Ugh this is so relatable and one of the most frustrating things about running a program internally. But the customer-turned-affiliate thing is actually the best outcome you could have had in those first months. Those partners are so much better than cold recruited affiliates because they’re promoting from real experience and their audience can tell. For the founder conversation, if it helps, months one to three are really about infrastructure and figuring out what works. The right question at four months isn’t “how many affiliates are bringing in MRR” it’s “do we know what’s converting and are we ready to scale it.” Sounds like you’re actually in a much better position than it feels right now.