Discussion

• @scottrogowsky @scottrogowsky on x

  HQ didn't die of natural causes. It was poisoned with a lethal cocktail of incompetence, arrogance, short-sightedness & sociopathic delusion. Saddened to see it finally succumb; sadder still for the good & talented staff abruptly left in the lurch after being gaslit and lied to.

• @scottrogowsky @scottrogowsky on x

  @rus Rus, you are a clinical sociopath. As much as the HQ employees didn't care for your leadership which twice drove the company into the ground, we care about you as a fellow human. Please seek treatment from a mental health professional and get the help you need. Hugs, indeed.

• @waxpancake Andy Baio on x

  In 902 days, HQ Trivia went from app launch to explosive smash success to complete collapse. At its peak in March 2018, it had 2.4 million concurrent players. It shut down today and laid off all staff. https://www.theverge.com/...

• @kerrymflynn @kerrymflynn on x

  HQ CEO Rus Yusupov just sent a note to staffers (25 full-time employees): “This is one of the hardest things to do in my life, and I'm really sorry for any disruption this may cause you and our players.” https://www.cnn.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @rus @rus on x

  With HQ we showed the world the future of TV. We didn't get to where we hoped but we did stretch the world's imagination for what's possible on our smartphones. Thanks to everyone who helped build this and thanks for playing.

• @smarty Marty Ringlein on x

  Whoa! There was a moment just two years ago where we all thought @hqtrivia was the future ... and yesterday was the end https://techcrunch.com/...

• @waxpancake Andy Baio on x

  the HQ story would be a perfect @netflix documentary series and i think i know who should host it https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @joebrennanjr Joe Brennan Jr on x

  Had a major difference of opinion with a VC last year, who insisted that the key to “new” sports betting market in America would be in moving from our current model which “lacks engagement” to “the HQ model”. Sure... https://techcrunch.com/...

• @lifeinanutshel Alex Klimavich on x

  I will forever be grateful to HQ Trivia for getting me into actual trivia nights and for some of the silliest moments of teambuilding at my last job. https://twitter.com/...

• @nickcannariato Nick Cannariato on x

  I want a fyre fest style documentary about this & also one about moviepass https://twitter.com/...

• @chadmosher Chad Mosher on x

  Quiz Daddy Scott Rogowsky, saying out loud what a lot of longtime players could sense about the person in charge of @hqtrivia. The first big downturn for HQ came when Scott was abruptly kicked to the curb and not allowed to do two media projects at once. https://twitter.com/...

• @willjamieson93 Will Jamieson on x

  It's sad to see HQ Trivia go they were innovators in the space of interactive TV. We quickly followed them with the launch of The Q and saw the demand for interactive experiences. Shortly after launch, we notice a couple of things.

• @paulrieckhoff Paul Rieckhoff on x

  This is a very weak letter. And letting folks know that their last day is the same day they get the letter is exceptionally weak leadership. https://twitter.com/...

• @jmj Jeff Morris Jr on x

  HQ Trivia shutting down — few lessons: 1. Don't take talent for granted - Scott will always be the �� 2. Appointment viewing hard in mobile. Asynchronous easier to grow 3. New content formats get tired. Must keep innovating. Hollywood knows this Hope someone makes this work.

• @hankgreen @hankgreen on x

  This was wild. I was quietly extremely jealous of this product, very sad to see it end. https://twitter.com/...

• @edzitron Ed Zitron on x

  Maybe they should have realised there was a problem when a bunch of people in the company got together to say the ceo sucked and also the main face of the entire app was able to be poached by a baseball show https://twitter.com/...

• @liamseskis Liam on x

  RIP to my childhood money making schemes. https://twitter.com/...

• @lanceulanoff Lance Ulanoff on x

  I was just thinking the other day, “Remember when we were all obsessed with HQ?” Guess not. https://twitter.com/...

• @surlyurbanist Keep It Surly on x

  Remember, kids. This is innovation. https://twitter.com/...

• @6benharrison Ben Harrison on x

  The late-2010's in a single tweet: https://twitter.com/...

• @kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x

  Wow, HQ Trivia is shutting down. Probably the most chaotic/complicated startup I have ever covered https://www.cnn.com/...

• @noobde Ed Boon on x

  Woa! Remember how huge that HQ Trivia app was?! 😱 https://twitter.com/...

• @mollywood Molly Wood on x

  That was arguably kind of a long 15 minutes. https://twitter.com/...

• @barstoolnate Nate Blogg on x

  This is wild. At old Barstool HQ we were so early on it, playing when there were like 300 people per game. Then it blew way up, hundreds of thousands of people were playing every game. And now it's dead. 902 days. https://twitter.com/...

• @lucasmtny Lucas Matney on x

  Sad to see the death of this Universal Basic Income startup which literally just gave away millions in VC money to the masses https://twitter.com/...

• @peterstringer Peter Stringer on x

  2 years ago this thing exploded on the scene. Crazy how quickly things can change. https://twitter.com/...

• @mahaniok Ihar Mahaniok on x

  Sad outcome. It was a great product back in 2018. But didn't iterate to grow enough. https://twitter.com/...

• @dnak David Nakayama on x

  And I thought that Turntable and Vine had an epic and quick rise and fall. https://twitter.com/...

• @joshconstine Josh Constine on x

  HQ Trivia peaked in Feb 2018 with 2M downloads. Last month? Just 68K. The startup never recovered from this botched coup https://techcrunch.com/...

• @heyitsliore @heyitsliore on x

  I quit playing HQ Trivia once I learned the company was funded by Peter Thiel, but I'm super surprised that apparently lots of other folks stopped playing too. https://twitter.com/...

• @tjmule TJ Muehleman on x

  Great reminder that viral growth ain't the cure all founders think that it is. https://twitter.com/...

• @chillmage @chillmage on x

  ugh, I would have loved to run HQ Trivia. give it to me. let me run the company https://twitter.com/...

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  Feels like a classic case of a great product that just didn't iterate fast enough. Was a lot of fun while it lasted https://twitter.com/...

• @joshconstine Josh Constine on x

  HQ Trivia serves as a lesson that apps must evolve & founders can't rest upon finding momentary success https://techcrunch.com/...

• @geoffkeighley Geoff Keighley on x

  Bummed to hear about the end of @hqtrivia — Ahead of its time. I had so much fun guest hosting this back in the day. https://twitter.com/...

• @davidubben David Ubben on x

  Sleep well, sweet prince. Cheaters with algorithms stripped you of your fun, but what a run. https://twitter.com/...

• @johnkoetsier John Koetsier on x

  How to implode a successful company, in 3 easy steps ... 1) Kill the goose that laid the golden egg 2) Well, actually, you only need 1 step 3) See #2 https://twitter.com/...

• @wyshynski Greg Wyshynski on x

  I truly enjoyed playing this game until I didn't. https://twitter.com/...

• @benjaminjs Benjamin Siemon on x

  Sadly the employees have to split their severance package with so many other fired people they'll only take home 63 cents. https://twitter.com/...

• @yashar Yashar Ali on x

  Like “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,” HQ messed stuff up by over saturation. Should have been a weekly thing, a big event, with big money. https://twitter.com/...

• @frankpallotta Frank Pallotta on x

  I spent most of my 2017 using MoviePass and playing HQ Trivia. Three years later both are gone. https://twitter.com/...