We are closing out the first-ever VentureStaking® Round

Delivered July 11, 2025 @ 5:00pm ET

Weather in Bloomington, IN - Sunny, 31⁰ C / 88⁰ F

Table of Contents

• Doriot® product innovations 🧧

• We are closing out the first-ever VentureStaking® …

  • Why did we build this?

  • So what makes VentureStaking® different?

    • 1. Value Formula

    • 2. Capital Efficiency Formula

  • But what about U.S. Securities Laws?

  • So Why Are We Closing the Round?

My name is Gerry Hays, Founder & CEO of Doriot® (pronounced “Doe-ree-oh”), a movement to break open the gates of venture and expand innovation and wealth beyond an elite few. Democratize Venture is my platform to explore the venture markets and share the insights, strategies, and frameworks I bring into the classroom. It’s where education meets execution—for anyone ready to play the startup game.

Doriot® product innovations 🧧 

VentureStaking™ - a zero-to-one innovation in venture investing — designed to put the smallest investors on the same playing field as the largest.

FantasyStartup® - #1 global startup investing simulation with more than 14,000 downloads worldwide.

QAI - Qualified Accredited Investor™ - An exam and certification program for anyone serious about launching a venture-backed company or investing in high-growth startups.

We are closing out the first-ever VentureStaking® Round

We’re closing in on a major milestone. On July 31, 2025, we will officially close the first-ever VentureStaking® Round — a defining moment for Doriot and a bold new chapter in venture innovation 🚀.

As many of you know, this moment has been 7 years and over 25,000 hours of R&D in the making. The result is VentureStaking®, our transformative new model that we unveiled on April 15, 2025. Since then, we’ve invited the global community to test it firsthand by purchasing a VentureStake® in Doriot 🌍.

To recap: a VentureStake® is a pre-equity funding mechanism designed to connect early-stage, driven entrepreneurs with individuals who are serious about venture — and about owning a piece of the future 🔗. It’s a more inclusive, performance-aligned, and transparent approach to venture capital.

Why did we build this?

Because the Traditional Venture Model — the Silicon Valley Model — is broken ⚠️.

For most founders and investors, the traditional system is unwinnable. It was built by and for the wealthy and well-connected, who tilt outcomes in their favor. Everyone else takes outsized risks trying to play a game that wasn’t built for them 🎲.

Talk to anyone in the industry and you’ll hear the same thing: they’re tired. Tired of a system where a small, homogenous group decides who gets funded — often based on pattern recognition and personal bias. As a result, incredible talent and ambition get tossed out with the bathwater 🛁.

I saw it firsthand in 2000 with my first startup. And I still wasn’t satisfied two decades later. That’s why I devoted my career to forking the road — separating the old Silicon Valley Venture path from what we’ve now created: VentureStaking.

So what makes VentureStaking® different?

It all comes down to two simple, powerful formulas I’ve discovered in my research 🧠:

1. Value Formula

Exponential value (V) is created when action and money are combined — and amplified by the power of community.
 V = (A + M)^P

• A = Action (skills, effort, innovation)

• M = Money

• P = Power of community 🤝

2. Capital Efficiency Formula

Capital efficiency (C) grows with traction when you hold the optionality to invest at the right moment — not before.
 C = O × T

• O = Optionality (the right, not the obligation, to invest)

• T = Traction (evidence the startup is working) 📈

These formulas form the core of VentureStaking®, a patent-pending model built on one simple truth:

That’s why we’re building a new kind of market — a market for startup investing rights 💡. A place where everyday people can get early exposure to multiple startups at the very beginning of their venture journey — for pennies — and only invest real capital once the startup is proving traction.

But what about U.S. Securities Laws?

Here’s how this fits: a VentureStake® is a pre-equity mechanism that does not offer the opportunity for profit. According to the Howey Test, that means it’s not a security. Instead, it's a social contract 🤝.

The product is an educational journey for every VentureStaker — and an opportunity (not obligation) to invest in future rounds. The real currency? Reputation.

Founders who bring their community along will be rewarded. VentureStakers who contribute meaningfully to founders’ success will be rewarded too 🏅. It’s a new kind of social game — speculative, yes — but no one has to bet heavy.

That’s the power of VentureStaking®.

So Why Are We Closing the Round?

Because we’ve proven the model works. The demand is real. Now it’s time to move into Phase II: launching the first VentureStaking® Arena 🎯.

If you’re reading this — and you’re awake, alert, and looking forward because you’re not satisfied with the present and refuse to be stuck in the past — this is your moment.

Join us on the frontier of innovation 🌐.

Yes, these are big words. But I’ll go on any stage, in front of anyone, and tell our story.
Me and 169 VentureStakers® are forging ahead. Are you going to join us?

www.doriot.com

Wishing you a focused and fulfilling weekend,

– Gerry ([email protected])