Don't believe the hype. VCs pretend you need to work and angle your way into meeting them and it's just a lie in my experience. I (founder of pretty modest start up) get unsolicited emails from VCs literally almost every day - many of whom unironically insist on warm intros themselves.

VCs want you to believe this narrative because it means you start from a much weaker negotiating position and it restricts deal flow to entrenched firms.