It's a lot like Ivy League universities. They are under enormous pressure to perform and house the next great research endeavors. Have you ever noticed that Ivy League universities never set strict requirements on admission whereas public universities do. This is because they recognize that many innovative minds would be passed over if they set strict criteria. Einstein, the great genious that he was, made lousy grades and was told by his early teachers that he would never make it in school. In fact he was told he should drop out. Einstein was actually told he did not belong in school. Thats the product of closed mindedness. It was not until Einstein recognized his true passions in life that he became the "genious" that he is considered today. Quite frankly, it takes genious to recognize genious. And traditional VC's don't have this genious. That is why they would set more limits on who they fund.
We are all told how ruthless VC's can be and how they will take your company from you. Michael Moritz of Sequoia capital invested a little over 12 million for a 10% stake in Google. In fact, founders in these leading VC backed firms end up being recognized as the most powerful forces in the companies. This is because the truly revolutionary VC's recognize that they do not have the vision of the founders. They are willing to relinquish some control.
But I guess my point here is the leaders in any field are willing to listen to new ideas from new people because they must, to stay ahead in their game. And that is what they want most of all.
You wont be referred to Sequoia right away, but the point is you meet people through people. It is a gradual process.
As my mother used to tell me: "Thin threads". Sometimes a random introduction can turn into something significant.
No matter what they say, an introduction is the only real shot of success.