“Riz is a prolific technical visionary and entrepreneur. He sees the holes in a market space; and pragmatically develops a company and products to fill that gap. Riz has demonstrated a repeated ability to launch companies whose products are quickly adopted by the Fortune 1000”
About
Contributions
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What is the best way to prepare for a venture capitalist's due diligence process?
In my experience, the main thing is to avoid surprises. These are the reasons why VCs pullout during the DD phase. This could be surprising things about the market (an 800 pound gorilla type competitor the VC didn't know about), surprises about the company ("oh I forgot to tell you about $1 million in debt"), the cap table (or "btw I had a co founder who quit who owns 50% of the company"), the financials or customers ("oh I know I said fidelity was our biggest customer but really I gave them the product for free"), the marketing & cust acquisition ("we are spending $x per customer more than I thought" or "we are using a non-sustainable marketing channel and our CAC is really unknown", "Our LTV was based on only 5 customers"), etc.
Activity
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The huge financial success of #deadpool and #wolverine does not mark the comeback of the #mcu, but cements the end of the #superhero genre as…
The huge financial success of #deadpool and #wolverine does not mark the comeback of the #mcu, but cements the end of the #superhero genre as…
Liked by Riz Virk
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Jyotveer Singh Gill, our Associate Director for Education Technology and Web Development has been honoured with a prestigious Diversity UK award - as…
Jyotveer Singh Gill, our Associate Director for Education Technology and Web Development has been honoured with a prestigious Diversity UK award - as…
Liked by Riz Virk
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Watch the latest episode of the CSI Skill Tree series from the ASU Center for Science and the Imagination on video games, storytelling…
Watch the latest episode of the CSI Skill Tree series from the ASU Center for Science and the Imagination on video games, storytelling…
Liked by Riz Virk
Experience & Education
Publications
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Threads of the Metaverse - A Comparative Framework for Virtual Worlds
Medium
While no one agrees on the definition of the Metaverse, most of us can agree on the elements which make up the Metaverse. This is a draft of a paper introducing a functional and comparative framework, the threads of the Metaverse, which allows us to compare, contrast, and describe different visions of the Metaverse by focusing on its functional elements.
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Congress is finally paying attention to UFOs. But it's still missing the point.
NBC News
The recent hearing reinforced one of the most limiting aspects of the government's exploration of UAP: Only investigating them as a security threat. To truly get to the bottom of this mystery, we need the collective power of private and public academic and independent organizations all working on the problem
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The Death of NFTs Has Been Greatly Exaggerated by Elon Musk and Others
NBC News
Those who underestimate the power of this new technology are like those who believed the World Wide Web was dead after the crash of 2000.
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The Metaverse is Coming: We May Already Be in It
Scientific American
An article in Scientific American showing how my research into Simulation Theory is connected with my research into the Metaverse, and how the evolution of the Metaverse may lead us to conclude we are already inside a computer simulation, like that in the Matrix.
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The Startup Market Lifecycle
Stanford Social Innovation Review
An overview of the stages of evolution of startup markets, from nascent to mature, which can help entrepreneurs and investors make decisions about investment, growth, m&a, etc.
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Startup Myths & Models: What You Won't Learn in Business School (2020)
Columbia University Press
A summary of all the lessons i've learned in 25 years of co-founding, investing in, mentoring, and growing startups. Startup Myths are the rules of thumb that are tossed around casually in Silicon Valley and beyond. Startup Models are more accurate ways of thinking about how startup markets and companies really work! Each Myth contains a secret which can help you on your entrepreneurial journey.
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How to Build the Matrix
TechCrunch
An overview of the road to then simulation point and the technologies that need to be developed before we get there. A summary of Part I of my book, The Simulation Hypothesis.
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The Simulation Hypothesis
Bayview Books
This is my new book pulling together years of research and speculation about quantum physics, video games, computational irreducibility/simulations, the simulation argument, eastern mystics, reincarnation, karma and much more. The pros and cons of the idea that we live in a computer-simulated reality are explored with hard science, speculation, science fiction, and the world's mystical traditions. The book was self published, bypassing old traditional publishers, so that I could get it…
This is my new book pulling together years of research and speculation about quantum physics, video games, computational irreducibility/simulations, the simulation argument, eastern mystics, reincarnation, karma and much more. The pros and cons of the idea that we live in a computer-simulated reality are explored with hard science, speculation, science fiction, and the world's mystical traditions. The book was self published, bypassing old traditional publishers, so that I could get it released on the 20th anniversary of the Matrix rather than a year or two later!
