I'm still reading it, but I think you've summed up his position on this question well. He goes out of his way to describe the networking he's promoting as a pro

I'm still reading it, but I think you've summed up his position on this question well. He goes out of his way to describe the networking he's promoting as a pro-social, as opposed to a manipulative, activity. His least social descriptions of relationships that I heard (which are still very social) are an asset that grows as you exercise it, something where you don't keep score, and something that is absolutely not a zero-sum game.