Robert Li

Judge
DISC Type : Dc

Business Operations and Strategy Lead at Parafin

San Francisco, California, United States

Overview

Robert leads Business Operations and Strategy at Parafin, leveraging his extensive background as a fintech venture capitalist. He previously served as Vice President at Citi Ventures and as an investor at Lerer Hippeau and Draper Dragon. He holds a BS in Economics from The Wharton School.

His career is marked by a unique transition from investing in innovative fintech companies to taking an operational role to help build one directly.

Personality Overview

Objective Thinker

Fast But Wary

Quality Focused

They put a lot of effort into ensuring personal success.  They do not care very much about building rapport or relationships. They are less concerned about the product and more about its potential impact.

Topics They Care About

Small Business Growth
His current role at Parafin is centered on building and scaling financial products and strategies designed to help small businesses thrive.
Fintech Investing
As a former VP at Citi Ventures and investor at Lerer Hippeau, he has deep experience identifying and funding promising early-stage fintech startups.
Commerce & Payments
Actively engages with the commerce and payments tech ecosystem, having attended industry events like Shoptalk to connect with founders and investors.

Media Appearances

Robert has no verified media appearances

Work History

10-2025
Business Operations and Strategy Lead at Parafin
9-2022 - 10-2025
Vice President, Citi Ventures at Citi
6-2021 - 8-2022
Investor at Lerer Hippeau
9-2018 - 6-2021
Investor at Draper Dragon Fund
6-2017 - 8-2017
Summer Intern, Strategy and Advisory Dept. at DiDi

Education

BS in Economics from The Wharton School

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 7 Location : San Francisco, California, United States Job Level : Middle Designation : Business Operations and Strategy Lead at Parafin
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Insights For Selling To Robert

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • When negotiating terms, help them build an impression that they are the ones calling the shots
  • Get to the point quickly instead of spending time doing small talk
  • Use phrases like ‘it’s your decision’, ‘strategic impact’ etc.

DONT's

  • Don’t focus on process and rules, give the impression of being a ‘gets it done’ person
  • Don't try too hard to forge relationships with them
  • Avoid being a storyteller and don’t try to oversell

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Robert is

  • Confidence in impact is paramount to them, followed by a sense of achievement and ROI.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Robert

  • If they are not convinced, they will have no hesitation in telling you the same.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Robert move?

  • If convinced, they can reach decisions quite fast.
  • Can Robert take some risk or not?

  • They do not shy away from taking risks, but can be quite binary about them.

You And Robert

Personality Compatibility


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