This article is for people on the other side of the table who send you emails and are looking for help. Think of a company who does not follow up after getting a positive response from you.
One thing that's interesting about startups though is that it's not always clear which side of the table is which. A lot of the intros that I end up dropping are with folks from companies that are more important than us. (That's actually really common since they've have dedicated BD people whose job is basically opportunistic networking.)
That said, you're right -- if you contact someone out of the blue higher up in the food-chain than you are, then the onus is on you to follow-through.
