$15M is not a lot of money when you start throwing around numbers like 100 contract employees. This isn't rocket science. It's just business. Anyone can do the math. 20 full time employees at tech industry salaries plus these 100 contract folks at whatever they cost times 2 for overhead. Plus other costs like hosting, rent etc
There is nothing evil about this. It just means you need to balance the equation by either making money or getting more investment.