It’s hard to say exactly what it is about face-to-face contact that makes deals happen, but whatever it is, it hasn’t yet been duplicated by technology.

Graham is pointing to an enduring asymmetry between in-person and mediated communication: even when technology transmits information efficiently, it often fails to reproduce the trust-building, rapid feedback, and subtle social cues that make agreement and commitment easier. The quote suggests that “deals” are not purely rational exchanges of terms; they depend on rapport, credibility, and a shared sense of seriousness that face-to-face meetings can accelerate. Implicitly, it also cautions founders and investors against overestimating remote tools for high-stakes negotiation, while acknowledging that the mechanism is partly tacit—felt in outcomes more than easily explained.