other income (expense), net	(17,537		)	(2,522,914		)	2,505,377			99.3	%
Net loss	$	(2,592,620	)	$	(4,270,912	)	$	1,678,292		39.3	%

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), we consider certain financial measures that are not prepared in accordance with GAAP, including Adjusted EBITDA. These non-GAAP financial measures are not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP.

We believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors as it excludes transactions not related to the core cash operating business activities including non-cash transactions. We believe that excluding these transactions allows investors to meaningfully trend and analyze the performance of our core cash operations. All companies do not calculate EBITDA in the same manner, and Adjusted EBITDA as presented by IZEA may not be comparable to EBITDA presented by other companies. IZEA defines Adjusted EBITDA as earnings or loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, non-cash stock related compensation, gain or loss on asset disposals or impairment, changes in contingent acquisition costs, and all other income and expense items such as loss on exchanges and changes in fair value of derivatives, if applicable.

Reconciliation of Net Loss to Adjusted EBITDA:	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2016			March 31, 2015
Net loss	$	(2,592,620	)	$	(4,270,912	)
Non-cash stock-based compensation	204,972			142,331
Non-cash stock issued for payment of services	31,250			35,050
Change in the fair value of derivatives	(2,852		)	2,505,951
Interest expense	21,339			18,770
Depreciation and amortization	296,297			174,296
Adjusted EBITDA	$	(2,041,614	)	$	(1,394,514	)

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Revenues

The following table breaks down our approximate revenue, cost of sales and gross profit by revenue stream for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015:

	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2016		March 31, 2016		March 31, 2015		March 31, 2015
Revenue & % of Total
Sponsored Revenue	$	2,895,000	53	%	$	2,735,000	66	%
Content Revenue	2,488,000		45	%	1,365,000		33	%
Service Fees & Other Revenue	83,000		2	%	35,000		1	%
Total Revenue	$	5,466,000	100	%	$	4,135,000	100	%
Cost of Sales & % of Total
Sponsored COS	$	1,094,000	35	%	$	1,208,000	49	%
Content COS	2,007,000		65	%	1,233,000		51	%
Service Fees & Other COS	—		—	%	—		—	%
Total Cost of Sales	$	3,101,000	100	%	$	2,441,000	100	%
Gross Profit & Profit %
Sponsored Revenue	$	1,801,000	62	%	$	1,527,000	56	%
Content Revenue	481,000		19	%	132,000		10	%
Service Fees & Other Revenue	83,000		100	%	35,000		100	%
Total Profit	$	2,365,000	43	%	$	1,694,000	41	%

Revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2016increased by $1,330,456, or 32%, compared to the same period in 2015. Sponsored Revenue increased$160,000, Content Revenue increased$1,123,000 and Service Fee Revenue increased$48,000 during the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. Sponsored Revenue increased primarily due to to our larger sales force, concentrated sales efforts toward larger IZEA managed campaigns rather than smaller advertiser self-service campaigns and generating repeat business from existing customers. Content Revenue increased due to the same reasons as Sponsored Revenue and also because there were three full months of revenue reported in 2016 compared to only two months in 2015 as a result of the Ebyline acquisition on January 30, 2015. Service Fee Revenue increased in the three months ended March 31, 2016 due to more licensing fees generated from the white-label partners in IZEAx.

Our net bookings of $7.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 were 71% higher than the net bookings of $4.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015. Net bookings is a measure of sales orders minus any cancellations or refunds in a given period. Management uses net bookings as a leading indicator of future revenue recognition as revenue is recognized on average within 120 days of booking, though larger contracts may be recognized over twelve months from the original booking date. We experienced higher bookings as a result of the Ebyline acquisition, new customers, larger IZEA managed campaigns and an increase in repeat clients. These bookings are expected to continue to translate into higher revenue in 2016 as compared to 2015.

Cost of Sales and Gross Profit

Our cost of sales is comprised primarily of amounts paid to our content creators to provide content or advertising services through the pushing of sponsored content through a blog post, tweet, click or action.

Cost of sales for the three months ended March 31, 2016increased by $659,878, or 27.0%, compared to the same period in 2015.  The increase in cost of sales proportionally increased primarily due to the increase in our sales.

Gross profit for the three months ended March 31, 2016increased by $670,578, or 39.6%, compared to the same period in 2015.  Our gross profit as a percentage of revenue increased from 41% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 to 43% for the same period in 2016. Sponsored Revenue gross margin was 62% and Content Revenue was 19% for the three months ended March 31, 2016.

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The gross profit increase was primarily attributable to increased use of our managed services versus self-service content and sponsored social offerings. Prior to being acquired by IZEA, Ebyline generated Content Revenue primarily from newspaper and traditional publishers through their workflow platform on a self-service basis at a 7% to 9% profit. After the acquisition, these customers still produce a significant amount of revenue, but we are increasing the sales of Content Revenue to customers on a managed basis and expect to see continued improvement in the Content Revenue margins. The mix of sales between our higher margin Sponsored Revenue and our lower margin Content Revenue (particularly the self-service workflow portion of this revenue) has a significant affect on our overall gross profit percentage.

For the three months ended March 31, 2016, managed services were 31.5% of Content Revenue compared to 9.0% for the three months ended March 31, 2015. Additionally, the margins on the managed portion of Content Revenue increased by twelve percentage points for the three months ended March 31, 2016 as we incorporated our standard pricing guidelines into new bookings that were closed in fourth quarter of fiscal 2015.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses consist of general and administrative expenses and sales and marketing expenses.  Total operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2016increased by $1,497,663, or 43.5%, compared to the same period in 2015. The increase was primarily attributable to increased personnel costs and additional overhead resulting from increased personnel.

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of administrative and engineering personnel costs, general operating costs, public company costs, including non-cash stock compensation, facilities costs, insurance, depreciation, professional fees, and investor relations costs.  General and administrative expense for the three months ended March 31, 2016increased by $719,487, or 38.7%, compared to the same period in 2015. The increase was primarily attributable to a $354,000 increase in personnel costs, a $50,000 increase in variable costs related to personnel such as software and subscription costs, communication, travel and supply costs. These costs increased as a result of an increase in the average number of our administrative and engineering personnel by 33% since the prior year period along with increased costs for those personnel. Increased personnel costs are expected to continue in 2016 due to planned growth in the total number of administrative and engineering personnel needed to handle our growing organization. The increase in general and administrative expenses is also attributable to a $122,000 increase in depreciation and amortization expense as a result of the amortization of software development costs for IZEA Exchange (IZEAx) and the Ebyline intangible assets acquired; a $74,000 increase in contractor expense for outsourced engineering and finance projects; a $42,000 increase in stock compensation; a $37,000 increase in public company related expenditures as a result of initial listing fees and expenses related to our up-listing to the Nasdaq Capital Market in February 2016; and a $31,000 increase in rent for our facilities and an additional office in Canada.

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily personnel costs related to those who support sales and marketing efforts, promotional and advertising costs and trade show expenses. Sales and marketing expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2016increased by $778,176 or 49.2%, compared to the same period in 2015.  The increase was primarily attributable to a $652,000 increase in personnel costs and a $128,000 increase in variable costs related to personnel such as software and subscription costs, communication, travel and supply costs. These increases are the result of a 20% increase in the number of our sales and marketing personnel since the prior year along with a $140,000 increase in commission expense as a result of the increase in customer bookings. Travel costs included in the variable costs increased by 50% as a result of increased training and corporate events during the first quarter of 2016.

Other Income (Expense)

Other income (expense) consists primarily of interest expense, loss on exchange of warrants and the change in the fair value of derivatives.

Interest expense during the three months ended March 31, 2016increased by $2,569 to $21,339 compared to the same period in 2015 primarily due to the imputed interest on the acquisition costs payable.

In prior years, we entered into financing transactions that gave rise to derivative liabilities. These financial instruments are carried at fair value in our financial statements. Changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments are required to be recorded in other income (expense) in the period of change. We recorded a gain of $2,852 and a loss of $2,505,951 resulting from the increase (decrease) in the fair value of certain warrants during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. We have no control over the amount of change in the fair value of our derivative instruments as this is a factor based on fluctuating interest rates and stock prices and other market conditions outside of our control. Due to the large exercise of Warrants in August 2015 resulting in less remaining warrants requiring valuation in the future, we believe

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that these fluctuations will significantly decrease in future periods and will be substantially different from the amounts recorded during 2015. As of March 31, 2016, we have warrants to purchase 6,196 shares that are required to be fair valued each period. When the price of our stock decreases, it causes the fair value of our warrant liability in our consolidated balance sheets to decrease creating a gain from the change in fair value in our consolidated statement of operations. Alternatively, when the price of our stock increases, it causes the fair value of our warrant liability to increase causing a loss from the change in fair value.

Net Loss

Net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was $2,592,620, which decreased from a net loss of $4,270,912 for the same period in 2015.  The reduction in net income was primarily the result of the increase in operating expenses and the change in the fair value of derivative financial instruments as discussed above.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We had cash and cash equivalents of $10,064,454 as of March 31, 2016 as compared to $11,608,452 as of December 31, 2015, a decrease of $1,543,998 primarily as a result of funding of our operating losses.  We have incurred significant net losses and negative cash flow from operations since our inception which has resulted in a total accumulated deficit of $36,842,141 as of March 31, 2016.   To date, we have financed our operations through internally generated revenue from operations and the sale and exercise of our equity securities.

Cash used for operating activities was $1,405,201 during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and was primarily a result of our loss from operations during the period of $2,575,083. Cash used for investing activities was $127,884 during the three months ended March 31, 2016 due primarily to purchases of computer and office equipment for our expanding staff and development of our proprietary software. Cash used in financing activities was $10,913 during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and was the result of expenses on the issuance of shares and principal payments on our capital lease obligations.

On January 30, 2015, we purchased all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Ebyline. The aggregate consideration payable by us was to be an amount up to $8,850,000, including a cash payment at closing of $1,200,000, a stock issuance valued at $250,000 paid on July 30, 2015, $1,877,064 in two equal installments of $938,532 on the first and second anniversaries of the closing, and up to $5,500,000 in contingent performance payments, subject to Ebyline meeting certain revenue targets for each of the three years ending December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The $1,877,064 in annual payments and the $5,500,000 in contingent performance payments may be made in cash or common stock, at our option. The performance payments are to be made only if Ebyline achieves at least 90% of Content Revenue targets of $17,000,000 in 2015, $27,000,000 in 2016 and $32,000,000 in 2017. If Ebyline achieves at least 90%, but less than 100% of the Content Revenue targets, the performance payments owed of $1,800,000, $1,800,000 and $1,900,000 for each of the three years ending December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively, will be subject to adjustment. Anything below 90% of the Content Revenue targets will not be eligible for any performance payment.

Content Revenue was $7,978,000 from February-December 2015 after our acquisition and it was $708,000 in January 2015 prior to our acquisition. Additionally, there were approximately $26,000 in subscription fees for Ebyline platform services during 2015 resulting in total Content Revenue of $8,712,000 or 51% of the 2015 Content Revenue Target. Based on the actual results for 2015 and our current projections for 2016-2017, we do not believe that these targets will be met within each of the respective years. As a result, we do not believe that we will be required to make any of the $5,500,000 in contingent performance payments and we currently expect that the total consideration to be paid for the Ebyline acquisition will be $3,327,064.

On January 29, 2016, we issued 114,398 shares of common stock valued at $848,832 to the former Ebyline stockholders as settlement of our annual installment payment of $938,532 less $89,700 in closing related expenses owed as part of the Stock Purchase Agreement.

On April 13, 2015, we expanded our secured credit facility agreement with Bridge Bank, N.A. of San Jose, California. Pursuant to this agreement, we may submit requests for funding up to 80% of our eligible accounts receivable up to a maximum credit limit of $5 million. This agreement is secured by our accounts receivable and substantially all of our other assets. The agreement renews annually and requires us to pay an annual facility fee of $20,000 (0.4% of the credit limit) and an annual due diligence fee of $1,000. Interest accrues on the advances at the rate of prime plus 2% per annum. The default rate of interest is prime plus 7%. As of March 31, 2016, we had no advances outstanding under this agreement.

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We believe that with our current cash, the expanded credit line and the proceeds received from the closing of the warrant transaction, we will have sufficient cash reserves available to cover expenses for longer than the future twelve months.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not engage in any activities involving variable interest entities or off-balance sheet arrangements.

Critical Accounting Policies and Use of Estimates

The preparation of the accompanying financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires us to make judgments, assumptions and estimates that affect the amounts reported in the accompanying financial statements and the accompanying notes.  The preparation of these financial statements requires managements to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities.  When making these estimates and assumptions, we consider our historical experience, our knowledge of economic and market factors and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances.  Actual results could differ from these estimates.  The following critical accounting policies are significantly affected by judgments, assumptions and estimates used in the preparation of the financial statements.

Accounts receivable are customer obligations due under normal trade terms. Uncollectibility of accounts receivable is not significant since most customers are bound by contract and are required to fund us for all the costs of an “opportunity,” defined as an order created by an advertiser for a creator to write about the advertiser’s product. If a portion of the account balance is deemed uncollectible, we will either write-off the amount owed or provide a reserve based on the uncollectible portion of the account. Management determines the collectibility of accounts by regularly evaluating individual customer receivables and considering a customer’s financial condition, credit history and current economic conditions. We have a reserve of $190,000 for doubtful accounts as of March 31, 2016. We believe that this estimate is reasonable, but there can be no assurance that the estimate will not change as a result of a change in economic conditions or business conditions within the industry, the individual customers or our company. Any adjustments to this account are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as a general and administrative expense. Bad debt expense was less than 1% of revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015.

Throughout 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, we developed our new web-based advertising exchange platform, IZEAx. This platform is being utilized both internally and externally to facilitate native advertising campaigns on a greater scale. We began adding features and additional functionality to this platform again in 2015 and will continue throughout 2016. These new features will enable our platform to facilitate the contracting, workflow and delivery of direct content. In accordance with ASC 350-40, Internal Use Software and ASC 985-730, Computer Software Research and Development, research phase costs should be expensed as incurred and development phase costs including direct materials and services, payroll and benefits and interest costs may be capitalized. As a result, we have capitalized $1,104,367 in direct materials, consulting, payroll and benefit costs to software development costs in the consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2016. We estimate the useful life of our software to be 5 years, consistent with the amount of time our legacy platforms were in-service, and we are amortizing the software development costs over this period.

We derive revenue from three sources: revenue from an advertiser when it pays for a social media publisher or influencer such as a blogger or tweeter ("creators") to share sponsored content with their social network audience ("Sponsored Revenue"), revenue when a publisher or company purchases custom branded content for use on its owned and operated sites, as well as third party content marketing and native advertising efforts ("Content Revenue") and revenue derived from various service and license fees charged to users of our platforms ("Service Fee Revenue").

