And another problem is that most of them are not "accredited investors".

From: http://paulgraham.com/startupfunding.html

  The SEC defines an "accredited investor" as someone
  with over a million dollars in liquid assets or an
  income of over $200,000 a year. The regulatory burden
  is much lower if a company's shareholders are all
  accredited investors. Once you take money from the
  general public you're more restricted in what 
  you can do. [1]