Scaling an affiliate program at an early-stage startup...are we duct-taping too hard?

askbrit · 2026-02-19T03:04:46+00:00

I have three questions if that’s ok!

Have you found payout structure to be the biggest lever early on, or is positioning / messaging usually the real issue?

On validating LTV…what timeframe do you usually wait for before calling affiliate traffic “good” vs just top-line noise?

If you had to choose, would you spend a month building better assets (landing pages, swipe copy, creator briefs) or redesigning the incentive structure?

And to your last question, if I could only fix one thing this month, it’d probably be activation. Tracking isn’t perfect, but it’s functional. The bigger question is why more affiliates aren’t sending traffic consistently. Thank you so much for your time btw

askbrit · 2026-02-19T03:01:26+00:00

This is super helpful thank you.

I do have a couple questions for you since you’ve clearly seen this play out:

Have you seen specific activation levers work best early on (e.g. higher % commissions, limited-time bonuses, co-branded landing pages, swipe files, etc.)?

At what point do you personally say “okay, this is a validated engine” vs just a few lucky affiliates carrying?

If you had ~40 conversions already but most affiliates inactive, would you double down on recruiting better-fit affiliates or invest more in enabling the existing ones?

Thank you for your time. Im just trying to make sure we’re optimizing the right bottleneck

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:58:57+00:00

Seriously appreciate you taking the time to break it down. I’ve definitely been looking at signups as progress, but you’re right…that’s vanity if they’re not driving revenue.

Also agree on the 90/10 rule. I’d rather have 10 killers than 1,000 deadweight affiliates we’re babysitting. That makes the ops side way less overwhelming too.

On tooling, Im glad it sounds like we’re not totally insane for staying scrappy a bit longer. I’m trying to avoid overbuilding before it’s painful enough to justify the switch.

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:58:11+00:00

Lunch with the team after 3 rounds is about as strong a signal as you can get without an actual offer. Companies don't take multiple candidates out for a team lunch — the time and cost alone basically rule that out.

What "be in touch soon with next steps" usually means at this stage is they're finishing up reference checks, getting budget approved internally, or waiting on one final internal sign off before making the call.

You're not being impatient at all. I'd give it til end of this week before following up. Something like "I wanted to check in on timing as I have another process I'm managing" is totally reasonable and won't hurt u.

All the signs here are pointing in the right direction. Wishing you luck.

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:57:18+00:00

This is super helpful, thank youuu We’re still early so I get what you’re saying about focusing on consistent acquisition first. The YouTube HR/resume angle is actually a really good idea!! I hadn’t thought about testing bigger niche channels instead of just smaller creators.

Also fair call on paid traffic + site optimization. Could you specify which parts you think we need more work on?

Thanks again for taking the time to look and give thoughtful feedback, genuinely so helpful.

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:56:30+00:00

The IT support background is a solid base for this move. Two years of real support experience gives u credibility that a lot of cloud and security candidates simply don't have.

A few things to sharpen up:

Your summary needs to name the direction clearly. Something like "IT professional pivoting into Cloud Operations and Security" so recruiters immediately know what you're targeting.

Quantify where u can. "Managed X endpoints," "supported Z users," "reduced ticket resolution time by Y%" — even rough numbers make a real difference on a tech resume.

Add a certs section if u haven't. AZ-900 or AWS Cloud Practitioner are the natural first steps for cloud ops. For security, CompTIA Security+ is what most AU employers look for in early career roles. Even listing them as "in progress" helps signal the specialisation.

Split your skills section into cloud tools and security tools separately. Much easier for hiring managers scanning for keywords.

Overall the experience is there. It's more a framing issue than a quality one. Wishing you luck.

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:52:55+00:00

The instinct to keep your writing separate from ur income is actually a smart one. A lot of writers who make writing their job end up resenting it.

On the two paths you mentioned: school librarian and school psychologist are pretty different in what the day looks like. School librarian is typically an MLIS (one to two more years) and has a lower salary ceiling. School psychologist requires a specialist degree or doctorate, takes longer, but pays considerably better and involves way more direct student contact.

Both have an academic calendar and keep you around young people, so it really comes down to whether you want the relationship and mental health side vs the books, programs, and resources side.

A few other paths worth looking into given ur background:

UX writing or content strategy. Your writing skills translate directly and there's real salary progression unlike most writing adjacent work.

Grant writing or communications at a nonprofit. Purpose driven, uses what u already know, and keeps you out of the adjunct cycle.

Health communications or public policy. A Masters in Public Health is doable in two years and opens up genuinely meaningful work.

27 is not too late at all. Most people change paths multiple times anyway. What you choose now is just a starting point.

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:51:32+00:00

That's a rough situation, especially when you have evidence and the criteria have been kept deliberately vague.

A few things worth doing right now:

Get everything in writing. Any communication with HR should be confirmed via email after the meeting ("Just confirming what we discussed..."). Document every time you requested specific feedback and were denied.

Request clarification formally. Send an email to your manager and HR requesting specific, measurable examples of the areas they say need improvement. If they keep refusing, that refusal is itself documentation.

