As the VC pointed out, the key here is the two-months-old date.
But not exactly for the reason he stated. It is not that he isn't the first, so he's got thin skin or wants only founders who thought he was the best/first VC to approach (and smart founders might not take their first shot with their most favored VC as they'd want to hone their pitch with less-critical candidate VCs).
The reasoning here is more likely that "other smart money has looked at this deal and passed", so he can leverage the efforts of these other unseen VCs who passed. This could be written off as lazy/cowardly 'herd mentality', but it is a real signal.
It's also true that by definition, if there's a unique opportunity here, he's also missing it by grouping himself with the other VCs. But that is a negative-space signal, and the question is whether it's more likely determinative than the signal that "yeah, they also passed".
But not exactly for the reason he stated. It is not that he isn't the first, so he's got thin skin or wants only founders who thought he was the best/first VC to approach (and smart founders might not take their first shot with their most favored VC as they'd want to hone their pitch with less-critical candidate VCs).
The reasoning here is more likely that "other smart money has looked at this deal and passed", so he can leverage the efforts of these other unseen VCs who passed. This could be written off as lazy/cowardly 'herd mentality', but it is a real signal.
It's also true that by definition, if there's a unique opportunity here, he's also missing it by grouping himself with the other VCs. But that is a negative-space signal, and the question is whether it's more likely determinative than the signal that "yeah, they also passed".