angel investor

Web startups are now so cheap to build out and can fail so quickly that very early stage funding, when angel investors tend to participate, has risen in prominence. Venture capital, which usually enters at a later stage, is playing a shrinking role.

The purchase of investment blog Abnormal Returns by Twitter-like Stocktwits may signal a new trend in online finance: It's called the real-time Web. Investors can get an instant snapshot of the sentiment of other investing pros by joining an immediate and constant online conversion.

Raising money for causes or friends in need is nothing new. This basic idea has existed practically forever in the offline world, with fundraising drives, bowl-a-thons and charity dinners. But with the rise of social networks, our "friend-base" has grown from our co-workers and neighbors to an...