Strategic Advisors

Emotiv Strategic Advisors are selected to bring additional breadth of experience and deep industry knowledge to our team. Each advisor offers an extraordinary spectrum of experience, energy, and enthusiasm.

Emotiv's Strategic Advisors are:

Ed Fries, Game Industry Development - Founder, Figure Prints
Keith Geck, Channel & Distribution Development
Patrick McGill, Corporate Development - Venture Partner, Velocity Investment Group

Ed Fries, Game Industry Development Advisor ex-VP of Game Publishing, Microsoft
Ed Fries got his start in the 1980s, developing video games for the Atari 800. In 1986, after a short detour for a BS in Computer Science, he joined Microsoft and spent the next ten years as one of the founding developers of Excel and Word, and then later as the creator of Microsoft Game Studios. Over the next eight years, he grew his team from fifty to over twelve-hundred people, published more than 100 games (including more than a dozen million-plus sellers), co-founded the Xbox project, and made Microsoft one of the leaders in the interactive entertainment business.

In 2004, Ed left Microsoft, to enjoy time with his family, as well as consult with publishers and game developers from all over the world. Ed recently left the Emotiv Board (after 2 years of service) to found a new venture, Figure Prints. Ed remains a highly valued Emotiv advisor.

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Keith Geck Channel & Distribution Advisor
For more than 20 years, Keith Geck has been involved in launching consumer electronics, personal computers, and wireless products through retail and direct selling channels. Spanning a 14-year career at Apple where he served as Vice President of Channel Sales, Keith lead the launch of both the iPod and iMac in collaboration with leading national retailers and independent dealers. Keith's responsibilities at Apple included delivering over $1 billion in annual sales and overall management of the business and government market segments.

Following his tenure at Apple, Keith was responsible for retail sales at Firefly Mobile where he worked closely with specialty and national retailers to launch the Firefly mobile phone and a new segment within the electronics category. Keith holds both a Bachelor of Science degree and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

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Patrick McGill, Coporate Development Advisor Venture Partner, Velocity Investment Group
Patrick brings Emotiv a successful track record in strategic business development, investments, M&A, and team building complemented by his extensive industry network. Most recently, acting an as an advisor to Medstory Inc, a leading vertical search engine - he successfully represented the firm in their acquisition by Microsoft in February 2007.

Currently Patrick is a Venture Partner at Velocity Interactive Group acting in a strategic business development role building close working relationships with global internet, media and mobile firms relevant to the eco-system of their portfolio companies.

In this capacity he has an unprecedented level of access into a global network of executives. These firms include: Amazon, AOL/Time Warner, AT&T, BT, Electronic Arts, EMI, EBay, FOX, Google, HP, Honda, IAC, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, MTV, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Real Networks, Siemens, Sprint, Sony, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Viacom, and Yahoo. Since 2005 he has hosted the firm's annual Connections Summit, a private offsite attended by over 100 corporate executives and thought leaders.

Prior to Velocity, Patrick acted as an independent consultant to NTT DoCoMo helping them develop their corporate venture strategy and introducing them to over 30 institutional and corporate VC firms. As a result, in 2005 they launched DoCoMo Capital, a $100M corporate fund. In parallel he represented Firefly Mobile where he assisted in closing their first $15M venture round as well as driving European expansion deals for the firm.

Other key roles include - Pixo Inc, an innovative mobile technology firm where he was instrumental in raising over $50M in funding and contracts. (Pixo technology was used in the first iPod and the client software team was acquired by Apple). Earlier as Vice President, Business Development at VeriFone he reported directly to the Chairman and successfully negotiated complex global licensing deals with EDS, Netscape, Oracle and Microsoft. Patrick played an intimate role in the acquisition of VeriFone by Hewlett Packard for $1.2Bn.

Originally from the U.K., Patrick's international experience is broad with direct knowledge in business dealings across a spectrum of European and Asian countries and cultures.

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