I hear a lot of funny things about other VCs. This one doesn't really do early stage, that one doesn't really get consumer. It usually stems from entrepreneurs who have been passed up on. Often times, I've literally just closed on an early stage opportunity with that VC--so I'm quite sure they go early.
Beware of the intel you get on VCs from other startups. They'll often gloss over their own miscues and blame the investor.
What I never hear is "I failed to demonstrate product's value proposition." No entrepreneur has ever said to me "I totally see why every VC I pitch thinks my market is too small."
In fact, rarely do I ever find that founders are taking anything to heart from the feedback they're getting from experienced investors. Very quickly they go from retweeting every last but of drool that an investor advises to "Yeah, VCs are morons and if they knew anything, they'd be founders."
If you're not adjusting your pitch as you go through fundraising, it's you that doesn't get it--not the VCs. If I keep asking questions about your market, don't answer with feature ideas. Tell me who will buy this product, why it makes sense for them at that price point and how many customers are out there like that.
VCs are often wrong, maybe even most of the time, but it's a slippery slope to dismiss everyone who says no as "wrong". It's much more productive--and instructive--to think of them as uninformed or unconvinced. This way, the burden falls upon the entrepreneur to get them over the hump.
A founder's job is to convey a clear value proposition and a clear strategy for creating enterprise value. If the people who you pitch don't get it, either you've failed to communicate or you haven't done enough homework to show convincing proof. Yes, a VC needs to take a leap, but we're not going to leap into anything where the founder hasn't even a clue about his or her competitor's revenues--or the five other companies doing the same thing.
It's super easy to drink your own Kool Aid without putting yourself in an investor's shoes. They may not know the market like you do, nor have they experienced the pain point like you have. How can you convince them with sound logic, relevant facts, and firsthand research?