I am not a pro either, but I recently got a backing offer for MTTs that I ended up not taking.  The volume he wanted was too high, and I didnt really think highly of his game in the form of coaching(even though he has a coaching add on 2+2 for $175 an hour which is pretty rediculous). Being backed by someone like the bigdog though would be great just because he is a great player and a good guy who really understands the grind and the current state of the game.  Remember, when you are backed, most of the time you have to meet a certain amount of volume.  If you play full time, this shouldn't be too hard, but if you are also a student like me or have a job, having a flexible sched. is key. 

I reccomend profit-sharing with a reputable coach if you have a roll but want some guidence.  I recently entered into a profit sharing contract for cash games with a CR pro (don't worry, TPE is still my favorite) and honestly it was the best thing I could have done.  I can't stress the importance of some type of coaching.  I went a long time trying to figure stuff out on my own, if I had known how much 1-1 coaching helps I would have done it a long time ago.  That's why I would take advantage of the pros who offering coaching here if you can, and if you can find someone who beats the stakes you play over a large sample size and is willing to do a profit-sharing agreement with you, I would take it.  You don't spend any money unless you win, and it is in the coaches best interest to make you as winning of a player as they can. 

Now that being said, if you can find a great player/coach that is willing to stake you and give you some sort of flexability, I would break my right arm trying to sign that contract, then sign it left handed if I had to.  It's really late, and I just played 3-hours straight of cash, so I don't know if this makes a lot of sense or is even relevent, but it is way too long to delete at this point haha.