Christina Qi

BIOGRAPHY

Christina Qi is the CEO of Databento, an on-demand market data platform. She formerly founded Domeyard LP, a hedge fund focused on high frequency trading (HFT) that traded up to $7.1 billion USD per day. Failing to earn a job offer after a Wall Street internship, Christina started Domeyard from her dorm room with $1000 in savings, about 9 years ago. Her fund was a tiny minnow amongst the tigers of the hedge fund world, but after Michael Lewis’s Flash Boys came out in 2014 and HFT firms hid from the spotlight, Domeyard accidentally found itself in the center of the ring. Over the next decade, her company’s story was featured on the front page of Forbes and Nikkei, and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNN, NBC, and the Financial Times as a result of the controversy and fascination with HFT. By a series of accidents, Christina became a voice in her industry, contributing to the World Economic Forum’s research on AI in finance, guest lecturing at dozens of universities, and teaching Domeyard’s case study at Harvard Business School. She is grateful to be able to open up about her mistakes, and to help people turn failures into opportunities.

No amount of therapy has quashed Christina’s impostor syndrome, but she will always be proud of her non-profit volunteer work. Christina was elected as a Member of the MIT Corporation, MIT’s Board of Trustees. She is Co-Chair of the Board of Invest in Girls, bringing financial literacy education to underserved populations across the US. Christina also sits on the Board of Directors of The Financial Executives Alliance (FEA) Hedge Fund Group, drives entrepreneurship efforts at the MIT Sloan Boston Alumni Association (MIT SBAA), and served on the U.S. Non-Profit Boards Committee of 100 Women in Finance. Although "X Under X" lists are a gimmick, she’ll admit that Forbes 30 Under 30 made a positive impact on her life by giving her a community - friends who dragged her out of bed during the lowest days of her life. Christina holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Science from MIT and is a CAIA Charterholder.

INTERESTS

My name is Christina, and I'm from Utah. I joined Anime Club in high school and college, and I have a habit of wearing ugly cosplays while taking important exams like the SAT (I was Naruto that day) and the JLPT (I failed N3, that means my Japanese is very bad). These days, I love skiing (mostly falling) and climbing with my friends, eating lots of food (getting heavier each year), spending too much money at the arcade, singing (or screeching - sorry in advance) anime karaoke, and losing at board games with my friends.

One weird fact about me: I've never had a full-time job working for someone else. My first job was teaching piano during my high school days in order to buy a car. I bought an old Pontiac Aztec, aka one of the ugliest cars ever made, and made it uglier by putting anime stickers on it. I sold it for $500 to help pay for college.

In college, I did internships in finance, failed most of them, and started a hedge fund from my dorm room. Domeyard does high frequency trading, so you can imagine the controversies we faced (Google us for more info). I made some money, paid off my student debt and my family's debts, and left Domeyard to start Databento, a market data API company. Databento currently has 21 employees, about $30M in funding, and a long road ahead.

Today, I live in Utah with a slightly upgraded car, my dog (the stereotypical maltese that Asian families get), and my family (bless their hearts) After a 12-year career in Boston, I'm spending this decade prioritizing my friends, family, colleagues, and community.

AWARDS, LICENSES & TEACHING EXPERIENCE

• Visiting Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Prof. Robert C. Merton)
• Case Study Protagonist, Harvard Business School
• Visiting Lecturer, Harvard Business School (Profs. Lauren Cohen & Chris Malloy)
• Founder of the Year, Women’s Wealth Forum
• Scientific American Award, Scientific American Foundation
• CAIA Foundation Scholar, 100 Women in Finance & PAAMCO
• Innovator Award, Women Tech Council
• Front-page features on Forbes, Nikkei & Deseret News
• Quoted in The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal & Bloomberg News
• 1st Place, Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, 350 competitors from 31 countries
• Jorge Bolet Distinguished Performer Award, Stony Brook International Piano Festival
• Awarded performance debuts at Carnegie Hall & Steinway Hall
• CAIA Charterholder, Active
• FINRA Series 3 License, Active