Matt Pillar has more than eighteen years of experience investing in, growing, and managing consumer-branded communications, media, and technology-based businesses, both in the United States and Asia.

Most recently, Matt served as Vice President of Emerging Business Acquisitions at The Walt Disney Company. In this role, he identified, negotiated, and managed the acquisition of a number of promising, early stage consumer-facing and content-based entertainment and media businesses on behalf of the publicly-traded company (NYSE: DIS).

Prior to co-founding Catalytic Capital, Matt was the principal digital media analyst at Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures, where he initiated and evaluated more than $600 million of investments and managed Vulcan's "fund of funds" portfolio, comprised of more than $300 million the firm had invested in thirty private equity and venture capital funds across the United States. Prior to joining Vulcan, Matt lived in Hong Kong for seven years where he served as a founding sales, marketing, and business development executive for noted entrepreneur Richard Li at STAR TV, Pacific Century Corporate Access, and Pacific Century Group in Southeast Asia, China, and India.

Matt currently serves on the Board of Overseers of From the Top and on the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House, two non-profit organizations. He formerly served on the Boards of Directors of a number of digital media companies including RioPort; Command Audio; and Anticipa, launched by renowned futurist and Future Shock author Alvin Toffler.

Proficient in Mandarin Chinese, Matt graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in East Asian Studies from Brown University; completed a rigorous course of study at Nanjing University in the People's Republic of China; and received a Master in Business Administration with Honors from Harvard University, where a case study that he co-authored is taught in the second-year curriculum.