Partner

James Mi

What keeps me going is the intellectual stimulation of working with smart partners and solving problems that will have significant social or industry impact.

Ranked by Forbes as one of the top venture capitalists in China, James co-founded Lightspeed China Partners in 2011. Previously, he served as a Managing Director at Lightspeed Venture Partners after helping to build Google China from the ground up. While leading Google’s investment in the multinational tech company Baidu, he discovered a passion for early-stage technology investments.

“My experience with Google and, subsequently, working with startups has helped me develop a knack for judging a founder’s potential to create value,” James says. “I get excited about consumer Internet technology that creates a platform with low barrier to entry. For example, I made early-stage investments in Dianping, Ganji, and Rong360, all of which became large Internet platform companies.”

James has always had a passion for learning. As an elementary school kid, he read all the books that he could get his hands on at home. “My father, who’s a professor, would send me to other professors’ homes to get more,” he says. He went on to study physics, finishing a four year undergraduate program in three years, then earned a graduate degree in electrical engineering from Princeton.

“I’ve always wanted to explore new things, and that’s why now I am constantly looking out for new, emerging trends to inform my early-stage VC investments,” James says. “What keeps me excited is the intellectual stimulation of working with smart partners and solving problems that will have significant social or industry impact.”

Investments