Curious if you can expand on the associates bit for when you dont have an in with an associate.

Its always seemed that (generally speaking) most VCs with associates say you should talk to associates, and those seen as more “founder friendly” (i.e YC partners) or with no associates themselves say don’t waste your time.

Also, if you get an intro to a partner and get pushed to an associate how do you handle it? Should you still take the meeting? Seems like that’s a pretty strong negative initial signal but you don’t want to burn bridges either.