In 1997, the group heard pitches from 26 companies and invested a total of $3.4 million in 11 deals, for an average investment of about $300,000. In the first half of 1998, $1.6 million was invested in seven companies, with deals ranging from $50,000 to $750,000, according to May.

In January, May will start convening another monthly group, The Dinner Club. Fifty or so angels will put in $80,000 each and the group will jointly invest in local companies after voting on which to accept and which to pass up. "We're harnessing the power of angels," says May, by bringing them together. He calls his group "angels with a small a" and the Capital Investors "big-A" angels. There's plenty of room for both.

"If these two things are proactive, you'll be able to say X number of deals received home-grown money, X of them have sophisticated board members and you'll rapidly increase the number of these emerging growth companies," May says. "And it will take them less long to mature."

Early one November morning at the Tower Club in Vienna, May's group heard a pitch from Blueprint Technologies of McLean. The group meets at 7:30 a.m. for coffee, pastries and networking, hears from two or three entrepreneurs, discusses them after the presenters are sent out of the room. Then everyone stands up and chats some more until 10:30 a.m.

Jeanne O'Kelly and Jon Hopkins from Blueprint were looking for $3 million. This was not their first angel experience. They knew that even if no one invested in the company that day, somebody might mention Blueprint to a friend or remember them at another pitch session somewhere else.

Network of Networks

It can also be a lot of work for nothing. "You can be a hamster on a wheel," says O'Kelley, the firm's vice president. And it's not always a home run on the angel's side, either. About one-third of the time, angels either entirely lose their investment or get a savings-account-level kind of return after eight years, said angel expert Benjamin, who has written a book called "Finding Your Wings: How to Locate Private Investors to Fund Your Venture."

To get in front of angels, entrepreneurs generally have got to know somebody. Cyveillance's Thomas was invited to make a presentation to the Capital Investors because his lawyer, Ernest Stern of Piper & Marbury LLP in Washington, introduced him to Phil Herget of Columbia Capital of Alexandria, who in turn introduced him to his colleague Mark Warner, one of the super-angels.

Making Connections

Then, there's the pitch. To any entrepreneur, the several-minute speech touting their company is a stressful experience. This is even more so, standing in front of the "big-A" angels, one of whom is likely to be a world expert on the technology the entrepreneur is presenting. At least one presenter to the Capital Investors was pelted in the head with a dinner roll in mid-speech by one of the angels, according to several of the members.

A few weeks after a preliminary meeting with Warner, Capital Investor member David Gladstone, the vice chairman of American Capital Strategies, called Thomas and said members of the group would like to talk to him three days later at their monthly meeting, this one at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner. Thomas remembers being nervous, but he'd had experience speaking before crowds before. They told him he'd have 15 minutes and not to bring any props.

Thomas arrived at the hotel lobby at his appointed time. While he was waiting, the second presenter, Susan Williams DeFife, chief executive of Womenconnect.com, walked in and sat down next to him. About 45 minutes later, Warner appeared and brought Thomas into a private dining room where the group had been eating dinner. Thomas remembers Gladstone saying to him: "Don't introduce yourself. You have 5 minutes. Just start talking."

He began his story. One minute into it they started asking questions, Thomas said. Thomas was told not to leave a business plan with the angels but he did anyway, just a one-page description.

Funding Begins

"We went from nothing – no interest, no love – to lots of love," he said. "Having them as investors validates who we are."

A few months later, Thomas got invited back for a progress report to the group. He was allowed to eat dinner with them this time.

Anybody Thomas wants to meet, any company's door he wants to get his foot in, the angels will try to help, they told him. "We've made many of the same mistakes the entrepreneurs have made or will make," Warner said. "We've got the scars to prove it."