I wonder if this applies more for non-technical roles. In my most-recent jobhunt, I applied at a number of startups people here will have heard of using approac

I wonder if this applies more for non-technical roles. In my most-recent jobhunt, I applied at a number of startups people here will have heard of using approach 3, and got a good number of callbacks and some fun interviews. I certainly didn't have to suck up to anyone, do any spec work, or mass spam the founders with unsolicited recommendations.