Weekly Roundup: Hogging the Spotlight (and a new investing category)

Happy Friday, Doriot Venture Community (DVC)! 

A Yoga instructor in Massachusetts is swapping out goats for pigs in yoga classes, and fans are scrambling to grab spots as soon as they're posted online. It's like these pigs are the new rockstars of yoga, strutting in and stealing the show!

We’ll keep a close eye on any further developments. If the piggy yogis start performing Warrior One, a hostile takeover might be imminent. 🙈 

And, we couldn’t resist: In a bacon and egg breakfast, what's the difference between the chicken and the pig? Answer: The chicken is involved, but the pig is COMMITTED! 🤣 

In last week’s poll, we asked where everyone stands on Crypto and here are the results:

Incidentally, the Doriot Team will be at the Bitcoin Conference in late July. Send us a note ([email protected]) if you plan on attending and we’ll arrange a happy hour! 😎 

DVC Deal Review #81 Summary:

As we expected when we posted the deal last week, Pirouette Media's offering is now oversubscribed on Wefunder. The company raised $5.4 million from more than 1,000 investors. Congratulations if you jumped into the deal! We’ll be keeping tabs on the company as we expect to see big things in the coming years! 💯 

Vote for New Deals:

We’re coming out with another deal memo next Tuesday. As of now, Zoop is leading the pack. But, we’re adding one more company to the mix. Authors AI

DVC Portfolio Updates:

Overplay (Deal #55) - Adobe Express 💥 

Overplay now has an Adobe Express add-on that gives users a full-featured editing suite, exporting directly to the Overplay app. This gives millions of creators the ability to transform their videos into Overplay games.

LEXI (Deal #22) - Staying Alive! 💪 

LEXI launched on Republic last April as an IoT platform for smart devices. Fast forward to today, and LEXI is raising another round on Start Engine, albeit with some interesting developments. First, they’ve pivoted from smart devices to a platform for retrofitting older buildings for decarbonization. Additionally, they’ve secured a Series A investment, which will not be announced for several months, meaning that DVC investors’ safe notes will convert into Series A Preferred. So, why raise another Reg CF round today? The short answer is capital. They’re entering a very competitive space with the likes of Honeywell, Siemens, etc.

DVC Mind Map #4:

To shape the future of DVC's market approach for the benefit of our members, we’re exploring every potential strategy and channel in an open forum. Last week’s pitch was:

For those that have "yet" to acquire the necessary skills, they would be better served jumping into deals originated, vetted, negotiated by a seasoned and trusted team (if this were possible).

Not surprisingly, 100% of you agreed with this statement. And, DVC member Sonu Mirchandani astutely pointed out that this is how Angel Syndication works. So, moving this thought process along:

Genesis is a new concept in venture and, as far as we know, it’s never been categorized. So we gave it a name.

Here’s the backdrop: there’s a program called the Thiel Fellowship that has proven the model of finding and investing in extraordinary individuals who want to build a company but need some runway to figure out a pathway. CB Insights suggests that the model is outperforming Y-Combinator. Of course, it’s Peter Thiel behind the curtain, who can pull lots of strings to help new founders succeed (and Thiel does not take equity), but the argument is that there are extraordinary individuals who are “ready” but haven’t fully flushed out a business idea. Sort of like a Search Fund but for Founders.

Please vote and we’ll bring your comments to next week’s Mind Map. Also, if you don’t want your name made public with the comments, please let us know in the comment section. But we like to give credit where credit is due! 👊 

Thank you for reading & participating! Have a great weekend and see you for a new DVC Deal Review next week!

Sincerely,

Team Doriot

And when you’re ready, here’s how we can help you