{"id":9714,"date":"2026-04-10T16:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T20:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.math.columbia.edu\/mafn\/?page_id=9714"},"modified":"2026-04-10T17:01:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:01:35","slug":"practitioners-seminar-fall-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.math.columbia.edu\/mafn\/practitioners-seminar-fall-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Practitioners\u2019 Seminar Fall 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Fall semester, the seminar takes place on Wednesdays 6:10 pm \u2014 7:25 pm.<\/p>\n

Location:<\/b> Mathematics Building, Room 207
\nFor directions, please see Directions to Campus<\/a> and Directions to Mathematics Building (Morningside Campus Map).<\/a><\/p>\n

Organizer: Jaehyuk Choi<\/p>\n

upcoming Schedule of Presentations<\/h3>\n

View the Schedule of Past Presentations.<\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday, September 9, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title: <\/b>From HFT to Fintech: Lessons in Entrepreneurship & Risk-Taking in Finance<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaker: <\/b>Christina Qi, <\/span>Databento<\/span><\/p>\n

Christina Qi is the Co-Founder and CEO of Databento, a financial data platform serving thousands of institutions worldwide. Prior to Databento, she co-founded Domeyard LP, a hedge fund focused on high-frequency trading, which grew to trade billions of dollars per day across global markets before winding down after a decade of service. Christina is a board member of her alma mater MIT, WGBH (National Public Radio\/PBS), and a visiting lecturer at several universities. She graduated from MIT in 2013 and lives in Utah with 10 chickens, 2 turtles, and a 15-year-old dog. She enjoys listening to classical piano music, watching anime, and playing rhythm games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n

What does it take to launch your own venture in finance – and is it worth the risk? In this talk, Christina Qi will walk through her unconventional journey from co-founding Domeyard LP, a high-frequency trading hedge fund, to starting Databento, a provider of real-time and historical market data. Drawing from personal experiences, Christina will candidly discuss the highs and lows of entrepreneurship in finance – from raising capital and hiring a team, to the day-to-day differences (& differing career trajectories) between having an alpha-chasing job vs. a product-oriented job. She\u2019ll also share lessons learned from failure, insights into compensation and risk trade-offs, whether location matters or not, and how to identify and validate an idea worth building. This session will provide students with a grounded, realistic view of what it means to forge your own path – and why sometimes, the biggest leaps of faith can lead to the most valuable growth.<\/b><\/p>\n

Wednesday, September 16, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title: <\/b><\/p>\n

Speaker:<\/b><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n

Wednesday, September 23, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title: <\/b><\/p>\n

Speaker: <\/b><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n

Wednesday, September 30, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title: <\/b><\/p>\n

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Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n

Wednesday, October 7, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title: <\/b><\/p>\n

Speaker:<\/b><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n

Wednesday, October 14, 2026<\/span><\/h6>\n

Title: <\/b><\/p>\n

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Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n

Wednesday, October 21, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title: <\/b><\/p>\n

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Wednesday, October 28, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title:<\/b><\/p>\n

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Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n

Wednesday, November 4, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title: <\/b><\/p>\n

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Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n

Wednesday, November 11, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title:<\/b><\/p>\n

Speaker: <\/b><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n

Wednesday, November 18, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title:<\/b><\/p>\n

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Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n

Wednesday, November 25, 2026 – no classes<\/span><\/h6>\n
Wednesday, December 9, 2026<\/h6>\n

Title:<\/b><\/p>\n

Speaker:<\/b><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/div>

Past Presentations<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9714","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.math.columbia.edu\/mafn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.math.columbia.edu\/mafn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.math.columbia.edu\/mafn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.math.columbia.edu\/mafn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.math.columbia.edu\/mafn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9714"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.math.columbia.edu\/mafn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9745,"href":"https:\/\/www.math.columbia.edu\/mafn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9714\/revisions\/9745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.math.columbia.edu\/mafn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}