We're probably moving in to near tautological territory, here. If your venture doesn't depend in genuinely novel technology with significant R&D investment, then... its success probably depends on fundraising, marketing, and luck. All of which don't require industrial or scientific expertise.
Plenty of examples exist such as Uber, Basecamp, etc. Although the success of these ventures is dependent on fundraising and marketing, these are certainly not the only factors and these factors apply to research-heavy startups as well.
Sounds like they're including evaluation by VC-types, not just industrial or scientific expertise. Point being that R&D intensive work is more predictable in general, and VC predictive ability may be overstated.