Volker Hirsch

Current

• Strategy Advisor at Scoreloop
• Co-Founder & Director at Blue Beck Limited
• Advisor at Bad Halo Limited

• Principal at Hirsch Consulting
• Co-Founder & Non-Executive Director at BRIKS Limited

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2 more...

Past

• Co-Founder, Director, EVP Corporate Development & General Counsel at Connect 2 Media
• Vice-President, Corporate Development & Legal Affairs at Hands-on Mobile
• Board Member at German-Maltese Chamber of Commerce

• Owner & MD at Cervus Consulting Ltd
• General Counsel & Head of iSmartMoney at iWorld Group
• Rechtsanwalt (Attorney) at Luther
• Undergraduate Associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• VP Marketing, Member of the International Board at ELSA

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5 more...

Education

• Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
• Europa-Kolleg
• Universität Hamburg

1 more...

Recommended

11 people have recommended Volker

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Wireless

Websites

• My Blog
• Follow me on Twitter

Volker Hirsch’s Summary

Volker has been at the forefront of mobile and digital media for nearly a decade. He was General Counsel and Head of iSmartMoney at mobile applications incubator iWorld where, in 2002, he helped conceive the world’s first mobile artist services for the likes of Britney Spears, Eve and Duran Duran. He then helped Mforma (now known as Hands-On Mobile) solidify their position in Europe (through M&A and organic growth) and oversaw their licensing and business development business outside the US and China with some landmark licenses such as Marvel, Hasbro, Activision (Call of Duty, True Crime, Guitar Hero), LEGO, BMW, Konami, WPT, etc) as well as 250+ distributor deals including tier-1 operators all over the world. In 2008, he co-led the MBO of the business from its US holding company, which included raising capital and acquiring a mobile games aggregator. Recently, he co-founded the Blue Beck, a new social games creator and publisher focusing to bring back true sociality to electronic games. It publishes to the iPhone, Android, Symbian, and Blackberry, Facebook & emerging handheld digital platforms. He is also a strategy advisor to social infrastructure software specialists Scoreloop.

His initial background is in law, specifically on corporate governance, cross-border M&A, VC as well as media & telecoms. He commenced his career with leading law firms in Brussels and Hamburg and is a member of the German bar in good standing.

Volker has active board and company secretarial experience in Germany, the UK, the US, Israel and Malta.

He is also a regular speaker and panelist on mobile telecoms & mobile entertainment (Mobile World Congress, CTIA, Games Convention, MEM, Droidcon, Mobile 2.0, Ericsson Mobility World, Mobile Gambling Summit, PICNIC, etc) and the (co-) author and contributor of various books and articles on mobile entertainment, investment, corporate and merger control affairs.

He maintains his blog at http://vhirsch.com/blog and tweets @vhirsch.

Volker Hirsch’s Specialties:

mobile, telecoms, media, digital content, M&A, (mergers & acquisitions), joint ventures, strategic partnerships, licensing, distribution, corporate development, business development, channel management, cross-border transactions, legal, corporate, corporate governance, company secretary, games, mobile games, mobile entertainment, mobile lifestyle, products, mobile video, social networks, UGC, cross-media, convergence

Volker Hirsch’s Experience

• Strategy Advisor

  Scoreloop

  (Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)

  November 2009 — Present (5 months)

  Scoreloop provides social infrastructure software for games, solving a number of riddles: its solution addresses social discovery, people interaction and organic connectedness of players and their friends. It boasts a feature set that includes challenges, virtual currencies, achievements and many more and can be completely adapted and run on a white-label basis so that it will not interfere with look-and-feel and branding needs of developers and publishers.

• Co-Founder & Director

  Blue Beck Limited

  (Privately Held; Media Production industry)

  August 2009 — Present (8 months)

  Blue Beck is a developer and publisher of social games across smart phone (iPhone, Android, Symbian, Blackberry, WinME) and digital online and handheld platforms.

• Advisor

  Bad Halo Limited

  (Media Production industry)

  July 2009 — Present (9 months)

  Bad Halo is a multi-platform content producer and publisher covering broadcast media (TV, film), print, online and mobile. The company is in production of a number of TV, print, fine art, and mobile projects, including with and for the Italian Football Association (FICG) and the world's leading golfing bodies (Alister McKenzie Society, EICGA, etc.). Contributors include European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomery, the caddie of world #1 Tiger Woods, Steve Williams & the world's leading golf architects.

• Principal

  Hirsch Consulting

  (Management Consulting industry)

  June 2009 — Present (10 months)

  Digital Media & Corporate Strategy Consulting. We advise companies on digital media, mobile and games, including games licensing, multi-platform exploitation and go-to-market strategies. We also advise and mentor entrpreneurs and SME on fundraising, corporate structure and business strategy.

• Co-Founder & Non-Executive Director

  BRIKS Limited

  (Consumer Goods industry)

  November 2001 — Present (8 years 5 months)

  BRIKS manufactures and distributes educational toys that support the development of children's intelligence and motor skills. Based on proprietary production processes, it is distributed in both the professional sector (nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools, etc) and the private home. BRIKS was awarded the prestigious "Spiel Gut" award in 2005, being the only toy in its category to ever have received it. More information at www.briks.net.
  
