Nationality Icelandic | Known for QuizUp | |
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Occupation CEO and Founder of Plain Vanilla Games Alma mater University of Oxford (MBA) | ||
orsteinn b fri riksson hj plain vanilla
Þorsteinn B. Friðriksson, sometimes anglicized as Thor Fridriksson, is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Plain Vanilla Games, an Icelandic mobile game studio with offices in Reykjavík, Iceland and San Francisco, USA. Þorsteinn is most notable for producing the mobile app QuizUp.
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orsteinn b fri riksson au ur tinna og quizup
Personal life
Þorsteinn, a native Icelander, received his MBA from the University of Oxford in 2009. After returning to Iceland from his studies in the United Kingdom, Þorsteinn established Plain Vanilla Games in 2010.
Career
Þorsteinn was working with the broadband-ISP startup Hive until it was purchased by Vodafone in 2007. Deciding to explore a different industry, Þorsteinn became a local TV news reporter. After studying at the University of Oxford, Þorsteinn started Plain Vanilla Games in Reykjavík, Iceland during the Icelandic financial crisis. Þorsteinn and his team at Plain Vanilla Games spent over a year developing an educational app for children called The Moogies that failed to gain popularity on the App Store. Shortly after, Þorsteinn got the idea for a new app and wrote it down on the back of an over-due electricity bill that is now framed and hung in the Reykjavík office. Despite the country's economic issues, Þorsteinn has decided to keep the Plain Vanilla headquarters located in Reykjavík to help support job growth and other start-up companies.
QuizUp
QuizUp is a mobile trivia app similar to the game Trivial Pursuit. Plain Vanilla Games released QuizUp for iOS November 7, 2013. An Android version of the app was released March 6, 2010 In 2012, Þorsteinn traveled to the United States seeking funding and eventually opened a second office in San Francisco. Þorsteinn has said that the concept behind QuizUp was to create a different kind of social network concentrated around people's interests.