About us
Trivia, done right
Built by trivia hosts, for trivia hosts
321Trivia is a flexible, host-led trivia platform built to make live trivia easier to run, more engaging to play, and more fun to experience.
321Trivia was founded by Mark and Ryan Thompson. Development began in August 2022 with a simple idea: give trivia hosts the tools to run the game they want to run.
321Trivia can be used to run traditional trivia without power-ups or challenge rounds. Hosts can also choose to incorporate 321Trivia exclusive features throughout their games to add strategy, competition, and excitement.
The platform is intentionally flexible. Hosts decide how much or how little of the additional 321Trivia functionality they want to use.
Players can join from their phones without downloading an app. Questions, scores, and game information can be displayed on venue TVs or screens while the host controls the experience through the 321Trivia host interface.
321Trivia is designed for independent trivia hosts, bars, restaurants, breweries, entertainment companies, corporate events, fundraisers, private events, and other organizations that want to host live trivia.
- Founded
- 2022
- Founders
- Mark Thompson and Ryan Thompson
- Product
- Live trivia hosting platform
- Website
- 321Trivia.com
- Strategic Power-Ups
- 8
- Ways to Play
- 5 Game Modes
- App Download Required
- No
- Player Devices
- Any Modern Web Browser
- Platform
- 100% Web-Based
The founders
Meet the people behind 321Trivia
Mark Thompson
Co-Founder
About the Co-Founder of 321Trivia
Looking back, it seems like everything I’ve done over the past 40+ years—from technology and database programming to playing music and entertaining crowds—has somehow played a part in creating 321Trivia. My professional career began in 1983 with Continental Cablevision, where I started as a cable installer. I eventually became the lead technical trainer, and as the company evolved into MediaOne, I moved into management, leading teams of installers and service technicians. When the company later became AT&T Broadband, I was promoted to Area Manager and became heavily involved in rebuilding cable systems in multi-dwelling properties to support the new technologies that were emerging at the time, including high-speed internet and Voice over IP (VoIP). Managing increasingly complicated construction projects led me to Microsoft Access and database programming. I began building my own tools to manage contractors, track construction projects and even create preliminary cable system designs. I didn't realize it at the time, but that experience would become very important years later.
From Technology to Entertainment
Music had actually been part of my life even before my cable career began. I started playing bass and singing professionally in 1980, beginning with local bars and restaurants and eventually performing with larger bands. I played bass on studio projects with local artists, performed with TNT, a nine-piece rock band with a powerful brass section, and later joined a six-piece band that performed at weddings and special events for about 15 years. Those years taught me something that you can't really learn from a computer: how to entertain a room full of people. In 2007, I brought that experience together and founded Southtown Entertainment, Inc., providing DJs, photobooths and lighting for weddings and special events, along with DJ entertainment, karaoke, and trivia for local establishments. Since 2007, Southtown Entertainment has entertained guests at more than 9,000 events.
Building Our Own Technology
I've always enjoyed figuring out how to make things work better. That led me to develop the FantasyFX Greenscreen Photobooth, an interactive photobooth that allows guests to choose from more than 500 backgrounds and multiple layouts. Rather than relying entirely on off-the-shelf software, I used my database programming experience to create the touchscreen program guests use to browse and select their backgrounds before entering the booth. I even designed the booth with a motorized camera, lighting and touchscreen system that can be adjusted for people of different heights and lowered for guests using wheelchairs. It was another example of something I've done throughout my career: See a problem, figure out a better way to do it, and build it.
And Then Came 321Trivia
That same philosophy eventually led to 321Trivia. My son, Ryan, and I have spent the last four years developing 321Trivia together. We both have extensive database experience, which means we tend to approach problems in much the same way—and that has made us a great development team. But there was another important piece to the puzzle. While we were developing 321Trivia, I was also using it at real trivia events. That gave us something incredibly valuable: immediate feedback. I could see firsthand what worked with players, what didn't, what kept a game moving, and—just as importantly—what a trivia host needed behind the scenes to run a smooth, entertaining event. Ryan and I would brainstorm, make changes, add features and then put those ideas right back into actual games. That process has shaped 321Trivia into much more than a program that simply displays questions and keeps score. We've put a tremendous amount of thought into the behind-the-scenes tools that help hosts build and run quality trivia games while keeping the experience fun and engaging for the people playing.
Ryan Thompson
Co-Founder
About the Co-Founder of 321Trivia
Technology and problem-solving have been a common thread throughout nearly every part of my career. From telecommunications and military service to aviation, technology leadership, and software development, I've always been drawn to understanding how things work, finding ways to improve them, and building solutions to real problems. That mindset eventually became a major part of creating 321Trivia with my dad. My professional career began at Comcast, where I started as a field technician before moving into dispatch, training, and leadership roles. Telecommunications taught me early that technology, processes, and people all have to work together. A great technical solution isn't very useful if it's difficult to use or doesn't solve the problem people actually have. That lesson followed me as I moved deeper into technology, cybersecurity, program and project management, product development, and digital transformation. Along the way, I earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Technology Management and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. I'm currently pursuing a Doctor of Technology at Purdue University.
Technology and Military Service
In 2013, I joined the United States Air Force, serving on active duty in Security Forces before transitioning to the Air National Guard. As my military career progressed, it increasingly intersected with technology. I had opportunities to work on software, data systems and technology initiatives designed to improve how organizations accomplish their missions. After commissioning as an Air Force officer, I completed pilot training and became an MQ-9 pilot with the Iowa Air National Guard. Military operations and aviation reinforced something I had already learned throughout my civilian career: technology needs to be reliable, information needs to be clear and the person using a system shouldn't have to fight the technology to accomplish the mission. That philosophy has influenced nearly everything I've built. Over the years, I've developed databases, software applications, automation, artificial intelligence and other systems designed to simplify complicated processes. I later founded VioletNexus to continue developing software and technology solutions around that same idea. For me, technology isn't about adding features simply because they're possible. It's about understanding the problem, understanding the people using the system and building something that makes their experience better.
Building 321Trivia
That same philosophy became the foundation for 321Trivia. My dad and I began developing 321Trivia together in 2022, bringing two very different but complementary backgrounds to the project. I focused on the technology behind the platform, including software architecture, development, cybersecurity, real-time game systems, and the overall management of the project and product development. My dad brought decades of experience creating databases and custom technical solutions, along with something equally important: decades of experience entertaining people. Whether performing music in front of thousands, DJing weddings and parties, hosting karaoke, or running live trivia, he understood how to engage a crowd and create an experience people enjoyed. That combination became our biggest strength. Instead of developing 321Trivia in isolation, we were able to test it at real events with real players. My dad could see what worked, what didn't, and what players and hosts actually needed. We would brainstorm ideas, make changes, build new features, and put them right back into live games - rapid, iterative development. That cycle continued for years and shaped what 321Trivia is today. We didn't want to simply replace pencils and answer sheets with smartphones. We wanted to rethink what a trivia game could be. We introduced Power-Ups, question challenges, and strategic choices that make knowing the answer only part of the game. At the same time, we focused on making the host experience just as intuitive, building tools that make games easier to create, manage, and run. The result is 321Trivia: a platform shaped by years of technology experience, decades of live entertainment, and thousands of real-world events. And we're still building.
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