I don't think it would be a problem for Satch. I have a friend who is a very good pianist. He will be fantastic in a couple of years, and will be professional etc. He won't be famous (I don't think), but I seriously expect him to become a very respected memeber of the Victorian music scene. His teacher knows this. The teacher is semi-pro, but financially was never able to completely dedicate himself to the piano. He would like nothing more than to see his best student get noticed. Once you teach people, you want them to be as good as possible. Sure, it's a different situation for Satch, because he is still looking for limelight, but imagine how proud you would be of a student that became so well known. I bet when Satch first met Vai and started teaching him he would've gone "wow, this boy is going to be awesome, I better do my best to get him there".