I don't quite get the conflict of interest. It's his personal site and should be able to do as he wants. This forum has a completely different approach and culture that it shouldn't and doesn't have anything to do with Alex's site. Personally, I don't give a shit if he wants to try and make money from his site (though I think he's going about it the wrong way).
All that aside, I'd like to say that if I was just surfing along and came across his site, I wouldn't be too impressed. It does nothing to make me want to browse through it all. It doesn't pop like the old one. The layout screams of too much open space and knowing his skills, he could do much better with utilizing it. If I were a potential employer looking at his site for the first time and being forced to pay to see the details of his process, etc. I'd be yawning and moving on to another client. Personally, if he wants to make some cash from visitors, I'd suggest selling marketable items like t-shirts, books, and online games.