The best angel investors are really "mentor capitalists" at heart, investing capital for not just a financial return, but the opportunity to share their experience and networks. They are driven to do whatever it takes: fixing the product bugs, changing market strategy, dedicating themselves to getting the company off the ground, investors, advisors and/or board members.

The entrepreneur's relationship to such people must be based on openness and honesty: sharing the good, the bad and the ugly. Often entrepreneurs fall in love with their ideas and cannot answer the famous "So what" questions: what is the value proposition?  Who make customer decisions? Who pays and why? The entrepreneur has to articulate clearly why there is a large market that has to have this new products now. Proactive investors, advisors and board members can help answer these questions.

Often the right people for these relationships are industry veterans who have built a business in the entrepreneur's industry from the ground up, and have known failure as well as success. As "business architects", they can teach the intricacies of market strategy and finance. They often seek both stock for their "sweat equity" and preferred stock for own cash investment.  This aligns them with founders and other common shareholders.  Properly recruited they can be one of the biggest factors in a business's success.