Yeah really. Associates' enthusiasm (or lack thereof) has a huge influence on how well your interaction with a VC firm goes.

And 'access' isn't the only value from a call like this. I got very lucky and it turns out that Vinny knew a lot about the space I'm in. So he laid out what Menlo thinks are the two big strategic questions. If I have good answers for those, they'll be a lot more interested (and y'know what, so will other VCs). We even had time for me to try out potential answers to the questions, and get some quick calibration whether or not I was on the right path. Hugely hugely valuable.