Ted Pearlman at Us Is Two (http://usistwo.com) was referred to me by a former business partner. He was scouring North America looking for someone with legitimate CTO instincts to advise a client on an ongoing basis. Their business (health and nutrition) aligned with my interests and their location (two minutes from my house) aligned with the stars. I met the client and they were nice, interesting people with a profitable business. It's been an exceptionally good relationship; fun and lucrative for them and me.
Ted and I became friends and now we work together often. I'm effective at pitching what I do and selling consulting (I started and co-ran Unspace for 8 years) but it's not what I enjoy doing. However, the real reason I'm excited to work with him is that no matter how good I am at keeping my pipeline full, there's no way that it's better than being recommended by a third party who is paying a fee to find someone with my skills.
Ted authored The Pudding Manifesto (http://puddingmanifesto.org/) and in my experience he puts his money where his mouth is. He sends an invoice up front and says, "don't pay this unless the person I introduce to you is as good as I say they are". You'll have to ask him what percentage of people end up paying.
As for developers uncomfortable with comparisons to celebrity culture and folks that complain about average developers getting left behind... this really isn't about any of that, or at least it doesn't have to be. Ted exhausts huge amounts of energy making genuine connections between people, often at his own expense. He's a hustler with a heart of gold, and has his client's best interest in mind far more often than a lot of the folks HN-types are so eager to take investment money from.
If you have any questions that I haven't answered, please feel free to ask. Moreover, I encourage you to set up a time to speak with Ted: http://usistwo.com/contact