In my experience, people undervalue community and trust. What this article is describing is not that different than what my parents’ diaspora did when they immigrated to the US via chain migration. They had a tight knit community in the origin country, but were not wealthy.

What they did have was trust. So if a new immigrant got a visa call, and they came to the US, people in the community, distant cousins, close cousins, friends of friends would not hesitate to send $2k, $5k, $100, whatever they could to help them get their business started. Today, the same people send each other $100k+ to close deals without hesitation.

Obviously, no bank is going to lend to a no name immigrant. And they were not going to get fancy white collar jobs or even government jobs with broken English and no US degree.

I see the people in the article doing sort of the same. They are taking advantage of the trust between each other. Why let a bank or other investor take extra if you already have the inside scoop that this person is likely not a fraudster and has good work ethics?

This is extremely overly cynical. The angel investors I know grew up in lower social strata, were extremely passionate about computer science and very dedicated to both careers and friends. Their angel investing goes towards social good like businesses working on fresh drinking water.

The ones I know at least feel incredibly fortunate and lucky, know that the world is terribly unfair and that they essentially won the lottery. They put a lot of time and energy into helping others and now that they're comfortable they are making sure they're working on impactful projects.

The wealthy didn’t become wealthy by making the same micro everyday trade offs others did. I’m not saying they are not talented, they are, just that they some times take roads commoners wouldn’t want to. In any case, the rich just don’t use other people - they get used up too. That’s why capitalism is great, and how it works for more people than it appears.

A less cynical way of looking at it is that they are waking up to the goodness of sharing their wealth, carefully?

If you go out for drinks with a friend and you buy that friend a $7 beer, are you "buying friendship"? What about when they buy a round? The question to think about is how much is $10k worth to you? If you've already got money stuffed into index funds, 401k, Roth, along with some off the wall investments, and you've got your ears open for something that might beat the market in 10 years, an angel investment opportunity for $10k really isn't that much money.

It's a different financial strata than most live in these days, but to think of it as purchasing friendship is to misunderstand just how rich some people are, and how the bubble they live in operates.