Although it sounds reasonable, I'm not sure whether this way of contacts/pedigree is needed everywhere. For example in (continental) Europe people are treated more equally, probably because majority of good universities are public.
The public universities in the U.S. are quite good as well. It's not about quality of education.
When a society is expanding, pre-existing social class matters little, because the focus is on the future rather than the past. When it's stagnant or contracting, like Silicon Valley, you see the importance of pedigree start to grow rapidly.
