Gerome Hays

Gerry Hays is a serial entrepreneur, educator, and early-stage investor who has spent more than two decades in the venture ecosystem. He founded and scaled HomeYeah.com, a commission-cutting real estate business that he grew from zero to roughly $1.8M in revenue in about 20 months, becoming one of the largest real estate operations in Indianapolis by transaction volume before its exit around 2003. He has described himself as a five-time founder with three exits, and his ventures over the years also include Apparel Media Group / Pear (Co-Founder & CFO), DinnerCall, and Charley Biggs Food Company (a bootstrapped food/"chicken" company he built and sold).

After the HomeYeah exit, Indiana University invited Hays to create and teach a new venture capital course; he has been a practicing professor at IU's Kelley School of Business since 2004 (roughly 21 years), teaching entrepreneurial finance and venture capital. He is the author of *The First-Time Founder's Equity Bible*, a free educational guide (distributed in partnership with Elevate Ventures), and the creator of FantasyStartup®, a startup-investing simulation used by thousands of learners, and QAI (Qualified Accredited Investor), an SEC-pending, education-based certification pathway.

Around 2012, Hays teamed up with Nathan Beckord to co-found Foundersuite, the San Francisco–based SaaS platform (formally launched mid-decade) that provides an Investor CRM, Investor Search database, and investor-update tools for founders raising capital. Beckord serves as CEO; Hays is a co-founder and board member. The Foundersuite email ([hidden]) and Bloomington-area 812 phone number reflect that continuing affiliation.

Since around 2017–2018, Hays has been based in Bloomington building Doriot (Doriot Venture Labs), named after Georges Doriot, "the father of venture capital." At Doriot he is the inventor of VentureStaking®, a patent-pending model designed to democratize private-market investing and give everyday/retail investors an "on-ramp" into venture. He describes roughly 25,000 hours over seven years of R&D poured into the platform.

• Backs pre-seed and seed-stage companies; positions himself as an angel/early investor (self-described "25x investor," with references to 75 startups over ~21 years).
• "Invest in people over ideas" — Doriot's stated principles emphasize founders over concepts, long-term sustainable growth, mentorship alongside capital, treating failure as learning, and "patient" commitment.
• Champions democratizing venture capital: VentureStaking® is built to let communities and retail investors participate in early-stage deals, "a unique blend of giving and investing" where backers can watch founder progress before committing full capital.
• Strong belief that "everyone should see themselves as a potential investor" — education-first (Fantasy Startup, QAI, the Equity Bible) is central to how he sources, evaluates, and mentors.
• Midwest-rooted: proudly "Midwest born, bred, schooled, and self-made," and a vocal advocate for building venture access outside traditional Silicon Valley circles.