For our managed customers, we enter into an agreement to provide services that may require multiple deliverables in the form of (a) sponsored social items, such as blogs, tweets, photos or videos shared through social network offerings that provide awareness or advertising buzz regarding the advertiser's brand; (b) media advertisements, such as click-through advertisements appearing in websites and social media channels and (c) original content items, such as a research or news article, informational material or videos that a publisher or brand can use. We may provide one type or a combination of all types of these deliverables including a management fee on a statement of work for a lump sum fee. These deliverables are to be provided over a stated period that may range from one day to one year. Each of these items are considered delivered once the content is live through a public or social network or content has been delivered to the customer for their own use. Revenue is accounted for separately on each of the deliverables in the time frames set forth below. The statement of work typically provides for a cancellation fee if the agreement is canceled by the customer prior to our completion of services. Payment terms

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are typically 30 days from the invoice date. If we are unable to provide a portion of the services, we may agree with the customer to provide a different type of service or to provide a credit for the value of those services that may be applied to the existing order or used for future services.

Sponsored Revenue is recognized and considered earned after an advertiser's sponsored content is posted through IZEAx and shared through a creator's social network for a requisite period of time. The requisite period ranges from 3 days for a tweet to 30 days for a blog, video or other form of content. Management fees related to Sponsored Revenue from advertising campaigns managed by us are recognized ratably over the term of the campaign which may range from a few days to several months. Content Revenue is recognized when the content is delivered to and accepted by the customer. Service Fee Revenue is generated when fees are charged to customers primarily related to subscription fees for different levels of service within a platform, licensing fees for white-label use of IZEAx, early cash-out fees if a creator wishes to take proceeds earned for services from their account when the account balance is below certain minimum balance thresholds and inactivity fees for dormant accounts. Service Fee Revenue is recognized immediately when the service is performed or at the time an account becomes dormant or is cashed out. Service Fee Revenue for subscription or licensing fees is recognized straight-line over the term of service. Self-service advertisers must prepay for services by placing a deposit in their account with the Company.  The deposits are typically paid by the advertiser via credit card. Advertisers who use us to manage their social advertising campaigns or content requests may prepay for services or request credit terms. Payments received or billings in advance of services are recorded as unearned revenue until earned as described above.

All of our revenue is generated through the rendering of services and is recognized under the general guidelines of SAB Topic 13 A.1 which states that revenue will be recognized when it is realized or realizable and earned. We consider our revenue as generally realized or realizable and earned once (i) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (ii) services have been rendered, (iii) the price to the advertiser or customer is fixed (required to be paid at a set amount that is not subject to refund or adjustment) and determinable, and (iv) collectibility is reasonably assured. We record revenue on the gross amount earned since we generally are the primary obligor in the arrangement, take on credit risk, establish the pricing and determine the service specifications.

Stock-based compensation is measured at the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and is recognized as an expense over the employee’s requisite service period.  We estimate the fair value of each stock option as of the date of grant using the Black-Scholes pricing model.  Options typically vest ratably over four years with one-fourth of options vesting one year from the date of grant and the remaining options vesting monthly, in equal increments over the remaining three-year period  and generally have five or ten-year contract lives.  We estimate the fair value of our common stock using the closing stock price of our common stock on the date of the option award.  We estimate the volatility of our common stock at the date of grant based on the volatility of comparable peer companies that are publicly traded and have had a longer trading history than us. We determine the expected life based on historical experience with similar awards, giving consideration to the contractual terms, vesting schedules and post-vesting forfeitures. We use the risk-free interest rate on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury issues with an equivalent remaining term approximately equal to the expected life of the award. We have never paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We estimate forfeitures when recognizing compensation expense and this estimate of forfeitures is adjusted over the requisite service period based on the extent to which actual forfeitures differ, or are expected to differ, from such estimates. Changes in estimated forfeitures are recognized through a cumulative catch-up adjustment, which is recognized in the period of change, and a revised amount of unamortized compensation expense to be recognized in future periods.

The following table shows the number of options granted under our 2011 Equity Incentive Plans and the assumptions used to determine the fair value of those options during the year ended December 31, 2015 and three months ended March 31, 2016:

2011 Equity Incentive Plans - Options Granted

Period Ended	Total Options Granted	Weighted Average Exercise Price	Weighted Average Expected Term	Weighted Average Volatility	Weighted Average Risk Free Interest Rate	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
December 31, 2015	277,059	$7.43	6.0 years	55.47%	1.65%	$3.84
March 31, 2016	38,535	$7.33	6.0 years	52.68%	1.62%	$3.68

There were outstanding options to purchase 859,805 shares with a weighted average exercise price of $8.60 per share, of which options to purchase 420,491 shares were exercisable with a weighted average exercise price of $10.08 per share as of

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March 31, 2016.   The intrinsic value on outstanding options as of March 31, 2016 was $835,350. The intrinsic value on exercisable options as of March 31, 2016 was $579,371.

We account for derivative instruments in accordance with ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging , which requires additional disclosures about the our objectives and strategies for using derivative instruments, how the derivative instruments and related hedged items are accounted for, and how the derivative instruments and related hedging items affect the financial statements. We do not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risk. Terms of equity instruments are reviewed to determine whether or not they contain embedded derivative instruments that are required under ASC 815 to be accounted for separately from the host contract, and recorded on the balance sheet at fair value. The fair value of derivative liabilities, if any, is required to be revalued at each reporting date, with corresponding changes in fair value recorded in current period operating results. Pursuant to ASC 815, an evaluation of specifically identified conditions is made to determine whether the fair value of warrants issued is required to be classified as equity or as a derivative liability.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

There are new accounting pronouncements issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") which are not yet effective. 

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASU 2014-09), which supersedes nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a five step process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, more judgment and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition

process than are required under existing U.S. GAAP. The standard is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods therein, using either of the following transition methods: (i) a full retrospective approach reflecting the application of the standard in each prior reporting period with the option to elect certain practical expedients, or (ii) a retrospective approach with the cumulative effect of initially adopting ASU 2014-09 recognized at the date of adoption (which includes additional footnote disclosures). We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2014-09 on our consolidated financial statements and have not yet determined the method by which we will adopt the standard in the first quarter of 2018.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net)." The amendments in this ASU are intended to improve the operability and understandability of the implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations by amending certain existing illustrative examples and adding additional illustrative examples to assist in the application of the guidance. The effective date and transition of these amendments is the same as the effective date and transition of ASU 2014-09 stated above.

In April 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing (“ASU 2016-10”). ASU 2016-10 is intended to reduce the cost and complexity of applying the guidance in the FASB's new revenue standard on identifying performance obligations, and is also intended to improve the operability and understandability of the licensing implementation guidance. The effective date for ASU 2016-10 is the same as for ASU 2014-09, which will be the first quarter of 2018.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases. The new standard establishes a right-of-use (ROU) model that requires a lessee to record a ROU asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. The new standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. A modified retrospective transition approach is required for lessees for capital and operating leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements, with certain practical expedients available. We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2016-02 on our consolidated financial statements.

ITEM 3 – QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Not applicable to smaller reporting companies.

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ITEM 4 – CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms.  Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive and financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.

In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, our management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and our management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Furthermore, controls and procedures could be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion or two or more people or by management override of the control. Misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected on a timely basis.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

In connection with the preparation of this quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2016, an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of the Company's management including our Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") to determine the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of March 31, 2016.  Based on this evaluation, our management concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of March 31, 2016 to provide reasonable assurance that the information required to be disclosed by us in reports or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including the Company's CEO and CFO, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer and effected by our Board of Directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Internal control over financial reporting includes policies and procedures that:

(i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the Company’s transactions;

(ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary for the preparation of our financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and that receipts and expenditures are made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and

(iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of any unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect financial statement misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of internal control effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) that occurred during the quarter ended March 31, 2016 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.     

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PART II - OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1 – LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

From time to time, we may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Litigation is, however, subject to inherent uncertainties, and an adverse result in these or other matters may arise from time to time that may harm our business. We are currently not aware of any legal proceedings or claims that we believe would or could have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on us.

ITEM 1A – RISK FACTORS

In addition to the information set forth under Item 1A of Part I to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, the information set forth at the beginning of Management's Discussion and Analysis entitled "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information" and updates noted below, investors should consider that there are numerous and varied risks, known and unknown, that may prevent us from achieving our goals.  If any of these risks actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operation may be materially and adversely affected.  In such case, the trading price of our common stock could decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment.

Risks Related to our Business and Industry

We have a history of losses, expect future losses and cannot assure you that we will achieve profitability.

We have incurred significant net losses and negative cash flow from operations since our inception which has resulted in a total accumulated deficit of $36,842,141 as of March 31, 2016.  For the quarter ended March 31, 2016, we had a net loss of $2,592,620, including a $2,575,083 loss from operations.  Although our revenue has increased since inception, we have not achieved profitability and cannot be certain that we will be able to sustain these growth rates or realize sufficient revenue to achieve profitability. If we achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain it.

If we fail to retain existing customers or add new customers, our revenue and business will be harmed.

We depend on our ability to attract and retain customers that are prepared to offer products or services on compelling terms through IZEAx. Additionally, we rely on customers who purchase direct content from our creators in our platforms. We must continue to attract and retain customers in order to increase revenue and achieve profitability. We have two customers that accounted for 24% of our revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2016. If customers do not find our marketing and promotional services effective, they are not satisfied with content they receive, or they do not believe that utilizing our platforms provides them with a long-term increase in value, revenue or profit, they may stop using our platforms or managed services. In addition, we may experience attrition in our customers in the ordinary course of business resulting from several factors, including losses to competitors, mergers, closures or bankruptcies. If we are unable to attract new customers in numbers sufficient to grow our business, or if too many customers are unwilling to offer products or services with compelling terms to our creators through our platforms or if too many large customers seek extended payment terms, our operating results will be adversely affected.

Risks Relating to our Common Stock

Exercise of stock options, warrants and other securities will dilute your percentage of ownership and could cause our stock price to fall.

As of May 4, 2016, we had 5,342,153 shares of common stock issued, outstanding stock options to purchase 865,336 shares of common stock at an average price of $8.59 per share, and outstanding warrants to purchase 558,115 shares of common stock at an average price of $9.08 per share.

We also have reserved shares to issue stock options, restricted stock or other awards to purchase or receive up to 138,914 shares of common stock under our May 2011 Equity Incentive Plan and 61,215 shares of common stock under our 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan. In the future, we may grant additional stock options, restricted stock units, warrants and convertible securities. The exercise, conversion or exchange of stock options, restricted stock units, warrants or convertible securities will dilute the percentage ownership of our other stockholders. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock could cause the price of our common stock to fall and could impair our ability to raise capital by selling additional securities.

29

ITEM 2 – UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

On January 29, 2016, we issued 114,398 shares of common stock valued at $848,832 to the former Ebyline stockholders as settlement of our annual installment payment of $938,532 less $89,700 in closing related expenses owed as part of our January 2015 Stock Purchase Agreement.

On February 29, 2016, we issued a total of 2,595 shares of common stock valued at $20,833 to five directors for their service as directors of our company in January and February 2016. On March 31, 2016, we issued a total of 1,460 shares of common stock valued at $10,417 to five directors for their service as directors of our company in March 2016.

On April 11, 2016, we issued 749 shares of common stock valued at $4,794 to four employees as a contest award.

The foregoing issuances of shares were made in reliance upon the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

ITEM 3 – DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES

None

ITEM 4 – MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable

ITEM 5 - OTHER INFORMATION

None

30

ITEM 6 – EXHIBITS

2.1		Stock Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 27, 2015, by and among IZEA, Inc., Ebyline, Inc. and the Stockholders of Ebyline, Inc. listed on the signature pages thereto (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 29, 2015).
3.1		Articles of Incorporation (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the SEC on July 2, 2010).
3.2		Certificate of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 15, 2013).
3.3		Certificate of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 16, 2011).
3.4		Bylaws (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the SEC on July 2, 2010).
3.5		Certificate of Designation (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 27, 2011).
3.6		Amendment to Certificate of Designation (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 27, 2011).
3.7		Certificate of Change of IZEA, Inc., filed with the Nevada Secretary of State on July 30, 2012 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on August 1, 2012).
3.8		Certificate of Amendment to Articles of Incorporation filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada on April 17, 2014 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 18, 2014).
3.9		Certificate of Withdrawal of Certificate of Designation filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada effective January 23, 2015 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 29, 2015).
3.10		Certificate of Amendment filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada effective January 11, 2016 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 12, 2016).
3.11	*	Articles of Merger of IZEA Innovations, Inc. filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada effective April 5, 2016.
4.1		Form of Warrant to Purchase Common Stock of IZEA, Inc. issued to Investors in the 2013 Private Placement (Incorporated by reference to Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on August 21, 2013).
4.2		Form of Warrant to Purchase Common Stock of IZEA, Inc. issued to Investors in the 2014 Private Placement (Incorporated by reference to Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on February 24, 2014).
4.3		Form of Warrant Amendment and Exercise Agreement dated July 20, 2015 between the Company and Warrant Holders (Incorporated by reference to Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on July 23, 2015).
10.1		Amended 2011 Equity Incentive Plan as of February 6, 2013 (Incorporated by reference to Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 29, 2013).
10.2		Financing Agreement between the Company and Bridge Bank, dated March 1, 2013 (Incorporated by reference to Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 29, 2013).
10.3		Form of Securities Purchase Agreement executed by IZEA, Inc. and Investors in the 2013 Private Placement (Incorporated by reference to Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on August 21, 2013).
10.4		Form of Securities Purchase Agreement, dated as of February 12, 2014, by and among IZEA, Inc. and the Investors (Incorporated by reference to Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on February 19, 2014).
10.5		Form of Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of February 21, 2014, among IZEA, Inc. and each of the Investors (Incorporated by reference to Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on February 24, 2014).
10.6	(a)	Amended and Restated 2011 Equity Incentive Plan as of April 16, 2014 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 18, 2014).
10.7	(a)	2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 18, 2014).
10.8	(a)	Employment Agreement between IZEA, Inc. and LeAnn Hitchcock dated August 25, 2014 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on August 25, 2014).
10.9	(a)	Employment Agreement between IZEA, Inc. and Edward Murphy dated December 26, 2014 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 31, 2014).
10.10	(a)	Employment Agreement between IZEA, Inc. and Ryan Schram dated January 25, 2015 (Incorporated by reference to the Company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 29, 2015).

31

10.11		Business Financing Modification Agreement between IZEA, Inc., Ebyline, Inc. and Bridge Bank, NA, dated as of April 13, 2015 (Incorporated by reference to the Company's current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 14, 2015).
31.1	*	Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2	*	Certification of Principal Financial and Accounting Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.1	* (b)	Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2	* (b)	Certification of Principal Financial and Accounting Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
101	(c)	The following materials from IZEA, Inc.'s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 are formatted in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language):  (i) the Consolidated Balance Sheets, (ii) the Consolidated Statements of Operations, (iii) the Consolidated Statement of Stockholders' Equity, (iv) the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow, and (iv) Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

* Filed herewith.

(a) Denotes management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

(b) In accordance with Item 601of Regulation S-K, this Exhibit is hereby furnished to the SEC as an accompanying document and is not deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that Section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933.

(c) In accordance with Rule 406T of Regulation S-T, the XBRL related information in Exhibit 101 to this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liability of that section, and shall not be incorporated by reference into any registration statement or other document filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.

