RAM SHIRAM, the first investor in Google, got a 9,300 times return on his initial investment of $200,000 when the company floated in 2004, a Dublin conference on angel investing heard this week.

Mr Shiram became a billionaire as a result of getting in on the ground floor but Nelson Gray, a Scottish investor who was named European angel investor of the year in 2008, said he was not sure how many people would have backed the fledgling firm at the time. “Google’s original business plan was not a global search engine – it was something to help people find library books,” said Mr Gray.

Close to 100 private investors attended the Halo Business Angel Network event to hear advice on investing in start-ups.

Norah Casey, owner of magazine publisher Harmonia and Dragons’ Den panellist, said she began angel investing to diversify from publishing. She said she made six investments during the current run of Dragons’ Den, most of which were in the online space.

Angel investors generally take a more hands-on approach than venture capitalists and have experience of the sector in which they are investing.

Sean Baker, co-founder of Iona Technologies who has backed a number of start-ups, said: “You are not looking for a situation where you know more than the founders – if that’s the case then the team is too weak.”

All of the angels said they invest in the people behind an idea rather than the technology.

Mr Gray admitted he had a number of “prejudices” in selecting investments. These include not competing for deals with other investors, only investing in people that excite him, and never backing husband and wife teams. “You just end up having to fire the husband,” he deadpanned.