THREAD: So I looked into angel investing (so you don't have to) and this is my personal experience with the #angelinvestor community.

This is not my area of practice, so this is my experience as an investor...

(1) You generally have to qualify to be an investor. As part of the investment process you universally have to attest that this is fun moneys and you don't need for like 10 years and in fact don't need it ever because you'll probs never get it back.

So from the jump these are not traditional "investments", they are not part of a balanced portfolio and should be thought of as like a gambling allocation for a trip to Vegas or buying lotto tickets. You could win, but it's more for the fun along the way.

(2) It's actually NOT that fun along the way. If you invested in consumer products sometimes they'll do like kickstarter-type bonuses or discounts, but in general, it's like an e-mail once a quarter or even less frequently...

(3) The minimums. Most of the minimums for real angel investment funds with good terms is $25,000 or higher. ($50,000 seems more common.)

There are a few exceptions:
AngelList often has $1,000-$3,000 minimums.