Honestly, I'd rather see that instead of the current version which is "Give us your email, and then spam all your contacts, and maybe we'll bump you up on the exclusive early beta list".
Half of these companies think they're launching a cure for cancer delivered via an exclusive nightclub with the "beta signups".
TBH, early adopters have no problem giving their email for these kind of stuff. Even weirder is your conclusion that if you give someone your email he can spam your contacts, which he obviously can't.
He meant sites offering you a free product or a months worth of credit for sending a message to X of your friends if they sign up as well (and if they're smart they get your friends email addresses like that even if they don't sign up)
