I've experienced this firsthand (last startup I worked for did the angel cartel thing). Don't get your hopes up.
These angel cartels work in phases -- you start with a big pool of hopefuls, then if they "like" you, they start to require that you give more presentations, and attend more parties and whatnot. At each phase, the time investments get larger and larger, and ultimately, you have to put in a lot of effort for a relatively small amount of money.
Meanwhile, you'll find that you're competing with "startups" that aren't startups, or that are in completely different fields (some of the top-rated presentations at our sessions were for real-estate investors!) Very few people get funded by these things, relative to the starting pool, and those that do get funded tend to be "startups" that have relatively conventional business models (like the aforementioned real-estate people).
My impression is that angel cartels are gathering places for modestly rich people who want to get their feet wet in angel investing. Given that you really want your first investors to be experienced and helpful, these things probably aren't a good match for an early-phase tech company.
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These angel cartels work in phases -- you start with a big pool of hopefuls, then if they "like" you, they start to require that you give more presentations, and attend more parties and whatnot. At each phase, the time investments get larger and larger, and ultimately, you have to put in a lot of effort for a relatively small amount of money.
Meanwhile, you'll find that you're competing with "startups" that aren't startups, or that are in completely different fields (some of the top-rated presentations at our sessions were for real-estate investors!) Very few people get funded by these things, relative to the starting pool, and those that do get funded tend to be "startups" that have relatively conventional business models (like the aforementioned real-estate people).
My impression is that angel cartels are gathering places for modestly rich people who want to get their feet wet in angel investing. Given that you really want your first investors to be experienced and helpful, these things probably aren't a good match for an early-phase tech company.