She and her cofounder were already in an an industry niche before then as graphics and compression experts, so I'd assume they already had a lot of contacts fro

She and her cofounder were already in an an industry niche before then as graphics and compression experts, so I'd assume they already had a lot of contacts from former co-workers, meetups, conferences, etc. If you're an expert in something and you meet someone in a related corner of the industry to yours, they'll usually be eager to talk about what they're working on and recommend you to their contacts.