I've noticed a common trait amongst the most elite venture firms that stay elite: the most senior partners continue to play the ground game.
They do their own research, source companies directly, take prodigious notes, write memos, dive into data rooms. They continue to take last minute flights to win a deal, show up to board meetings on time and prepared, take founder calls at midnight, interact directly with even their smallest LPs. They don't outsource any of the core work.