An angel investor is an individual investing their own money, generally in early-stages in startup companies. They often will have prior business experience either doing startups of their own or as entrepreneurs, business executives, or maybe service providers in some industries. They have significant net worth, enough that they can put some money at risk.
Sometimes angel investments don’t always work out and it’s highly risky activity to do.
In order to build a significant company, capital is one of the resources that is required.
Talent is important.
A vision is important.
A pathway and understanding of what you’re going to have to do to execute is required.
Capital is also an important resource and angel investors are basically the second line of capital that one might go to for investment in a startup company. Friends and family are the first to invest, mostly because they care about you and love you. They want you to succeed and they want to believe in what you believe.
Angel investors don’t have that.
They don’t have to invest for those reasons.
They’re driven by the financial returns as well as the relationship they’ll have with you as a founder. Angel investors typically have a lot of experience so they’re not just writing a check. They are bringing expertise and knowledge to the table that will be helpful to the entrepreneur in building the company.