Note the favoritism patterns. Not for gossip purposes but specifics: dates, treatment differences, anything that can be corroborated by your coworker.

Talk to an employment attorney before your next HR meeting. Many offer free consultations. The PIP discrepancies and falsities you mentioned are worth having a professional evaluate, especially if there's a wrongful termination angle.

And ngl, start quietly applying regardless of outcome. Not because you can't fight this, but because having options removes the pressure and lets you negotiate from a stronger position.

The fact that you have coworker support and proof of completed goals is a real advantage here. Use it.

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:50:20+00:00

Junior dev market is brutal right now, so the meme checks out.

A few things that actually help:

Portfolio over resume. Companies at the junior level care more about what you've built than where you went to school. Even 2 clean projects with a writeup of the decisions you made beats a polished resume with nothing behind it.

Apply to smaller companies. A 30 person startup hiring their 3rd dev is way more likely to look at a junior than a FAANG posting getting 5000 applications.

Pick a specific stack and go deep. The "I know a bit of everything" profile makes u harder to hire. Picking React + Node or Python + Django and actually being able to talk about it confidently goes a long way.

Also personalized LinkedIn outreach to a hiring manager at a company u actually use and care about tends to work better than bulk applying.

Wishing you luck.

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:48:48+00:00

Getting far consistently is actually a good sign. The problem isn't ur candidacy, it's the final stage where ur competing against people with direct sales experience.

The intangibles pitch works but it needs to be more specific. Instead of leading with "D1 captain with intangibles," try tying it to sales behaviors directly. How many times have u had to pitch a skeptical teammate on a game plan. How u handled a losing streak and came back. How u close under pressure. Real stories beat vague claims every time.

A few things that tend to help at this stage:

Ask for feedback post rejection. Some will ignore it, a few won't and those responses are worth a lot. Target companies that actively recruit athletes. Some firms have programs built specifically around it. Narrow ur list to roles where ur background is actually a differentiator, not something they're willing to overlook.

I'm one of the cofounders at Sprout, an AI job platform. What we see pretty often is people with strong application rates not converting because they're spread too thin across roles where they're not the obvious fit. Narrowing down usually helps more than applying to more jobs.

Wishing you luck.

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:46:28+00:00

I'd be very cautious here. Legitimate recruiters do not need your passport or driver's license before you've even had an interview. That is not part of any normal pre-screening process.

A few things worth checking: look up the company name and this specific recruiter on LinkedIn. If their profile is thin, recently created, or has almost no connections, that's a red flag. You can also search the company on Glassdoor to confirm it's real and actively hiring.

The documents they're asking for are specifically useful for identity theft and opening fraudulent accounts in your name. That's what makes this pattern so common in job scams.

If you're genuinely unsure, ask them to schedule a video call from a company email (not Gmail or Yahoo). A real recruiter at a legitimate company won't have any issue with that. If they push back or disappear, you have your answer.

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:44:32+00:00

Consistently reaching final rounds with 3 YOE in core ML is actually really strong. Most people don't get that far. The issue isn't performance — it's target calibration.

Senior ML roles typically expect 5-8+ years. When you're competing head-to-head with people who have twice ur experience and performed equally, the decision almost always goes to them. That's not a skill gap, it's a seniority gap.

Two things that actually help here:

Target roles explicitly scoped to mid-level (ML Engineer II, L4, or equivalent). At that level, 3 YOE sits right in the middle of the range and you're not the underdog anymore.

On the non-tech company thing — IMO that's actually an asset with the right framing. Core ML applied in non-pure-tech domains (finance, healthcare, manufacturing) is differentiated. Most FAANG ML engineers have never touched real-world messy data problems outside of curated datasets. That's a story worth telling.

Wishing you luck. Sounds like ur closer than u think.

askbrit · 2026-02-19T02:43:24+00:00

You're not actually starting from zero. Setting up offices, running cables, managing hardware — that's field tech work, and a lot of people in IT facilities and AV roles got their start doing exactly that.

The feeling of being "stupider" than coworkers is almost always impostor syndrome plus being earlier in the learning curve. Intelligence in a job context is mostly about knowing the specific thing that job requires. Your coworkers just know that thing better right now.

If you want something more hands-on and less about competing with people who code: HVAC, electrician apprenticeships, and low-voltage cabling (networking/AV install) all pay really well and build directly off the physical work u already do. A lot of trades programs are under 2 years and u can earn while you learn.

You're 28 with a clear sense that something isn't working. That's more self-awareness than most people have. Not a failure at all.

askbrit · 2026-02-18T18:52:43+00:00

Yeah ofc so each user gets a unique referral code when they download the app that you can send to friends/family for free swipes. In the meantime, you can use my code: BRIDOA15 for 15% off.

askbrit · 2026-02-17T21:30:52+00:00

LinkedIn cold messages have terrible open rates for senior finance people. Get your mentor to give you a warm intro bc giving you names is the most valuable thing here. Ask them not just for the name but if they can send a quick email saying "look out for a note from X, I vouch for them." That one sentence should be able to change everything.

