當被問到如何成為Amino Capital（豐元資本）的創始人兼管理合夥人時，李強提到運氣、環境和機遇，而這只是他的謙辭。

一位投資人不會無緣無故登上《福布斯》AI投資趨勢引領者前五名和2024年全球最佳創投人榜，這一切都離不開明智的決策、嫻熟的執行以及視障礙為機遇的遠見卓識。李強於1997年加入富國銀行（當時為美聯銀行），在早期職業生涯中積累了廣泛的軟體和硬體系統的知識和經驗。“當時我並不瞭解金融機構面臨的大量挑戰，“李強說道，”有很多問題都沒有顯而易見的解決方案，比如資料安全和效率問題。”

儘管任期相對較短，李強在之後的十年中一直銘記著在富國銀行學習到的經驗。從賽門鐵克(Symantec)的工程主管到洛克茲(Lockerz)的技術總監和首席架構師，他又擔任過多種角色。李強說道：“我看到了很多優秀的解決問題的方案，我全都想參與，但這並不現實。”因此，2010年，李強和幾位朋友想到，投資一些這樣的方案或許會是個明智的選擇。於是他們成為了首批向Zoom（矚目）投資的團隊之一，這是一家專注於視訊通話軟體的公司。

兩年後，他們在加利福尼亞州帕洛阿爾託成立了風險投資公司Amino Capital（豐元資本）。李強說：“我喜歡結識新朋友，和他們交流想法，但在我當時的人生階段，投資好過於創業，後者要和那些20多歲每天工作20小時的年輕人競爭。”

豐元資本的一大成功是在2013年率先投資了金融科技初創公司Chime。Chime如今是美國最大的數字銀行。李強說：“如果沒有在富國銀行的經驗，我絕不會投資像Chime這樣的公司。他們試圖透過向客戶提供更多資訊來解決效率低下的問題，同時仍提供與分行相同的服務。”

如今，在李強的帶領下，豐元資本的科技投資遍佈美國30個州，並在歐洲、非洲和亞洲擁有多家初創公司。在其投資的300多家公司中，有17家成為了獨角獸公司（估值達到10億美元或以上）。李強將公司成功的很大一部分歸功於許多人忽視的一個因素，他說：“大多數獨角獸公司的創始人都是獨特的，但他們身上有兩個共同點是我們所尋求的——精力充沛，並且通常來自多元化背景。”

對新觀點和新朋友的熱情，給李強的職業生涯帶來了另一個意想不到的轉折。今年早些時候，他出版了他的第一本書《VC解密：策略與實踐》，創作這本書的初衷是為讀者提供一個清晰的視角去了解風險投資的世界。李強表示：“風險投資相當不透明，如果不是身在其中，你很難知道內部發生了什麼。大多數人要麼持有鉅額財富，要麼畢業於常春藤名校並擁有大量資源。我寫這本書是想告訴大家，任何人，就像我自己，都可以進入這個世界並取得成功。我想讓風險投資行業民主化。”

同時，將風險投資開放給一個新群體或許能為這個行業帶來豐厚的回報。正如李強所說：“多樣性很重要。我們發現，背景和技能互補的人們更有可能取得成功。那些典型的成功團隊看上去充滿差異，不同的觀念，信仰和背景越多越好。在我們投資的300家公司中，有17家成為獨角獸，而他們的創始人大多數有著區別於傳統風險投資創始人的背景。”

除了投資新一代金融科技公司，李強還堅持每天游泳或打高爾夫。此外，李強的辦公室距離斯坦福大學僅數英里，他還是校園裡的常客，為有抱負的投資者和學生提供指導。

10月19日，李強將在洛杉磯舉行的典禮上正式入選亞洲名人堂。亞洲名人堂成立於2004年，旨在向公眾宣傳亞洲人對美國和世界的貢獻。根據名人堂的規定，入選者是“社群支柱、金融泰斗或行業先驅”，他們“迎難而上，以謙遜的態度推動了商業，文化與合作的發展，為更美好的文明做出積極的貢獻。”

“這真的是一種榮譽和激勵”，李強說道，“我從未想過我能走到這裡……能夠加入這個了不起的群體，我很驚喜。這將讓我有機會向來自不同背景的人學習。我希望有一個良好的平臺來交流想法和資源。”

訪談原文

Larry Li’s journey: From solving financial challenges to investing in unicorns 

2 Aug 2024

Ask Larry Li how he became a founder and managing partner of Amino Capital, and he cites luck, circumstances, and good fortune. But that's Just Modesty talking.

