I have a similar background to OP and according to their definition, I'm not an angel investor either. But I think most "angel investors" these days operate like so:
1. I made a bunch of money at Unicorn X
2. All my friends from Unicorn X/classmates from Stanford/batchmates from YC are starting new companies
3. I write them a $10k check because I'm their friend
I don't think many of these people see these checks as return-generating but rather as a way to support friends, pay it forward, etc. Money is so easy to get these days, especially at the pre-seed level, that the highest-quality companies are not even running a formal process but instead just hitting up their network.
1. I made a bunch of money at Unicorn X
2. All my friends from Unicorn X/classmates from Stanford/batchmates from YC are starting new companies
3. I write them a $10k check because I'm their friend
I don't think many of these people see these checks as return-generating but rather as a way to support friends, pay it forward, etc. Money is so easy to get these days, especially at the pre-seed level, that the highest-quality companies are not even running a formal process but instead just hitting up their network.