Marc Andreessen explains why it’s worthwhile to talk to junior VCs when fundraising

So one theory is, and you'll hear this sometimes is, you know, only ever talk to senior partners at the firm. So don't waste any time with the more junior partners, the younger people in the firm, because they can't make the decision, pull the trigger. The counterargument is that the senior partners at these firms make very few decisions from scratch. The senior partners only get to invest in a few companies a year each, and they make very few of those decisions. If they're going to make a decision on their own without any work done by the junior people in the firm, it's probably going to be somebody they've already worked with before. So it's actually really hard from a sort of standing start to get just a straight yes from a senior partner. So the thing that works better and the thing that I would do if I were, you know, 22, 25, again, I think there's a huge advantage to coming in with the junior people and get networked into the firm and spend a lot of time with the junior people, understanding number one, like, how is this going to be received? Because they, you know, they can read the minds of the senior partners, they can tell you how these things are going to get received and they can help you. And then also, you know, we frankly, the senior partners at a firm like ours look to the younger people a lot of like, okay, look what's interesting. And we count on the younger people to stay very connected, especially to the first time founders. And so I really encourage people to actually take the younger people in these firms seriously.