Founder of gay website falls to his death
LONDON, February 12, 2007 - The co-founder and chairman of QSoft Consulting, owners of the ‘Gaydar’ portfolio of brands has died suddenly.
Gary Frisch died unexpectedly following an apparent accident or suicide at his London home on Saturday, February 10, the company said in a statement issued today. He was 38-years-old. No foul play is suspected.
“It is with great regret that we make this announcement,” the statement said. “Gary was a highly regarded leader and colleague who cared first and foremost about the gay and lesbian community that we serve.
“He was an accomplished entrepreneur and a very generous man who also cared deeply about the people who worked for and with him.
“Gary’s legacy as a co-founder of the Gaydar phenomenon is immense and it is one that we shall both celebrate and continue into the future. Gary will never be forgotten and he is deeply missed by us all.”
QSoft said that an event planned this Thursday (February 15) in London to mark the fifth birthday of GaydarRadio would go ahead as planned.
“GaydarRadio was one of Gary’s proudest achievements to date and that is what he would have wanted,” the company said.
Details of Mr Frisch’s funeral and memorial service will be announced shortly.
QSoft Consulting founder and ‘serial’ IT entrepreneur, Mr. Frisch studied computer sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, during which time he worked for De Beers Industrial Diamond Division.
On graduating, he set up his first computer software company, Frisoft Software, which he later sold to Q Data plc (now Business Connection, one of South Africa’s biggest information technology companies) in 1994.
Mr. Frisch became technical director of one of the plc’s divisions until 1997 when he moved to the UK to launch QSoft Consulting.
QSoft was originally formed to develop revenue management systems for the airline KLM. In 1999, Gary created and launched the Gaydar portfolio of market leading brands with the world’s largest online dating and social networking site.
Since February 4, 2006