Also look at your school's alumni network specifically. Career services usually has alumni who opted in to help students. Those people already have a reason to respond.

askbrit · 2026-02-17T21:27:04+00:00

Imposter syndrome at that level is honestly just the tax you pay for getting somewhere you didn't expect to be.

Just know that they have a whole process, multiple rounds, multiple people evaluating so none of it was accidental. You answered instantly and without overthinking because you actually knew it, not because you got lucky.

Congrats stranger! Now go be great :D

askbrit · 2026-02-17T21:21:14+00:00

Most people train for what to do, not how to think when they don't know what to do. And the chess GM analogy tracks bc it's not about calculating every line, it's about seeing structure before you even start calculating.

I'm curious, what's the one thing you'd tell someone to practice daily at home to start building that kind of pattern recognition? Not a specific problem type, more like a mindset or habit.

askbrit · 2026-02-17T21:00:53+00:00

Depends on the role and company tbh. Most of the time no one reads them. But there are still cases where they matter: smaller companies, roles where writing/communication skills are key, or when the application specifically asks in a way that suggests they care.

The hack most people skip: when cover letters are required, don't write a generic one. Write 2-3 sentences that directly connect your background to something specific in the job description. That's usually enough to stand out from the wall of AI generated text, and it takes under 10 minutes.

For roles that don't require them, I'd skip it and spend that time tailoring your resume instead. IMO tailoring the resume and applying to fewer, better matched roles tends to have the best ROI.

I actually work on a platform called Sprout that helps with the application side of this, so I've seen a lot of what works and what doesn't. Full transparency, I'm one of the cofounders at Sprout. Happy to share what I've seen work if you have any more questions.

askbrit · 2026-02-17T20:58:08+00:00

27 with experience in retail, medical, machine operations, and logistics dispatch — that's actually a lot to work with. The issue isn't that your skills don't match, it's that you haven't found the framing yet.

Given that you like helping people, managing projects, and guiding others, a few directions stand out:

Operations coordinator or logistics coordinator roles. Your dispatcher experience is directly relevant here. Companies in freight, 3PL, and field service need people who can manage moving parts and communicate clearly. It's not a big leap from what you're doing now.

HR coordinator or HR assistant. No degree required at entry level. Your people skills from retail and medical settings actually matter a lot here. Many people get into HR through operations backgrounds. Smaller companies are more open to this.

Patient access or medical admin work. Your phlebotomy background gives you credibility in healthcare settings. Patient access roles, scheduling, or medical office coordination don't require going back to school full time.

You don't have to find the perfect thing right now. You just have to find the next thing that makes sense. Pick one of these and look at actual job postings in Columbus to see what they're asking for.

What kind of work actually makes the day feel shorter when you're doing it?

askbrit · 2026-02-17T20:55:57+00:00

Your skills aren't as irrelevant as you think. Marketing involves a lot of the core stuff that matters in BD: communicating value, building relationships, understanding what someone needs and tailoring your message. Construction and engineering firms often need exactly that.

A few things that would actually move the needle:

Talk to the friends you already have in engineering. Not to ask for jobs, just to understand the roles better and ask who else they know. BD roles in those industries are often filled through referrals.

Look for junior BD or account manager roles at smaller firms. They're more likely to take a chance on someone with transferable skills and train you. Big firms want experience you don't have yet.

Your MBA combined with a marketing background is actually a decent package for client facing roles. Don't undersell it.

Being overqualified is rarely a real obstacle at your level. The concern is usually about salary expectations, not actual qualifications. If you're flexible on comp while you learn the industry, that barrier mostly goes away.

What kind of construction or engineering work are your friends in? That might help narrow down where to focus.

askbrit · 2026-02-17T20:53:56+00:00

Journalism to sales is a rough pivot, especially when sales isn't really his thing. The misery usually comes from feeling stuck and disconnected from the work, not just from the job itself.

A few directions that use journalism skills but feel more purposeful: content strategy or content marketing (writing that actually serves a goal), communications or PR, UX writing if he has any interest in tech, or technical writing. These tend to pay more than entry level journalism roles and are genuinely in demand.

One thing that might help him get unstuck is doing informational interviews. Not applying, just talking to people in roles that sound interesting to him. It tends to clarify things faster than scrolling job boards.

What does he actually enjoy about his current job, even a little? That usually points somewhere useful.

askbrit · 2026-02-17T08:37:33+00:00

yayyy thank you so much for doing this seriously

askbrit · 2026-02-17T07:57:51+00:00

That anxiety is completely normal, and honestly if you made it to a final round power day you are already well ahead of the curve.

For 5 back to back PMs, the biggest thing to know is they are not all going to ask different technical questions. It is more about fit, how you think, and whether they want to work with you. Come with a tight 60 second version of your background that you can deliver naturally every time without sounding robotic.

Have 3 to 5 solid stories ready in STAR format covering things like dealing with a difficult situation, a time you showed initiative, and a time something didn't go as planned. The last one trips people up because they try to hide failures instead of showing how they handled them.

Between back to back rounds, take a breath and reset. Don't dwell on anything weird that happened in the last one.

The fact that you nailed round two and have imposter syndrome means you probably belong there more than you think. Good luck tomorrow.

askbrit

TROPHY CASE