The Lowest-CAC Channel Is Built, Not Bought

· Logan B. Jones-Olson

TODO: Opening. Why affiliate keeps ending up the cheapest channel, and why most companies never build it properly anyway.

The economics that make it cheap

TODO: Pay-on-performance structure, why CAC stays low as the program scales, and how the incentives differ from paid media.

Recruiting partners before you have a track record

TODO: How I signed the first partners when the program had nothing to show. What partners actually want beyond the commission rate.

Operations, fraud, and measurement

TODO: The operational floor: tracking integrity, payout hygiene, fraud patterns, and how attribution disputes get settled.

What compounding looks like

TODO: The leading indicators that showed it was working before the volume arrived, and what the channel contributed at scale.