Institutional screening criteria systematically exclude the highest-performing segment of the venture capital manager universe, at a cost of approximately $72 million in foregone IRR-driven value per $100 million allocation. This paper quantifies that cost, examines the career-risk dynamics that sustain it, and provides three questions allocators can bring to their next IC meeting. The accompanying Opportunity Cost Calculator lets allocators estimate what their own EM underweighting may be costing, using institution-specific parameters applied against empirical spreads from 2,471 U.S. venture capital funds.