Following an initial public offering last year, mobile marketing firm Motricity appears to be under growing pressure from forces both inside and outside the company.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Ryan Wuerch, who founded Motricity in 2001 and led it through an IPO last year, has left the company. The news comes at a time when the price for the company?s stock has been lower and several lawsuits have been filed claiming that some employees may have made misleading statements about the company?s financial status.

?Motricity faces some challenges as mobile shifts from a telco driven world to a consumer, Internet-driven world,? said Rajeev Chand, managing director and head of research for investment bank Rutberg & Co., San Francisco, CA.

?The company is clearly aligned for operators ? it sells mobile data solutions for operators and provides messaging aggregation services to operators,? he said.

?But, mobile data is trending away from operators and trending toward the Internet players and the over-the-top players,? he said.

Motricity declined to comment for this story, pointing to a recent press release about Mr. Wuerch?s departure instead.

Taking stock
Another challenge faced by Motricity is the growth of smarpthones, which make it easier for consumers to access apps and other content without having to go through a portal, per Mr. Chand. Additionally, messaging aggregation is increasingly becoming commoditized, making it tough to make any money here. 

Mr. Chand is not affiliated with Motricity and spoke as an expert with experience in mobile companies.

On Aug, 9, Bellevue, WA-based Motricity reported results for the second quarter of 2011, posting a 14 percent increase in revenue for a total of $34.6 million. The company also posted a net loss of $4.3 million compared with a net loss of $11.6 million for the same period in the previous year.

Soon afterwards, a series of investigations into Motricity?s actions as well as several lawsuits were initiated.

On Aug. 12, a class action suit was commenced on behalf of purchasers of Motricity?s common stock charging that Motricity and certain employees issued false and misleading statements about the company?s business prospects and financial results.

The suit points to the second quarter results, among other things, claiming that they fell short of Wall Street?s forecast and that Motricity?s stock price fell 50 percent as a result.

All of the legal actions follow pretty much the same line of inquiry.

During this time, Motricity launched a search to replace CFO Allyn Hebner and chief strategy and marketing officer Jim Ryan left the company.

Then on Aug. 22, came the announcement that Motricity had terminated CEO Ryan Wuerch?s employment and his membership on Motricity?s board of directors. The mutually agreed upon separation was effective Aug. 20, 2011.

The mobile advertising firm has named Jim Smith interim CEO. The company has also initiated a search for a permanent CEO. Mr. Smith has served as president and COO of Motricity since 2009.

While the mobile industry is enjoying strong growth, recent examples such as HP exiting the mobile hardware business and Motricity?s recent troubles point to the fact that mobile can still be a challenging industry.

?While the mobile messaging business continues to grow, it is a highly commoditized business and a tough business,? Mr. Chand said.