1) To meet founders - become an early adopter of products you like. Get good at something important (consumer marketing, infrastructure, fundraising, etc.)
2) To meet VCs - share your thoughts on a space, find ways to help their portfolio companies with hiring.
3) Become the default person for X. Ex. Ben Thompson for tech strategy.
4) Find the aggregators in your network. Examples: founders of Product Hunt/LunchClub, conference organizers, podcast operators. They're often more approachable than you think.
5) "Who's the smartest person you know who I should meet?"
6) Everyone's going through a struggle you don't know about. Love people to death.