As a complete and total non-expert in this field, it is astonishing the absolutism with which the insiders speak. Don't get me wrong, their logic sounds right, but, being an expert in another (unrelated) field myself, I simply would never speak with such absolutism in my own field - it's frankly impossible to eliminate all unknowns. It's clear here that this commentary is personal for some posters. To their very identity, this project can't work.
Granted, you're probably 99% likely to be correct. But how do you know what these developers' personal networks are? Though they have zero experience on paper, how can you be so sure who else is going to get involved who isn't officially involved yet? How do you know this isn't a pet project for someone, and someone's billionaire uncle isn't going to bankroll this? To your other example, how do you know that Jon Cronin cares about leaving this world with a positive net worth? I legit know wealthy people who fully intend on dying penniless while prioritizing pursuit of cool projects and interesting visions. Not everyone does things by the book, and some have the means and connections to make that happen. You can be mostly sure this project won't work, but you can never be fully sure.