There's no one right answer. At the end of the day it is about perspective. Specifically, Scott Adams' father was loan officer at a bank. Banks are fairly conservative when it comes to giving loans. They want to see business plans and analyze hard numbers before they commit money to entrepreneurs. So when amateurs come to them asking for funding for an idea because "it is their passion," of course the bank turns them down, for passion alone is insufficient AND it has the risk of blinding someone to the reality of how commercially viable the idea really is.

On the other hand, all other things being equal, someone being passionate about basket weaving is more likely to make a successful business out of it than someone who is in it just for the money. Passion can be a nearly bottomless source of motivation, which helps people stick it out when things get rough. After all, starting and running a business is like a roller-coaster ride: one needs to endure the lows to enjoy the highs.

I think that could be a successful formula for co-founding teams: you need one person who is deeply passionate about the topic and another whose main strength is figuring out how to monetize it. That's how Apple became successful.