Angel Investor

What Is an Angel Investor?

An angel investor is a wealthy individual who invests their own money in early-stage startups in exchange for equity ownership.

They typically provide:

• Seed funding ($10K – $500K)
• Business expertise
• Industry connections
• Mentorship
• Strategic guidance

👆 By the way, an interesting fact: The term “angel investor” originated from Broadway, where wealthy individuals would save theatrical productions from closing by providing much-needed funding.

Examples of Angel Investors

Let’s look at some famous examples.

Early Tech Angels

• Jeff Bezos – Early investor in Google
• Peter Thiel – First external investor in Facebook
• Paul Graham – Founded Y Combinator

Modern Success Stories

• Kevin O’Leary – Shark Tank investor
• Mark Cuban – Early investor in Uber
• Naval Ravikant – AngelList founder

Angel Investor vs. Venture Capitalist

They’re different breeds of investors.

Angel Investors

• Invest personal money
• Early-stage focus
• Smaller investments ($10K-$500K)
• More hands-on mentoring
• Quicker decisions
• Often former entrepreneurs

Venture Capitalists

• Invest other people’s money
• Later-stage focus
• Larger investments ($1M+)
• Professional management
• Structured process
• Investment professionals