The Dopamine Hack to Success

Delivered January 24, 2025 @ 5:00pm ET

Happy Friday everyone and Happy Holidays! My name is Gerry Hays, and for lack of a better description, I’m the custodian and convener of Doriot, a movement to break open the gates of venture and expand opportunity beyond an elite few.

I’ve been in the game of venture founder, investor, researcher, inventor, author, game designer, and professor. I’ve built companies and developed a global venture portfolio entirely from the great state of Indiana, all while teaching over 6,000 undergraduates and MBAs at Indiana University, as well as in Croatia, Hong Kong, Slovenia, and Singapore.

Democratize Venture reflects my take on venture — exploring how we can create new, more inclusive systems based on what I believe is relevant and important today — and insights into the mental strategies behind wealth building, a core aspect of venture. Much of what I share stems from discussions I have in the classroom.

Top of mind: Delayed Gratification

I often talk to young people about the importance of delayed gratification for aspiring entrepreneurs and investors. It’s the key to resisting short-term rewards and staying focused on long-term success. This week, I took a deep dive into how delayed gratification might be rewarded with dopamine — and what I discovered might surprise you. It did me. Enjoy!

“After a time, you may find that ‘having’ is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as ‘wanting.’ It is not logical, but it is often true.” 

— Spock, Star Trek TOS “Amok Time,” stardate 3372.7

Although delayed gratification has been studied through human psychology, brain activity monitoring, and animal research, little is known about its neural basis. Moreover, no studies to date have causally manipulated the dopamine system during delayed gratification tasks.

What we do know, however, is that advertisers and social media companies are experts at exploiting the concept of instant gratification. Their commercials, advertisements, and algorithms are carefully designed to trigger the brain’s reward system. Sigmund Freud developed the theory of the Pleasure Principle, which refers to the instinctual drive in humans to seek pleasure and avoid pain (i.e., immediate gratification and avoidance of discomfort). He also introduced the Reality Principle, which compels humans to consider the constraints and consequences of the external world. At the core of both principles lies the powerful role of dopamine in driving our behavior.

Dopamine and Desire

According to an article in Harvard Health, dopamine — often called the brain’s “reward” neurotransmitter — is most notably involved in helping us feel pleasure as part of the brain’s reward system. It also plays a critical role in motivating and reinforcing behavior (think habit formation). However, recent research shows that dopamine is less about the experience of pleasure and more about anticipating or craving something. Simply put, dopamine is released when we desire something, not when we have it. (See Spock’s quote above.)

This is precisely what advertisers and social media companies aim to exploit. They understand that dopamine is released during the anticipation and desire for a reward, not necessarily during its possession or experience. In our initial encounters with something new, dopamine neurons fire, encouraging us to repeat the behavior. However, as we repeat it, the satisfaction often diminishes. Yet we persist, because it’s the desire (an abstraction) — not the outcome — that keeps triggering dopamine. This anticipation motivates us to take action, such as making an impulse purchase or engaging with content.

But all of this comes at a price. Platforms are conditioning younger generations to be motivated by the immediate “goodie” rather than waiting for a greater reward down the road — a concept known as delay discounting. But, in my research, I discovered that there is another type of dopamine that isn’t triggered by desire but by something else entirely.

A 2nd Type of Dopamine

Unlike Type 1 dopamine neurons, described above, Type 2 dopamine neurons behave in an entirely different way. They are activated when we fail and are disappointed. Yep, disappointment triggers a dopamine rush.

When confronted with disappointment, our brain’s initial response is a decrease in dopamine, which contributes to feelings of frustration or sadness. However, Type 2 dopamine neurons kick in after this initial dip. Instead of shutting down, they increase dopamine levels in response to unmet expectations. Think of it like eating extremely spicy hot food. At first, there’s a burning sensation that feels like pure pain. But once the discomfort fades, the body releases endorphins and dopamine, creating a sense of euphoria.

This Type 2 dopamine boost serves a crucial purpose: it motivates us to persist and try again, literally the only thing that matters in any endeavor. Essentially, these neurons function as a biological mechanism to foster resilience, pushing us to reflect, adapt, and reattempt — turning setbacks into opportunities for growth rather than reasons to give up. By creating a feedback loop that propels us forward, even when immediate outcomes fall short, they reinforce the value of persistence.

With this in mind, we should all embrace big goals and the willingness to endure occasional failure along the way, knowing it activates our capacity to persevere and, ultimately, achieve success!

Doriot Deal Updates

Here’s a summary of some recent deals we’ve analyzed and their fundraising progress:

New Deal Analysis Dropping Next Week: Our Bond on Wefunder.

Bond creates a new paradigm of Preventative Personal Security for the billions of cases annually where people feel afraid but it’s too early for them to dial 911. In such cases, Bond is your Personal Security Companion, combining cutting edge technologies and AI with Bond Personal Security Agents in Bond Command Centers around the world who respond within seconds.

Enjoy the weekend!

Sincerely, -gerry ([email protected])