Arielle Zuckerberg: Winning Founder Recipe
The "Rizz" & "Tiz," Lessons from John Doerr, $100M ARR AI Companies
Ladies & Gentlemen.. Arielle Zuckerberg
I’m thrilled (!!) to share our conversation with Arielle Zuckerberg, General Partner at Long Journey Ventures. Arielle joins the wonderful Lee Jacobs & Cyan Banister investing in the “Magically Weird.” Previously, Arielle cut her teeth investing at silicon valley institutions, Coatue, and Kleiner Perkins (where she was mentored by industry legend, John Doerr).
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Long Journey Ventures takes a very unique approach to early stage VC, where the balance between intuition and metrics-based analysis is often debated. They focus on vibes, authenticity, and purpose, while blending creative philosophies with rigorous frameworks. Resulting in some pretty absurd investments in breakout companies like SpaceX, Uber, Anduril, Crusoe, Notion, DeepMind, Flexport, Loom, Postmates, Mindbloom, Superpower, Flock Safety, Together.ai, Truemed, Stoke Space, Northwood, Rainmaker, Stell, Neros, and more.
At the forefront of this approach is a winning founder recipe (Arielle might as well trademark) called the “Rizz and Tiz,” which she explains so eloquently. We dive deeper into this & more in our pod and in the written portion below. Hope you enjoy!
P.S. my favorite part about this interview was that it didn’t feel like one at all, it felt like two friends just hanging out & catching up.. the beauty of Long Journey’s culture. They’re humble & chill.
→ Check out our previous interview with Cyan Banister & Lee Jacobs
Highlights
01:22 - The Rizz and Tiz Theory
05:31 - Lessons from John Doerr
08:49 - Absolute Trash VC Advice + The Year of Deal Flow
17:01 - $100M ARR AI Companies
22:05 - Portfolio Companies: Superpower, Autopallet
31:45 - Building a Vibrant Founder Community
36:43 - The Role of Purpose
39:52 - Hot Takes on Venture Capital
42:21 - The "Bubbe" Philosophy
44:19 - Looking Forward: Personal & Professional Goals
Read more for a deeper dive on Arielle, Long Journey’s initial & follow-on check assessment + pricing framework, AZ’s portfolio, John Doerr, AI Hype & the new $100M ARR ‘benchmark,’ the vibe of LJ & the importance of merch, the year of deal flow, and more..
The "Rizz" & "Tiz" Framework for Founders
“Rizz, is charisma, of course, which is, can this person recruit an amazing team? Can they attract downstream funding? Are they going to be a magnetic leader? [Tiz] We believe that neurodivergence is a superpower, and we look for people that live their lives differently. And I think it also represents an intensity and directness.”
The team believes the most successful founders balance these traits, blending magnetic leadership with bold, unconventional thinking.
Examples include one founder who avoids smartphones entirely, opting for a disposable camera and flip phone, and another who uses custom focus glasses to eliminate distractions while working. These traits, while unconventional, signal a level of focus and uniqueness that Long Journey values deeply.
This philosophy ties into the firm's broader thesis: great ideas often come from founders who don’t conform to the norm. As a result, the firm actively seeks out what it calls “magically weird” opportunities—startups that might look unusual today but could reshape industries tomorrow.
Lessons from John Doer, The Value of Diligence
Arielle's transition from product manager to venture capitalist was shaped by her early experiences at Kleiner Perkins, where she worked closely with legendary investor John Doerr. She credits Doerr with teaching her the art of rigorous diligence “turning over every stone,” and the importance of founders over ideas.
“He taught me to look to founders to tell you where the future is going”