Have you guys considered making a pact among your team to put aside like 10% of the Lisk forging rewards that each delegate makes towards Ark? You guys could be the first crypto to have an outside revenue source before you even begin, how cool would that be?

I think this is a good idea. If ARK TEC funds are going to be used to up vote individuals would it not be a good idea to have a mechanism in place to ensure that a proportion of forged funds goes back into the ARK project. As Bitseed said for developer funding etc.
Otherwise the risk is deegatesget up voted in Lisk forging and use their funds for personal gain giving nothing back to the ARK project.