  Volker is a shareholder, company secretary and (non-executive) director of the company.

• Co-Founder, Director, EVP Corporate Development & General Counsel

  Connect 2 Media

  (Privately Held; Wireless industry)

  August 2008 — June 2009 (11 months)

  Connect 2 Media is a global publisher of games for mobile, iPhone and PC with offices in Manchester, Madrid, Krakow, Tel Aviv, Paris and Bangkok.
  
  Volker was key to the team that raised $9m from Acuity Capital as well as to the buy-out of the business of Hands-On Mobile EMEA, SE Asia & Latin America and the acquisitions of Connect 2 Play and Rayfusion (www.rayfusion.com).
  
  Volker was also responsible to bolster the licensing portfolio, signing 40+ titles and brands inside 6 months.

• Vice-President, Corporate Development & Legal Affairs

  Hands-on Mobile

  (Privately Held; 501-1000 employees; Wireless industry)

  March 2004 — August 2008 (4 years 6 months)

  Volker was initially a strategic advisor to the company, helping to define and align positioning and strategy for their European business. This resulted in the acquisition of a game studio, identification of growth areas and shaping of a new executive team. He was brought on board as the member of the executive team responsible for corporate and strategic business development, licensing and legal affairs for the EMEA, APAC and LatAm regions. He is directly responsible for the negotiation of all licenses, strategic partnership and distribution contracts in the region, and has closed more than 150 deals in this position.
  
  During Volker's tenure, the region's business has grown by more than 150%. Volker identified numerous areas of improvement in the business and formulated new business initiatives, which he helped shape (e.g. in the areas of UGC and social networking).
  
  Volker is the company secretary and a signatory and a board member of the company's subsidiaries.

• Board Member

  German-Maltese Chamber of Commerce

  (Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; International Trade and Development industry)

  August 2003 — July 2005 (2 years )

• Owner & MD

  Cervus Consulting Ltd

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Management Consulting industry)

  March 2003 — July 2005 (2 years 5 months)

  Specialised strategic consulting with a focus on cross-border corporate & commercial transactions with special regard to European market entry and cross-border roll-out strategies and implementation. Extensive work in mobile telecoms, media and entertainment, brand licensing, etc. (including projects in Germany, the UK, USA and Israel) with deal values of up to c. $ 50m.

• General Counsel & Head of iSmartMoney

  iWorld Group

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Legal Services industry)

  November 2000 — March 2003 (2 years 5 months)

  Volker had particular responsibility for corporate governance, corporate development, M&A, investor relations, as well as assisting the operational businesses in their strategic efforts.
  
  He served as Head of Negotiations for iModel Music, which included licensing top-brand entertainment content (multi-platinum recording artists and leading consumer brands).
  
  Volker led the investment of the company in the Rights Group, LLC (NY) and served as a General Manager of that company.
  
  As Head of iSmartMoney, he oversaw the internal investment committee steering the development of the company's new business divisions.
  
  He also served as director of all international subsidiaries.

• Rechtsanwalt (Attorney)

  Luther

  (Partnership; 51-200 employees; Law Practice industry)

  February 1995 — October 2000 (5 years 9 months)

  02/1995-10/1996: Undergraduate Associate
  11/1996-10/1999: Graduate Associate
  11/1999-10/2000: Rechtsanwalt (Attorney)
  
  The corporate and commercial law "boutique" law firm then was known as Luther & Partner, one of the most prestigious firms in Hamburg. The partnership was merged with Andersen Legal on 01/01/2000, then became EY Law Luther Menold and now trades as Luther.
  
  Volker served in the corporate department where his activity comprised M&A (c. 50% cross-border), restructurings (up to c. $ 250m deal value), joint ventures (up to c. $ 120m deal value), general corporate law (incorporation, holding structures, etc.) and general commercial law (incl. supply and delivery agreements in German and English, SLA's, general terms, etc.). He was also involved in international commercial arbitration (ICC, DIS, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, etc.). Volker represented clients in and/or from the UK, US, Sweden, France, Denmark, Ireland, Gibraltar, Azerbaijan, Russia amongst others.

• Undergraduate Associate

  Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

  (Partnership; 1001-5000 employees; Law Practice industry)

  February 1994 — December 1994 (11 months)

  Then Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund (now merged into Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer). Volker assisted the office managing partner in Brussels in affairs of European Merger Control and European Competition Law. He also contributed to a commentary text book on the Merger Control Regulation.

• VP Marketing, Member of the International Board

  ELSA

  (Non-Profit; 10,001 or more employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)

  January 1994 — December 1994 (1 year )

  Volker was elected to the International Board where his responsibilities included all marketing affairs, external relations with partners, editor-in-chief of "Synergy", the member magazine, which was distributed to all of its 25,000 members, general management and strategic direction of the organisation, which obtained consultative status with UNESCO and is a partner to UNHCR. Meanwhile, ELSA has also partnered with the UN, ECOSOC and others. He also brokered the first institutional sponsorship deals between ELSA and Clifford Chance, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the European Commission.

Additional Information

Volker Hirsch’s Websites:

• My Blog
• Follow me on Twitter

Volker Hirsch’s Interests:

Golf, Skiing, Travel, Books, books, books.

Volker Hirsch’s Contact Settings

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