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Among other things, the "revenue" number seems totally bogus.

Reminds me of a tactic used by Skillshare. I sent them some feedback saying the class I'd just taken was terrible. They didn't offer me a refund (I hadn't asked for one), but they did give me a "scholarship" for the course amount - $20 back to PayPal, operationally identical to a refund. This way, they get to book "my" $20 as "revenue," and the "scholarship" as a "marketing expense."

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Quite interesting! Hadn't ever seen that but it's rather wise from an accounting standpoint.

Wise from the perspective of attracting investors? Maybe. Wise from the perspective of running a functional business? No. Fudging metrics to make yourself feel better is crazy. How are you expected to know the actual health of your business without having a clear view of metrics as simple as revenue, marketing, and returns.

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