Well obviously not meeting softcap kills most projects because its basically a statement that something went wrong somewhere as it means they didnt get financial viability, but it doesnt always mean a problem with the project sometimes its just not enough advertising or a failure to draw enough attention i've seen that happen a number of times.
Am in total agreement with your idea, in fact the inability to meet up with the soft cap shows that the team were unable to efficiently publicise the project and as such many potential investors are unaware of its existence.