Fortunately, we're not sinking anything into it. JP Aerospace is
making
each step pay for itself.

Even if they do get to orbit, they will still be bound by rules of
profitability. The question is--even if they can pay for the
development itself, will it be economincally feasible to pay for the
extremely large infrastructure (groundship, dark sky station, and
airship)--I mean upkeep, repair, etc--based on a launch method that
apparently takes weeks to get to orbit. This is not like an elevator,
that can be continuously moving payloads up and down and has very small
weight limits. In the elevator's case, its the lack of significant
weight restrictions that makes it economically feasible, just like the
intercontinental railroad beat out the pony express.
This launch method, on the other hand, will be reusable--assuming the
craft can survive more than one trip. But it will still have very
restrictive weight limits, and I'm not sure the profitability is any
better than a TSTO RLV.