Angel investing: Angel investors are becoming a bit less cautious, too. These investors—high net worth individuals who help fund startups in exchange for a percentage of the company down the road—provided $8.9 billion in the first half of 2011, up nearly 5 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the University of New Hampshire Center for Venture Research. The $8.9 billion went to 26,300 startups, for an average investment of $338,400.

“I don’t see any big run-up in dollars in 2012. If we see a flat market or a 5 percent growth rate, that would be reasonable,” says Jeffrey Sohl, director of the Center for Venture Research. Angel investors “are still doing deals, they are just doing deals at a smaller amount.”