Why QuizUp is rocking the App Store

Two things I really love: competition and great product.

So I fell in love with QuizUp immediately. The trivia app lets you challenge your friends, or random opponents, in trivia categories like tech, science, literature, Game of Thrones, even corporate logos.

Slick design. Tons of verticals. Speed and knowledge both count.

Released for iOS just a couple of weeks ago, the game rocketed to top of the App Store. An Android version is also in the works.

I got to sit down with Thor Fridriksson, the Founder and CEO of Plain Vanilla Games which makes QuizUp, and we started a match right away, in my favorite category: tech.

It’s a great discussion with a startup founder in the middle of a huge success--something we normally only see before or well after.

Executives at Sequoia Capital, an investor in Plain Vanilla, got so hooked on the game while it was in beta they invested the day it was launched. I joked to Fridriksson that he’s responsible for a 15% drop in productivity in Silicon Valley.

"We tried to create a product with an inherently viral element to it,” Fridriksson said.

And the company prepared for the consequences. This is a model for what a great app does. In part, because this overnight success was three years in the making.

1. Tested multiple minimum viable products through partnerships and iteration (Twilight-branded QuizUp, games for preschoolers)

2. Built to scale. All the features were there and ready. And with great design.

3. Strategic fundraising. The day the app launched, Plain Vanilla closed another $2m round led by Sequoia. More runway = more time to get it perfectly right.

When you play, you see right away that QuizUp is simple, but deep. Answer seven questions in the category of your choice, and try to beat your opponent - maybe a friend, maybe not.

"The thing that makes us successful is how we are a hybrid game and social network," Fridriksson says. "Trivia is inherently a social experience."

Think about Trivial Pursuit or watching Jeopardy at home. When you know the right answer, you get excited about it.

On QuizUp, you can challenge your randomly-selected opponent to a rematch, chat, or engage in discussions around a topic area. On average, users spend 40 minutes per day in the game.
Fridriksson insists that the social experience is part of what drives that viral, addictive piece.

"Building small communities of people that have shared interests and passions, that's something we think is unbelievably powerful."

The game doesn’t yet have much monetization, but Fridriksson is keeping his options open. Wouldn’t a brand want to drill down into their story, characters, or imagery to relate deeper with fans? Maybe next for native advertising: native quiz games.

Meantime, if you’re in business development at Google, YouTube, or Facebook, get out of there and get to Plain Vanilla Games. They’re hiring. [email protected]

Watch full episode: https://launch.wistia.com/medias/o7wr672441

Watch Jason & Thor face off:
https://launch.wistia.com/medias/7x5qlaptn6

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