“In your paywall you optimize the UI and UX so that you're really pushing that lifetime subscription... on your P&L is going to really bump up your revenue. However, to the person who's about to acquire that app, they suddenly cannot monetize those users that you've just sold a lifetime subscription to. So you're actually kind of shooting yourself in the foot.”

Pushing lifetime plans pre-sale destroys the buyer's future LTV

A classic pre-exit red flag is reshaping the paywall to maximize lifetime purchases — inflates short-term revenue but strips future monetization from the buyer. Diligence catches it, negotiations collapse. If you must optimize before a sale, push marketing spend (which generates diligence data) rather than profit cuts or lifetime pumps.