It's more of a disconnect of languages between business-ese and face-value English. The problem is when one is mistaken for the other. If you're trying to hire

It's more of a disconnect of languages between business-ese and face-value English. The problem is when one is mistaken for the other. If you're trying to hire a hacker and he says, "I'm really interested in your project, but I'm not ready to make a commitment right now", he's indicating genuine interest in your startup, and you might be able to get a "yes" from him in 2 months if his personal situation changes. If a VC says this, it means "no".