Virl Hill

Virl Hill is a longtime digital-media executive, board director, and advisor who describes himself as a "Consultant, Strategic Advisor and Angel Investor focused on building and accelerating the growth of consumer internet and digital media businesses." He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Northwestern University, including an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, and he serves on Kellogg's Alumni Council. Early in his career he worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston, in international distribution and licensing at Hanna-Barbera Productions, and led strategic planning for The Walt Disney Company's Television and Non-Feature Animation production divisions.

Hill spent roughly 13 years at RealNetworks in senior leadership roles, where he helped lead the spinout of Rhapsody, ran RollingStone.com, and built strategic partnerships with major media companies, sports leagues, cable networks, and cable MSOs. Among his roles there he was General Manager of Corporate and Business Development at Rhapsody America LLC (January 2007–April 2010) and General Manager of RollingStone.com, and he helped launch audio/video search functionality in RealPlayer.

From 2010 to 2012 he was CEO, President, and a board member of Blade Games World, an early-stage digital games company — the venture associated with his blade3d.com email domain. In 2013 he joined Microsoft as a director of business development and strategic partnerships, later becoming Head of Worldwide Business Development & Strategy for Media & Entertainment, leading media-industry BD teams across Entertainment, Autos, and the Asia/Pacific and LATAM regions. He is based in Mercer Island, Washington.

Alongside his operating career, Hill is active in industry and community governance: he is a board member and digital-strategy committee leader at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), and he is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and The Recording Academy. He advises and sits on the advisory boards of several media-and-technology companies.

• Invests and advises at the intersection of media and technology — consumer internet, digital media, entertainment, music, gaming, and sports.
• Stated focus (his own words): "building and accelerating the growth of consumer internet and digital media businesses at startups, growing companies and large organizations."
• Angel activity is seed-stage, consistent with the stub data; brings deep operator experience in content distribution, licensing, and strategic partnerships rather than pure capital.
• Value-add leans on his network across major media companies, sports leagues, cable/telecom, and platform companies (Microsoft, RealNetworks, Disney) — useful for founders needing distribution or partnership deals.