Timothy Li is a seasoned fintech executive with over two decades of experience in financial technology. He specializes in designing and building banking and fintech solutions, with a track record that includes developing mission-critical platforms for industry leaders such as Intel and JPMorgan Chase. Timothy serves on multiple fintech advisory boards, where he contributes to shaping the future of the industry. He also shares his expertise as a professor at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering, teaching and mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs.

What does your company do, and why is it important?

LendAPI (Techstars 2024) is fixing one of the biggest pain point of embedded finance and that is launch financing products instantly. It takes banks and retailers years to build these lending products and spending millions and misses critical market timing. LendAPI solves for time to market and get banks and retailers up and running instantly.

How is what you are building disrupting your industry?

Our award winning product builder gives our industry the ultimate flexibility to launch any financial products instantly, all without writing a line of code.

What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs who are just starting their journey?

Try work in an industry for a few years and identity problems that they are willing to outsource and pay. Then build a B2B software company around their pain points. Having a deep understanding of an industry is key.

What has been your proudest moment or biggest triumph in your entrepreneurial journey?

We were able to ink deals with public traded firms as soon as we launched and that was a huge red badge of courage for us.

Are there any lessons you've learned along the way that you wish someone had shared with you when you started?

Make sure your contracts are reviewed by law firms. Bad contracts can constrain your growth and always come back and haunt you.

Can you share any resources or organizations that have been particularly helpful to you as an entrepreneur?

Having a good bank partner really helps to allocate your funds, especially when you've raised a good amount of VC money. The likes of Carta also helps with managing equity for you and your staff members. Lastly, get a good comprehensive legal counsel to represent you on the raise and other negotiations. You won't regret it.

How do you celebrate your achievements and milestones within your business?

We have quarterly get together with team members around the country. Sharing food, drinks and getting to know everyone is key to build a solid company culture.

Why did you want to do an accelerator, and why did you choose Techstars?

We wanted to learn the process evolving our bootstrapped startup to a VC bankable scale up. Joining an accelerator like Techstars is almost like a force function to grow up quickly. From company formation and registration, data room preparation and learning all the lingos to pitch to investors, it was a very helpful and memorable experience.

What was the most memorable experience from your Techstars program?

The final pitch in front of hundreds of people in an large auditorium was an amazing experience. However, I think what was more valuable is that I got to spend time with my co-founder Sam Xia. We got to know each other super well and that was something I will remember for the rest of my life.

What was your biggest takeaway from your time spent in program?

The friendship we've established with our peers and our MDs is something we will treasure forever. They are all so helpful and willing to spend the time with us whenever we reach out. Thank you, Techstars!

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