what more can a project team want?
Simple answer: not to focus only on the coin developement.
The coin should be backed by a strong vision, who must lead to provide the product in a reasonnable expected time. A strong team should also be aware that Whales and traders are not to be fully trusted from the vision of long term improvement, this is why the value of the token should be determined by its usefulness and not by the number of holders. Same thing applies to exchanges who won't really care if the project reach its goals or not, it's the main responsability of the team behind the project .
Any serious project would focus on the development of its platform and the coin before it thinks about getting listed on any exchanges. The price of the coin gets a real boost when listed if the coin has some real applications to offer the world of blockchain.
I strongly agree with your statement that the traders and the whales cannot be trusted as they are capable of pumping or dumping the price to a great extent. Too much of volatility is not good for the project or the coin. Any coin could get listed on the top exchanges but the question is which coin (project) is the worthy one.