The "Consumerization" of Wealth

Delivered April 17, 2026 @ 5:00pm ET

Weather in Bloomington, IN - Sunny, 27⁰ C / 80⁰ F.

Table of Contents

• The “Consumerization” of Wealth

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.

The “Consumerization” of Wealth

When I graduated from college in the 1990s, my friends and I were focused on one thing: owning a home.

Earning less than $50,000 between us, my wife and I meal-prepped, rarely ate out, and even skipped cable just to save for a down payment. Within a year of getting married, we bought our first home in Broad Ripple, a hip suburb of Indianapolis. It wasn’t complicated - it just required discipline and an actual pathway to an “obtainable financial goal”.

At the time, there weren’t many ways to “shortcut” wealth. Outside of a trip to Nevada or New Jersey, the lottery was about as close as it got. Over a decade, I doubt we spent more than a couple hundred dollars on it.

Fast forward 30 years, and the landscape looks very different.

Today, many young people don’t believe homeownership is attainable - and in many markets, that belief isn’t irrational. Prices for starter homes have risen significantly, interest rates remain elevated, and even the cost of insuring a home is becoming more unpredictable. At the same time, institutional buyers have increased their presence in parts of the housing market, adding another layer of competition.

When a foundational path to wealth feels out of reach, behavior starts to change.

Recent research suggests that individuals who feel “locked out” of long-term wealth-building opportunities often shift toward short-term outcomes - spending more, saving less, and in some cases, taking on higher-risk financial bets.

That shows up in different ways:

• speculative trading in stocks and crypto

• rapid growth in prediction markets

• increased normalization of “high-risk, high-reward” thinking

But not all risk is created equal.

While most forms of speculative behavior tend to produce negative outcomes over time - an estimated 85% of gamblers lose money across their lifetime - there are forms of high-risk investing that reward discipline and diversification. Historically, venture portfolios built with broad exposure have produced 15–25% returns over long time horizons.

To be clear, I’m not judging anyone. These behaviors aren’t irrational in isolation. If the traditional path feels closed, betting on a life-changing outcome can start to feel like the only path left. The problem isn’t that people are willing to take risks - it’s that the system is pushing them toward outcomes that reward immediacy over discipline.

Layer in social media - where success is constantly visible and often exaggerated - and the pressure intensifies. The result is a system where many are chasing outcomes that only a small percentage will ever realize.

In short, we’re conditioning our young people from cultivating wealth to consuming it in pursuit of an instantaneous breakthrough moment.

And yet, when you look at how long-term wealth is actually built, the pattern hasn’t changed much:

• ownership in real assets

• building companies; and

• investing in those who build

All three activities require the same discipline: delayed gratification.

This is why I care about democratizing venture investing to non-accredited investors.

If homeownership is delayed or inaccessible, then participation in innovation becomes even more important. Not as a gamble - but as a structured way to engage with value creation and have a pathway to cultivate wealth.

The challenge, especially in the United States, is that many people have been conditioned to observe entrepreneurship rather than participate in it. Venture investing is often seen as opaque, risky, or reserved for insiders — and in many ways, it has been built that way.

As Peter Thiel once said, “competition is for losers.” The most successful investors understand the value of access, information, and proximity - and those advantages tend to reinforce themselves over time.

As a result, venture remains largely concentrated among a relatively small group of participants, not necessarily because of a coordinated effort to exclude others, but because the system has historically rewarded those already inside it.

Meanwhile, platforms that encourage short-term, high-risk financial behavior continue to grow - because they are simple, accessible, and emotionally compelling.

In effect, we’re making it easier to consume wealth than to build it - a shift that doesn’t bode well for the long-term health of the United States.

And there is a compelling venture impact opportunity here. Whoever can flip people from speculating on events to speculating on entrepreneurs - and turn long-term investing into something people actually aspire to - will build a very valuable company and be a part of the solution to a financially healthier society.

Have a great weekend - Gerry