IDE members subcontracts 'initial due diligence' to an independent company, Virtual Company Operating Systems, Inc., or VCOS. (See www.vcos.us) Which is staffed by IDE members who are actual investors.

VCOS operating procedures are based on the basic investing principles of Venture Research Inc. (See www.vcresearch.info) and determined by investment professionals.

Those basic investing principles are in turn based on the actual investing experiences of thousands of past and present members of Investor Data Exchange (IDE).

It is the IDE database of actual investing experiences that provides group protection to IDE members, with both VRI and VCOS operating for the benefit of those members, by determining:

1. The developmental stage of any given company.
2. Independently what the potential profits, and potential expenses for a company to reach 'Stage Three', or net profitable status to answer the question 'What are the chances of this business succeeding?'
3. Using the Company's own profit projections to determine the future probable stock prices, buyout percentages and/or partnership profit sharing payouts to investors, to try and answer the equally important question, "If this business succeeds, will the investor profit as well, and is the potential reward equivalent to the current risk?"