Wrong, perhaps, but a necessary wrong. Smart people that you know are perhaps the most effective filter to gauge purportedly smart people you don't know. Whil

Wrong, perhaps, but a necessary wrong. Smart people that you know are perhaps the most effective filter to gauge purportedly smart people you don't know. While it would be nice if connections didn't matter, such a world would be infeasible. Thus, you enter the social network on merit: impress someone who is known to be smart, and that's your in. Eventually the line of contact reaches the VC you need to take you seriously.