VentureStaking® by Doriot® - Own the right to invest in the next breakout startup

👋 Hey Product Hunt friends,

I am the founder and CEO of Doriot® and the architect of VentureStaking®. I am excited to introduce this new system of capital creation to the Product Hunt community. Here's the pitch:

Venture Investing is a lot like poker—80% of your hands (investments) are throwaways, but you don’t know which until the cards are on the table.

In poker, you have an ante: a small bet that gets you in the game before going all in. In venture, there’s never been an ante—until now.

Welcome to VentureStaking® — a new funding model that allows anyone to back high-potential founders at the very beginning of their journey by purchasing rights (not obligations) to invest real capital later, when the startup is gaining traction. Here’s how it works:

• A $10 VentureStake® gives you the right to invest $100 in each of a founder’s future funding rounds.

• Build a diversified portfolio of 50 early-stage founders for just $500—minimizing risk by up to 90% while harnessing the Power Law of venture

• Then, choose to invest real capital later only in the startups that are objectively winning — and do so on the same terms and conditions as VCs.

And the model scales with your risk appetite and financial means:

For example, a $2,500 VentureStake® gives you the right to invest $25,000 in a founder’s future rounds — regardless of who else is investing. It’s a game that rewards those who act early — and align with progress.

For founders, it’s a game-changer. They can raise early R&D rounds without giving up equity—speeding up funding and building a committed community from day one.

Here's how we pull the best from the top models:

Thiel Fellowship > Raise $200-$250K in R&D capital without selling equity

Kickstarter > Instead, sell a product (access and education) + optionality

Wefunder > Acquire a committed community at the very beginning of the journey

Y-Combinator > Weekly accountability to the community during R&D phase

It’s venture, flipped. A model driven by merit, not money or connections.

Excited about VentureStaking! How do you vet founders early on, and will there be community-driven due diligence before exercising stakes?

How do you ensure access to later rounds though? I like the structure but I’m curious about how rights are honored if a startup suddenly becomes hot and bigger investors jump in.

This is genius—being able to lock in a spot before a startup blows up, but only paying later? Realy wish I had this years ago, fr. Makers crushed it!

It’s clear there’s real hunger for a more inclusive and aligned model of early-stage investing. How do we ensure that early community supporters, those who bet on a founder before the world does, stay engaged, informed, and truly aligned as that startup grows?

I love this idea, and think it is very well structured and thought out. What are your short-term goals for Doriot in the next 6-12 months?

love this model for every right reason. The poker analogy is brilliant when you consider it's not high-stakes poker at a casino, rather high-impact, high-reward...and you don't become a gambling addict! Bravo, Gerry. Let's go.

This is such a smart shift in the way early-stage investing works kind of like turning “optionality” into a structured asset. Love how it flips the risk model for both founders and backers.
Especially useful for folks who want to support innovation without diving in blind.

Also, How do you plan to educate new retail backers on startup risk and power-law dynamics? Curious how you’ll balance accessibility with financial literacy at scale.

VentureStaking could even be called a new form of capitalism. For as little as $10 you can back and follow a founder, get the inside on what they are doing week-to-week to build their idea, and then decide if you like what you see. Imagine having that kind of information! And then when that idea is growing and needs capital to expand, you get the first right of refusal to put your capital in - in this example, up to $100. No obligation. But your investment is then treated equally to any outside investor coming in at a later time - same terms! And you can keep investing with every raise, at the same terms. Shared information, shared risk, shared prosperity. And this scales. A $100 VentureStake gives you the opportunity, not the obligation, to continue to back that founder for up to $1,000 per round. Only if you like what you see. It flips the script of traditional venture. It’s a genius idea, @gerryhays !

VentureStaking is a game-changer! However, I did have one question: Will Doriot ever integrate blockchain into VentureStaking? If so, how? Again, this product will do great things and I cannot wait to see how it grows!

This seems like a very innovative idea! So much so that it might irritate those involved in traditional VC. How do you plan on navigating this and do you think this will hurt your chances of gaining traction?

Which specific countries, regions, or communities is VentureStaking primarily targeting for early adoption, and what particular partnerships or outreach efforts are planned to engage these groups?

Really cool concept. Love how you're opening up early-stage investing and making it more aligned with founders. Congrats on the launch!

Very interesting take on raising! Having lots of options and equity issued can become very messy, very quickly. Does Doriot have any plans on integrating with a equity management platform like Carta to help streamline from Doriot's capital raising to record keeping on the company's cap table?

Congrats on the launch, team! I’m excited to follow the journey :)

Making early-stage investing more accessible while reducing risk is a smart angle. Curious to see how this shapes the future of startup funding. Congrats on the launch 🚀