A 7-year chapter officially closes

(The next one begins)

April 18, 2025

Delivered April 18, 2025 @ 5:00pm ET

Weather in Bloomington, Indiana - Partly cloudy, 250 C / 770 F

Table of Contents

Welcome to the Democratize Venture Community!

My name is Gerry Hays. I’ve been in the game of venture as a founder, investor, researcher, inventor, author, game designer, and professor. I’ve spent the last 7 years—and over 25,000 hours—obsessed with one mission: How do we democratize venture? The Democratize Venture newsletter is where I share my clearest thinking on this mission—through the lens of what it takes to succeed, and what true venture principles demand in this new era. If you're a builder, a believer, or just tired of watching from the sidelines—this is for you.

It’s been an absolutely crazy week—with the “reveal” on Tuesday at noon ET and everything that’s unfolded since. This post isn’t about strategy—it’s a moment of reflection. After seven relentless years of trying to break down a door, that chapter has officially closed. We’ve broken through. And now, it’s time to start writing the next one.

But I’ll be honest—I’m spent.
So, below are a few key updates from this week. I’ll be back soon with deeper thought pieces as the dust settles and the next chapter takes shape.

Latest Doriot Updates

  • VentureStaking™ was revealed on April 15, 2025 at noon ET. If you didn’t get a chance to see it live, you can watch the recording here or click on the image below. Also, check out the live site as www.doriot.com 

  • The response from the market has been overwhelming.

    I’ve heard from people across the globe.
    We’ve had individuals from 22 states VentureStake™ Doriot thus far.
    That kind of product/market fit? It’s rare. And it’s real.

  • We’ve also had a flood of inbound questions about the legality of VentureStaking™.
    (Punchline: a VentureStake™ is not a security—it’s an education product.)

    But that level of curiosity tells me something important:
    People are talking.
    And not just about a startup—but about a new category in venture.

    And that’s exactly what I expected.
    Because we’re not just tweaking the model—we’re stretching imaginations.

    Legal minds.
    Seasoned practitioners.
    First-time backers.

    People who’ve never made a venture investment in their lives are VentureStaking™ Doriot—because for the first time, there’s a winnable game to play.

    Not because of new regulation.
    Quite the opposite.
    We built a market-based solution that solves the very problems regulation can’t.

  • In summary, this isn’t incremental.

    This is a quantum leap—what Peter Thiel would call a Zero to One moment.

    And I’m not afraid to say it:
    We have a real opportunity to fork venture—splitting it into two clear categories:

    • Venture Capital (the traditional game)

    • VentureStaking™ (the modern game)

    This isn’t just evolution.
    It’s a redefinition of how entrepreneurs gets funded—and who gets to play.

  • One last huge shout out to the Doriot reveal team. I can’t say enough about the incredible job the team did in bringing this all together in a short amount of time. We delivered everything we needed to position Doriot for its next stage—and we did it with focus, precision, and heart. I’m so, so grateful.

    Design: Ryan Irvin

    Storytelling and strategy: Victoria Fields

    Strategy and support: Angela Hays

    Technology Integration: Tony Li

    Web Development: David Hanus

    Social and Influence: Shiv Golechha

    And by the way—this is a team with deep Bloomington, Indiana DNA.
    To those in Silicon Valley and New York who think world-class innovation can’t come from the Midwest—eat your heart out.

Have a great weekend everyone. -gerry ([email protected])

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