Rizwan Virk 

Dr. Rizwan (“Riz”) Virk is a successful  entrepreneur, investor, futurist, bestselling author, video game industry pioneer, and indie film producer.     Riz received a B.S. in Computer Science  from MIT,  and a M.S. in Management from Stanford's GSB, and his Ph.D. atat ASU's College of Global Futures, researching technoscientific narratives on society, including, virtual reality, AI and more, with research done at the Center for Science and the Imagination, and was part of the Future of Being Human initiative. He also taught at the Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, and was a visiting researcher at the Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge.

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Riz was the founder of Play Labs @ MIT, a startup accelerator held on campus at  the MIT Game Lab.   He also runs Bayview Labs and is a venture partner Griffin Gaming Partners, one of the largest gaming VC funds and was an advisor to Ridge Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures).  Riz is an advisor to many startups, VC's, educational institutions, blockchain organizations and  private foundations.

 

His expertise ranges from startups/VC industry, video games/metaverse, virtual AI and smart NPCs, blockchain/cryptocurrency, meditation/consciousness, simulation theory, UFOs/UAPs, the intersection of science, science fiction narratives, futures studies, religion and philosophy.  

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Riz is a prolific Silicon Valley angel investor, having invested in many startups including Tapjoy (sold to IronSource/Unity), Telltale Games, Discord, Funzio (sold to GREE), Pocket Gems, Moon Express, Theta Labs, North Bay Solutions, One Billion Tech and many others.  His  startups' video games have included Tap Fish, Penny Dreadful: Demimonde and Grimm: Cards of Fate, and games based on Star Trek, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones.

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Riz has produced many indie films (imdb link), including Thrive,  Sirius,  Knights of Badassdom (starring Peter Dinklage and Summer Glau), The CW's The Outpost, as well as adaptations of the works of Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin.

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Riz’s books include The Simulation Hypothesis, The Simulated Multiverse, Startup Myths & Models, Wisdom of a Yogi, Zen Entrepreneurship, and Treasure Hunt: Follow Your Inner Clues to Find True Success.

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Riz has written for and been featured on NBC News.com, CNN, The Telegraph, BBC Science Focus, Scientific American,  Inc. Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Tech Crunch, Venture Beat, Vox.com,  Digital Trends, Hackernoon, The Spectator and many other places.

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He speaks regularly on subjects such as startups, video games, the metaverse,  meditation and career success both in person and online. He has been interviewed extensively ranging from  The Joe Rogan Experience, to  Coast to Coast AM,  The Why Files,  CBC's Tapestry, The History Channel and Gaia TV.

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He splits his time between  Mountain View, CA,  Cambridge, MA, and Tempe, AZ, depending on the time of year.