The paragraph right above that sentence: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.
I find it interesting, and the story gratifies my intellectual curiosity beyond belief. Also remember that hackers are typically young and a large part of their psyche can be defined by that monumental event happened almost 10 years ago. Hey, if you look carefully you might find startup opportunities out of understanding of this significant development.