Yea, but everyone thinks they have an "amazing idea". That just comes with the territory of being an entrepreneur. If you can't get out there and convince others of your idea (via intros, YC, products, whatever...), then you'll most likely have trouble executing on even the best idea.
He was talking about how they (VCs) are not in the business of vetting ideas - but pursuing sure things. Yet all the rhetoric around the VC industry says otherwise.
It really just boils down to, networking your way into a strong personal introduction is a trivial task compared with one hundred other far more challenging aspects of launching a successful startup, and every VC in the world knows this and uses it as a filter, because it's true and it works, so there's absolutely no reason they would or should deviate from this logic.
Isn't this the exact business that VCs are in? Identifying amazing offers?
You make the claim as if VCs are not in the business of looking for amazing deals, vs everyone else who is in infinite other businesses...
Yeah, there is the rule that intros are best - but still, why try to architect vision and innovation out of the VC market?