Colin Kroll, a college dropout turned startup millionaire, drifted through his company’s holiday party at Gran Morsi, a cozy Italian restaurant in downtown Manhattan. Dressed in a gray sweater and jeans, he chatted up employees and their plus ones.
When one of his engineers offered to get Mr. Kroll a drink, he flashed a big smile. “I’ve stopped drinking. I’m trying to be healthier.” He’d started running regularly, too.
“Look at you, being such a great CEO,” she said. Co-workers at the party chuckled to themselves about his earnestness as he circulated among the crowd asking, “Are you having a good time?”
Mr. Kroll had co-founded two highflying startups—Vine, the six-second video-sharing platform bought by Twitter Inc. in 2012, and, most recently, Intermedia Labs, the company behind the popular game-show app HQ Trivia.
His performance at the HQ Trivia party was a foil for his often awkward personality. To friends, Mr. Kroll was a gentle, endearingly weird soul who identified with misfits and looked out for others. A Muslim classmate who was bullied in middle school remembers he was the only one who would hold her hand during games of Red Rover. Friends joked about how he bought Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in bulk, even after his success.
He also struggled with managerial duties. Colleagues said at times he made off-color remarks. If Mr. Kroll thought an idea was dumb, he said so. He sometimes reamed out subordinates. Old struggles with drugs and alcohol haunted him, friends said.
Twenty-four hours after the party, he was found dead in his apartment. He was 34 years old.
Silicon Valley has changed the traditional path of business success. Instead of toiling up the corporate ladder, young coding whizzes can take a fast track to wealth and fame. Like their wunderkind counterparts in sports and entertainment, they’re not always ready.
This account of Mr. Kroll’s rise and untimely death is based on interviews with and documents from more than three dozen friends, family members, lovers, current and former colleagues, investors and police.
Rus Yusupov, a central figure in Mr. Kroll’s adult life who co-founded Intermedia Labs with him, discussed many aspects of their relationship in an interview, but declined to comment on some details. Colleagues said they fought bitterly at times. Mr. Yusupov said, “It’s sad and upsetting that anyone would continue to try to divide Colin and me and misrepresent our strong partnership, especially after his unfortunate passing.”