QAI Beta 1.0 Release

Delivered June 26, 2026 @ 5:00pm ET

Weather in Bloomington, IN - Rain, 27⁰ C / 22⁰ F.

Table of Contents

• QAI Beta 1.0 is now live!

My name is Gerry Hays, Founder & CEO of Doriot® (pronounced “Doe-ree-oh”), named after French-born American U.S. General Georges Doriot, the father of Venture Capital. I’m also an author (First Time Founders’s Equity Bible), inventor (U.S. patents for ads on t-shirts, coat checking, and VentureStaking - pending), and 21-year professor of venture capital and entrepreneurial finance at Indiana University.

Democratize Venture is my platform to explore the venture markets and share the insights, strategies, and frameworks I bring into the classroom. It’s also a way for me to share principles of prosperity — because at the end of the day, venture is a pathway to prosperity.

QAI Beta 1.0 is now live!

After months of development, I'm excited to announce that QAI Beta 1.0 is now live.

The Qualified Accredited Investor (QAI) Certification Program has officially moved from Alpha into Beta, and you can begin today at www.BeQAI.com.

The curriculum is free. The exams are free. You can create an account today and work through the material at your own pace. Whether you're an investor, founder, employee with stock options, or simply someone who wants to understand how wealth is created in the private markets, QAI was built for you.

Unlike most investment education, QAI doesn't focus on one narrow slice of venture capital. It covers the entire lifecycle of private capital formation—from startup creation and venture financing to ownership, governance, exits, and wealth creation. Our goal isn't simply to teach investing. It's to build financial sophistication around ownership itself.

I'm also excited to announce that Penn State Nittany Angels, has become the first angel group to officially adopt QAI as its educational curriculum and build a Venture Trust Network.

A Venture Trust Network is simple in concept but powerful in practice. Every participant has demonstrated a common level of financial sophistication by successfully completing the QAI certification. That shared foundation changes the conversation. Decisions become faster, collaboration becomes more productive, and capital moves at the speed of trust. Instead of spending meetings correcting misconceptions or debating basic venture mechanics, members begin with a common understanding of how the game actually works and can focus on what matters most: evaluating opportunities, helping founders, and building great companies together.

Imagine Reddit if everyone discussing venture capital had actually demonstrated expertise. Imagine conversations where opinions were backed by knowledge instead of headlines or bad experiences. Today, too many people dismiss venture investing because they got burned once or repeat advice they've heard without understanding the underlying mechanics. Fear spreads faster than education.

Everyone has an opinion. Certified knowledge separates informed judgment from uninformed advice. After all, who wants legal advice from someone who never passed the bar?

Today, more than 440 individuals have completed QAI certification during the Alpha program. We estimate the complete certification requires approximately 20–25 hours of study. It's a meaningful commitment, but one that pays dividends for the rest of your investing career.

Ironically, founders may need this education even more than investors.

Most founders believe the most important number in a financing round is valuation. It isn't.

Valuation is often little more than a vanity metric. Sophisticated investors know how to offer an attractive valuation while negotiating terms that determine who actually controls the company during difficult times and who captures the greatest value during a successful exit. Governance rights, liquidation preferences, dilution protection, option pools, board control—these are the mechanics that determine outcomes, yet many founders never learn them until after they've signed the documents.

Employees face a similar challenge. Millions receive stock options or equity compensation without fully understanding vesting schedules, exercise windows, tax implications, or liquidity events. Every year, people unknowingly leave significant wealth on the table simply because no one taught them how ownership actually works.

This is why I believe we're entering what I call the Ownership Economy.

For generations, labor was the primary path to financial security. Increasingly, ownership will become the primary path to wealth creation. As AI dramatically lowers the cost of building companies, entrepreneurship will become accessible to millions more people. That means millions more people will need to understand capital, equity, and ownership if they hope to participate in the wealth those companies create.

Some people will prepare themselves.

Others will learn these lessons only after making expensive mistakes.

As someone who has spent his career in education, I know most people don't wake up eager to study finance. Unfortunately, everyone eventually pays for a financial education. The only question is whether you pay with a few hours of learning today or by paying the Fool's Tax after making avoidable mistakes. One investment builds wealth. The other finances someone else's.

That's why QAI is free.

No subscriptions. No hidden fees. No expensive seminars. Just an opportunity to understand one of the most important financial shifts of our generation. At your own pace.

If you believe the Ownership Economy is coming, and you intend to participate rather than watch from the sidelines, I invite you to explore QAI.

Because understanding the rules of the game is the first step toward winning it.

Have a great weekend -gerry