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Since January, I have been testing Boardy, an AI-driven matchmaker that connects founders and investors through shared context, goals, and networks. You set your profile, share your interests, and Boardy does the rest. It scans your background, portfolio, and social graph, then recommends introductions it believes will matter. See their coverage on Techcrunch.
In venture, introductions are everything. They build the bridge between conviction and opportunity. I was curious if an algorithm could do what intuition and shared circles have done for years.
Over nine months, I accepted fourteen blind introductions through Boardy. The system handled everything—the outreach, the framing, even a brief background on why the match made sense. The process was efficient. Each connection had a purpose.
Out of the fourteen, one stood out.
We met over Google Meet several times and exchanged SMS and email messages. They attended one of our events, and we met them for brunch there. These meetings revealed aspects that no AI could detect—the tone of voice, pauses, energy, and values that emerge only in person. Since then, I have decided to support that company and plan to remain involved as they grow.
That single connection reminded me why the order still matters:
Connection → Trust → Obligation.
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What Boardy Gets Right
Boardy reduces friction. It filters out noise. It finds alignment faster than human networking ever could. The AI sees patterns—shared experiences, complementary strengths, and common goals—that most of us overlook. The introductions felt intentional, not random.
It made me rethink how technology can improve access. Founders who might never cross paths with a VC in another city can suddenly do so. The system lowers barriers and expands the surface area of opportunity. That is progress.
Technology can spark a connection, but only people can build trust. The layers that matter most are still peeled back over coffee, lunch, and time.
What Still Belongs to Humans
What AI cannot replicate is the slow, human part—the conversations that stretch from coffee to lunch to the next meetup. Those moments are what turn contact into connection. They are where we peel back the layers of the onion.
Each meeting reveals something more profound: how someone thinks, how they react to challenge, how they listen when they are not talking. Over time, those layers create depth. That depth becomes trust.
In a sea of noise, that is what makes for a beautiful onion.
There was a time when we used to go to Outback Steakhouse. They had a dish called the Blooming Onion. It was one onion, cut, spread, and fried into dozens of crispy petals. You pulled it apart one layer at a time. That’s what genuine relationships feel like. Each meeting uncovers a new layer—different texture, more flavor. AI can’t make that. It can only set the table.
Technology can introduce us, but only time and presence build understanding. A video call might cover the headline. A coffee adds texture. A lunch turns it into a relationship. Meetups reinforce it with community. Each setting strips away performance and shows something real.
The Real Metric
The measure of a platform like Boardy is not how many matches it makes, but how many become genuine relationships. My fourteen introductions were valuable, but one led to partnership—and that is the one that mattered.
AI can create the opportunity, but people have to do the work. The meeting still matters. The handshake still means something. The moments between questions still tell you more than any dataset.
The Next Phase of AI
AI will shape how we find people, but it will not change what makes them worth seeing. The next generation of tools must bridge discovery with humanity. The platforms that thrive will not just suggest who to meet; they will encourage how to meet—face to face, one layer at a time.
The real innovation will come from systems that understand connection as a process, not a transaction.
The Flight to Quality, Continued
This week, I wrote about the coming flight to quality in AI-driven platforms. The same principle applies here. Efficiency will always matter, but depth will outlast it.
The future of networking will not belong to those who automate introductions. It will belong to those who take the time to turn them into relationships.
AI can start the conversation. Coffee, lunch, and time will finish it.
xoxo,
Maximillian Diez,
GP, Twenty Five Ventures
P.S. Stay with me on this journey.
If nothing else, thanks for reading.
