I assume that is because they understand there a lot of different reasons behind no's (bad timing, wrong stage, not excited about the area, ...) so it doesn't automatically mean something is fundamentally wrong with the company.
On the other hand, getting yes is definitely a big signal for others and makes them move much faster.
To me it all felt like a really fast game with a huge pile of deals on the table where everybody is just digging through and looking for something they like - no is here just a default answer and everybody has their own "filters" and premises they are going after.
This is why it really helped us when we focused really narrowly on finding investors who are a good fit for us, that was probably the biggest factor of all.