Then you aren't getting the concept.

This isn't equity funding for a business idea. It's basically buying a claim on a bank in receivership. It doesn't matter if that claim is held by nextbigthing.com or Apple. Those claims are backed by SVB's portfolio of T-bonds and MBS so they are very solid. The benefit to users is acceleration of receipt and certainty. It's hardly a lark.

The OP was planning to target this offering to startups, which are only fraction of SVB's depositor base.

Someone saw their community in distress and thought to use their connections to put together a solution, for a modest profit. Sounds fine to me.