CO-EXEC. PROD.
RIZWAN 'RIZ' VIRK
Rizwan (Riz) Virk is a successful hi tech entrepreneur, angel investor, bestselling author, video game industry pioneer, and independent film producer.
His entrepreneurial journey began at the age of 23, when he started his first high tech company and rapidly grew it into a multi-million dollar venture. Since then, Riz has co-founded or invested in a number of successful companies in the enterprise, mobile, social gaming and advertising spaces. Most recently, he is co founder of Midverse Studios. Prior to that he was co founder of Gameview Studios (acquired by DeNA), makers of the hit iPhone game, Tap Fish, which was downloaded more than 30 million times. Prior to that he helped build Tapjoy, CambridgeDocs (acquired by EMC), Bayview Labs and Service Metrics (acquired by Exodus), and was an early investor in Funzio (acquired by GREE) and PocketGems.
Riz became a film producer and investor with the small indie film Turquoise Rose, which was shot entirely on the Navajo reservation. Since then, he has been executive producer for a number of films, including the online phenomenon, Thrive: What On Earth Will It Take?, which has been viewed more than 20 million times, Sirius, the most successful crowd-funded documentary of all time, and the cult classic Knights of Badassdom, starring Peter Dinklage and Summer Glau.
Riz’s book, Zen Entrepreneurship: Walking the Path of the Career Warrior, has inspired entrepreneurs and spiritual seekers from around the world. Riz writes and speaks about video games, entrepreneurship, independent film, and spiritual growth regulary. His activities and writing have been profiled in Tech Crunch, The Boston Globe, Inc. Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and he has appeared on radio shows including Coast-to-Coast AM, and was even skewered by the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Riz received a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and M.S. in Management from Stanford's Graduate School of Business.