The fixed price until solution delivery is a ballsy proposal, usually during such projects unforeseen challenges arise. I hope you do not expect to make a lot of profit on the project itself. It could be a great value-driving improvement to the Steem eco-system though.
Is Steemit paying or should we crowd-fund with the community? Maybe 75/25%?
Yes, it's a bit risky, but as long as we can get an acceptable scoping agreement with Steemit, I think its a win-win.
Currently the proposal is for Steemit to pay for it. Crowdfunding is another option, but I don't know how much overhead is involved in going down that path and I hope we can jump start this project quickly.