Li Song, CFA

Based in the Silicon Valley, Li Song is a managing director of Startup Banking at First Citizens Innovation Banking. He leads the strategy, execution and growth of First Citizens Innovation Banking’s banking mandates for venture capital/private equity (VC/PE) and innovation companies in Asia for the First Citizens Innovation Banking Global Gateway team.

Since joining First Citizens Innovation Banking in 2000, Li has had the privilege of personally working with over 1,000 dynamic and innovative startups on both sides of the Pacific. Some of his clients later grew to hundred-billion-dollar market cap companies, while some others never made it.

Li consistently takes detailed mental notes on the key ingredients that fueled successful clients’ growth as well as the common mistakes the failed ones made. He generously shares these insights with his clients, prospects and the greater Asian-American innovation community in the US.

In the early days of his career, Li was a global trade aide at the top of the Chinese government, where he travelled with Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng on more than 20 state visits overseas.