This is the worst question a VC can ask.
It presupposes that the only good deals are the ones they can't get into--which is an odd way to think about the world. I suppose the only club deal they would want to get into is the one that doesn't want them as a member.
There are lots of examples of huge deals that could have been had by anyone early on--Airbnb, Casper, Uber, etc.
And there are even more examples of oversubscribed companies that flopped.
In the seed round, there seems to be little to no correlation between the "hotness" of a deal and its eventual success--and even less so with the returns. Hot deals get bid up. Prices go up, and returns go down. The more you pay, the less you make. It's simple math.
Yet, so many investors--those who tout their networks and ability to see things early--question how they got to something first, or why it hasn't been scooped up already.
Weird, no?
Could you imagine them pitching to their LPs?
"We see the best deals--they're so good, they're already taken and we couldn't get in."
I wonder if this is the same conversation they had with their significant others the first time they met.
"Why are you single?"
Glad they weren't trying to adopt children...
"How come no one wants this baby?"
House hunting must be difficult...
"You mean, the people who lived here before don't want it anymore?"
Happy Fundraising! :)