Venture Investing Mindset

Happy Friday, Doriot Venture Community!

Welcome to the 7 new Community members this week! ✋ 

First, we hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable 4th of July holiday. We’ll be taking our mid-year break next week, so you can expect the weekly wrap-up to resume in two weeks. 🎂🇺🇸 

Finance Bros are back, baby!

Finance bros are the latest social media fascination, sparked by a viral TikTok video by Megan Boni that humorously highlights the appeal of tall men in finance with trust funds.

The trend has inspired remixes, flash mobs, and a surge in social media content. But the best advice given: “If you’re looking for a man with a trust fund, he’s probably in art school”

And, some venture nuggets:

• Wefunder on Tour: Wefunder has announced that their entire team will be traveling across the US via Amtrak 🛤️ to promote Community Rounds. The tour kicks off in San Francisco on July 4th and concludes in Washington DC on July 16th. Click here to learn more; and

• Acquisitions falling along with IPOs: Peter Walker, Head of Insights for Carta, posted some interesting information regarding the state of acquisitions for startups. As we all know, the two best ways to cash out of a startup investment are through IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) or acquisitions. According to Walker, despite the reduction in IPOs, the market hasn’t responded by increasing the level of acquisition activity. This confirms the overall level of uncertainty in the market today.

Retail Venture Investing (Part 1)

By: Gerry Hays, Founder of Doriot

As I mentioned last week when sharing my portfolio, I've learned a ton over the years from watching, teaching, and investing. There is a proven formula to help retail venture investors succeed. Let’s define some key terms

• Venture Projects: Projects aiming to introduce new innovations to society, either by building upon existing markets or creating entirely new ones.

• Retail Venture Investing: The process of discovering and allocating small amounts of capital into credible (and accessible) venture projects, where each opportunity offers the potential to return 30-50 times the invested capital.

• Successful Retail Venture Portfolio: A basket of venture projects in which 10-25% of the projects succeed, compensating for those that don’t, while still offering 20-25% annualized returns over a decade, thereby accelerating net worth.

What I've discovered over the span of two decades is that there are three key components to successful retail venture investing: 1) Mindset; 2) Strategy; and 3) Execution.

This week, I’m focusing on the first component: Mindset.

But before that, I just have to say that success in venture investing, like having successful careers and relationships, requires time, focus, and commitment. And, nothing of consequence happens in less than a decade. Anyone telling you something different should be viewed with a tremendous amount of skepticism. 🤨 

With that said, let’s get into it.

EVERYTHING begins with a fertile mind:

At the highest level, everything we do in life begins with our mindset, from what we believe we can achieve to how we perceive the achievements of others. Henry Ford famously said, "If you think you can or you think you can't, you are correct."

Imagine a beautiful and bountiful garden full of vibrant flowers, lush greenery, and thriving plants. Such bounties only materialize from something most of us don’t consider: the fertile soil that made the bounty possible. Think of your mind as the soil from which everything in your life will sprout and grow.

And, similar to creating fertile soil by enriching it with nutrients, we can program or 'reprogram' our minds for success through thoughts and emotions.

All the people you see having success in any area of their life first had to decide that they were deserving of that success. They held onto that belief, which fueled their actions and ultimately led to their accomplishments.

So in actuality, whenever you see someone having success, just give them some mental props for first preparing their minds for their bountiful harvest and thank them for reminding you of the importance of preparing your own mind.

And if you are interested in accelerating this process, I’m launching a Masterclass on how to 'Reprogram Your Mind for Success' through thoughts and emotions. 🤯 

I’ve been teaching these tactics to founders I’ve invested in, and now I’m excited to share these techniques with anyone looking for accelerated success. Join the waitlist.

Preparing the soil that is our mind:

Your mind will accept any thought or idea just as the soil will accept any seed. But, let’s forget about the seeds for now and focus on how to make our minds 'fertile' for success, just like we enrich soil with nutrients to help seeds grow. There are three key nutrients:

• Nutrient #1 - Abundance - We must reprogram our minds to see the world as abundant, not scarce. Abundance means there are enough resources and opportunities for you (and everyone else). In contrast, scarcity is rooted in the belief that resources are limited, leading to competition, fear, and lack. At every moment of every day, as you observe the world through your senses, are you seeing abundance or scarcity?

• Nutrient #2 - Growth - We live in a world that is in constant fluctuation and expansion, which means we must reprogram our mind for growth. This gives us agency to always be in a constant state of learning. A growth mindset, which embraces the idea that we can develop our abilities through effort and learning, helps us stay adaptable and open to new opportunities. Embracing a growth mindset can therefore keep us aligned with the dynamic nature of the world and its possibilities.

• Nutrient #3 - Trust - In a world with so much uncertainty, we must reprogram our minds to trust that the universe is working in our favor, even during the most difficult times (and we all know there will be many difficult times in our lives). Trusting the universe implies believing that things will work out as they should, which reduces anxiety and fear of failure. A trusting mindset encourages us to take risks and fuels our willingness to make decisions with imperfect information.

But let’s be clear, reprogramming one’s mind isn’t easy and it requires a decision to prepare your mind and then to stick with it every day, without falling back into old beliefs.

So, to help get you off the starting line, “physically” write this statement down on an index card and keep it accessible next to your bed:

“I see this world as abundant, where not only can I realize my dreams and aspirations, but everyone around me can as well. I view this world as a place of constant change, and I’m excited to continue learning about where it is moving so that I can capitalize on new opportunities. And, knowing that the universe has my back at all times, I’m free to take calculated risks in my pursuit of success without stress, anxiety, or fear of failure.”

For 30 days, read this statement aloud every morning when you wake up (before picking up your phone) and once again before you go to bed (after you’ve put your phone down for the evening). Start and end your day with this programming and see how your world view begins to change in a month. I’ll be doing it with you!

In two weeks, we’ll discuss the 2nd key component for succeeding at venture investing: Strategy.

And, if you have friends who could benefit from this post, please share our free newsletter with them! Remember, the world is Abundant!!

And, if you have questions you’d like for us to answer, feel free to email them to [email protected] 

Next Week’s Deal Alert:

For our Premium Members, we’ll be releasing an analysis of Infinity Fuel next Tuesday!

DVC Portfolio Updates:

Clean Earth Rovers (Deal #52): Clean Earth Rovers is showing off their new RoverPro to help clean up our waterways. It’s pretty cool!

Sensate (Deal #16): Sensate announced they’ve now received more than 400 mentions in the news regarding how to deal with anxiety and stress.

ASST (Deal #41): Active Safety Systems Technologies announced a pivot into helping develop drone-based sweeping of landmines for the Ukrainian army as the most immediate opportunity for their technology.

Overplay (Deal #67): A second airing of Overplay’s appearance on Shark Tank will happen on ABC tomorrow night at 10 PM ET.

Thank you for reading & participating! Have a great and safe fourth of July weekend! We’ll see you in two weeks!

Sincerely, Team Doriot