perhaps “apply to other teams” was a wink and a nod, you did fine but one guy doesn’t want to work with you, who can say why.
But, I try not to burn any bridges over it. If I got the interview because of a personal connection, I will do whatever I can to maintain that personal connection, regardless of the fact that I got rejected. They might know of something that comes up in a week, or a month, or six months, or they might move on themselves to a different company, or whatever.
And who knows — maybe they did actually tell you the truth, and you just didn’t get enough context in the answer to fully understand why.
But that also doesn’t stop you from continuing to try elsewhere, and take what you can learn from that experience and apply it to your next interview.
Like, who the fuck gets to say you did bad behaviorally, or you don’t fit the culture, over a 3 hour meeting? That’s extremely unfair.
The technical feedback is up for both parties to decide and no one side is right. It was either a fair question, followed with a fair answer.