I would say that reddit *created* it's startup oriented niche to a large degree - Particularly for college and maybe even highschool guys who know computers well but never seriously considered starting a company so soon.

In this regard I think of the early reddit and now n.yc more of as clubs, like the acm club I used to attend, than another news site. What really makes this club great is it's members and what they come here expecting.

Why is the linked news site failing? Right off, the front page design is a show-stopper. I can hardly force myself to get past that.