It has been confirmed that the co-founder of Vine Colin Kroll has died of an apparent overdose. Kroll was 34. A spokesman for the NYPD told us that a female called 911 to check up on Kroll’s apartment and he was found dead inside at 08:00 hours today.
The police add that the investigation is still being carried out, but early reports suggest that drugs might be involved. The spokesperson said that the police department is still waiting for the Medical Examiner’s report.
The death was initially reported by TMZ who cited a person close to the police saying that Kroll died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine. Kroll also founded HQ Trivia.
HQ said,
“We learned today of the passing of our friend and founder, Colin Kroll, and it’s with deep sadness that we say goodbye. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”
Host Scott Rogowsky will lead a small memorial in honor of Kroll. It will be broadcasted on HQ Trivia’s app at 6 PM Pacific today. There will be no game or push notifications sent out today, but players can still join the memorial service by logging into the app.
This year has been tragic for the tech community as it also lost Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft.
Kroll became HQ Trivia’s CEO just three months back. He replaced co-founder Rus Yusupov, who will serve as the Chief Creative Officer. Kroll worked as the startup’s Chief Technical Officer before becoming the CEO.
He co-founded HQ Trivia just a few months after moving on from the once extremely viral short video platform Vine. The startup was launched in 2015. Vine was sold to Twitter, but since it had no way of monetization it closed down in 2017.
There isn’t a clear-cut candidate to replace Kroll’s position. It seems like Yusupov might temporarily fill the position of CEO. HQ Trivia held two game shows daily and awarded winners as much as a whopping $100,000. All they had to do was answer twelve questions correctly.
The app became insanely popular when it was launched in August, but it started losing popularity for quite some time now. HQ Trivia is one of the unique apps ever created, but it has been losing its rank in the App Store. The founders worry for the app’s future. They fear it may lose its novelty and uniqueness.
Kroll was a talented fellow but was facing difficulty in dealing with his demons. His relationship with his girlfriend and reports of inappropriate behavior with his female colleague hovered the internet. His subordinates constantly complained about Kroll’s management style.
It turns out the wellness call was placed by Kroll’s girlfriend who was concerned about his mental state after he failed to return her phone calls.
Five of Kroll’s former colleagues at Vine and Twitter used the words ‘abrasive and disinterested’ and ‘verbally abusive’ to describe him. Kroll also had a reputation of showing up late as most of the time; he was hungover. This is the reason why he was fired from Twitter after spending 1.5 years at the company.
It was reported that many potential investors were dissuaded due to Kroll’s erratic behavior. This is according to a 2017 article by Recode.
Despite Kroll’s numerous flaws, his impact on the tech world cannot be denied, and we at TechEngage send our condolences to his friends and family.
So sad to hear about the passing of my friend and co-founder Colin Kroll. My thoughts & prayers go out to his loved ones. I will forever remember him for his kind soul and big heart. He made the world and internet a better place. Rest in peace, brother.
— Rus (@rus) December 16, 2018
Jessica Baron, PhD
Muhammad Nouman Sarwar