Your company doesn't end up on Forbes' Top 5 AI Investment Trendsetter and 2024 Midas Seed Lists, and you don't cofound a technology company without intelligent direction, skillful execution, and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities. Li, who joined Wells Fargo (then Wachovia) in 1997, spent the first years of his career amassing general expertise and knowledge around all kinds of software and hardware systems.  'I didn’t know the breadth of challenges financial institutions were facing at the time,' Li said. 'Data security, inefficiencies — there were a lot of issues, and there wasn't a good, obvious solution at the time.'

Though his time with Wells Fargo was relatively short, Li kept those learnings in the back of his mind over the next decade, as he worked in roles varying from engineering manager for Symantec to technical director and chief architect for Lockerz.  'I saw so many good solutions to a lot of problems,' explained Li. 'I wanted to work on all of them, but that just wasn’t possible.'  So, in 2010, Li and a few friends thought it'd be smart to invest in some of those good ideas. They got started as one of the first investors to write a check to a company specializing in videotelephony software named Zoom.  

Two years later, they founded Amino Capital, a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California.  'I love meeting new people and exchanging ideas,' said Li. 'But at that stage of my life, investing was better than starting a company where you're competing with 20-year-olds who are working 20-hour days, every day.'

Among the signature wins for Amino was being the first company to invest in Chime – a fintech startup – in 2013. It's now the largest digital bank in the United States.   'Without my experience at Wells Fargo, I would never have invested in a company like Chime,' Li said. 'They tried to solve inefficiencies by providing customers with more information, while still giving the same offerings as branches.'

Today, under Li's leadership, Amino invests in technology companies in 30 states, and has a portfolio of startups in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Of the more than 300 companies it’s invested in, 17 have become unicorns (companies with a valuation of $1 billion or more). Li attributes a high percentage of his company's success to a factor he feels many overlook. 'Most unicorn founders are outliers, but have two things we look for,' said Li. 'They have to be energetic, and they usually come from a diverse background.' 

A love for new ideas and new people led to another unexpected turn in Li’s career. He published his first book, VC, Demystified: Strategy and Practice, earlier this year. The impetus for the book was to provide a clear view of the world of venture capital (VC).  'VC is pretty opaque,' said Li. 'If you’re not in it, it’s very hard to know what’s going on inside. The majority of the people in it either have a lot of money or went to one of the top Ivy league schools and have all the resources. I wrote this book to show that anyone, like myself, can enter this world and be successful. I want to democratize the VC industry. ' 

And, opening up VC to a new group of people, will likely prove fruitful for the industry. 'Diversity is important,' said Li. 'We found that people with complementary backgrounds and skillsets have a much better chance to be successful. The typical team that is successful looks very different… the more mix of ideas, beliefs, and backgrounds the better. Of the 300 companies we invested in, 17 became unicorns, and most of their founders had backgrounds that made them outliers from traditional VC founders.'

When he’s not helping create the next generation of fintech companies, Li swims or plays golf daily. With his offices just miles from Stanford University, Li is a regular on campus, offering himself as a mentor to aspiring investors and ordinary students. 

On October 19, he’ll be formally inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Los Angeles. Founded in 2004, the Asian Hall of Fame educates the public about Asian contributions to the United States and the world. Inductees, according to the Hall of Fame, are 'a pillar of community, titan of finance, or trailblazer of industry' who have 'elevated commerce, culture, and collaboration with humility that derives from transforming adversity into triumph for the positive advancement of a better civilization.'

'It's truly an honor and inspiring,' said Li of his pending induction. 'I never thought I could do this… it’s a surprise to me to be introduced into this particular group of people. It will give me a chance to learn from those people, from very diverse backgrounds. I’m looking forward to a good platform to exchange ideas and resources.'