32

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

	IZEA, Inc. a Nevada corporation
May 11, 2016	By:	/s/ Edward H. Murphy
		Edward H. Murphy Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer)
May 11, 2016	By:	/s/ LeAnn C. Hitchcock
		LeAnn C. Hitchcock Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

33

EX-3.11

EX-31.1

EXHIBIT 31.1

Certification by Principal Executive Officer

pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

I, Edward H. Murphy, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this report on Form 10-Q of IZEA, Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Dated:  May 11, 2016

/s/ Edward H. Murphy

Edward H. Murphy

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

(Principal Executive Officer)

EX-31.2

EXHIBIT 31.2

Certification by Principal Financial and Accounting Officer

pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

I, LeAnn C. Hitchcock, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this report on Form 10-Q of IZEA, Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Dated:  May 11, 2016

/s/ LeAnn C. Hitchcock

LeAnn C. Hitchcock

Chief Financial Officer

(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

EX-32.1

EXHIBIT 32.1

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,

AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO

SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

In connection with the Quarterly Report of IZEA, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company”), on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2016, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I, Edward Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:

(1)           The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and

(2)           The information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.

Dated:  May 11, 2016

/s/ Edward Murphy

Edward Murphy

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

(Principal Executive Officer)

EX-32.2

EXHIBIT 32.2

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,

AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO

SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

In connection with the Quarterly Report of IZEA, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company”), on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2016, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I, LeAnn C. Hitchcock, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:

(1)           The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and

(2)           The information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.

Dated:  May 11, 2016

/s/ LeAnn C. Hitchcock

LeAnn C. Hitchcock

Chief Financial Officer

(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

XML

Document and Entity Information Document - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	May. 04, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	IZEA, INC.
Entity Central Index Key	0001495231
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		5,342,153
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float			$ 16,510,586

XML

Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets - USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Assets, Current [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 10,064,454	$ 11,608,452
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $190,000 and $139,000	2,976,322	3,917,925
Prepaid expenses	530,485	193,455
Other current assets	40,028	16,853
Total current assets	13,611,289	15,736,685
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net	582,173	596,008
Goodwill	2,468,289	2,468,289
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	1,610,368	1,806,191
Capitalized Computer Software, Net	856,974	813,932
Security Deposit	116,149	117,946
Assets	19,245,242	21,539,051
Liabilities, Current [Abstract]
Accounts payable	1,055,800	995,275
Accrued expenses	1,118,667	908,519
Unearned revenue	3,378,237	3,584,527
Current portion of deferred rent	28,451	14,662
Current portion of capital lease obligations	0	7,291
Current portion of acquisition costs payable	900,492	844,931
Total current liabilities	6,481,647	6,355,205
Deferred Rent Credit, Noncurrent	85,534	102,665
Acquisition Costs Payable, Noncurrent	0	889,080
Derivative Liability, Noncurrent	2,208	5,060
Liabilities	6,569,389	7,352,010
Stockholders' Equity Attributable to Parent [Abstract]
Common stock, $.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; 5,341,404 and 5,222,951, respectively, issued and outstanding	534	522
Additional paid-in capital	49,517,460	48,436,040
Accumulated deficit	(36,842,141)	(34,249,521)
Total stockholders’ equity	12,675,853	14,187,041
Liabilities and Equity	$ 19,245,242	$ 21,539,051

XML

Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets Parentheticals - USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Parentheticals - Balance Sheet [Abstract]
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Receivable, Current	$ 190,000	$ 139,000
Property and Equipment, accumulated depreciation	506,566	445,971
Intangible assets, accumulated amortization	926,101	730,278
Software development costs, accumulated amortization	$ 247,393	$ 207,514
Common stock, par value (per share)	$ 0.0001	$ 0.0001
Common stock, shares authorized (shares)	200,000,000	200,000,000
Common stock, shares, issued (shares)	5,341,404	5,222,951
Common stock, shares outstanding (shares)	5,341,404	5,222,951

XML

Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 5,465,950	$ 4,135,494
Cost of sales	3,101,369	2,441,491
Gross profit	2,364,581	1,694,003
Operating expenses:
General and administrative	2,580,001	1,860,514
Sales and marketing	2,359,663	1,581,487
Total operating expenses	4,939,664	3,442,001
Loss from operations	(2,575,083)	(1,747,998)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(21,339)	(18,770)
Change in fair value of derivatives, net	2,852	(2,505,951)
Other income, net	950	1,807
Total other income (expense)	(17,537)	(2,522,914)
Net loss	$ (2,592,620)	$ (4,270,912)
Weighted average common shares outstanding – basic and diluted	5,300,520	2,884,883
Basic and diluted loss per common share	$ (0.49)	$ (1.48)

XML

Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Stockholders' Equity - 3 months ended Mar. 31, 2016 - USD ($)	Total	Common Stock [Member]	Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]	Accumulated Deficit [Member]
Balance (shares) at Dec. 31, 2015		5,222,951
Balance at Dec. 31, 2015	$ 14,187,041	$ 522	$ 48,436,040	$ (34,249,521)
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Stock issued for payment of acquisition liability (shares)		114,398
Stock issuance costs	$ 848,832	$ 11	848,821
Stock issued during period, shares, issued for services (shares)	4,055	4,055
Stock issued for payment of services	$ 31,250	$ 1	31,249
Stock issuance costs	(3,622)		(3,622)
Stock-based compensation	204,972		204,972
Net loss	(2,592,620)			(2,592,620)
Balance (shares) at Mar. 31, 2016		5,341,404
Balance at Mar. 31, 2016	$ 12,675,853	$ 534	$ 49,517,460	$ (36,842,141)

XML

Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
Net loss	$ (2,592,620)	$ (4,270,912)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used for operating activities:
Depreciation	60,595	47,019
Amortization of software development costs and other intangible assets	235,702	127,277
Provision for losses on accounts receivable	51,000	0
Stock-based compensation	204,972	142,331
Value of stock and warrants issued or to be issued for payment of services	31,250	35,050
Change in fair value of derivatives, net	(2,852)	2,505,951
Cash provided by (used for): [Abstract]
Accounts receivable	890,603	34,698
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	(360,205)	(23,845)
Accounts payable	60,525	4,949
Accrued expenses	225,461	50,363
Unearned revenue	(206,290)	(181,541)
Deferred rent	(3,342)	548
Net cash used for operating activities	(1,405,201)	(1,528,112)
Cash flows from investing activities: [Abstract]
Purchase of equipment	(46,760)	(28,985)
Increase in software development costs	(82,921)	0
Acquisition, net of cash acquired	0	(995,286)
Security deposits	1,797	0
Net cash used for investing activities	(127,884)	(1,024,271)
Cash flows from financing activities: [Abstract]
Proceeds from exercise of options & warrants	0	5,264
Payment of Financing and Stock Issuance Costs	(3,622)	0
Payments on capital lease obligations	(7,291)	(14,592)
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(10,913)	(9,328)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(1,543,998)	(2,561,711)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year	11,608,452	6,521,930
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	10,064,454	3,960,219
Supplemental cash flow information: [Abstract]
Cash paid during the year for interest	230	2,362
Non-cash financing and investing activities:
Fair value of warrants issued	0	7,700
Acquisition costs payable for assets acquired	0	4,192,639
Acquisition costs paid through issuance of common stock	$ 848,832	$ 0

XML

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Unaudited Interim Financial Information

The accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2016, the consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the consolidated statement of stockholders' equity for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and the consolidated statements of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 are unaudited but include all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of our financial position at such dates and our results of operations and cash flows for the periods then ended in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). The consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date but, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), does not include all of the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the entire fiscal year. These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 30, 2016.

Nature of Business

IZEA, Inc. (together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, "we," "us," "our" or the "Company") was founded in February 2006 under the name PayPerPost, Inc. and became a public company incorporated in the state of Nevada in May 2011. On March 9, 2016, the Company formed IZEA Canada, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary incorporated in Ontario, Canada to operate as a sales office for its Canadian customers beginning in the second quarter of 2016. On April 5, 2016, the Company filed Articles of Merger with the Secretary of State of Nevada to effect the merger of its wholly-owned, non-operating subsidiary, IZEA Innovations, Inc., a Delaware corporation originally incorporated on September 19, 2006, into the parent operations of IZEA, Inc., a Nevada corporation. The Company is headquartered near Orlando, Florida with additional offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto, and a sales presence in New York, Detroit and Boston.

The Company operates online marketplaces that facilitate transactions between brands and influential content creators. These creators produce and distribute text, videos and photos on behalf of brands through websites, blogs and social media channels. The Company's technology enables transactions to be completed at scale through the management of content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics and payment processing.

On January 30, 2015, the Company purchased all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Ebyline, Inc. (“Ebyline”) (see Note 2). Based in Los Angeles, California, Ebyline operates an online marketplace that enables publishers to access a network of over 15,000 content creators ranging from writers to illustrators in 84 countries. Over 2,000 fully vetted individuals in the Ebyline network have professional journalism credentials with backgrounds at well-known media outlets. Ebyline’s proprietary workflow is utilized by leading media organizations to obtain the content they need from professional content creators. In addition to publishers, Ebyline is leveraged by brands to produce custom branded content for use on their owned and operated sites, as well as third party content marketing and native advertising efforts.

The Company currently operates the Ebyline online marketplace along with its own online marketplace that connects brands with creators at IZEA.com as well as other white label marketplaces. IZEA.com and all white label sites are powered by the IZEA Exchange (“IZEAx”), a platform that handles content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics and payment processing. IZEAx is designed to provide a unified ecosystem that enables the creation of multiple types of content including blog posts, status updates, videos and photos through a wide variety of social channels including blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr, among others.

Reverse Stock Split

On January 6, 2016, the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment with the Secretary of State of Nevada to effect a reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding shares of its common stock at a ratio of one share for every 20 shares outstanding prior to the effective date of the reverse stock split. All current and historical information contained herein related to the share and per share information for the Company's common stock or stock equivalents reflects the 1-for-20 reverse stock split of the Company's outstanding shares of common stock that became market effective on January 11, 2016. There was no change in the number of the Company's authorized shares of common stock.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of IZEA, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ebyline. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The consolidated financial statements were prepared using the acquisition method of accounting with IZEA considered the accounting acquirer of Ebyline. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the purchase price is allocated to the underlying Ebyline tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their respective fair market values with any excess purchase price allocated to goodwill.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For purposes of the statement of cash flows, the Company considers all highly liquid debt instruments purchased with a maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Accounts Receivable and Concentration of Credit Risk

Accounts receivable are customer obligations due under normal trade terms. Uncollectibility of accounts receivable is not significant since most customers are bound by contract and are required to fund the Company for all the costs of an “opportunity,” defined as an order created by an advertiser for a creator to write about the advertiser’s product. If a portion of the account balance is deemed uncollectible, the Company will either write-off the amount owed or provide a reserve based on the uncollectible portion of the account. Management determines the collectibility of accounts by regularly evaluating individual customer receivables and considering a customer’s financial condition, credit history and current economic conditions. The Company had a reserve of $190,000 and $139,000 for doubtful accounts as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. Management believes that this estimate is reasonable, but there can be no assurance that the estimate will not change as a result of a change in economic conditions or business conditions within the industry, the individual customers or the Company. Any adjustments to this account are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as a general and administrative expense. Bad debt expense was less than 1% of revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015.

Concentrations of credit risk with respect to accounts receivable are typically limited because a large number of geographically diverse customers make up the Company’s customer base, thus spreading the trade credit risk. The Company also controls credit risk through credit approvals, credit limits and monitoring procedures. The Company performs credit evaluations of its customers but generally does not require collateral to support accounts receivable. At March 31, 2016, the Company had two customers which accounted for 26% of total accounts receivable in the aggregate. At December 31, 2015, the Company had one customer which accounted for 13% of total accounts receivable in the aggregate. The Company had two customers that accounted for 24% of its revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and one customer that accounted for 12% of its revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost, or if acquired in a business combination, at the acquisition date fair value. Depreciation and amortization is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:

Computer Equipment	3 years
Software Costs	3 years
Office Equipment	3 - 10 years
Furniture and Fixtures	5 - 10 years

Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the shorter of the term of the lease or the estimated useful lives of the improvements. Property and equipment under capital leases are depreciated over their estimated useful lives. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred. Expenditures for betterments and major improvements are capitalized and depreciated over the remaining useful lives of the assets. The carrying amounts of assets sold or retired and the related accumulated depreciation are eliminated in the year of disposal, with resulting gains or losses included in general and administrative expense. Depreciation expense on property and equipment recorded in general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $60,595 and $47,019 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Software Development Costs

In accordance with ASC 350-40, Internal Use Software and ASC 985-730, Computer Software Research and Development, research phase costs related to internal use software should be expensed as incurred and development phase costs including direct materials and services, payroll and benefits and interest costs may be capitalized. The Company amortizes software development costs equally over 5 years upon initial launch of the software or additional features. Amortization expense on software development costs recorded in general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $39,879 and $28,444 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

As of December 31, 2015, future estimated amortization expense related to software development costs over the next five years is set forth in the following schedule:

Year ending December 31:	Software Amortization Expense
2016	$	204,289
2017	204,289
2018	204,289
2019	118,958
2020	82,107
	$	813,932

Intangible Assets

The Company acquired the majority of its intangible assets through its acquisition of Ebyline on January 30, 2015. The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets over a period of 12 to 60 months. Management reviews long-lived assets, including property and equipment, software development costs and other intangible assets, for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be recoverable. If an evaluation is required, the estimated future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset are compared with the asset's carrying amount to determine if there has been an impairment, which is calculated as the difference between the fair value of an asset and its carrying value. Estimates of future undiscounted cash flows are based on expected growth rates for the business, anticipated future economic conditions and estimates of residual values. Fair values take into consideration management estimates of risk-adjusted discount rates, which are believed to be consistent with assumptions that marketplace participants would use in their estimates of fair value. For the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, there were no impairment charges associated with the Company's long-lived assets.

The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets over a weighted average period of 3 years. Amortization expense on the Ebyline related identifiable intangible assets costs recorded in general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $195,823 and $98,833 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

As of December 31, 2015, future estimated amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets over the next five years is set forth in the following schedule:

Year ending December 31:	Amortization Expense
2016	$	765,794
2017	759,961
2018	148,849
2019	93,294
2020	38,293
Total	$	1,806,191

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase consideration of an acquired business over the fair value of the underlying net tangible and intangible assets. The Company has goodwill that has been recorded in connection with its acquisition of Ebyline. Goodwill is not amortized, but instead it is tested for impairment at least annually. In the event that management determines that the value of goodwill has become impaired, the Company will record a charge for the amount of impairment during the fiscal quarter in which the determination is made.

The Company performs its annual impairment tests of goodwill during the fourth quarter of each year, or more frequently, if certain indicators are present. Goodwill is required to be tested for impairment at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below the operating segment level, which is referred to as a component. Management identifies its reporting units by assessing whether components (i) have discrete financial information available; (ii) engage in business activities; and (iii) whether a segment manager regularly reviews the component's operating results. Net assets and goodwill of acquired businesses are allocated to the reporting unit associated with the acquired business based on the anticipated organizational structure of the combined entities. If two or more components are deemed economically similar, those components are aggregated into one reporting unit when performing the annual goodwill impairment review. The Company has determined that prior to and after the acquisition of Ebyline, it had and continues to have one reporting unit.

