Investor in Twitter, Digg, Chegg is looking for 'social commerce' and 'big data' companiesWhen Mike Maples came out to Silicon Valley in 2005 - before YouTube, Twitter and Facebook were household names - he set out to fill a void in the investing spectrum - the one between angels and venture firms. Five years later, his firm, Floodgate, is a leading "super angel" or "micro-cap VC" firm helping to fund companies seeking $200,000 to $500,000 on the low end to $1 million at the high end. His firm is also one of the early investors in Twitter with some $25,000 that was re-invested into Twitter in 2007, after Twitter co-founder Evan Williams' company Odeo folded. Mike was originally an investor in the podcasting company. "$500,000 is the new $5 million," said Mike, in ... [ read more]