Important points have been mentioned by the OP.
A project that is true of high quality and seriously developing its products will surely strive to collaborate with competent companies and partners. Regarding funding, I see that there are several projects that can be successful with funding obtained internally and private sale, so when the quality is really good, it will not be difficult to attract investors.
Unique Tokenomy and a truly useful and useful product would be very interesting. An innovative dev team can certainly determine the right strategy by establishing profitable partnerships with well-known companies, this can strengthen the ecosystem of the project.