Revenue Recognition

The Company derives its revenue from three sources: revenue from an advertiser when it pays for a social media publisher or influencer such as a blogger or tweeter ("creators") to share sponsored content with their social network audience ("Sponsored Revenue"), revenue when a publisher or company purchases custom branded content for use on its owned and operated sites, as well as third party content marketing and native advertising efforts ("Content Revenue") and revenue derived from various service and license fees charged to users of our platforms ("Service Fee Revenue").

For managed customers, the Company enters into an agreement to provide services that may require multiple deliverables in the form of (a) sponsored social items, such as blogs, tweets, photos or videos shared through social network offerings that provide awareness or advertising buzz regarding the advertiser's brand; (b) media advertisements, such as click-through advertisements appearing in websites and social media channels and (c) original content items, such as a research or news article, informational material or videos that a publisher or brand can use. The Company may provide one type or a combination of all types of these deliverables including a management fee on a statement of work for a lump sum fee. These deliverables are to be provided over a stated period that may range from one day to one year. Each of these items are considered delivered once the content is live through a public or social network or content has been delivered to the customer for their own use. Revenue is accounted for separately on each of the deliverables in the time frames set forth below. The statement of work typically provides for a cancellation fee if the agreement is canceled by the customer prior to completion of services. Payment terms are typically 30 days from the invoice date. If the Company is unable to provide a portion of the services, it may agree with the customer to provide a different type of service or to provide a credit for the value of those services that may be applied to the existing order or used for future services.

Sponsored Revenue is recognized and considered earned after an advertiser's sponsored content is posted through IZEAx and shared through a creator's social network for a requisite period of time. The requisite period ranges from 3 days for a tweet to 30 days for a blog, video or other form of content. Management fees related to Sponsored Revenue from advertising campaigns managed by the Company are recognized ratably over the term of the campaign which may range from a few days to several months. Content Revenue is recognized when the content is delivered to and accepted by the customer. Service Fee Revenue is generated when fees are charged to customers primarily related to subscription fees for different levels of service within a platform, licensing fees for white-label use of IZEAx, early cash-out fees if a creator wishes to take proceeds earned for services from their account when the account balance is below certain minimum balance thresholds and inactivity fees for dormant accounts. Service Fee Revenue is recognized immediately when the service is performed or at the time an account becomes dormant or is cashed out. Service Fee Revenue for subscription or licensing fees is recognized straight-line over the term of service. Self-service advertisers must prepay for services by placing a deposit in their account with the Company. The deposits are typically paid by the advertiser via credit card. Advertisers who use the Company to manage their social advertising campaigns or content requests may prepay for services or request credit terms. Payments received or billings in advance of services are recorded as unearned revenue until earned as described above.

All of the Company's revenue is generated through the rendering of services and is recognized under the general guidelines of SAB Topic 13 A.1 which states that revenue will be recognized when it is realized or realizable and earned. The Company considers its revenue as generally realized or realizable and earned once (i) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (ii) services have been rendered, (iii) the price to the advertiser or customer is fixed (required to be paid at a set amount that is not subject to refund or adjustment) and determinable, and (iv) collectibility is reasonably assured. The Company records revenue on the gross amount earned since it generally is the primary obligor in the arrangement, takes on credit risk, establishes the pricing and determines the service specifications.

Advertising Costs

Advertising costs are charged to expense as they are incurred, including payments to content creators to promote the Company. Advertising expense charged to operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 were approximately $111,000 and $118,000, respectively. Advertising costs are included in sales and marketing expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Deferred Rent

The Company’s operating leases for its office facilities contain rent abatements and predetermined fixed increases of the base rental rate during the lease term. The Company accounts for rental expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company records the difference between the straight-line expense and the actual amounts paid under the lease as deferred rent in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Income Taxes

The Company has not recorded federal income tax expense due to the generation of net operating losses. Deferred income taxes are accounted for using the balance sheet approach which requires recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities. A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will not be realized. The Company incurs minimal state franchise tax in two states which is included in general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

The Company identifies and evaluates uncertain tax positions, if any, and recognizes the impact of uncertain tax positions for which there is a less than more-likely-than-not probability of the position being upheld when reviewed by the relevant taxing authority. Such positions are deemed to be unrecognized tax benefits and a corresponding liability is established on the balance sheet. The Company has not recognized a liability for uncertain tax positions. If there were an unrecognized tax benefit, the Company would recognize interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits in interest expense and penalties in operating expenses. The Company’s tax years subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service are 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative financial instruments are defined as financial instruments or other contracts that contain a notional amount and one or more underlying factors (e.g., interest rate, security price or other variable), require no initial net investment and permit net settlement. Derivative financial instruments may be free-standing or embedded in other financial instruments. Further, derivative financial instruments are initially, and subsequently, measured at fair value and recorded as liabilities or, in rare instances, assets. The Company accounts for derivative instruments in accordance with ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”), which requires additional disclosures about the Company’s objectives and strategies for using derivative instruments, how the derivative instruments and related hedged items are accounted for, and how the derivative instruments and related hedging items affect the financial statements. The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risk. Terms of equity instruments are reviewed to determine whether or not they contain embedded derivative instruments that are required under ASC 815 to be accounted for separately from the host contract, and recorded on the balance sheet at fair value. The fair value of derivative liabilities, if any, is required to be revalued at each reporting date, with corresponding changes in fair value recorded in current period operating results. Pursuant to ASC 815, an evaluation of specifically identified conditions is made to determine whether the fair value of warrants issued is required to be classified as equity or as a derivative liability.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company’s financial instruments are recorded at fair value. Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The valuation techniques are based on observable and unobservable inputs. Observable inputs reflect readily obtainable data from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect certain market assumptions. There are three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

• Level 1 – Valuation based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities.

• Level 2 – Valuation based on quoted market prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets.

• Level 3 – Valuation based on unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity, therefore requiring management’s best estimate of what market participants would use as fair value.

Fair value estimates discussed herein are based upon certain market assumptions and pertinent information available to management. The Company does not have any Level 1 or 2 financial assets or liabilities. The Company’s Level 3 financial liabilities measured at fair value consisted of its acquisition cost liability (see Note 2) and a warrant liability (see Note 3) as of March 31, 2016. Significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurement of the warrants include the estimated term and risk-adjusted interest rates. In developing our credit risk assumption used in the fair value of warrants, consideration was made of publicly available bond rates and US Treasury Yields. However, since the Company does not have a formal credit-standing, management estimated its standing among various reported levels and grades for use in the model. During all periods, management estimated that the Company's standing was in the speculative to high-risk grades (BB- to CCC in the Standard and Poor's Rating). Significant increases or decreases in the estimated remaining period to exercise or the risk-adjusted interest rate could result in a significantly lower or higher fair value measurement.

The respective carrying value of certain on-balance-sheet financial instruments approximated their fair values due to the short-term nature of these instruments. These financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, unearned revenue and accrued expenses. Unless otherwise disclosed, the fair value of the Company’s capital lease obligations approximate their carrying value based upon current rates available to the Company.

Stock-Based Compensation

Stock-based compensation cost related to stock options granted under the May 2011 Equity Incentive Plan and August 2011 B Equity Incentive Plan (together, the "2011 Equity Incentive Plans") (see Note 5) is measured at the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and is recognized as a straight-lined expense over the employee’s requisite service period. The Company estimates the fair value of each option award on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model that uses the assumptions noted in the table below. The Company estimates the fair value of its common stock using the closing stock price of its common stock on the date of the option award. The Company estimates the volatility of its common stock at the date of grant based on the volatility of comparable peer companies that are publicly traded and have had a longer trading history than itself. The Company determines the expected life based on historical experience with similar awards, giving consideration to the contractual terms, vesting schedules and post-vesting forfeitures. The Company uses the risk-free interest rate on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury issues with an equivalent remaining term approximately equal to the expected life of the award. The Company has never paid any cash dividends on its common stock and does not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The Company used the following assumptions for options granted under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015:

	Three Months Ended
2011 Equity Incentive Plans Assumptions	March 31, 2016	March 31, 2015
Expected term	6 years	6 years
Weighted average volatility	52.68%	54.00%
Weighted average risk free interest rate	1.62%	1.50%
Expected dividends	—	—

The Company estimates forfeitures when recognizing compensation expense and this estimate of forfeitures is adjusted over the requisite service period based on the extent to which actual forfeitures differ, or are expected to differ, from such estimates. Changes in estimated forfeitures are recognized through a cumulative catch-up adjustment, which is recognized in the period of change, and a revised amount of unamortized compensation expense to be recognized in future periods. Average expected forfeiture rates were 10.41% and 13.93% during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Non-Employee Stock-Based Payments

The Company's accounting policy for equity instruments issued to consultants and vendors in exchange for goods and services follows the provisions of ASC 505, “Equity-Based Payments to Non-Employees.” The measurement date for the fair value of the equity instruments issued is determined at the earlier of (i) the date at which a commitment for performance by the consultant or vendor is reached or (ii) the date at which the consultant or vendor's performance is complete. The fair value of equity instruments issued to consultants that vest immediately is expensed when issued. The fair value of equity instruments issued to consultants that have future vesting and are subject to forfeiture if performance does not occur is recognized as expense over the vesting period. Fair values for the unvested portion of issued instruments are adjusted each reporting period. The change in fair value is recorded to additional paid-in capital. Stock-based payments related to non-employees is accounted for based on the fair value of the related stock or the fair value of the services, whichever is more readily determinable.

Segment Information

The Company does not identify separate operating segments for management reporting purposes. The results of consolidated operations are the basis on which management evaluates operations and makes business decisions.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

There are new accounting pronouncements issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") which are not yet effective.

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASU 2014-09), which supersedes nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a five step process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, more judgment and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than are required under existing U.S. GAAP. The standard is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods therein, using either of the following transition methods: (i) a full retrospective approach reflecting the application of the standard in each prior reporting period with the option to elect certain practical expedients, or (ii) a retrospective approach with the cumulative effect of initially adopting ASU 2014-09 recognized at the date of adoption (which includes additional footnote disclosures). The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2014-09 on its consolidated financial statements and has not yet determined the method by which it will adopt the standard in the first quarter of 2018.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net)." The amendments in this ASU are intended to improve the operability and understandability of the implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations by amending certain existing illustrative examples and adding additional illustrative examples to assist in the application of the guidance. The effective date and transition of these amendments is the same as the effective date and transition of ASU 2014-09 stated above.

In April 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing (“ASU 2016-10”). ASU 2016-10 is intended to reduce the cost and complexity of applying the guidance in the FASB's new revenue standard on identifying performance obligations, and is also intended to improve the operability and understandability of the licensing implementation guidance. The effective date for ASU 2016-10 is the same as for ASU 2014-09, which will be the first quarter of 2018.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases. The new standard establishes a right-of-use (ROU) model that requires a lessee to record a ROU asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. The new standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. A modified retrospective transition approach is required for lessees for capital and operating leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements, with certain practical expedients available. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2016-02 on its consolidated financial statements.

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Purchase Acquisition (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Business Combinations [Abstract]

Business Combination Disclosure [Text Block]

PURCHASE ACQUISITION

Purchase Price and Acquisition Costs Payable

On January 30, 2015, the Company purchased all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Ebyline, pursuant to the terms of a Stock Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 27, 2015, by and among IZEA, Ebyline and the stockholders of Ebyline for a maximum purchase price to be paid over the next three years of $8,850,000.

	Estimated Gross Purchase Consideration		Initial Present and Fair Value		Remaining Present and Fair Value
	1/30/2015		1/30/2015		3/31/2016
Cash paid at closing	$	1,200,000	$	1,200,000	$	—
Guaranteed purchase price (a)	2,127,064		1,982,639		900,492
Contingent performance payments (b)	2,210,000		1,834,300		—
Acquisition costs to be paid by Ebyline shareholders (c)	—		—		—
Total estimated consideration	$	5,537,064	$	5,016,939	$	900,492
Current portion of acquisition costs payable					900,492
Long term portion of acquisition costs payable					—
Total acquisition costs payable					$	900,492

(a) The Stock Purchase Agreement required a $1,200,000 cash payment at closing, a $250,000 stock payment on July 30, 2015 and a cash or stock payment of up to an additional $1,900,000 (subject to proportional reduction in the event Ebyline’s final 2014 revenue was below $8,000,000). Ebyline's final gross revenue for 2014 was $7,903,429. As such, the additional amount owed became $1,877,064 to be paid in two equal installments of $938,532 on January 30, 2016 and January 30, 2017. This guaranteed purchase price consideration was discounted to present value using our current borrowing rate of prime plus 2% (5.25%). Interest expense imputed on the acquisition costs payable in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $15,313 and $15,138 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Per the Stock Purchase Agreement, the Company issued 31,821 shares of its common stock valued at $250,000 to satisfy a portion of the guaranteed purchase price payment obligation on July 30, 2015. On January 29, 2016, the Company issued 114,398 shares of common stock valued at $848,832 to satisfy the annual installment payment of $938,532 less $89,700 in closing related expenses (see item (c) below).

(b) Total contingent performance payments up to $5,500,000 are to be paid based on Ebyline meeting certain revenue targets. The performance payments are to be made only if Ebyline achieves at least 90% of Content Revenue targets of $17,000,000 in 2015, $27,000,000 in 2016 and $32,000,000 in 2017. The fair value of the $5,500,000 of contingent performance payments was calculated using a Monte-Carlo simulation to simulate revenue over the next three years. Since the contingent consideration has an option like structure, a risk-neutral framework is considered appropriate for the valuation. The Company started with a risk-adjusted measure of forecasted revenue (using a risk-adjusted discount rate of 8.5%) and assumed it will follow geometric brownian motion to simulate the revenue at future dates. Once the initial revenue was estimated based off of projections made during the acquisition, payout was calculated for each year and present valued to incorporate the credit risk associated with these payments. The Company's initial value conclusion was based on the average payment from 100,000 simulation trials. The volatility used for the simulation was 35%. The Monte Carlo simulation resulted in a calculated fair value of contingent performance payments of $2,210,000 on January 30, 2015. Because the contingent performance payments are subject to a 17% reduction related to the continued employment of certain key employees, ASC 805-10-55-25 indicates that a portion of these payments be treated as potential compensation to be accrued over the term rather than allocated to the purchase price. Therefore, the Company reduced its overall purchase price consideration by $357,700 and recorded the initial present value of the contingent performance payments at $1,834,300. Based on actual results for 2015 and current projections for Content Revenue for 2016-2017, the Content Revenue for every year is expected to be below 90% of the required Content Revenues targets. Therefore, the Company reduced the fair value of contingent performance payments to zero by the end of 2015. The gain as a result of the decrease in the estimated fair value of contingent performance payments was recorded as a reduction of general and administrative expense in the Company's consolidated statement of operations during the year ended December 31, 2015.

(c) According to the stock purchase agreement, $89,700 in closing related expenses paid by Ebyline during the acquisition process are to be paid by the selling shareholders. These costs were deducted from the guaranteed payment on January 30, 2016.

