I think saying it influenced his approach is overstatement. He’s just using them as an analogy for something he already believed.
Yes, it is important.
It is also generic Silicon Valley advice, of which there is no evidence that anyone can actually do it successfully ahead of starting a business, nor do we know how valuable it actually is.
Are the SV darlings flailing because the founders were unable to "find good partners", or did the businesses suck?
Because searching is looking for something in an algorithmic way?