Over the past week, I have come across a new phrase. That phrase is angel investor.
I first saw it in the RSS of Wired, on a story about Digg, the community site that many are dubbing the Slashdot killer. I just saw it again in regards to one Aubrey Chernick and his investment in Open Source Media (BTW, that names sounds like it was cocked cooked up by some focus group. I prefer Pajamas Media myself).
I guess angel investor describes some venture capitalist that swoops in from the lofty heights of the Business District and graciously provides a large sum of money to a fledgling venture. One can’t help but wonder if this phrase is a sign of Our Passionate Times or if it is, in fact, a cynical reference to those VC’s from the bygone days of the Dot Com Bubble.
I wonder if angel investors are arranged in 13 choirs as well, with cherub capitalists and seraph investors doling out different amounts of money. Or is it that they have different levels of risk tolerance? And what of the Archangels of Finance? Do these magnificent beings stand 30 feet tall and cleave inflation with their gilded blades?
Nevertheless, it’s an interesting choice of words. I don’t think I’ve seen the last of it either.