Purchase Price Allocation

The final allocation of the purchase price as of January 30, 2015 is summarized as follows:

	Final Purchase Price Allocation
Current assets	$	738,279
Property and equipment	27,194
Identifiable intangible assets	2,370,000
Goodwill	2,468,289
Security deposits	18,553
Current liabilities	(605,376		)
Total estimated consideration	$	5,016,939

There are many synergies between the business operations of Ebyline and IZEA including a database of creators that can provide content and advertising and synergies between our online marketplaces that appeal to customers on both sides. The Ebyline operations are included in the consolidated financial statements beginning on the date of acquisition of January 30, 2015. The Ebyline operations contributed revenue of $2,493,507 and gross profit of $485,793 in the consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and revenue of $1,368,607 and gross profit of $135,406 in the consolidated statement of operations during the two months from January 31, 2015 through March 31, 2015.

The following unaudited pro forma summary presents consolidated information of IZEA, Inc. as if the business combination with Ebyline had occurred on January 1, 2014:

	Proforma
	Three Months Ended
	3/31/2015
Pro-Forma Revenue	$	4,845,608
Pro-Forma Cost of Sales	3,091,637
Pro-Forma Gross Profit	1,753,971
Pro-Forma Net Loss	(4,371,577		)

IZEA did not have any material, nonrecurring pro forma adjustments directly attributable to the business combination included in the reported pro forma revenue and earnings. The pro forma revenue and earnings calculations have been calculated after applying the Company's accounting policies on revenue recognition and adjusting the results to reflect the additional depreciation and amortization that would have been charged assuming the fair value adjustments to property and equipment and intangible assets had been applied from January 1, 2014. The Company incurred $77,406 in acquisition-related costs which are included in general and administrative expense on the Company's consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2015. These costs are reflected in pro forma earnings for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

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Derivative Financial Instruments (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Text Block]

DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The Company evaluates its warrants or other contracts to determine if those contracts or embedded components of those contracts qualify as derivatives to be separately accounted for in accordance with paragraph 810-10-05-4 and 815-40-25 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. The result of this accounting treatment is that the fair value of the derivative is marked-to-market each balance sheet date and recorded as a liability. In the event that the fair value is recorded as a liability, the change in fair value is recorded in the consolidated statement of operations as other income or expense. Upon registration of the shares, changes in price-based anti-dilution adjustments, conversion or exercise, as applicable, of a derivative instrument, the instrument is marked to fair value at the date of the occurrence of the event and then that fair value is reclassified to equity.

The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period. Instruments that are initially classified as equity that become subject to reclassification are reclassified to a liability at the fair value of the instrument on the reclassification date. Derivative instrument liabilities will be classified in the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement of the derivative instrument is expected within 12 months after the balance sheet date.

The following table summarizes the Company's activity and fair value calculations of its derivative warrants for the year ended December 31, 2015 and three months ended March 31, 2016:

	Linked Common Shares to Derivative Warrants		Warrant Liability
Balance, December 31, 2014	1,795,564		$	3,203,465
Exercise of warrants for common stock	(1,392,832	)	(5,348,408		)
Loss on exchange of warrants	—		1,197,821
Reclassification of fair value of 2014 Private Placement warrants to equity	(396,536	)	(1,181,638		)
Change in fair value of derivatives	—		2,133,820
Balance, December 31, 2015	6,196		5,060
Change in fair value of derivatives	—		(2,852		)
Balance, March 31, 2016	6,196		$	2,208

The Company's warrants were valued on the applicable dates using a Binomial Lattice Option Valuation Technique (“Binomial”). Significant inputs into this technique as of December 31, 2015 and March 31, 2016 were as follows:

Binomial Assumptions	December 31, 2015	March 31, 2016
Fair market value of asset (1)	$7.66	$7.14
Exercise price	$25.00	$25.00
Term (2)	1.7 years	1.4 years
Implied expected life (3)	1.7 years	1.4 years
Volatility range of inputs (4)	83.00%	75.07%
Equivalent volatility (3)	83.00%	75.07%
Risk-free interest rate range of inputs (5)	1.06%	0.59%
Equivalent risk-free interest rate (3)	1.06%	0.59%

(1)  The fair market value of the asset was determined by using the Company's closing stock price as reflected in the OTCQB for the period ended December 31, 2015 and the Nasdaq Capital Market for the period ended March 31, 2016.

(2)  The term is the contractual remaining term, allocated among twelve equal intervals for purposes of calculating other inputs, such as volatility and risk-free rate.

(3)  The implied expected life, and equivalent volatility and risk-free interest rate amounts are derived from the binomial.

(4)  The Company does not have a market trading history upon which to base its forward-looking volatility. Accordingly, the Company selected peer companies that provided a reasonable basis upon which to calculate volatility for each of the intervals described in (2), above.

(5)  The risk-free rates used for inputs represent the yields on zero coupon U.S. Government Securities with periods to maturity consistent with the intervals described in (2), above.

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Commitments and Contingencies (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

COMMITMENTS & CONTINGENCIES

Litigation

From time to time, the Company may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Litigation is, however, subject to inherent uncertainties, and an adverse result in these or other matters may harm the Company's business. The Company is currently not aware of any legal proceedings or claims that it believes would or could have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on its operations or financial position.

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Stockholders' Equity (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Text Block]

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

Authorized Shares

The Company has 200,000,000 authorized shares of common stock and 10,000,000 authorized shares of preferred stock, each with a par value of $0.0001 per share.

Reverse Stock Split

On January 6, 2016, the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment with the Secretary of State of Nevada to effect a reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding shares of its common stock at a ratio of one share for every 20 shares outstanding prior to the effective date of the reverse stock split. All current and historical information contained herein related to the share and per share information for the Company's common stock or stock equivalents reflects the 1-for-20 reverse stock split of the Company's outstanding shares of common stock that became market effective on January 11, 2016. There was no change in the number of the Company's authorized shares of common stock.

Nasdaq Uplisting

On January 25, 2016, the Company filed a registration statement on Form 8-A to register its securities pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act. Thereafter, on January 26, 2016, the Company's shares of common stock commenced trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol IZEA. Prior thereto, the Company's common stock was quoted on the OTCQB marketplace under the same symbol.

Stock Issued for Purchases

On January 29, 2016, we issued 114,398 shares of common stock valued at $848,832 to the former Ebyline stockholders as settlement of our annual installment payment of $938,532 less $89,700 in closing related expenses owed as part of our January 2015 Stock Purchase Agreement.

Stock Issued for Services

The Company issued 4,055 shares of common stock valued at $31,250 to five directors for their service as directors of the Company during the three months ended March 31, 2016.

Total expense recognized for stock-based payments for services during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 was $31,250 and $27,450, respectively, all of which is included in general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of operations. The fair value of the services is based on the value of the Company's common stock over the term of service.

Warrant Transactions

Warrant Issuances:

On January 22, 2015, the Company issued a warrant to purchase 5,000 shares of its common stock to an investor relations consultant. The warrant was fully vested on the date of issuance, has an exercise price of $10.20 per share and expires on January 22, 2020. The fair value of the warrant upon issuance was $7,700 and the Company received $100 as compensation for the warrant. The fair value of the warrant issuance was recorded as an increase in additional paid-in capital in the Company's consolidated balance sheet and the net $7,600 compensation expense was recorded in general and administrative expense during the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Stock Options

In May 2011, the Board of Directors adopted the 2011 Equity Incentive Plan of IZEA, Inc. (the “May 2011 Plan”). The May 2011 Plan allows the Company to grant options to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares as an incentive for its employees and consultants.  As of March 31, 2016, the Company had 144,445 shares of common stock available for future grants under the May 2011 Plan.

On August 22, 2011, the Company adopted the 2011 B Equity Incentive Plan (the “August 2011 Plan”) reserving for issuance an aggregate of 4,375 shares of common stock under the August 2011 Plan. As of March 31, 2016, the Company had no shares of common stock available for future grants under the August 2011 Plan.

Under both the May 2011 Plan and the August 2011 Plan (together, the "2011 Equity Incentive Plans"), the Board of Directors determines the exercise price to be paid for the shares, the period within which each option may be exercised, and the terms and conditions of each option. The exercise price of the incentive and non-qualified stock options may not be less than 100% of the fair market value per share of the Company’s common stock on the grant date. If an individual owns stock representing more than 10% of the outstanding shares, the price of each share of an incentive stock option must be equal to or exceed 110% of fair market value. Unless otherwise determined by the Board of Directors at the time of grant, the right to purchase shares covered by any options under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans typically vest on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period as follows: 25% of options shall vest one year from the date of grant and the remaining options shall vest monthly, in equal increments over the following three years. The term of the options is up to ten years. The Company issues new shares to the optionee for any stock awards or options exercised pursuant to its equity incentive plans.

A summary of option activity under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans for the year ended December 31, 2015 and three months ended March 31, 2016, is presented below:

Options Outstanding	Common Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Life (Years)
Outstanding at December 31, 2014	595,786		$	9.20	6.5
Granted	277,059		7.43
Exercised	—		—
Forfeited	(42,246	)	7.70
Outstanding at December 31, 2015	830,599		$	8.65	6.8
Granted	38,535		7.33
Exercised	—		—
Forfeited	(9,329	)	7.90
Outstanding at March 31, 2016	859,805		$	8.60	6.7
Exercisable at March 31, 2016	420,491		$	10.08	6.0

During the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, no options were exercised. The fair value of our common stock on March 31, 2016 was $7.14 per share. The intrinsic value on outstanding options as of March 31, 2016 was $835,350. The intrinsic value on exercisable options as of March 31, 2016 was $579,371.

A summary of the nonvested stock option activity under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans for the year ended December 31, 2015 and three months ended March 31, 2016, is presented below:

Nonvested Options	Common Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Weighted Average Remaining Years to Vest
Nonvested at December 31, 2014	372,092		$	4.00	3.0
Granted	277,059		3.84
Vested	(147,759	)	4.32
Forfeited	(39,466	)	3.44
Nonvested at December 31, 2015	461,926		$	3.84	2.8
Granted	38,535		3.68
Vested	(52,121	)	4.24
Forfeited	(9,026	)	4.00
Nonvested at March 31, 2016	439,314		$	3.76	2.8

Stock-based compensation cost related to stock options granted under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans is measured at the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and is recognized as an expense over the employee’s requisite service period. The Company estimates the fair value of each option award on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model that uses the assumptions stated in Note 1. Total stock-based compensation expense recognized on awards outstanding during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 was $204,972 and $142,331, respectively. Stock-based compensation expense was recorded as $20,268 to sales and marketing and $184,704 to general and administrative expense in the Company's consolidated statement of operations during the three months ended March 31, 2016. Stock-based compensation expense was recorded as $0 to sales and marketing and $142,331 to general and administrative expense in the Company's consolidated statement of operations during the three months ended March 31, 2015. Future compensation related to nonvested awards expected to vest of $1,558,403 is estimated to be recognized over the weighted-average vesting period of approximately three years.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

On April 16, 2014, stockholders holding a majority of the Company's outstanding shares of common stock, upon previous recommendation and approval of the Board of Directors, adopted the IZEA, Inc. 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”) and reserved 75,000 shares of the Company's common stock for issuance thereunder. Any employee regularly employed by the Company for 90 days or more on a full-time or part-time basis (20 hours or more per week on a regular schedule) is eligible to participate in the ESPP. The ESPP operates in successive six month offering periods commencing at the beginning of each fiscal year half. Each eligible employee who elects to participate may purchase up to 10% of their annual compensation in common stock not to exceed $21,250 annually or 1,000 shares per offering period. The purchase price will be the lower of (i) 85% of the fair market value of a share of common stock on the first trading day of the offering period or (ii) 85% of the fair market value of a share of common stock on the last trading day of the offering period. The ESPP will continue until January 1, 2024, unless otherwise terminated by the Board. As of March 31, 2016, the Company had 61,215 remaining shares of common stock available for future grants under the ESPP.

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Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

Earnings Per Share [Text Block]

EARNINGS (LOSS) PER COMMON SHARE

Basic earnings (loss) per common share is computed by dividing the net income or loss by the basic weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period presented. Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing the net income or loss by the total of the basic weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding plus the additional dilutive securities that could be exercised or converted into common shares during each period presented less the amount of shares that could be repurchased using the proceeds from the exercises.

	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2016			March 31, 2015
Net loss	$	(2,592,620	)	$	(4,270,912	)
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic and diluted	5,300,520			2,884,883
Basic and diluted loss per common share	$	(0.49	)	$	(1.48	)

The Company excluded the following weighted average items from the above computation of diluted loss per common share as their effect would be anti-dilutive:

	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2016	March 31, 2015
Stock options	841,911	636,992
Warrants	534,653	2,700,971
Restricted stock units	—	85,417
Total excluded shares	1,376,564	3,423,380

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Reverse Stock Split [Policy Text Block]

Reverse Stock Split

On January 6, 2016, the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment with the Secretary of State of Nevada to effect a reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding shares of its common stock at a ratio of one share for every 20 shares outstanding prior to the effective date of the reverse stock split. All current and historical information contained herein related to the share and per share information for the Company's common stock or stock equivalents reflects the 1-for-20 reverse stock split of the Company's outstanding shares of common stock that became market effective on January 11, 2016. There was no change in the number of the Company's authorized shares of common stock.

Consolidation, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of IZEA, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ebyline. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The consolidated financial statements were prepared using the acquisition method of accounting with IZEA considered the accounting acquirer of Ebyline. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the purchase price is allocated to the underlying Ebyline tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their respective fair market values with any excess purchase price allocated to goodwill.

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For purposes of the statement of cash flows, the Company considers all highly liquid debt instruments purchased with a maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Receivables, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Accounts Receivable and Concentration of Credit Risk

Accounts receivable are customer obligations due under normal trade terms. Uncollectibility of accounts receivable is not significant since most customers are bound by contract and are required to fund the Company for all the costs of an “opportunity,” defined as an order created by an advertiser for a creator to write about the advertiser’s product. If a portion of the account balance is deemed uncollectible, the Company will either write-off the amount owed or provide a reserve based on the uncollectible portion of the account. Management determines the collectibility of accounts by regularly evaluating individual customer receivables and considering a customer’s financial condition, credit history and current economic conditions. The Company had a reserve of $190,000 and $139,000 for doubtful accounts as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. Management believes that this estimate is reasonable, but there can be no assurance that the estimate will not change as a result of a change in economic conditions or business conditions within the industry, the individual customers or the Company. Any adjustments to this account are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as a general and administrative expense. Bad debt expense was less than 1% of revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015.

