How Angels’ Growing Influence Affects Venture Capital

Angels – venture capitalists can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.

On one hand, angel investors are increasingly sparking tension in the venture industry. They’re sparring with VCs on blogs and conference panels over the value they offer entrepreneurs, while battling with them behind the scenes for access to the hottest start-ups. In some cases, well-connected angels are banding together to form large pools of capital, blurring the line between them and VCs.

On the other hand, these two sets of investors feed off each other. Angels need cash-rich venture capitalists to do the heavy lifting once their companies begin to mature. And venture capitalists lean on angels to take some of the risk out of newly formed start-ups, while also co-investing with them in seed deals.

Earlier this week, five venture capitalists in New York gathered at law firm Cooley LLP’s office to in part discuss this phenomenon, which exists mostly in capital-light sectors such as Internet and software.

By Scott Austin

Full Story: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2010/09/19/discussion-how-angels-growing-influence-affects-venture-capital/?mod=rss_WSJBlog&mod=venturecapital