--- description: Colin Kroll, the 35-year-old co-founder of Vine and HQ Trivia, has been found dead in his Manhattan apartment of an apparent overdose. title: Colin Kroll, Co-Founder of Vine and HQ Trivia, Found Dead image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0575feabc178f97/6989419f97cdff55f96b6ffd/colin-kroll-found-dead-hq-vine.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Colin Kroll, Co-Founder of Vine and HQ Trivia, Found Dead  by [Tara Law](/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 12, 2023 4:00 PM CUTPublished: Dec 16, 2018 5:21 PM CUT  In this Jan. 9, 2014 file photo, Colin Kroll attends the Variety Breakthrough of the Year Awards in Las Vegas. In this Jan. 9, 2014 file photo, Colin Kroll attends the Variety Breakthrough of the Year Awards in Las Vegas.Bryan Steffy—2014 Getty Images  by [Tara Law](/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 12, 2023 4:00 PM CUTPublished: Dec 16, 2018 5:21 PM CUT Colin Kroll, the 35-year-old co-founder of Vine and HQ Trivia, has been found dead in his Manhattan apartment of an apparent overdose. Police told TIME Kroll was pronounced dead at 12:18 a.m Sunday morning. A police spokesperson did not know what kind of drugs were on the scene, but said that the police investigation is ongoing. Police said that a woman, who was apparently with Kroll at the time of the overdose, called 911. A spokesperson from HQ Trivia, a popular, phone-based trivia platform where Kroll was the CEO, confirmed his death in a statement. “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.” > [](https://twitter.com/hqtriviafans/status/1074486589651185664) Throughout the course of his career, Kroll experienced the rapid success and sudden hardships typical of the tech startup world. In 2013, Kroll launched [the video app Vine](http://time.com/4190006/most-looped-popular-vines/ "undefined") with co-founders Dom Hofmann and Rus Yusupov. The app, which was known for six-second looped video clips, gained millions of users and helped to launch a generation of social media celebrities. However, the app’s success quickly fizzled out and Twitter, which had acquired it shortly before its launch, ultimately [shut it down](http://time.com/money/4548265/vine-shut-down-rus-yusupov-reaction/ "undefined") in 2016. Kroll had left Vine in 2014 and founded [HQ Trivia](http://time.com/money/5229160/hq-trivia-total-prize-money/ "undefined") with Yusupov in 2015, according to [his Linkedin page](https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinkroll/ "undefined"). The app launched in August 2017, and it was another blockbuster success. As of March this year, it hit a milestone— [more than 2 million users](http://time.com/5189381/hq-trivia-app-questions/ "undefined") were concurrently playing. However by this November, the company was reportedly reaching a breaking point. The number of users dropped from the millions to hundreds of thousands, and the app had dropped from the top 10 most downloaded free iPhone games to between 250th and 500th, according to [technology news website Recode](https://www.recode.net/2018/11/4/17965380/hq-trivia-colin-kroll-rus-yusupov-ceo-change-employee-complaint-new-game "undefined"). The company was also reportedly undergoing upheaval in its board room. Kroll, who had [reportedly](https://www.recode.net/2018/11/4/17965380/hq-trivia-colin-kroll-rus-yusupov-ceo-change-employee-complaint-new-game "undefined") been fired from Twitter due to poor management behavior, was also facing allegations of inappropriate behavior at the company. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5481002/colin-kroll-vine-hq-trivia-found-dead/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5481002/colin-kroll-vine-hq-trivia-found-dead/"},"headline":"Colin Kroll, Co-Founder of Vine and HQ Trivia, Found Dead","datePublished":"2018-12-16T17:21:21.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T16:00:40.000Z","description":"Police said that he died of an apparent overdose","url":"https://time.com/5481002/colin-kroll-vine-hq-trivia-found-dead/","keywords":["Tech","apps","Vine","onetime","HQ Trivia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0575feabc178f97/6989419f97cdff55f96b6ffd/colin-kroll-found-dead-hq-vine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara Law","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-law/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0575feabc178f97/6989419f97cdff55f96b6ffd/colin-kroll-found-dead-hq-vine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"colin-kroll-found-dead-hq-vine","caption":"2014 Variety Breakthrough Of The Year Awards - Red Carpet","creditText":"Bryan Steffy—2014 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5481002/colin-kroll-vine-hq-trivia-found-dead/","name":"Colin Kroll, Co-Founder of Vine and HQ Trivia, Found Dead"}}]}] ```