Inexpert business angels: how even investors with ‘nothing to add’ can add value

Business angels, whose experience or knowledge seems not relevant to their investee businesses, can offer valuable involvement if they engage in ‘soft’ (people-centered) activities, as opposed to ‘hard’ (task-centered) activities. During involvement activities, business angels contribute their own experiences, knowledge, and contacts to their investee businesses. ‘Soft’ involvement activities are people-centered, whereas ‘hard’ activities are task-centered. Investees value soft activities even if the business angel possesses no relevant capital. Soft-hard categorization of involvement activities may be more valuable than active-passive categorization of investors.