Yeah, the most successful business people you've never heard of will rarely if ever come out with an explicit denial (the ones you have heard of may also practice non-denial generally, but are playing by somewhat different rules).
Saying "no" makes people really mad. People remember how you made them feel, not necessarily what you said or did. Thus, it is most important to look after the feelings of the people you contact, even at the cost of saying or doing things disingenuously.
If you make people feel like you're interested in them and their ideas, that's much better than making an enemy who has sworn to prove you wrong. The best way to do this is to make them think you're 100% on board and that you're only being stopped by a technicality or some high-friction process that you're helpless to overcome.
Only a relatively small handful of people will eventually put two and two together and realize that you're intentionally stringing them on; most people prefer to believe the flattering interpretation that the deal is pending, it's just hung up somewhere along the way.
The reluctance of <AVERAGE_PERSON> to misrepresent things for commercial or political convenience only allows those with fewer scruples to rise to the top of the heap.
Saying "no" makes people really mad. People remember how you made them feel, not necessarily what you said or did. Thus, it is most important to look after the feelings of the people you contact, even at the cost of saying or doing things disingenuously.
If you make people feel like you're interested in them and their ideas, that's much better than making an enemy who has sworn to prove you wrong. The best way to do this is to make them think you're 100% on board and that you're only being stopped by a technicality or some high-friction process that you're helpless to overcome.
Only a relatively small handful of people will eventually put two and two together and realize that you're intentionally stringing them on; most people prefer to believe the flattering interpretation that the deal is pending, it's just hung up somewhere along the way.
The reluctance of <AVERAGE_PERSON> to misrepresent things for commercial or political convenience only allows those with fewer scruples to rise to the top of the heap.