[rexreed]

As a bootstrapped founder of a number of companies this financial model hurts my brain. This approach is still a venture type fast growth model with low margins since you're giving away much of the money to the channels and customers. Is there even much left for development?

70-80% commission to AppSumo and up to 40% to affiliates sounds crazy if you want to fund growth from customer revenues. Sure it works if you have venture backing but totally self funded?

[bkfh]

I agree with you on the numbers game here, but what it provides quickly is validation.

Many founders build products and features in vacuum, not knowing whether they are relevant to any kind of customers.

This growth model is not a long-term strategy, but a form of letting people vote with their wallets to build a foundation to further improve from.