You know, at first I thought "what a crock" but then, well, it could make sense if you plan on using a forum or something else of that nature profitable. There is nothing worse than watching a potentially good forum languish while it awaits members.
It's hard to get an active membership on a dead forum so it becomes a circular problem. It's a handy way to kick off a forum if you don't have a lot of friends to back you up when you first start out... case in point, WDF. It has the potential to be one of the best forums on the subject but it hasn't reached critical mass yet where it will start growing quickly on its own. However, ian does have a small component of die-hards who refuse to let it slip into obscurity. Some may not be so lucky, you know?