According to his autobiographical letter Confessio, thought to have been written around 450 AD and first published in the early 9th Century (the Book of Amagh, containing the earliest copy believed to exist, is in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin), an angel appeared in a dream urging him to flee from his enslavement.

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The original start-up dream was to work like crazy, bring in angel investors and venture capitalists to productise the new technology and finance growth, before exiting a sizeable company via an initial public offering (IPO) or trade sale.

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The flow peaked between 1965 and 1974, boosted by Idi Amin's decision to expel some 90, 000 Gujarati Indians from Uganda, after an angel had told him to do so in a dream.

ECONOMIST: Britain and India