yes, that can improve the odds, but i've hired people through my network (as a founder and an employee), and good hires (those who add productivity & efficiency

yes, that can improve the odds, but i've hired people through my network (as a founder and an employee), and good hires (those who add productivity & efficiency to the team) still often boils down to the idiosyncracies of the individual human relationships involved. going back to basketball, no team has yet to sign 10x nba all-star carmelo anthony this year, and 8x all-star dwight howard only just signed with the lakers (on an unguaranteed minimum contract) because of a season-ending injury to demarcus cousins. both players are individually very talented, but are reputed to be hard to play with (thus lowering team productivity & efficiency).