I doubt YC would be interested in this, and there's no reason to tie such a venture to one news site, like HN. However, the JOBS act will allow for many crowd-funding ventures to get started, and SecondMarket, WeFunder and maybe Kickstarter will join in.
Any company that does this will need to take various safeguards to prevent fraud or unqualified people from raising money. KickStarter and LendingClub seem to have been doing OK managing related issues, but it will be harder with actual investments.
It will also be interesting if crowd-funding expands to crowd-companies, so people also contribute to a startup like they contribute now to open-source software. You will probably still need a core team of people committed full-time to the venture.
Any company that does this will need to take various safeguards to prevent fraud or unqualified people from raising money. KickStarter and LendingClub seem to have been doing OK managing related issues, but it will be harder with actual investments.
It will also be interesting if crowd-funding expands to crowd-companies, so people also contribute to a startup like they contribute now to open-source software. You will probably still need a core team of people committed full-time to the venture.