Cici Yang

For Cici who grew up in an entrepreneurial family, being adventurous and bold is in her genes. Joining the venture capital industry seems to be an inevitable choice for her.

When Cici was 5 years old, her dad asked her to write down 10 things that she thought were impossible to happen on a piece of paper. Then he took the little girl to a park and asked her to bury it with a wood board written“The tomb of Mr. Impossible.” Cici says that spirit is still carried on today. Cici joined Lightspeed China Partners in 2018. She focuses on investment opportunities in sectors of consumer products, education, social media, and entertainment.

After graduating from college, Cici worked as an equity research assistant at Wisdom Tree Asset Management in New York. But soon she realized behind every stock ticker, the story of how a small company grows to a public traded company is more exciting. She then joined ChinaRock Capital where she spent 2 years learning Venture Capital 101 through the funds’ successful investments in Musical.ly, Youku, Agora, etc.

In 2018 when she met with LCP founding partner James Mi, she was resonated with Lightspeed’s global vision of finding and helping Chinese entrepreneurs who not only can build a business in China but also become impactful and respectable in the world. She made her decision to jump on the boat.

Cici holds a B.S. in Finance from the Ohio State University.

In her spare time, Cici likes to explore local shopping malls, grocery stores, restaurants, music festivals, or escape rooms.

“To become a great investor in consumer space, you have to put yourself in the shoes of consumers. I love to observe and meet with different types of people, no matter they are GenX or GenZ. Understanding their lives and behaviors gives me more insights than just sitting in the office,” Cici says.