Once only for the superrich, angel investing is now open to anyone with a few thousand dollars.
With an estimated 360,000 active angel investors, it's become a favorite pastime in Silicon Valley.
"It felt like gambling," David Spreng, a veteran venture-debt investor who's been angel investing as a side hustle for more than a decade, said.
He wrote his first angel check shortly thereafter, a $1,000 investment in an electric-aircraft maker.
The currency of Silicon Valley"Your currency, for lack of a better term, in Silicon Valley is you either started a company or you angel invest, right?"