Nice words of encouragement. Thomas :-(. What are you afraid of?
Why would I encourage someone to do something I think is a bad idea? I'm trying to be realistic, not encouraging. I'm afraid someone who appears to be a good person is going to end up wasting a lot of time on an idea which is doomed from the outset.
It isn't size that is going to prove the true competitor of Wikipedia. It is going to be quality, accuracy and consistency. And, a true non-cultist approach to the work.
Size is extremely important. As long as you have a reasonable level of quality, size is probably the most important factor. The reason people use Wikipedia is because they know the information will be there because we're so large. Whether we're a cult or not is irrelevant - the important thing is readers and readers care about the end result, not how it got there.