I can only recount to you my experiences, but here they are:
I began with version 6.01 and eventually patched it to 6.01RC3. It has run fine for over 2 years now. Modified the hell out of it with many free and paid mods from expertzzz site and others. Learned a LOT over the course of 2+ years about Dolphin coding and have contributed several of my own mods (free and paid).

IF you want something different from the cookie-cutter version of the software, you better plan on working a lot to see more get there.

Boonex has created this software for those who DON'T know programming and wanted a piece of software they could have up and running in under an hour. After that, it's up to the webmaster.

The community of developers and users is huge, and there are at least 20 or more sites that are devoted to tips, tricks, and mods.

My site has grown but it has taken a while to get there. Our income is stable enough after two years to keep the site up and put a little in the owner's pockets. We aren't getting rich by any stretch of the imagination, but that was never our goal in the first place. We don't place any ads on our site, we don't do many things to generate income other than memberships and donations. Any site that is going to generate income will take time, and lots of it, to get there, so patience is a virtue. And a Dolphin-based site is not going to be the "Next Big Thing" to hit the internet unless you've got some kind of killer app to go along with it.

My experiences have all been good so far, with a few headaches tossed in for good measure, but I've spent probably 4 to 16 hours a day every day working on my site and maintaining it as well as interacting with my membership, and we've developed a loyal group of members who don't hesitate to get the word out about our site. Just do a search for "Fancamtastic" to see.

If your only goal is to get rich from a website, then I'd come up with that great idea, hire some programmers to work it out, and let me know in advance so I can buy stock in the company!