Regarding being a Reddit competitor, if they can get the content well seeded and manage to allow unpopular opinions that are substantial then I would gladly switch. HN has done a fairly good job of not allowing downvotes into oblivion because someone disagrees with a popular opinion on the forum. It is not perfect, but better than Reddit. Unfortunately HN is more or less a single topic forum. I can't come here reliably for fishing discussions for example. Likewise, it would be great if Voten can figure out a way to disincentivize comments that are unconstructive or personal attacks but go along with the narrative (another problem I see on Reddit).
So in short, my hope for the founders is that they can attract good users, properly seed content until it takes off, and promote substantial and quality comments regardless of viewpoint. I think they could be a good alternative at a time when Reddit is becoming a victim of its own success.