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How Blockchain could Kill Both Netflix and Cable
VentureBeat
An overview of how Blockchain projects may affect the entertainment industry. A longer version of the article appeared on my medium blog: https://hackernoon.com/why-blockchain-might-kill-both-cable-and-netflix-9e2f596a050c
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The Simulation Hypothesis: Why Quantum Physics, AI, and Eastern Mystics Agree We are in a Video Game
Hackernoon
This article summarizes my thinking about the nature of reality, pulling in ideas of VR/AR, Quantum Physics, Video Game design, and consciousness/mysticism. It's a pretty good overview for those who haven't looked into the Simulation Hypothesis in much details.
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Treasure Hunt: Follow Your Inner Clues to Find True Success
Watkins
Have you ever wished you had a wise old mentor who could tell you where to go next in your career or your life? An “Obi-Wan Kenobi”-type figure who could not only offer specific advice on handling day-to-day decisions, but could guide you to the people and places that would make a difference in your life and career? Let Rizwan Virk, a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor, show you how to learn to tune into messages that are coming to us all the time from the hidden worlds. These…
Have you ever wished you had a wise old mentor who could tell you where to go next in your career or your life? An “Obi-Wan Kenobi”-type figure who could not only offer specific advice on handling day-to-day decisions, but could guide you to the people and places that would make a difference in your life and career? Let Rizwan Virk, a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor, show you how to learn to tune into messages that are coming to us all the time from the hidden worlds. These messages, which take the form of synchronicity, hunches, gut feelings, visions, experiences of déjà vu, bodily sensations, and even in our dreams while we are awake or asleep, are like clues in our own personal Treasure Hunt. Where do these “clues” come from? Whether they come from our “inner mentor”, from our “future selves”, or from our spiritual guides, they can help us to uncover our hidden “Treasure Map”, which shows us the work we were meant to do in this life and the path to get there. The author shows how learning to use the Clue Lifecycle can provide concrete guidance in our personal lives, our jobs, our career decisions and our investments. Turn your career into a Treasure Hunt and find true, meaningful success in the business and spiritual worlds.
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How I Cornered the Bitcoin Mining Market Using a Quantum Computer
Medium
A description how a Quantum Computer might be used to monopolize cryptocurrncy mining (theoretically!)
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Online Automatic Auctions for Bitcoin Over-The-Counter Trading
Whitepaper
In this paper we analyse online marketplaces for peer-to-peer cryptocurrency
trading. We show that the currently dominant classifieds-like approach is not suitable for over-thecounter (OTC) trading due to lack of efficient tools to facilitate the use cases of
most traders. We also argue that existing OTC solutions do not properly mitigate major
risks related to peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading. In second part we propose a solution
based on a combination of several…In this paper we analyse online marketplaces for peer-to-peer cryptocurrency
trading. We show that the currently dominant classifieds-like approach is not suitable for over-thecounter (OTC) trading due to lack of efficient tools to facilitate the use cases of
most traders. We also argue that existing OTC solutions do not properly mitigate major
risks related to peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading. In second part we propose a solution
based on a combination of several existing advanced technologies an
over-the-counter platform for multiattribute automatic auctions. We outline major
features of this platform and show its advantage over existing solutions.Other authorsSee publication -
The Zen of Entrepreneurship
Techcrunch
An overview of some of the principles in my book, Zen Entrepreneurship, distilled for the Silicon Valley community.
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Zen Entrepreneurship: Walking the Path of the Career Warrior
Amazon
A book about succeeding in the world while finding and walking your spiritual path. Follow a young entrepreneur as he starts and grows a multi-million dollar startup, and only to find that there are forces guiding his success/failure that have more to do with the inner worlds than the outer worlds. This book is about learning to use intuition and logic -both sides of the brain together.
