In every one of these funding scenarios there is one common element. The human.

Human relationships are virtually the only way that the deal gets in front of the right people and gets taken seriously in all cases. The human mind has to be sharp, focused, well versed in many subjects, and well aware of the rest of the startup ecosystem to fully comprehend and evaluate the opportunity at hand. The human doing the pitching has to bring their A-game to the pitch and be a social, likable, good presenter in order to convince the other humans to fund the idea.

This is Silicon Valley’s dirty secret. Despite the claim that “Software is eating the world” — Startup investing is still as notoriously relationship and location driven as it was 20 years ago. The valley wants everything to be automated, AI driven, efficient and meritorious, except our own process of investing in startups. Whether venture capital, accelerator, traditional angel money, or online angel money, the ability to get funded is only partly about how good your idea is, it is largely about who you know and how well you present. This is the problem.

What is the solution? Automated early stage investing.

Automated investing is not a new idea. Blackbox trading has been happening in markets for a long time and has been wildly successful. If you haven’t read the $13 Billion Mystery Angels article, it is worth reading. When blackbox trading was first suggested, humans said “no way a computer can do this job!” and they were wrong. Sentiment analysis allowed computers to start interacting with markets based on human moods and feelings.

Similarly if you say that there is no way a computer can source, evaluate and make an early stage venture capital investment, you are wrong. Not only can it do the job, I believe it can do the job better. Advances in machine learning combined with the availability of massive data sets have set the stage for computerized early stage investing.

A computer can do a better job of evaluating a market than a human.

A computer can do a better job at evaluating a business idea than a human.

A computer can do a better job at evaluating team dynamics than a human.

A computer can do a better job at being impartial than a human.

A computer doesn’t worry about social capital.

A computer doesn’t worry about its next fund.

Silicon Valley has a dirty secret and that secret is that it is still the most human (and thus relationship driven) asset class on the planet. The irony is that most venture funds are actively funding automation and reducing the need for humans in many roles of society. They just aren’t funding themselves out of a job, yet.

Someday venture capital will be a fully automated system where startups are found, vetted and funded by machines. Some venture capitalist will realize this inevitability and fund that vision. That particular venture capitalist will buy a matching set of Gulfstreams and be held up as an oracle. In that world LP’s will pick algorithms instead of people… Until the LP’s are replaced by machines that is.

READ NEXT: Silicon Valley’s Dirty Secret (Part II)