About
My motto, As I live and learn, is: Dig And Be Dug, In Return.
– Langston Hughes
Dug Song is co-founder and former chairman & CEO of Duo Security, Michigan’s first tech unicorn and multibillion venture-backed acquisition. As a founder and funder, Dug is a champion for growing community wealth — economic, social, cultural, and environmental — to build a more just and inclusive future for all.
Dug is heavily involved in the global startup community and fostering entrepreneurship in Michigan as an active investor, advisor, and board member. He is co-founder/chair of the Michigan Founders Fund, helping entrepreneurs turn business success into positive community impact, and serves on the boards of the Detroit Regional Chamber and the US Department of Commerce’s National Advisory Council for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, with a focus on racial justice and economic equity.
In 2020, Dug and his wife started the Song Foundation to invest in the innovative people and organizations improving the quality of life for all in Southeast Michigan. Song also serves on the executive board of the Wallace House Center for Journalists, and on the national advisory board for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Michigan.
Links
LinkedIn
Bluesky
Twitter/X (archive)
Song United
Media
- Reuters: Elite security posse fostered founders of WhatsApp, Napster
- Xconomy: After $2B+ Cisco Buyout, Dug Song Reflects on Duo Security’s Journey
- Michigan Engineering: Change or be changed
- Barron’s: Michigan’s DNA Shaped a Populist Security Start-Up
- Detroit Free Press: Tesla should have been a Michigan company. 3 ways to foster unicorn startups here
- MLive: Renovation of historic Ann Arbor-area farmhouse could create home for Black history museum
- The Song Foundation and The Joyce Foundation Commit $1.28 Million to Wallace House Center for Journalists to Launch the Great Lakes Local News Initiative
- Crain’s Detroit: Dug and Linh Song aren’t your typical philanthropists — and their foundation won’t be typical either
- Crain’s Detroit: Song Foundation plans Detroit center to support underserved tech entrepreneurs
- Inside Philanthropy: Meet the Song Foundation: A Michigan Take on Silicon Valley Philanthropy
- MLive: Duo Security founder donates $1M to Washtenaw County small business fund
- Ann Arbor Observer: A Unicorn Gives Back
- Crain’s Detroit: Dug Song sounds off on policy issues facing state of Michigan
- Hour Detroit: The Co-founder of Duo on Building His Business in Michigan
- For You Leaders: Dug Song Part 3: How to Operationalize Your Values, Manage the Board, and Build an Enduring Company
- For You Leaders: Dug Song Part 2: Make Complexity the Enemy: The Simple but Proven Methods Behind Duo’s Growth
- For You Leaders: Dug Song Part 1: A Different Way to Scale to $2.35b: How Duo Security Did It
- Middle Market Growth: Duo Security Founder Dug Song on Building a Unicorn
- Business Insider: A key Cisco exec explains why its $3.4 billion security business is ‘one of the best-kept secrets on Wall Street’ as the networking giant pivots to focus on software
- YCombinator’s Hacker News: monkey.org
- Cyberscoop: Duo CEO Dug Song: We have to make security simple
- CNBC: How a high schooler hacked into a security company and ended up with a job
- MLive: How Ann Arbor’s Duo Security went from a two-man operation to a $2.35 billion company
- Concentrate: What does Duo Security’s sale mean for the Ann Arbor area and its tech industry?
- Detroit Free Press: Ann Arbor startup was just sold for $2B: What it teaches us
- New York Times: Cisco’s Duo Acquisition Is Part of an Industry Push to Secure the Cloud
- TechCrunch: Cisco is buying Duo Security for $2.35B in cash
- Crain’s Detroit: Dug Song - Changing how Silicon Valley looks at Michigan
- Detroit Free Press: RTA millage supporters get out the vote in Ferndale
- Bridge Michigan: Song pushes Ann Arbor, state for ‘better story’
- Ann Arbor News: Ann Arbor Skatepark initiative gets $25K boost from local couple