This is cool, and I hope it catches on. Despite its flaws and quirks I think HN has something nice going on in terms of the overall submission and discussion quality, and I don't think it should be restricted to just 'hackers' (or startup founders, software engineers, enthusiasts, etc). Just like how there's a whole ecosystem of Stack Exchange sites for a variety of interests, maybe there should be more HN-like sites as well, fulfilling a cultural role that (e.g.) subreddits alone can't. Plus, the software (minus some of the ranking algorithms) is out there already for anyone to use.
Stack Exchange is an interesting example. they have a complex nomination and incubation system in place to figure out what sub sites to add. this ensures that they only sites when is a proven community to jump in.
They have a very mature software stack that relies on a complex point system to automate curation. HN is much more of a one-man show
