All these negatives are true, but I think network hiring endures because it minimizes the risk that you make a completely mismatched, square-peg-for-round-hole,

All these negatives are true, but I think network hiring endures because it minimizes the risk that you make a completely mismatched, square-peg-for-round-hole, going-down-in-flames hire. Or at least, the perceived risk. There is this paranoia in the Valley about outsiders ruining everything (also manifests itself in a pathological fear of MBAs or PMs, or criticism of "company culture") that leads to this kind of risk-averse decision making IMO.