[quadrature]

Why would you want to invest in a startup ?, VCs can pull it off because they are playing with a lot of money and can eat the (completely inevitable) losses. It sounds like you only have enough to invest into one startup, thats an incredible amount of risk to take.

[jkarneges]

People also start companies, which is even riskier. Angeling into one startup may be better than never trying anything at all.

[philwelch]

Starting a company is like building an airplane and trying to fly it straight off a cliff. You might crash, it might be a foolish use of your time, and you might die, but you have a lot of control over whether or not that happens.

Investing in a startup, with the bulk of your savings, is like being a passenger on that airplane.

[bbcbasic]

I imagine most start a company without ever investing money they can't afford to lose. Sure a few $1000 but nothing to make them broke. Instead the money comes from 'loseable savings', family gifts, profits, loans or investors.

[quadrature]

Yes but picking between investment opportunities is a bit different than starting a company. If you have enough money to buy a significant chunk in an angel round then you also have enough money to open yourself up to other less risky investment opportunities.

[jkarneges]

Some people like living on the edge. Angels are a certain kind of crazy.

Also high risk -> high reward, right? 10x in 7 years can be game changing.

[ska]

That's lottery style thinking, and will get you the predictable results - almost certainly.

Maybe turning this around will help you see how ineffectual this is:

If you are a naive investor desperate to put all of your small stake into one company and I am an early stage startup, why would I want your money if I can have smart money with a good network instead?

And if I can't have that, if I'm desperate for the investment, well your odds just got much, much worse.