"Some of Hoffman's clients employ him to meet people they need to know but have no obvious way to reach. "I know the Valley's business culture, but I didn't know its political landscape," confesses Michael Howse, a 20-year Silicon Valley veteran whose company, PacketHop, makes secure wireless networks for first responders such as EMTs and police and fire departments. Two years ago Howse hired Hoffman to help him make contacts at the Department of Homeland Security. Howse met local, state, and federal officials, including outgoing FCC chairman Michael Powell. And Hoffman helped Howse describe PacketHop's intricate technology in a way that, well, even politicians could grasp. "Auren's definitely Mr. Connection," notes Howse, who credits Hoffman with helping sew up contracts.

Hoffman puts a client within reach of dinner with President Bush, lunch with Google CEO Eric Schmidt, or cocktails with top venture capitalists. As the ultimate yenta, Hoffman hosts luncheons where policy wonks and business types converge. "I'm not sure I'll do business with everyone Auren introduces me to," says Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and now a managing partner at Clarium Capital Management, a hedge fund and private-equity firm in San Francisco. "But then again, you never know from where or whom the next big idea is going to come."