On Tuesday night three of the most prominent angel and seed-stage investors gathered in a boardroom errr, make shift living room, in San Francisco to discuss the state of angel investing today, from recent deals to what it’ll take to lay down a term sheet in the future.

The investors in the spotlight included Aydin Senkut, Founder and President of Felicis Ventures; Jeff Clavier, Softtech VC and Rob Hayes, Partner at First Round Capital – who despite the economy this past year still continue to invest.

In fact, Jeff Clavier delivered two term sheets that day alone. Seems creativity loves constraints; and the tight economy has weeded out the “me-too” entrepreneur wanna-be’s and left a crop of compelling, driven founders standing.

Many thanks to Microsoft Bizspark and Manatt for supporting Dealmaker Media’s Strategy Series and

Vator TV’s Matt Bowman wrote a great summary of the conversation – $%*&’s and all… I’ve posted some excerpts below (thanks Matt!).

Hayes got the conversation rolling with a general observation. “This economy sucks!” Despite the downturn, he said, the three panelists, who frequently invest together, have been active. Hayes had 6 investments in the last quarter, Senkut had five with three follow-ons, and Jeff, with a kiddish smile, noted he had none in the past 28 days, but had put down two term sheets that day.

The good news is that the downturn has made selection easier. A year ago, most pitches were uninteresting derivative ideas (me-too Twitter knock offs). “All that’s left is nut crazy ideas,” Hayes exclaimed with satisfaction. The only entrepreneurs left seeking capital were the ones who believed in their ideas, regardless of the economy.

So what are they looking for? All generally invest in consumer Internet companies and have recently emphasized on personalized medicine and cloud-based ideas. The three invested together in a bio-informatics company not long ago. Senkut, who was an early customer in 23andMe, was the most emphatic about health–not pharmaceuticals, but things like electronic health records–and education.

Hayes noted the founder’s character and history was key. He was struck by the bio-informatics CEO’s ability to synthesize complex problems into simple stories that the three could grasp–and believed that ability would help drive the company’s success.

Read more here.

See you at the next Strategy Series (hosted by Mayfield Fund) on October 14.