If it even has the potential to turn a profit, then he should foot the cost of the risk, not the interns.
To put it in terms of the startup culture of hacker news:
This is like asking entrepreneurs to work on your startup for free because there is a huge chance that the startup will be unprofitable.
However in the chance that it does become profitable, then you will not be paid in any way, and the only thing you will get out of it is a resume booster and a "chance" to work as a regular salaried employee.
> If it even has the potential to turn a profit, then he should foot the cost of the risk, not the interns.
Do you think he's not paying a bunch of money to make a project like this happen -- even if he doesn't have to pay all of his workers initially? If the difference between "intern" and "minimum wage" is the difference between the project happening and the project not happening, I still don't see how it's so terrible to let him try when the would-be interns think it's worth their time.
To put it in terms of the startup culture of hacker news:
This is like asking entrepreneurs to work on your startup for free because there is a huge chance that the startup will be unprofitable.
However in the chance that it does become profitable, then you will not be paid in any way, and the only thing you will get out of it is a resume booster and a "chance" to work as a regular salaried employee.
See how silly this reasoning is now?