I want to say something snarky about bombarding a company with electrons to ionize it, but it's actually a pretty good metaphor.
I think the "help them" bit is good, too, and something a lot of VC's don't seem to be that good at.
I look forward to the day I meet a VC good at helping a company. I think, most of them are good at motivating founders by creating economics that displease the founder if they don't perform, but that's more of a stick than a carrot. I'd love to meet and hear about a VC truly focused on the carrot side of things.
One way in which such help materializes is in the form of a board, and the quality of that board can make a huge difference. It could even be a net negative.