There are a million ways the money being asked for by one of Monero's core devs to help fund an initiative for a company he owns (in part?) would not show a ROI for the Monero community.  item a) above is certainly one.  Or if development starts and then stops.  Or if the community perceives the mystery partner to be much less exciting than what we are seeing pitched.  Or something goes south in the relationship between any of the 3+ actors involved.

In this case it is not just the ~450k USD at stake, but the reputation of the project to some extent.  

I might be perceived as a naysayer, which I am not... not that I really care how I am perceived, but I do think it is both a very exciting sounding possibility for this project, but I also see it as a risk as well...

I think it is worth considering the risk factors.

You're right - it is both risky and exciting.

What is curious is that FP must have weighed this issue. Whatever other criticisms people may have of him, I believe he's always put the interests of Monero first (at least insofar as he sees them) and has never tried to pump it. As we know, his mantra has always been 'use it, don't invest in it'. In that sense, the Globee project aligns well with this - it's purpose is to enable Monero to be used as a currency. Outside of the DNM's this would be the first major commercial use-case for Monero.

That said, he has quite clearly nailed his colors to the profit mast here - his 'sell' to the community is that Monero will go up in value should this enterprise succeed. That's a risky claim to infer and one he has never made before.

At any rate I suspect in future we may see a lot less of the old laid-back, t-shirted "I'm a scammer" Fluffy Pony and more of the serious, besuited Riccardo Spagni. Plus ça change.