I agree with your points. Regarding the last one, I meant more the case of technical people, that never had a mentor. There are a lot of people like that in SV that are doing great. But I certainly concur that for getting funding, you do need connections, difficult or impossible without them.

As I said before, I'm not saying anything is perfect, and there are plenty of flaws. I would say that more flaws exist in getting funded than in having a successful career - which is most people in tech in SV.