[onebot]

I would say that absolute best predictor of getting a meeting is strong introductions. I hate to say this, but you'll have an easier time with a strong network.

A trusted introduction can even overcome a bad deck in some cases. But there should be no reason to have a bad deck now-a-days as there is ample reference and knowledge share.

First-time founders: Please don't pay for access. Services like this, in my opinion, are dubious at best. Work on building a network, blogging, open source, meeting other founders, going to VC events, tapping your alumni network, etc.

[viklove]

Best advice is just to be born wealthy so you can use your parents "connections," and then go to a top-tier business school to make more "connections." The startup scene is so boring because there's no diversity of thought when everyone comes from the same basic background.

[danenania]

In tech, my experience is that founders with a business school background are a fairly small minority. The most common ways to bootstrap connections are getting into an accelerator or working at a VC-backed startup.