Quick back of the envelope: let's define angel as someone who can write 10, $25k checks a year. Let's say they have a yearly lifestyle expense of $250k, so they need to make $500k/year off their wealth. Then, assume they make between 4-8%/year on their investments. so that's $6-12M in the bank.

To be an SEC accredited investor, you have to be making 200-300k in the last two years, or a net worth of > $1M.

I initially wrote that as "angel", but then changed it to "true angel" to distinguish those who might make a small investment once or twice to friends or family from those who can handle their investments a little more seriously. Or, put another way: as a founder, I feel less bad taking their money because it's not a major component of their net worth (at that point they shouldn't be investing in the first place, but yeah).

What are the conditions for angel investments? I remember reading that some Sun guy saw a Google demo and immediately cut them a check for 100k. Does anybody know what the conditions were?