I pitched Niko (he passed for now, too early) -- and this interview does capture his style pretty well. My cofounder and I found him very smart, but also personable and genuinely interested in what the startup is doing. He asked good questions.

As for the '2 Underrated Success Factors' -- I think when Niko calls it 'timing,' you wouldn't be wrong to call it 'luck' (he hedges a bit in the interview). Any mental model for startup success that doesn't incorporate a huge dollop of luck is probably overfitting. But that's my two cents, not the article or Bonatsos's.