Concentration Risk, Credit Risk, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Concentrations of credit risk with respect to accounts receivable are typically limited because a large number of geographically diverse customers make up the Company’s customer base, thus spreading the trade credit risk. The Company also controls credit risk through credit approvals, credit limits and monitoring procedures. The Company performs credit evaluations of its customers but generally does not require collateral to support accounts receivable. At March 31, 2016, the Company had two customers which accounted for 26% of total accounts receivable in the aggregate. At December 31, 2015, the Company had one customer which accounted for 13% of total accounts receivable in the aggregate. The Company had two customers that accounted for 24% of its revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and one customer that accounted for 12% of its revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Property, Plant and Equipment, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost, or if acquired in a business combination, at the acquisition date fair value. Depreciation and amortization is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:

Computer Equipment	3 years
Software Costs	3 years
Office Equipment	3 - 10 years
Furniture and Fixtures	5 - 10 years

Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the shorter of the term of the lease or the estimated useful lives of the improvements. Property and equipment under capital leases are depreciated over their estimated useful lives. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred. Expenditures for betterments and major improvements are capitalized and depreciated over the remaining useful lives of the assets. The carrying amounts of assets sold or retired and the related accumulated depreciation are eliminated in the year of disposal, with resulting gains or losses included in general and administrative expense. Depreciation expense on property and equipment recorded in general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $60,595 and $47,019 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Software Development Costs, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Software Development Costs

In accordance with ASC 350-40, Internal Use Software and ASC 985-730, Computer Software Research and Development, research phase costs related to internal use software should be expensed as incurred and development phase costs including direct materials and services, payroll and benefits and interest costs may be capitalized. The Company amortizes software development costs equally over 5 years upon initial launch of the software or additional features. Amortization expense on software development costs recorded in general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $39,879 and $28,444 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

As of December 31, 2015, future estimated amortization expense related to software development costs over the next five years is set forth in the following schedule:

Year ending December 31:	Software Amortization Expense
2016	$	204,289
2017	204,289
2018	204,289
2019	118,958
2020	82,107
	$	813,932

Intangible Assets, Finite-Lived, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Intangible Assets

The Company acquired the majority of its intangible assets through its acquisition of Ebyline on January 30, 2015. The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets over a period of 12 to 60 months. Management reviews long-lived assets, including property and equipment, software development costs and other intangible assets, for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be recoverable. If an evaluation is required, the estimated future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset are compared with the asset's carrying amount to determine if there has been an impairment, which is calculated as the difference between the fair value of an asset and its carrying value. Estimates of future undiscounted cash flows are based on expected growth rates for the business, anticipated future economic conditions and estimates of residual values. Fair values take into consideration management estimates of risk-adjusted discount rates, which are believed to be consistent with assumptions that marketplace participants would use in their estimates of fair value. For the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, there were no impairment charges associated with the Company's long-lived assets.

The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets over a weighted average period of 3 years. Amortization expense on the Ebyline related identifiable intangible assets costs recorded in general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $195,823 and $98,833 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

As of December 31, 2015, future estimated amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets over the next five years is set forth in the following schedule:

Year ending December 31:	Amortization Expense
2016	$	765,794
2017	759,961
2018	148,849
2019	93,294
2020	38,293
Total	$	1,806,191

Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Goodwill, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase consideration of an acquired business over the fair value of the underlying net tangible and intangible assets. The Company has goodwill that has been recorded in connection with its acquisition of Ebyline. Goodwill is not amortized, but instead it is tested for impairment at least annually. In the event that management determines that the value of goodwill has become impaired, the Company will record a charge for the amount of impairment during the fiscal quarter in which the determination is made.

The Company performs its annual impairment tests of goodwill during the fourth quarter of each year, or more frequently, if certain indicators are present. Goodwill is required to be tested for impairment at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below the operating segment level, which is referred to as a component. Management identifies its reporting units by assessing whether components (i) have discrete financial information available; (ii) engage in business activities; and (iii) whether a segment manager regularly reviews the component's operating results. Net assets and goodwill of acquired businesses are allocated to the reporting unit associated with the acquired business based on the anticipated organizational structure of the combined entities. If two or more components are deemed economically similar, those components are aggregated into one reporting unit when performing the annual goodwill impairment review. The Company has determined that prior to and after the acquisition of Ebyline, it had and continues to have one reporting unit.

Revenue Recognition, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Revenue Recognition

The Company derives its revenue from three sources: revenue from an advertiser when it pays for a social media publisher or influencer such as a blogger or tweeter ("creators") to share sponsored content with their social network audience ("Sponsored Revenue"), revenue when a publisher or company purchases custom branded content for use on its owned and operated sites, as well as third party content marketing and native advertising efforts ("Content Revenue") and revenue derived from various service and license fees charged to users of our platforms ("Service Fee Revenue").

For managed customers, the Company enters into an agreement to provide services that may require multiple deliverables in the form of (a) sponsored social items, such as blogs, tweets, photos or videos shared through social network offerings that provide awareness or advertising buzz regarding the advertiser's brand; (b) media advertisements, such as click-through advertisements appearing in websites and social media channels and (c) original content items, such as a research or news article, informational material or videos that a publisher or brand can use. The Company may provide one type or a combination of all types of these deliverables including a management fee on a statement of work for a lump sum fee. These deliverables are to be provided over a stated period that may range from one day to one year. Each of these items are considered delivered once the content is live through a public or social network or content has been delivered to the customer for their own use. Revenue is accounted for separately on each of the deliverables in the time frames set forth below. The statement of work typically provides for a cancellation fee if the agreement is canceled by the customer prior to completion of services. Payment terms are typically 30 days from the invoice date. If the Company is unable to provide a portion of the services, it may agree with the customer to provide a different type of service or to provide a credit for the value of those services that may be applied to the existing order or used for future services.

Sponsored Revenue is recognized and considered earned after an advertiser's sponsored content is posted through IZEAx and shared through a creator's social network for a requisite period of time. The requisite period ranges from 3 days for a tweet to 30 days for a blog, video or other form of content. Management fees related to Sponsored Revenue from advertising campaigns managed by the Company are recognized ratably over the term of the campaign which may range from a few days to several months. Content Revenue is recognized when the content is delivered to and accepted by the customer. Service Fee Revenue is generated when fees are charged to customers primarily related to subscription fees for different levels of service within a platform, licensing fees for white-label use of IZEAx, early cash-out fees if a creator wishes to take proceeds earned for services from their account when the account balance is below certain minimum balance thresholds and inactivity fees for dormant accounts. Service Fee Revenue is recognized immediately when the service is performed or at the time an account becomes dormant or is cashed out. Service Fee Revenue for subscription or licensing fees is recognized straight-line over the term of service. Self-service advertisers must prepay for services by placing a deposit in their account with the Company. The deposits are typically paid by the advertiser via credit card. Advertisers who use the Company to manage their social advertising campaigns or content requests may prepay for services or request credit terms. Payments received or billings in advance of services are recorded as unearned revenue until earned as described above.

All of the Company's revenue is generated through the rendering of services and is recognized under the general guidelines of SAB Topic 13 A.1 which states that revenue will be recognized when it is realized or realizable and earned. The Company considers its revenue as generally realized or realizable and earned once (i) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (ii) services have been rendered, (iii) the price to the advertiser or customer is fixed (required to be paid at a set amount that is not subject to refund or adjustment) and determinable, and (iv) collectibility is reasonably assured. The Company records revenue on the gross amount earned since it generally is the primary obligor in the arrangement, takes on credit risk, establishes the pricing and determines the service specifications.

Advertising Cost, Policy, Expensed Advertising Cost [Policy Text Block]

Advertising Costs

Advertising costs are charged to expense as they are incurred, including payments to content creators to promote the Company. Advertising expense charged to operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 were approximately $111,000 and $118,000, respectively. Advertising costs are included in sales and marketing expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Deferred Charges, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Deferred Rent

The Company’s operating leases for its office facilities contain rent abatements and predetermined fixed increases of the base rental rate during the lease term. The Company accounts for rental expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company records the difference between the straight-line expense and the actual amounts paid under the lease as deferred rent in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Income Tax, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Income Taxes

The Company has not recorded federal income tax expense due to the generation of net operating losses. Deferred income taxes are accounted for using the balance sheet approach which requires recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities. A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will not be realized. The Company incurs minimal state franchise tax in two states which is included in general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

The Company identifies and evaluates uncertain tax positions, if any, and recognizes the impact of uncertain tax positions for which there is a less than more-likely-than-not probability of the position being upheld when reviewed by the relevant taxing authority. Such positions are deemed to be unrecognized tax benefits and a corresponding liability is established on the balance sheet. The Company has not recognized a liability for uncertain tax positions. If there were an unrecognized tax benefit, the Company would recognize interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits in interest expense and penalties in operating expenses. The Company’s tax years subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service are 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Derivatives, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative financial instruments are defined as financial instruments or other contracts that contain a notional amount and one or more underlying factors (e.g., interest rate, security price or other variable), require no initial net investment and permit net settlement. Derivative financial instruments may be free-standing or embedded in other financial instruments. Further, derivative financial instruments are initially, and subsequently, measured at fair value and recorded as liabilities or, in rare instances, assets. The Company accounts for derivative instruments in accordance with ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”), which requires additional disclosures about the Company’s objectives and strategies for using derivative instruments, how the derivative instruments and related hedged items are accounted for, and how the derivative instruments and related hedging items affect the financial statements. The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risk. Terms of equity instruments are reviewed to determine whether or not they contain embedded derivative instruments that are required under ASC 815 to be accounted for separately from the host contract, and recorded on the balance sheet at fair value. The fair value of derivative liabilities, if any, is required to be revalued at each reporting date, with corresponding changes in fair value recorded in current period operating results. Pursuant to ASC 815, an evaluation of specifically identified conditions is made to determine whether the fair value of warrants issued is required to be classified as equity or as a derivative liability.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company’s financial instruments are recorded at fair value. Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The valuation techniques are based on observable and unobservable inputs. Observable inputs reflect readily obtainable data from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect certain market assumptions. There are three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

• Level 1 – Valuation based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities.

• Level 2 – Valuation based on quoted market prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets.

• Level 3 – Valuation based on unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity, therefore requiring management’s best estimate of what market participants would use as fair value.

Fair value estimates discussed herein are based upon certain market assumptions and pertinent information available to management. The Company does not have any Level 1 or 2 financial assets or liabilities. The Company’s Level 3 financial liabilities measured at fair value consisted of its acquisition cost liability (see Note 2) and a warrant liability (see Note 3) as of March 31, 2016. Significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurement of the warrants include the estimated term and risk-adjusted interest rates. In developing our credit risk assumption used in the fair value of warrants, consideration was made of publicly available bond rates and US Treasury Yields. However, since the Company does not have a formal credit-standing, management estimated its standing among various reported levels and grades for use in the model. During all periods, management estimated that the Company's standing was in the speculative to high-risk grades (BB- to CCC in the Standard and Poor's Rating). Significant increases or decreases in the estimated remaining period to exercise or the risk-adjusted interest rate could result in a significantly lower or higher fair value measurement.

The respective carrying value of certain on-balance-sheet financial instruments approximated their fair values due to the short-term nature of these instruments. These financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, unearned revenue and accrued expenses. Unless otherwise disclosed, the fair value of the Company’s capital lease obligations approximate their carrying value based upon current rates available to the Company.

Share-based Compensation, Option and Incentive Plans Policy [Policy Text Block]

Stock-Based Compensation

Stock-based compensation cost related to stock options granted under the May 2011 Equity Incentive Plan and August 2011 B Equity Incentive Plan (together, the "2011 Equity Incentive Plans") (see Note 5) is measured at the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and is recognized as a straight-lined expense over the employee’s requisite service period. The Company estimates the fair value of each option award on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model that uses the assumptions noted in the table below. The Company estimates the fair value of its common stock using the closing stock price of its common stock on the date of the option award. The Company estimates the volatility of its common stock at the date of grant based on the volatility of comparable peer companies that are publicly traded and have had a longer trading history than itself. The Company determines the expected life based on historical experience with similar awards, giving consideration to the contractual terms, vesting schedules and post-vesting forfeitures. The Company uses the risk-free interest rate on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury issues with an equivalent remaining term approximately equal to the expected life of the award. The Company has never paid any cash dividends on its common stock and does not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The Company used the following assumptions for options granted under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015:

	Three Months Ended
2011 Equity Incentive Plans Assumptions	March 31, 2016	March 31, 2015
Expected term	6 years	6 years
Weighted average volatility	52.68%	54.00%
Weighted average risk free interest rate	1.62%	1.50%
Expected dividends	—	—

The Company estimates forfeitures when recognizing compensation expense and this estimate of forfeitures is adjusted over the requisite service period based on the extent to which actual forfeitures differ, or are expected to differ, from such estimates. Changes in estimated forfeitures are recognized through a cumulative catch-up adjustment, which is recognized in the period of change, and a revised amount of unamortized compensation expense to be recognized in future periods. Average expected forfeiture rates were 10.41% and 13.93% during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Non-Employee Stock-Based Compensation [Policy Text Block]

Non-Employee Stock-Based Payments

The Company's accounting policy for equity instruments issued to consultants and vendors in exchange for goods and services follows the provisions of ASC 505, “Equity-Based Payments to Non-Employees.” The measurement date for the fair value of the equity instruments issued is determined at the earlier of (i) the date at which a commitment for performance by the consultant or vendor is reached or (ii) the date at which the consultant or vendor's performance is complete. The fair value of equity instruments issued to consultants that vest immediately is expensed when issued. The fair value of equity instruments issued to consultants that have future vesting and are subject to forfeiture if performance does not occur is recognized as expense over the vesting period. Fair values for the unvested portion of issued instruments are adjusted each reporting period. The change in fair value is recorded to additional paid-in capital. Stock-based payments related to non-employees is accounted for based on the fair value of the related stock or the fair value of the services, whichever is more readily determinable.

Segment Reporting, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Segment Information

The Company does not identify separate operating segments for management reporting purposes. The results of consolidated operations are the basis on which management evaluates operations and makes business decisions.

Use of Estimates, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

There are new accounting pronouncements issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") which are not yet effective.

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASU 2014-09), which supersedes nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. GAAP. The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a five step process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, more judgment and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than are required under existing U.S. GAAP. The standard is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods therein, using either of the following transition methods: (i) a full retrospective approach reflecting the application of the standard in each prior reporting period with the option to elect certain practical expedients, or (ii) a retrospective approach with the cumulative effect of initially adopting ASU 2014-09 recognized at the date of adoption (which includes additional footnote disclosures). The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2014-09 on its consolidated financial statements and has not yet determined the method by which it will adopt the standard in the first quarter of 2018.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net)." The amendments in this ASU are intended to improve the operability and understandability of the implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations by amending certain existing illustrative examples and adding additional illustrative examples to assist in the application of the guidance. The effective date and transition of these amendments is the same as the effective date and transition of ASU 2014-09 stated above.

In April 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing (“ASU 2016-10”). ASU 2016-10 is intended to reduce the cost and complexity of applying the guidance in the FASB's new revenue standard on identifying performance obligations, and is also intended to improve the operability and understandability of the licensing implementation guidance. The effective date for ASU 2016-10 is the same as for ASU 2014-09, which will be the first quarter of 2018.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases. The new standard establishes a right-of-use (ROU) model that requires a lessee to record a ROU asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. The new standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. A modified retrospective transition approach is required for lessees for capital and operating leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements, with certain practical expedients available. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2016-02 on its consolidated financial statements.

