The level of difficulty for Google to do cross department sabotage would be high and I imagine the cost of damage to Google would be WAY higher than the value of taking down your service (unless you are wildly successful - and then it would be a lawyers party!)
Focus on success first -- and think about your "exit paths" -- and the costs/benefits of being on GAE vs. another option as an independent decision.
Having chosen to go into business rather than a PhD (in physics) -- and then having succeeded in selling my startup, I explored going back to do a PhD. It was not an attractive option. The heads of department said I would get bored and frustrated with the politics and slow progress of the department.
Bottomline: starting a business (that succeeds) does change you expectations for "action" which will likely poison you from academia. I hypothesize if you fail in the startup that the PhD will not be an economic option at that stage!? The implication: it's hard to "reverse" this decision.
Having sold my startup, the money gives me flexibility to do what I want!
Personally, I am
i. managing an open source project
ii. picking up/tasking the kids to school (generally spending time with the kids)
iii. biking regularly to get/stay fit
iv. lunches with friends
v. looking for the next "thing" I want to get involved in
Ahh .. but you can see I am a little older than you!
Thanks ... we're queued up at Distrowatch.
Have had a few 'minor' articles written (like at www.linux,com) .. would be great to get to /. and digg ... I think one wide reaching announcement will drive the momentum
I would recommend against it. I co-founded a small enterprise SW company and we tried several "commission only" sales people and teams. This become a time sink. No success what-so-ever!
When we focused on doing it ourselves things picked up. One "trick" we used that worked was to 'SPIFF' sales people who had complementary products to give us leads. This lead to our eventual acquisition ...