The Savvy Diaries No.2 — Fact Check, One-Two One-Two
The rumors of my HQ involvement were greatly exaggerated
One of my favorite hobbies during my hosting tenure at HQ Trivia was scanning the online discourse around the show for hilariously off-base assumptions and borderline conspiracy theories floated in Twitter threads, subreddits, and The Chat.
There were those who were convinced I was A.I. — a sort of Max Headroom for the mobile age — at a time when the most common connotation of those initials remained a Hall of Fame point guard with an ankle-breaking crossover.
FACT CHECK: I was real, and I was spectacular.
There were those who believed HQ was either a George Soros-funded psyop or a surveillance state-sponsored data-harvesting scheme — because surely there had to be a catch to free entertainment giving away free money.
FACT CHECK: No catch. It was merely a startup flush with VC funding in the ‘growth-at-all-costs’ era that prioritized user acquisition over profitability — a.k.a. Peak Stupidity.
Some thought we were broadcasting from a subterranean bunker. A few thought we were based out of Walla Walla, WA.
FACT CHECK: HQ’s first HQ was a small, open-concept office at 138 Spring Street in Soho, the back corner of which was cordoned off with pipes and draping to create a 60 sq ft ‘studio’ that somehow broadcast to millions. In August 2018 we moved a couple of blocks east and took over the 4th floor of 490 Broadway, carving a more proper studio out of a corner office. Never made it to southeastern Washington.
Even for those who could accept that I was a real human boy, many could not conceive that my fast-twitch synapses and sustained showman’s intensity were naturally derived, and concluded I must have been ‘coked up’ (their words).
FACT CHECK: I’ve never once sniffed the stuff. My only performance enhancing drugs were caffeine and the occasional sativa gummy from a stash I’d smuggled back from Los Angeles.
And even worse than being seen as a degenerate cokehead in the minds of my fans, a vocal faction were absolutely certain that I was wearing mascara. It was simply impossible for a 32 year-old man to possess such luscious lashes without Maybelline.
FACT CHECK: Maybe he’s born with it? I’m au natural, baby! All guy, no liner. Surely all of us can admit to there being certain areas of our corporeal form which we feel were given extra attention by the Creator (and others which He may have breezed by). I gratefully count my lid whiskers among my many blessings — along with my height, the irises of my eyes, and my perfectly sculpted elbows.
But perhaps the most widely held falsehood that circulated among HQties was the notion that I was an owner, a co-founder, or the CEO of Intermedia Labs — the company that launched HQ Trivia.
FACT CHECK: Intermedia Labs was founded in 2015 by Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll, in a sequel of another short-lived viral app: Vine. Intermedia built several other apps before pivoting to the concept that became HQ in 2017.
I auditioned to be the host of HQ Trivia in April 2017, was told I booked the gig in May, and in July was signed to an eight-week, at-will ‘Consulting Agreement’ which broke down to $1,500 per week. No benefits, no options, no guaranteed income. Only after taking HQ to the heights of pop culture visibility was I offered a salaried position, yet I remained absent from the org chart — not officially part of any ‘department’ or ‘team’ — with no one reporting to me and no one to report to. To put it plainly: I was only ever ‘a host,’ and treated as such.
Imagine being the 'face of a company' that everyone assumes you own and operate, while having zero influence over its strategy or product decisions — and being publicly disrespected by its actual CEO..
Let the record show: Rus was the co-founder. Rus was the CEO.
Rus was the one who, despite having his pick of Silicon Valley’s VC litter, chose to take Peter Thiel’s blood-harvesting money.
Rus was the one who ignored all the major warning signs around burn rates, product flaws, and retention data — and instead focused on meaningless superficialities like building an easter egg that would change the color of the app icon.
Rus was the one who micromanaged the company down to the shirt collar of its host, and eventually to death (in sadly more ways than one).
Rus was the one who blew a $100 million lead en route to authoring the most epic bag fumble in startup history — the equivalent of being gifted a unicorn and, rather than riding it over the rainbow, BLOWING ITS BRAINS OUT.
BUT HERE’S THE SAVVY DIFFERENCE:
I am still a host, yes, but I am also a co-founder, a C-suite exec (Mr. CMO, baby!), and the largest shareholder of Play Savvy, Inc. — the company behind the Savvy app and its flagship game show, TextSavvy.
In other, Somali-accented words: I’m the captain now.
And now that I’m part of a team, with a boss who’s willing to listen to suggestions from the team, I can bring to bear the lessons learned from HQ in the building of Savvy so that we may replicate its initial success — and avoid its ultimate failure.