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment [Table Text Block]

Depreciation and amortization is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:

Computer Equipment	3 years
Software Costs	3 years
Office Equipment	3 - 10 years
Furniture and Fixtures	5 - 10 years

Schedule of Share-based Payment Award, Stock Options, Valuation Assumptions [Table Text Block]

The Company used the following assumptions for options granted under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015:

	Three Months Ended
2011 Equity Incentive Plans Assumptions	March 31, 2016	March 31, 2015
Expected term	6 years	6 years
Weighted average volatility	52.68%	54.00%
Weighted average risk free interest rate	1.62%	1.50%
Expected dividends	—	—

Software and Software Development Costs [Member]

Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]

Finite-lived Intangible Assets Amortization Expense [Table Text Block]

As of December 31, 2015, future estimated amortization expense related to software development costs over the next five years is set forth in the following schedule:

Year ending December 31:	Software Amortization Expense
2016	$	204,289
2017	204,289
2018	204,289
2019	118,958
2020	82,107
	$	813,932

Ebyline related identifiable intangible assets [Member]

Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]

Finite-lived Intangible Assets Amortization Expense [Table Text Block]

As of December 31, 2015, future estimated amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets over the next five years is set forth in the following schedule:

Year ending December 31:	Amortization Expense
2016	$	765,794
2017	759,961
2018	148,849
2019	93,294
2020	38,293
Total	$	1,806,191

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Purchase Acquisition (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Business Acquisition [Line Items]

Schedule of Business Acquisitions Consideration Payable [Table Text Block]

	Estimated Gross Purchase Consideration		Initial Present and Fair Value		Remaining Present and Fair Value
	1/30/2015		1/30/2015		3/31/2016
Cash paid at closing	$	1,200,000	$	1,200,000	$	—
Guaranteed purchase price (a)	2,127,064		1,982,639		900,492
Contingent performance payments (b)	2,210,000		1,834,300		—
Acquisition costs to be paid by Ebyline shareholders (c)	—		—		—
Total estimated consideration	$	5,537,064	$	5,016,939	$	900,492
Current portion of acquisition costs payable					900,492
Long term portion of acquisition costs payable					—
Total acquisition costs payable					$	900,492

Schedule of Business Acquisitions, by Acquisition [Table Text Block]

The final allocation of the purchase price as of January 30, 2015 is summarized as follows:

	Final Purchase Price Allocation
Current assets	$	738,279
Property and equipment	27,194
Identifiable intangible assets	2,370,000
Goodwill	2,468,289
Security deposits	18,553
Current liabilities	(605,376		)
Total estimated consideration	$	5,016,939

Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information [Table Text Block]

The following unaudited pro forma summary presents consolidated information of IZEA, Inc. as if the business combination with Ebyline had occurred on January 1, 2014:

	Proforma
	Three Months Ended
	3/31/2015
Pro-Forma Revenue	$	4,845,608
Pro-Forma Cost of Sales	3,091,637
Pro-Forma Gross Profit	1,753,971
Pro-Forma Net Loss	(4,371,577		)

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Derivative Financial Instruments (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Binomial Lattice Option Valuation Technique [Member]

Derivative [Line Items]

Schedule of Price Risk Derivatives [Table Text Block]

The Company's warrants were valued on the applicable dates using a Binomial Lattice Option Valuation Technique (“Binomial”). Significant inputs into this technique as of December 31, 2015 and March 31, 2016 were as follows:

Binomial Assumptions	December 31, 2015	March 31, 2016
Fair market value of asset (1)	$7.66	$7.14
Exercise price	$25.00	$25.00
Term (2)	1.7 years	1.4 years
Implied expected life (3)	1.7 years	1.4 years
Volatility range of inputs (4)	83.00%	75.07%
Equivalent volatility (3)	83.00%	75.07%
Risk-free interest rate range of inputs (5)	1.06%	0.59%
Equivalent risk-free interest rate (3)	1.06%	0.59%

(1)  The fair market value of the asset was determined by using the Company's closing stock price as reflected in the OTCQB for the period ended December 31, 2015 and the Nasdaq Capital Market for the period ended March 31, 2016.

(2)  The term is the contractual remaining term, allocated among twelve equal intervals for purposes of calculating other inputs, such as volatility and risk-free rate.

(3)  The implied expected life, and equivalent volatility and risk-free interest rate amounts are derived from the binomial.

(4)  The Company does not have a market trading history upon which to base its forward-looking volatility. Accordingly, the Company selected peer companies that provided a reasonable basis upon which to calculate volatility for each of the intervals described in (2), above.

(5)  The risk-free rates used for inputs represent the yields on zero coupon U.S. Government Securities with periods to maturity consistent with the intervals described in (2), above.

Warrant [Member]

Derivative [Line Items]

Schedule of Derivative Instruments in Statement of Financial Position, Fair Value [Table Text Block]

The following table summarizes the Company's activity and fair value calculations of its derivative warrants for the year ended December 31, 2015 and three months ended March 31, 2016:

	Linked Common Shares to Derivative Warrants		Warrant Liability
Balance, December 31, 2014	1,795,564		$	3,203,465
Exercise of warrants for common stock	(1,392,832	)	(5,348,408		)
Loss on exchange of warrants	—		1,197,821
Reclassification of fair value of 2014 Private Placement warrants to equity	(396,536	)	(1,181,638		)
Change in fair value of derivatives	—		2,133,820
Balance, December 31, 2015	6,196		5,060
Change in fair value of derivatives	—		(2,852		)
Balance, March 31, 2016	6,196		$	2,208

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Stockholders' Equity (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Schedule of Share-based Compensation, Stock Options, Activity [Table Text Block]

A summary of option activity under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans for the year ended December 31, 2015 and three months ended March 31, 2016, is presented below:

Options Outstanding	Common Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Life (Years)
Outstanding at December 31, 2014	595,786		$	9.20	6.5
Granted	277,059		7.43
Exercised	—		—
Forfeited	(42,246	)	7.70
Outstanding at December 31, 2015	830,599		$	8.65	6.8
Granted	38,535		7.33
Exercised	—		—
Forfeited	(9,329	)	7.90
Outstanding at March 31, 2016	859,805		$	8.60	6.7
Exercisable at March 31, 2016	420,491		$	10.08	6.0

Stock options

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Schedule of Nonvested Share Activity [Table Text Block]

A summary of the nonvested stock option activity under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans for the year ended December 31, 2015 and three months ended March 31, 2016, is presented below:

Nonvested Options	Common Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Weighted Average Remaining Years to Vest
Nonvested at December 31, 2014	372,092		$	4.00	3.0
Granted	277,059		3.84
Vested	(147,759	)	4.32
Forfeited	(39,466	)	3.44
Nonvested at December 31, 2015	461,926		$	3.84	2.8
Granted	38,535		3.68
Vested	(52,121	)	4.24
Forfeited	(9,026	)	4.00
Nonvested at March 31, 2016	439,314		$	3.76	2.8

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Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted [Table Text Block]

Basic earnings (loss) per common share is computed by dividing the net income or loss by the basic weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period presented. Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing the net income or loss by the total of the basic weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding plus the additional dilutive securities that could be exercised or converted into common shares during each period presented less the amount of shares that could be repurchased using the proceeds from the exercises.

	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2016			March 31, 2015
Net loss	$	(2,592,620	)	$	(4,270,912	)
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic and diluted	5,300,520			2,884,883
Basic and diluted loss per common share	$	(0.49	)	$	(1.48	)

Schedule of Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Table Text Block]

The Company excluded the following weighted average items from the above computation of diluted loss per common share as their effect would be anti-dilutive:

	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2016	March 31, 2015
Stock options	841,911	636,992
Warrants	534,653	2,700,971
Restricted stock units	—	85,417
Total excluded shares	1,376,564	3,423,380

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Nature of Business (Details Textual)	Jan. 30, 2015 countries
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Network of content creators	15,000
Number of countries illustrators are present	84
Number of fully accredited journalism professionals	2,000

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Accounts Receivable and Concentration of Credit Risk (Details Textual)	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($) customer	Mar. 31, 2015 customer	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) customer
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Allowance for doubtful accounts receivable | $	$ 190,000		$ 139,000
Bad debt expense percentage of revenues (percentage)	1.00%		1.00%
Accounts receivable, number of major customers (customers)	2		1
Accounts receivable, major customer (percentage)			13.00%
Revenue, number of major customer (customers)	2	1
Revenue, major customer (percentage)	24.00%	12.00%

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Property and Equipment (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Computer Equipment [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life (in years)	3 years
Software Costs [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life (in years)	3 years
Office Equipment [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life (in years)	3 years
Office Equipment [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life (in years)	10 years
Furniture and Fixtures [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life (in years)	5 years
Furniture and Fixtures [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life (in years)	10 years
General and Administrative Expense [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization	$ 60,595	$ 47,019
Software development amortization expense	$ 39,879	$ 28,444

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Software Development Costs (Details Textual) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015
Software and Software Development Costs [Member]
Finite-lived Intangible Assets [Roll Forward]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Amortization Expense, Next Twelve Months			$ 204,289
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Amortization Expense, Year Two			204,289
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Amortization Expense, Year Three			204,289
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Amortization Expense, Year Four			118,958
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Amortization Expense, Year Five			82,107
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Net			$ 813,932
Capitalized Software Development [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Useful Life (in years)	5 years
General and Administrative Expense [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Software development amortization expense	$ 39,879	$ 28,444

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Intangible Assets (Details Textual) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Amortization of software development costs and other intangible assets	$ 235,702	$ 127,277
Minimum [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Useful Life (in years)	12 months
Maximum [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Useful Life (in years)	60 months
Ebyline related identifiable intangible assets [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life	3 years
Amortization of software development costs and other intangible assets	$ 195,823	$ 98,833
Finite-lived Intangible Assets [Roll Forward]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Amortization Expense, Next Twelve Months			$ 765,794
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Amortization Expense, Year Two			759,961
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Amortization Expense, Year Three			148,849
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Amortization Expense, Year Four			93,294
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Amortization Expense, Year Five			38,293
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Net			$ 1,806,191

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Revenue Recognition (Details Textual)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016
Minimum [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Revenue recognition requisite period (in days)	3 days
Maximum [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Revenue recognition requisite period (in days)	30 days

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Advertising Costs (Details Textual) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Selling and Marketing Expense [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Advertising expense	$ 111,000	$ 118,000

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Stock-Based Compensation (Details)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Current average expected forfeiture rate (percentage)	10.41%	13.93%
Equity Incentive 2011 Plan [Member]
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Expected term (in years)	6 years	6 years
Weighted average volatility (percentage)	52.68%	54.00%
Weighted average risk free interest rate (percentage)	1.62%	1.50%
Expected dividends	0.00%	0.00%

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Purchase Acquisition (Details Textual) - USD ($)					3 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
		Jan. 30, 2016	Jul. 31, 2015	Jan. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2016		Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Combination, Acquisition Related Costs					$ 77,406
Number of simulation trials					100,000
Business combination, contingent consideration arrangements, basis for amount			subject to proportional reduction in the event Ebyline’s final 2014 revenue was below $8,000,000
Business Acquisition, Revenue Reported by Acquired Entity for Last Annual Period											$ 7,903,429
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Liabilities Incurred		$ 1,877,064
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Liabilities Incurred, Installment Payments		938,532
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross			$ 1,200,000
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Equity Interests Issued and Issuable			250,000
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Change in Range of Outcomes, Contingent Consideration, Liability, Value, High			1,900,000
Fair value assumptions, risk adjusted discount					8.50%
Fair value assumption, simulation trials volatility rate					35.00%
Revenue					$ 5,465,950		$ 4,135,494
Gross Profit					2,364,581		1,694,003
Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combinations, separately recognized transactions, content only revenue										$ 17,000,000
Interest expense, acquisition costs					$ 15,313		15,138
Acquisition Costs, Interest Rate Terms					borrowing rate of prime plus 2% (5.25%)
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Payment Period				3 years
Business combination, consideration transferred				$ 5,016,939
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Equity Interests Issued and Issuable		848,832	$ 250,000
Business Combination, Separately Recognized Transactions, Additional Disclosures, Acquisition Costs				5,500,000	$ 900,492
Revenue					2,493,507		1,368,607
Gross Profit					$ 485,793		$ 135,406
Paid in Two Equal Installments [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Liabilities Incurred, Installment Payments				938,532
Goodwill [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred				2,468,289
Maximum [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred				8,850,000
Achieves at least 90% of Content-Only Revenue [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Percentage of Performance Payment Owed										90.00%
Achieves less than 90% of Content-Only Revenue [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, contingent consideration arrangement, target revenue rate of reduction					17.00%
Estimated Gross Purchase Consideration [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred				5,537,064
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross				1,200,000
Fair Value of Contingent Performance Payments	[1]			$ 2,210,000	$ 1,834,300
Fair value of contingent performance payment, value, reduction related to continued employment of key employees	[1]				357,700
Remaining Present and Fair Value [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition Costs Paid by the Acquiree Shareholders		$ (89,700)			0	[2]
Business combination, consideration transferred					900,492
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross					0
Fair Value of Contingent Performance Payments					$ 0
Common Stock [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Stock issued for payment of acquisition liability (shares)		114,398	31,821		114,398
Subsequent Event 2 [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combinations, separately recognized transactions, content only revenue									$ 27,000,000
Subsequent Event 3 [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combinations, separately recognized transactions, content only revenue								$ 32,000,000

[1] The fair value of the $5,500,000 of contingent performance payments was calculated using a Monte-Carlo simulation to simulate revenue over the next three years. Since the contingent consideration has an option like structure, a risk-neutral framework is considered appropriate for the valuation. The Company started with a risk-adjusted measure of forecasted revenue (using a risk-adjusted discount rate of 8.5%) and assumed it will follow geometric brownian motion to simulate the revenue at future dates. Once the initial revenue was estimated based off of projections made during the acquisition, payout was calculated for each year and present valued to incorporate the credit risk associated with these payments. The Company's initial value conclusion was based on the average payment from 100,000 simulation trials. The volatility used for the simulation was 35%. The Monte Carlo simulation resulted in a calculated fair value of contingent performance payments of $2,210,000 on January 30, 2015. Because the contingent performance payments are subject to a 17% reduction related to the continued employment of certain key employees, ASC 805-10-55-25 indicates that a portion of these payments be treated as potential compensation to be accrued over the term rather than allocated to the purchase price. Therefore, the Company reduced its overall purchase price consideration by $357,700 and recorded the initial present value of the contingent performance payments at $1,834,300. Based on actual results for 2015 and current projections for Content Revenue for 2016-2017, the Content Revenue for every year is expected to be below 90% of the required Content Revenues targets. Therefore, the Company reduced the fair value of contingent performance payments to zero by the end of 2015. The gain as a result of the decrease in the estimated fair value of contingent performance payments was recorded as a reduction of general and administrative expense in the Company's consolidated statement of operations during the year ended December 31, 2015.

[2] According to the stock purchase agreement, $89,700 in closing related expenses paid by Ebyline during the acquisition process are to be paid by the selling shareholders. These costs were deducted from the guaranteed payment on January 30, 2016.

