Our Mascot: Lore of the Bellwether

Meet Bellwether, our new Long Journey “mascot.”

This is the story about how we created our Long Journey “mascot”; meet Bellwether, a side-eye sheep who leads its flock and looks to the side for where to go next (while others look forward). We deeply believe in co-creation and the whole firm was brought on the design journey to imagine, provide feedback, and vote.

"Don't be a sheep!" It's a phrase we've all heard, especially in recent years – spat out as an insult, wielded as a weapon against those who follow conventional wisdom or mainstream thought. The implication is clear: being a sheep means you're mindless, weak-willed, unable to think for yourself. But what if this common criticism fundamentally misunderstands both human nature and the very essence of how progress happens?

Here's a controversial truth: WE ARE ALL SHEEP. And that's not just okay – it's essential to human flourishing.

Think about your morning routine. You probably brushed your teeth with fluoride toothpaste, drove a car you didn't engineer, on roads you didn't build, to buy coffee you didn't grow, using payment systems you don't fully understand. You might have taken medication prescribed by your doctor, used a smartphone running on technology you couldn't begin to explain, or eaten food safety-tested by agencies you've never met.

Each of these actions required you to be a "sheep" – to trust in the expertise and good faith of countless others. And that's the point: civilization itself is built on our ability to follow, to trust, to believe in others' expertise.

In the early divergent thinking stage of the process, we each were pulled towards different concepts that initially resonated with us in different ways.

The great irony is that those who proudly proclaim their independence from the flock are often following their own shepherds, just different ones. They're still outsourcing their thinking – just to alternative sources. Because the truth is, none of us has the cognitive bandwidth to independently verify every piece of information we rely on daily. It's not physically possible.

The real question isn't whether to be a sheep, but how to be a smart one. How do we choose which shepherds to follow?

This brings us to a sheep behavior pattern: the Bellwether. In a flock, a Bellwether assumes the position as a leader. They're often the ones who first venture into new territory, who find the fresh pastures, who spot the dangers ahead. The rest of the flock follows not because they're forced to, but because following that particular sheep has proven beneficial.

We got lost creatively because the team fell in love with many logos and sometimes it was hard to choose or make a tradeoff. When in doubt, we always anchored on our values.

In human society, we see the same pattern. Every major innovation, from the printing press to personal computers, from democracy to digital payments, started with a small group following someone who seemed, to most observers, completely crazy. These early followers – these "sheep" – weren't mindless; they were visionaries in their own right. They saw something others couldn't yet see.

At Long Journey, we've built our entire investment thesis around this concept. We look for Bellwethers – founders who appear to be lunatics to most of the world but who we believe are actually seeing something everyone else will eventually see. Our role is to be their second believer, their first follower. In doing so, we help transform what looks like madness into leadership.

While on a babymoon trip with his wife to Montreal, Mike showed the logo to dozens of people to see what they gravitated to the most and almost all said the sheep, side-eye.

This dynamic – the transformation of the apparent lunatic into the visionary leader through the act of following – is how human progress actually happens. The first person to suggest washing hands before surgery was ridiculed. The first person to propose that the Earth orbited the Sun was considered a heretic. The first person to imagine personal computers in every home was thought naive. But in each case, a few people chose to follow. They chose to be "sheep," and in doing so, they helped change the world.

So perhaps instead of using "sheep" as an insult, we should recognize that our capacity to follow – selectively, intelligently, and sometimes courageously – is one of humanity's greatest strengths. The key isn't to never be a sheep; it's to be thoughtful about which Bellwethers we choose to follow.

We love our Bellwether and are proud “second believers” (first followers) in the magically weird.

The next time someone tells you not to be a sheep, remember: The real power lies not in blind contrarianism, but in the wisdom to recognize genuine innovation when you see it, the courage to follow it before others do, and the humility to acknowledge that none of us can lead in every domain.

In the end, the most impressive human achievements haven't come from lone wolves, but from flocks – groups of people who were willing to trust, to follow, and to build upon each other's insights. That's not weakness. That's the very foundation of human progress.

So yes, be a sheep. But be a smart one. Look for your Bellwethers. And when you find them, have the courage to follow them even when – especially when – everyone else thinks they're crazy. Because that's how we move forward. That's how we grow. That's how we change the world.

Cyan Banister (General Partner) and Mike Wang (Head of Platform)