Astral doesn't really have a business model yet, it has potential business models.
The issue is that there isn't a clean business model that will produce the kind of profits that will satisfy their VCs - not that there isn't any business model that will help support a business like theirs.
Private package management would probably work fine if they hadn't taken VC money.
I would have agreed with you until I learned that Conda somehow makes $150m in revenue a year. They have fewer users than Astral too (or if not they will do very soon).
The issue is that there isn't a clean business model that will produce the kind of profits that will satisfy their VCs - not that there isn't any business model that will help support a business like theirs.
Private package management would probably work fine if they hadn't taken VC money.