Background
Frisch was born in South Africa. His father, Eric, worked in engineering, and his mother, Rona, was an accountants
Frisch was born in South Africa. His father, Eric, worked in engineering, and his mother, Rona, was an accountants
He was educated at Boksburg High School and studied computer science at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg while working for De Beers" industrial diamond division.
He was one of the United Kingdom"s leading gay businessmen. After graduation, he set up a computer software company, Frisoft Software, which he sold to Q Data (now named Business Connection) in 1994. He was a technical director with Q Data until he left South Africa in 1997.
After a friend complained that he was too busy to look for a new boyfriend, they launched the Gaydar internet dating website in November 1999 from their home in Twickenham.
The website rapidly became very popular. By 2007, Gaydar had more than 3.5 million users in 23 countries.
In the United Kingdom, it accounts for more than 72 per cent of gay and lesbian traffic on the internet, with more than 1 million members. The Gaydar brand expanded into other areas: Frisch was chairman of GaydarRadio, a digital radio station founded in 2002.
Badenhorst and Frisch"s personal partnership broke up in 2006, although they remained business partners.
Frisch was found dead below the window of his eighth-floor flat in Wandsworth, South London. A verdict of misadventure was recorded by Doctor Paul Knapman, the coroner at the inquest. A pathologist, Doctor Peter Wilkins, said raised levels of ketamine were found in Mr Frisch"s blood and liver.