Long Journey Ventures

Long Journey Ventures Research Investment Thesis Long Journey Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that believes in backing "magically weird" founders building unconventional solutions. Founded by Lee Jacobs and Cyan Banister, the firm explicitly positions itself as a "second believer"—the early supporter who sees potential before it's obvious. Their tagline, "The second believers in the magically weird," captures their core philosophy: they seek founders working on ideas that others describe as ridiculous or stupid, combined with bold personalities who challenge the status quo. The firm's investment approach is rooted in long-termism and founder support. They describe their relationship model as "being a bubbe"—a Yiddish term for grandmother—emphasizing hospitality, wisdom, protectiveness, directness, and unconditional support paired with uncompromising integrity. They view their character alignment as "Chaotic Good" (a Dungeons & Dragons reference), combining good hearts with free spirits, valuing freedom and individual autonomy above all else. Stage and Check Size Focus Long Journey Ventures is definitively an early-stage investor, focusing on pre-seed and seed-stage companies. Their portfolio companies span from concept stage through Series A/B. Based on visible portfolio activity, they write checks in the range of $500K-$2M+ for seed investments, with smaller checks for pre-seed. Investment Activity The firm has been actively deploying with significant momentum. Notable recent investments visible on their website include: Crusoe Energy (energy infrastructure, Series funding) Together AI (AI infrastructure) Loom (async video communication) Notion (productivity software) Uber, SpaceX, Postmates (via earlier checks) Flock Security (physical security) AnduriL (defense technology) TrueMed (health payments) Flexport (logistics) Their portfolio demonstrates breadth across sectors including: AI & ML infrastructure (Together AI, Arcee AI, Numeric.io) Energy & climate (Crusoe, Bedrock Energy, Northwood Space) Health & biotech (TrueMed, Babylon Bio, Levels, Photon Health) Consumer apps (Loom, Notion, Wonderschool) Infrastructure & developer tools (Deno, Density, BitGo) Deep tech (AnduriL, Titan Dynamics, Northwood Space) Team & Partners General Partners: Lee Jacobs, Co-Founder & Managing Partner : Entrepreneur-turned-investor, early Founders Fund participant, strong background in identifying early-stage companies at concept stage. Invested in Crusoe, Together AI, Loom. Cyan Banister, Co-Founder & General Partner : Highly respected Silicon Valley early-stage investor, former Partner at Founders Fund. Early checks into Uber, PostMates, SpaceX, Flock Security. Passionate about founders creating jobs and enabling individual freedom. Arielle Zuckerberg, General Partner : Product-first mindset from background in product management. Previously at Coatue, helped design firm's first early-stage fund. Venture Partners: Jonathan Bruck (serial founder, exits: Pocket/Mozilla, IndexTank/LinkedIn, Xoopit/Yahoo) Justin Mares (CEO/Co-founder of TrueMed, founder Kettle & Fire) Pascal Levy-Garboua (9th employee at Checkr, founded Noosa Labs) Scott Banister (PayPal founder, IronPort founder/Cisco $830M exit) Notable Advisors: Elaine Wherry (Co-founder Meebo/Google acquisition, Dandelion Chocolate) Brian Balfour (Founder Reforge, VP Growth HubSpot) Aaron VanDevender (Founder Methid, ex-Chief Scientist Founders Fund) Andrew Look (ML engineer, Notion AI) Operations Team: Dani Tustin (Head of Operations, tax attorney background in venture funds) Mike Wang (Head of Platform, higher education innovation background) Carolena Leon (Platform Associate, Microsoft PM background) Kelsey Muller (Executive Assistant, ex-Crusoe) Investment Preferences & Decision Process Long Journey explicitly seeks founders who are: "Magically weird"—unconventional, bold, willing to break norms "Second believers" themselves—operating on conviction before market consensus Building solutions to real problems with non-obvious answers Willing to sacrifice comfort for their vision Combining good hearts with free spirits (Chaotic Good) Their decision process appears to be partnership-driven with Lee Jacobs as managing partner supported by strong GP team with deep sector expertise. The firm maintains a "bubbe" operational philosophy, prioritizing authentic relationships, community events (hosted as intimate dinner-like gatherings), direct communication, and hands-on support. Geographic Focus Primary focus on US-based founders (San Francisco, Silicon Valley bias evident), but portfolio includes some international companies. Co-founder Lee is based in San Francisco. Recent Activity & Fund Status The firm appears to be in active deployment mode with consistent investments across 2024-2025. Portfolio diversity and advisor network suggest strong deployment velocity. No indication of fund-raising or between-fund status. Notable Philosophy The firm's values reveal deep philosophical commitments: "Chase the magically weird": Unconventional ideas, quirky personalities "Be a bubbe": Hospitality, wisdom, protectiveness with integrity "Chaotic Good character alignment": Balance freedom with doing good "It's not Monopoly money": Serious stewardship of LP capital, not reckless These principles suggest they're not mercenary venture capitalists but impact-oriented investors with personality and principles.