Maybe it's much more of a social decision than a business decision.
Early stage investors are gambling even more than late stage investors. The best they can hope for is to find 50 reasonable deals and let the math work itself out.
So the better part of their decision could easily be based much more on what their peer early stage investors think of them. Founders with pedigree are easy to justify and obviously more socially valuable than founders without pedigree (like buying IBM). So being the angel who keeps getting those founders means other investors will look up to you.
And, if things go wrong, nobody can blame an investor for getting into bed with pedigreed founders. It's an obvious decision, so it won't invite ridicule. Since it's obvious, there will be more competition, and that's something the angel doesn't have to rely on luck to win.
Early stage investors are gambling even more than late stage investors. The best they can hope for is to find 50 reasonable deals and let the math work itself out.
So the better part of their decision could easily be based much more on what their peer early stage investors think of them. Founders with pedigree are easy to justify and obviously more socially valuable than founders without pedigree (like buying IBM). So being the angel who keeps getting those founders means other investors will look up to you.
And, if things go wrong, nobody can blame an investor for getting into bed with pedigreed founders. It's an obvious decision, so it won't invite ridicule. Since it's obvious, there will be more competition, and that's something the angel doesn't have to rely on luck to win.