Direct and indirect are clearly both viable approaches for meeting and picking up women, but it seems like a business analogy would work well to understand the framework underlying each one.

Let's take spotify as an example here. It let's you try it out for free, and is betting on the fact that you'll eventually love it enough to pay for the premium version. that's the freemium model, where the value isn't exactly obvious to the user until they use the product and experience it.

Then we have the paid model. something like Hulu, Netflix, or HBO, where you either pay for it or you don't get shit. The value for a paid model is much more obvious, so users will be polarized to either forego using the service or just commit to being a paid user.

It seems like going indirect is a bit like a freemium model. If you're not exploding with value - either your fashion is bad, you're not 9/10 gorgeous, or your game isn't too sharp, then going in a little slower can provide an opportunity for the girl to experience who you are as a person and really enjoy who you are. Like Spotify, you're betting that they'll really get a feel for the product and eventually be a premium user. This is of course very dangerous if not executed with enough intent, since you can end up with a LIFETIME FREE USER. Or the friend zone. Not the worst thing from a business perspective because you'll be constantly converting other users to premium accounts, but a lifetime free user will basically never convert to a premium account. The likelihood of you dating her or sleeping with her is pretty close to zero. In indirect or the freemium model, it's really important that you're still keeping a strong implication of sexual intentions and/or romantic interests. If you don't do that, it's almost like if Spotify never told you that there was a premium option to choose from.

For the paid model, companies like Netflix usually let you have a free trial - that's basically your initial interaction in pickup. After that trial, they either buy it or not. When you go direct, you immediately make the girl question your mate value on a conscious level. With indirect, it's likely not as much in the forefront of their minds, since you haven't made things entirely explicit. With direct, your value proposition is usually a lot more obvious, so users will be much more willing to commit quickly. You'll of course lose some who are on the fence, but fuck those people anyway. To go direct or to be Netflix, you must be very high value, otherwise you'll just polarize a lot of girls away from you. In direct, there's not much room for error, especially if you look creepy or your game isn't too sharp.

Both are viable approaches - I've done and seen people be successful from both direct and indirect. Holding to the metaphor, freemium and paid are both viable business models since Spotify and Netflix are both multi-billion dollar companies. However, most paid models like Netflix are worth a significant amount more than freemium business models like Spotify. The meaning behind that is open to interpretation. But at the end of the day, you're always going to have to let the user know that there's a paid product available and that you want them to pay for it. It's just a matter of how you approach it