Brett Taylor digging in volcanoes

That reaction is the exception to a rule. Sarah Guo, who runs the venture firm Conviction, rates people on a one to ten scale and can land on an eight or a nine after a single meeting. The number only becomes real once the bet makes sense to her. Can you really be an eight or a nine if you don't get it? No.

Judgment is the reason. Part of what makes a founder great is making repeatedly correct decisions, including at times when the investor is wrong, and an opinion about someone's judgment requires understanding what they are doing. That makes backing anyone with no grounded intuition for the bet itself a problem.

He wouldn't do that, though. Taylor's business is enterprise AI, and that makes sense to her.