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Purchase Acquisition (Details 1) - USD ($)					3 Months Ended
		Jan. 30, 2016	Jul. 31, 2015	Jan. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2016		Dec. 31, 2015
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross			$ 1,200,000
Current portion of acquisition costs payable					$ 900,492		$ 844,931
Acquisition costs payable, less current portion					0		$ 889,080
Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred				$ 5,016,939
Current portion of acquisition costs payable					900,492
Acquisition costs payable, less current portion					0
Business Combination, Separately Recognized Transactions, Additional Disclosures, Acquisition Costs				5,500,000	900,492
Estimated Gross Purchase Consideration [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross				1,200,000
Present Value of the Guaranteed Purchase Price	[1]			2,127,064
Fair Value of Contingent Performance Payments	[2]			2,210,000	1,834,300
Business combination, consideration transferred				5,537,064
Initial Present Value [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross				1,200,000
Present Value of the Guaranteed Purchase Price	[1]			1,982,639
Fair Value of Contingent Performance Payments	[2]			1,834,300
Business combination, consideration transferred				$ 5,016,939
Remaining Present and Fair Value [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross					0
Present Value of the Guaranteed Purchase Price	[1]				900,492
Fair Value of Contingent Performance Payments					0
Acquisition Costs Paid by the Acquiree Shareholders		$ (89,700)			0	[3]
Business combination, consideration transferred					$ 900,492

[1] The Stock Purchase Agreement required a $1,200,000 cash payment at closing, a $250,000 stock payment on July 30, 2015 and a cash or stock payment of up to an additional $1,900,000 (subject to proportional reduction in the event Ebyline’s final 2014 revenue was below $8,000,000). Ebyline's final gross revenue for 2014 was $7,903,429. As such, the additional amount owed became $1,877,064 to be paid in two equal installments of $938,532 on January 30, 2016 and January 30, 2017. This guaranteed purchase price consideration was discounted to present value using our current borrowing rate of prime plus 2% (5.25%). Interest expense imputed on the acquisition costs payable in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $15,313 and $15,138 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Per the Stock Purchase Agreement, the Company issued 31,821 shares of its common stock valued at $250,000 to satisfy a portion of the guaranteed purchase price payment obligation on July 30, 2015.

[2] The fair value of the $5,500,000 of contingent performance payments was calculated using a Monte-Carlo simulation to simulate revenue over the next three years. Since the contingent consideration has an option like structure, a risk-neutral framework is considered appropriate for the valuation. The Company started with a risk-adjusted measure of forecasted revenue (using a risk-adjusted discount rate of 8.5%) and assumed it will follow geometric brownian motion to simulate the revenue at future dates. Once the initial revenue was estimated based off of projections made during the acquisition, payout was calculated for each year and present valued to incorporate the credit risk associated with these payments. The Company's initial value conclusion was based on the average payment from 100,000 simulation trials. The volatility used for the simulation was 35%. The Monte Carlo simulation resulted in a calculated fair value of contingent performance payments of $2,210,000 on January 30, 2015. Because the contingent performance payments are subject to a 17% reduction related to the continued employment of certain key employees, ASC 805-10-55-25 indicates that a portion of these payments be treated as potential compensation to be accrued over the term rather than allocated to the purchase price. Therefore, the Company reduced its overall purchase price consideration by $357,700 and recorded the initial present value of the contingent performance payments at $1,834,300. Based on actual results for 2015 and current projections for Content Revenue for 2016-2017, the Content Revenue for every year is expected to be below 90% of the required Content Revenues targets. Therefore, the Company reduced the fair value of contingent performance payments to zero by the end of 2015. The gain as a result of the decrease in the estimated fair value of contingent performance payments was recorded as a reduction of general and administrative expense in the Company's consolidated statement of operations during the year ended December 31, 2015.

[3] According to the stock purchase agreement, $89,700 in closing related expenses paid by Ebyline during the acquisition process are to be paid by the selling shareholders. These costs were deducted from the guaranteed payment on January 30, 2016.

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Purchase Acquisition (Details 2) - Ebyline, Inc. [Member]	Jan. 30, 2015 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred	$ 5,016,939
Current Assets [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred	738,279
Property, Plant and Equipment [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred	27,194
Identifiable intangible assets [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred	2,370,000
Goodwill [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred	2,468,289
Security Deposit [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred	18,553
Current Liabilities [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, consideration transferred	$ 605,376

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Purchase Acquisition (Details 3)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Business Combinations [Abstract]
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Revenue	$ 4,845,608
Proforma Cost of Sales	3,091,637
Business Combination Proforma Gross Profit	1,753,971
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Net Income (Loss)	$ (4,371,577)

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Derivative Financial Instruments (Details) - USD ($)		3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Aug. 14, 2015	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Derivative [Line Items]
Warrant liability		$ 2,208		$ 5,060
Change in fair value of derivative		$ 2,852	$ (2,505,951)
Warrant [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Common Shares linked to Derivative Warrants		6,196		6,196	1,795,564
Remaining unexercised warrants, shares	(396,536)
Change in fair value of derivative, shares				0
Warrant liability		$ 2,208		$ 5,060	$ 3,203,465
Loss on exchange of warrants				1,197,821
Fair value of remaining unexercised warrants	$ (1,181,638)
Change in fair value of derivative		$ (2,852)		$ 2,133,820
2014 Warrants [Member] | Warrant [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Exercise of warrants (shares)	(1,392,832)
Fair value of warrants exercised	$ (5,348,408)

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Derivative Financial Instruments (Details 1) - Warrant [Member] - $ / shares		3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
		Mar. 31, 2016		Dec. 31, 2015
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair market value of asset (per share)		$ 7.14	[1]	$ 7.66
Binomial Lattice Option Valuation Technique [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Exercise price (per share)		$ 25.00		$ 25.00
Term (in years)	[2]	1 year 5 months		1 year 8 months
Implied expected life (in years)	[3]	1 year 5 months		1 year 8 months
Volatility range of inputs (percentage)	[4]	75.07%		83.00%
Equivalent volatility (percentage)	[3]	75.07%		83.00%
Risk-free interest rate range of inputs (percentage)	[5]	0.59%		1.06%
Equivalent risk-free interest rate (percentage)	[3]	0.59%		1.06%

[1] The fair market value of the asset was determined by using the Company's closing stock price as reflected in the OTCQB for the period ended December 31, 2015 and the Nasdaq Capital Market for the period ended March 31, 2016.

[2] The term is the contractual remaining term, allocated among twelve equal intervals for purposes of calculating other inputs, such as volatility and risk-free rate.

[3] The implied expected life, and equivalent volatility and risk-free interest rate amounts are derived from the binomial.

[4] The Company does not have a market trading history upon which to base its forward-looking volatility. Accordingly, the Company selected peer companies that provided a reasonable basis upon which to calculate volatility for each of the intervals described in (2), above.

[5] The risk-free rates used for inputs represent the yields on zero coupon U.S. Government Securities with periods to maturity consistent with the intervals described in (2), above.

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Stockholders' Equity (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2016
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Outstanding, Weighted Average Exercise Price [Roll Forward]
Weighted average exercise price, exercisable				$ 7.14
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Outstanding, Intrinsic Value				$ 835,350
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Exercisable, Intrinsic Value				$ 579,371
Equity Incentive 2011 Plan [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Outstanding [Roll Forward]
Common shares, outstanding beginning of period	830,599	595,786
Common shares, granted	38,535	277,059
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Exercises in Period	0	0
Common shares, forfeited	(9,329)	(42,246)
Common shares, outstanding end of period	859,805	830,599	595,786
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Outstanding, Weighted Average Exercise Price [Roll Forward]
Weighted average exercise price, beginning of period	$ 8.65	$ 9.20
Weighted average exercise price, granted	7.33	7.43
Weighted average exercise price, exercised	0.00	0.00
Weighted average exercise price, forfeited	7.90	7.70
Weighted average exercise price, end of period	$ 8.65	$ 9.20	$ 9.20	$ 8.60
Share-based compensation arrangement by share-based payment award, options, exercisable, number				420,491
Weighted average exercise price, exercisable				$ 10.08
Weighted average remaining life (years), outstanding	6 years 8 months	6 years 9 months	6 years 6 months
Weighted average remaining life (years), exercisable	6 years

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Stockholders' Equity (Details 1) - Equity Incentive 2011 Plan [Member] - $ / shares	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Nonvested, Number of Shares [Roll Forward]
Common shares, nonvested beginning of period	461,926	372,092
Common shares, granted	38,535	277,059
Common shares, vested	52,121	(147,759)
Common shares, forfeited	9,026	(39,466)
Common shares, nonvested end of period	439,314	461,926	372,092
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Nonvested, Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value [Roll Forward]
Weighted average grant date fair value, nonvested beginning of period	$ 3.84	$ 4.00
Weighted average grant date fair value, granted	3.68	3.84
Weighted average grant date fair value, vested	4.24	4.32
Weighted average grant date fair value, forfeited	4.00	3.44
Weighted average grant date fair value, nonvested end of period	$ 3.76	$ 3.84	$ 4.00
Weighted average remaining years to vest	2 years 9 months	2 years 9 months	3 years

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Stockholders' Equity - Authorized Shares (Details Textual) - $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Statement of Stockholders' Equity [Abstract]
Common stock, shares authorized (shares)	200,000,000	200,000,000
Series A Preferred stock, shares authorized (shares)	10,000,000
Series A Preferred stock, par value (per share)	$ 0.0001

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Stockholders' Equity - Employee Stock Purchase Plan (Details Textual) - 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan [Member] - USD ($)	Apr. 16, 2014	Mar. 31, 2016
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Common stock, capital shares reserved for future issuance (shares)	75,000	61,215
Share-based compensation arrangement by share-based payment award, award vesting period (in years)	90 days
Annual compensation limit percentage, employee stock purchase plan (percentage)	10.00%
Annual compensation limit, employee stock purchase plan (dollars)	$ 21,250
Shares issuance limit per offering period, employee stock purchase plan	1,000
Fair market value of shares available for issuance (percentage)	85.00%

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Stockholders' Equity - Restricted Stock Issuances (Details Textual) - USD ($)			3 Months Ended
	Jan. 30, 2016	Jul. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015	Apr. 16, 2014
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock issued during period, shares, issued for services (shares)			4,055
Stock issued for payment of services			$ 31,250
Common stock, shares, issued (shares)			5,341,404		5,222,951
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Equity Interests Issued and Issuable		$ 250,000
Investor Relations Services [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Shares reserved for future issuance						1,000,000
General and Administrative Expense [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Adjustments to additional paid in capital, share-based compensation, requisite service period recognition (in dollars)				$ 7,600
General and Administrative Expense [Member] | Restricted Stock [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Adjustments to additional paid in capital, share-based compensation, requisite service period recognition (in dollars)			$ 31,250	$ 27,450
Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Equity Interests Issued and Issuable	$ 848,832	$ 250,000
Common Stock [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock issued during period, shares, issued for services (shares)			4,055
Stock issued for payment of services			$ 1
Stock issued for payment of acquisition liability (shares)	114,398	31,821	114,398

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Stockholders' Equity 2014 Private Placement (Details)	Jan. 30, 2015 $ / shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Class of warrant or right, exercise price of warrants or rights (per share)	$ 10.20

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Stockholders' Equity -Stock Issued for Purchases (Details) - USD ($)				3 Months Ended
	Jan. 30, 2016	Jul. 31, 2015	Jan. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2016
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Equity Interests Issued and Issuable		$ 250,000
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Liabilities Incurred, Installment Payments	$ 938,532
Common Stock [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock issued for payment of acquisition liability (shares)	114,398	31,821		114,398
Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Equity Interests Issued and Issuable	$ 848,832	$ 250,000
Paid in Two Equal Installments [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Liabilities Incurred, Installment Payments			$ 938,532
Remaining Present and Fair Value [Member] | Ebyline, Inc. [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Acquisition Costs Paid by the Acquiree Shareholders	$ (89,700)			$ 0	[1]

[1] According to the stock purchase agreement, $89,700 in closing related expenses paid by Ebyline during the acquisition process are to be paid by the selling shareholders. These costs were deducted from the guaranteed payment on January 30, 2016.

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Stockholders' Equity -Stock issued for Services (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock issued for payment of services	4,055
Stock issued for payment of services	$ 31,250
General and Administrative Expense [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Adjustments to additional paid in capital, share-based compensation, requisite service period recognition (in dollars)		$ 7,600

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Stockholders' Equity - Warrant Transactions (Details Textual) - USD ($)		3 Months Ended
	Jan. 22, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Jan. 30, 2015
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Class of warrant or right, number of securities called by each warrant or right			5,000
Class of warrant or right, exercise price of warrants or rights (per share)			$ 10.20
Proceeds from issuance of warrants (in dollars)	$ 100
Fair value of warrants issued (in dollars)	$ 7,700
General and Administrative Expense [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Adjustments to additional paid in capital, share-based compensation, requisite service period recognition (in dollars)		$ 7,600

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Stockholders' Equity - Stock Options (Details Textual) - USD ($)		3 Months Ended
	Aug. 22, 2011	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015	Apr. 16, 2014
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Percentage of individual ownership of common stock (percentage)	10.00%
Weighted average exercise price, exercisable		$ 7.14
Equity Incentive 2011 Plan [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Common stock, capital shares reserved for future issuance (shares)		144,445
Expected term (in years)		6 years	6 years
Weighted average exercise price, exercisable		$ 10.08
Equity Incentive B 2011 Plan [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock options, shares authorized (shares)	4,375
May 2011 and August 2011 Equity Incentive Plans [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Fair market value of incentive stock options (percentage)	100.00%
Employee Stock Option [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Adjustments to additional paid in capital, share-based compensation, requisite service period recognition (in dollars)		$ 204,972	$ 142,331
Employee service share-based compensation, nonvested awards, compensation cost not yet recognized		$ 1,558,403
Employee service share-based compensation, nonvested awards, compensation cost not yet recognized, period for recognition (in years)		3 years
Employee Stock Option [Member] | May 2011 and August 2011 Equity Incentive Plans [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Expected term (in years)	10 years
Investor Relations Services [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Shares reserved for future issuance				1,000,000
Individual Stock Ownership in Excess of 10 Percent [Member] | May 2011 and August 2011 Equity Incentive Plans [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Fair market value of incentive stock options (percentage)	110.00%
Twelve Months After Grant Date [Member] | May 2011 and August 2011 Equity Incentive Plans [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Share-based compensation arrangement by share-based payment award, equity instruments options, percentage vested (pecentage)	25.00%
Monthly in equal installments [Member] | Employee Stock Option [Member] | May 2011 and August 2011 Equity Incentive Plans [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Share-based compensation arrangement by share-based payment award, award vesting period (in years)	3 years
Selling and Marketing Expense [Member] | Employee Stock Option [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Adjustments to additional paid in capital, share-based compensation, requisite service period recognition (in dollars)		$ 20,268	0
General and Administrative Expense [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Adjustments to additional paid in capital, share-based compensation, requisite service period recognition (in dollars)			7,600
General and Administrative Expense [Member] | Employee Stock Option [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Adjustments to additional paid in capital, share-based compensation, requisite service period recognition (in dollars)		$ 184,704	$ 142,331

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Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Net loss	$ (2,592,620)	$ (4,270,912)
Weighted average common shares outstanding – basic and diluted	5,300,520	2,884,883
Basic and diluted loss per common share	$ (0.49)	$ (1.48)

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Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share (Details 1) - shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share	1,376,564	3,423,380
Stock options
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share	841,911	636,992
Warrants
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share	534,653	2,700,971
Restricted stock units
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share	0	85,417