Thanks for taking your time, orangethirty, and pointing out what you exactly don't like about it.
The thing is we'd most probably keep using the teasing approach, as it mostly converts better than whatever we tried. You can still keep informing your users as the activation process is still happening. At least that was what we learned from our experiences, but the results might differ on each different case.
Teasing only works for prostitutes and strippers. The reason it converts better for you is because your other pages were worse. I do landing pages for startups, and yours can't be working that well. I have no problem with your product, or you, but the landing page is seriously holding you back. Anyhow, good luck. No harm intended.
The thing is we'd most probably keep using the teasing approach, as it mostly converts better than whatever we tried. You can still keep informing your users as the activation process is still happening. At least that was what we learned from our experiences, but the results might differ on each different case.
Anyways, good feedback here, and thanks again.