You've touched on a lot of things I feel passionately about here, and I agree with just about all of it. Call me old-fashioned, but I'd rather see one thing worked on at a time, and done properly before moving on with the next.
There's also a big issue of over-complexity, and I believe Leo is falling into that trap. Not everyone who uses Hive is a crypto or technical expert. I know I'm not - I'm just here to write stuff and maybe make a little on the side !
LeoDex is a prime example of what can go wrong with this. When it operated like a reskin of Tribaldex with a few extra features, it was brilliant and I loved it. Then it turned into something with alien terminology and complex operations that assumed you knew what you were doing. That's going to drive away all except the most committed. Most users want an intuitive, simple experience where they can easily understand what's going on.
But that brings me to the final point. Leo raises funding in all kinds of ways; monthly subscriptions, fees for LeoDex transactions, even inbound delegations. I get that developers cost money, but I would prefer to see any funding requested through proposals delivered as a loan, with a business plan that includes a timescale for repayment and ways to objectively measure success. The DHF should give grants (rather than loans) only for genuine marketing with a measurable ROI, and for delivery of core infrastructure improvements. Otherwise, it's just draining market cap from the ecosystem into a few pockets.
But hat's just my opinion ! I really want Leo to succeed, but I think it needs a bit better planning.
RE: Overpromise and Underdeliver - The Hype Train