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Creating a Peer to Peer System for Buying and Selling Bitcoin Online
An overview of what a system for buying and selling bitcoin without any trusted intermediaries might look like at a time when most bitcoin exchanges were centralized.
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An Introduction to the Dreaming Practices of the Maricopa Indians
An overview of what I learned about the traditional meaning and practices of dreaming in the maricopa/pima indian communities.
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Domino 4.5 Unleashed
Macmillan (Sams imprint)
This text is aimed at assisting system administrators in coming up to speed in Domino administration and aid them in understanding: installing and configuring Domino; basic system administration; and day-to-day preventive maintenance tasks essential in maintaining the Domino environment.
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Using Interactive Multimedia for Foreign Language Learning
MIT Thesis
Our undergraduate thesis, completed at the MIT Media Lab under the supervision of professors Glorianna Davenport, Janet Murray, and Shigeru Miyagawa, about using multimedia to teach Japanese and other foreign languages.
Projects
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Mobile Designer, Book Bazaar (iOS App)
- Present
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SL Messenger / Gnomiverse
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an instant messaging tool for SecondLife to allow in world to out of world communication without logging into the client that I originally developed and then merged in with gnomiverse, a Metaverse chat tool.
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Join now to viewMore activity by Riz
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Very honored to be speaking on one of my favorite topics, #ConsciousHollywood, on the evening of August 19 in Los Angeles at #SohoHouse. During this…
Very honored to be speaking on one of my favorite topics, #ConsciousHollywood, on the evening of August 19 in Los Angeles at #SohoHouse. During this…
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Our alumni and elumni deliver major contributions to their sectors, industries and businesses. So, you could feel the energy in the room at our…
Our alumni and elumni deliver major contributions to their sectors, industries and businesses. So, you could feel the energy in the room at our…
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Really enjoying listening to the Boston Universiry Summer Accelerator Demo Day pitches at Innovate@BU. Kudos to Tom Samph and friends for running a…
Really enjoying listening to the Boston Universiry Summer Accelerator Demo Day pitches at Innovate@BU. Kudos to Tom Samph and friends for running a…
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My sci-fi/action screenplay "Future Tense, Past Imperfect" just made the finals in the Academy Awards' annual screenwriting contest! It was briefly…
My sci-fi/action screenplay "Future Tense, Past Imperfect" just made the finals in the Academy Awards' annual screenwriting contest! It was briefly…
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POWER RANGERS: MIGHTY FORCE is now available on App Store and Google Play! It was a breeze working with the amazing people at Hasbro. Thank you Barry…
POWER RANGERS: MIGHTY FORCE is now available on App Store and Google Play! It was a breeze working with the amazing people at Hasbro. Thank you Barry…
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Great advice and so sadly true… Just look around, how much hate and separation are promoted at all levels,? Whether is politics, religion, gender…
Great advice and so sadly true… Just look around, how much hate and separation are promoted at all levels,? Whether is politics, religion, gender…
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"I don’t know why these unpopular things have this uncanny attraction for me" -- Carl Jung Jung would be surprised by the popularity these uncanny…
"I don’t know why these unpopular things have this uncanny attraction for me" -- Carl Jung Jung would be surprised by the popularity these uncanny…
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In Episode 47 of Venture Games, my guest Philip Sanderson, Co-Founder and Senior Partner at Griffin Gaming Partners discusses his updated views on…
In Episode 47 of Venture Games, my guest Philip Sanderson, Co-Founder and Senior Partner at Griffin Gaming Partners discusses his updated views on…
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Today, after officially signing the paperwork— I am honored to announce that I will next be writing, and directing the feature film AMERICAN WOLF…
Today, after officially signing the paperwork— I am honored to announce that I will next be writing, and directing the feature film AMERICAN WOLF…
Liked by Riz Virk
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When will we pass the The Metaverse Turing Test? How Smart are Smart NPCs? The Metaverse Turing Test: You are in a 3d space, controlling your…
When will we pass the The Metaverse Turing Test? How Smart are Smart NPCs? The Metaverse Turing Test: You are in a 3d space, controlling your…
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