About 11 years ago, I cold-emailed Om for his guidance. I was an absolute nobody, living thousands of miles away. Not only did Om patiently explain how I should think about my career, he kept in touch over the past decade checking in on how I was doing. I left journalism last year to do something else -- coincidentally, again, following Om's footsteps -- and had been meaning to write a long email, sharing so much. I deeply regret missing the chance to have another conversation with him.
Om has been deeply impactful to my journalism career and beyond. He was way too kind and leaves a big vacuum.
Oh wow. What?! Just this morning I had an occasion to go thru his site/blog.
Still can't believe it. 60 is too young.
I met Om finally in 2013-ish at one of his GigaOm events in the SF Bay Area. Before that, I had been a long time reader of his GigaOm blogs and other writings at Fast Company, Red Herring, Light Reading, and elsewhere, including his book Broadbandits. He was one of the few bloggers / reporters who wrote it as he saw it; his takes were often brutally honest and pointed. He called upon the excesses of various telecom execs during the dot-com and telecom bust of 2000-2001/2. His book Broadbandits is basically an invective of the go-go days of telecom companies' incestuous deals (now seen in the AI companies too).
I had a few more occasions to meet him at dinners around the Bay Area. He was always gracious, and listened intently to what people said. As a venture partner, he focused on the people (founder) and their stories much more on the businesses.
I had heard about his troubles with his heart (~age 40-ish), which made him turn his life around to focus on only a few things that brought him joy - writing, photography, travels.
He will be missed. RIP, Om.
---
(Update: the book is Broadbandits (not Telecom Bandits, as I mistakenly wrote)
It was 2010 and we were launching Twilio SMS. I went over to his office to pitch him the story, hoping we would cover the launch. He listened for 10 minutes while I walked through it, then said
“Yeah yeah I’ll write about it. But I want to talk about your health. Are you taking care of yourself? You could lose some weight…”
He wanted everybody to learn from his health journey. While mostly I wanted him to cover our news, and it was terribly awkward… walking home, I realized it was nice to be seen as a person not just a founder, a startup or a tech story.
Thanks for sharing this one, Jeff. I was a big fan of Twilio since launch, and I think I remember that article (I was at AWS back then, in a Tech Evangelist role, so most "new" startups on the block passed in front of me one way or another).
I'm sure there are thousands of stories about Om, and only some of them are here in this thread.
I briefly met him in 2012 or 2013, but didn't really interact with him much. But I kind of liked him a lot, and kept following his writings.
This is devastating. Om was the godfather of early tech blogging and lifted up so many people around him. He was kind, caring and compassionate.
When I first started blogging around 25 years ago, he would have been amongst the first 10 readers. He linked to me, emailed me privately with feedback, praised posts and would call bullshit when he saw it.
He was never competitive with other blogs or bloggers and was never tied up in drama. He was very often a mediator in behind the scenes conflicts and was obsessed with truth over getting the scoop.
He loved tech and startups and most of all loved seeing other succeed and didn't have a gram of resentment within himself.
Everybody from that post-dotcom crash era of tech owes Om a large debt of gratitude. He will be missed. RIP Om.
He was a genuinely good person, and a genuinely honest voice, in an industry that had very few back when he was one of its pioneers, and has far, far fewer of those things today. A lot of people will write nice words about Om, and he deserves them, but a lot of those people won't necessarily live the values that they admire about him, because that's a lot harder to do.
He was unfailingly kind, but he did not ever compromise on doing the right thing, or calling out moral failings. It's a wonderful tribute to him to see so many people talk about how Om supported them, or opened doors for them, or lifted up their careers; I think the thing we owe him is not just to carry that work forward, but to do it with the same character, conscience and consistency of principle that he did.
GigaOM was truly awesome at its best. Om was a special guy, I met him a few times during my years in the Bay Area. He really embodied that selflessly-helping side of the Valley: helping others with no expectations, just because it’s good. He helped one of my startups get some exposure. I keep trying to pay it forward. I will miss him.
There is a really tremendous streak of people helping people with no strings attached that I hadn’t found anywhere else I’ve lived. Especially but not exclusively on the engineering / product side - for a long time you could take a greyhound to Soma and have a couch to crash on and a job interview lined up without knowing anyone. Introductions are made without a second thought (extremely contrary to my east coast experience where to get an intro, it must be “worth” something to the third party), it is (was? I moved away a few years ago) an extremely special and collaborative place.
As a life-long east coaster, I am reluctant/unwilling to make an introduction of someone I don’t know at all. It’s not that I have to get something of worth to make an intro, but I think my intro carries an implied vouch (at least a tiny one) and I can’t do that if I don’t know you.
If I know you and can actually vouch for you, I’ll happily make any intro where I stand to gain nothing.
I somewhat frequently get a cold outreach asking me to recommend someone I’ve never met to something/someone I know and I can’t understand how that ever works.
Yep - a very common view/philosophy outside the Valley. For whatever reason, that's not the culture at all in SV. Actually "vouching" for someone is still gated by people's reputation, but introductions are understood to be less of a personal 'I think this person is worth hiring' and more of a 'You are both working on something interesting in a similar area, I think you should talk' or commonly, 'This person has some very weird but interesting ideas about something I know you're interested in'.
Random example but I was working with an algae biofuel company during the cleantech boom and we were having analysis problems as the equipment we were using kept fouling due to the harsh desert conditions where our ponds were. I was at a birthday party and obliquely mentioned that issue to a friend who had asked how it was all going and before I knew it, he'd called his former coworker who'd founded a company that successfully launched similar equipment to Mars which was obviously not user-serviceable so was built to be extremely robust. There was no 'ask' from anyone involved and nobody got richer from the exchange, but it was just a random occasion to connect people who might find each other interesting that was completely common in my SV experience.
I think the “Valley” is just sufficiently expensive and/or newly settled that the probability a person would be a net negative to introduce was low enough that there did not need to be as much gatekeeping as there is in the east.
If you were knowledgeable enough to move to the Valley, if you had the wealth and connections to move to the Valley, then you already passed some of the checks needed to be someone who would be a sufficiently good bet to introduce.
It might already be the case that the Valley has changed to be more similar to the East.
I think you and I (also east coast) seem to have similar philosophies. I'm more retired than not these days. I'll certainly respond to a query by email or talk at a conference about my various former professions/experiences (which more often than not never get responded to). But I'm not going to refer someone just because we went to the same school but I've never met or because we had coffee for 30 minutes (unless they really impressed me in some way).
I think the strength of the "vouch" is understood to be much weaker in Silicon Valley - it's more like - I've talked to this guy for 30mins to an hour and I can vouch that he (or she) is not a waste of time for you to talk to them for a similar amount of time. It's not a vouch that they're the next Steve Jobs or you have diligenced their background.
It’s a fair point about the valley’s tremendous wealth and problems, but what would Om say? It’s a little off the topic of remembering his life and work?
Not even the richest person can simply cure thousands of people of addiction and set them on the right path in life. If you want to prove me wrong, surely even with non-millionaire resources, you could afford to just take in one into your home, feed them, and fix their problems. I’ll be genuinely glad to be proven wrong.
There's plenty of great examples of governments deciding to deal with drug abuse in a more humane way, resulting in much better outcomes, see Portugal or Switzerland etc
> I hear that SF has one of the highest rates of homelessness...
My understanding is that homelessness in California is a business similar to dating apps (tinder etc).
If dating apps would actually find you a partner, they would all go out of business. So dating apps mainly keep you on the hook, fishing for subscriptions.
You may be right, but your angle of causation is wrong. California is not creating homelessness to milk money out of rich MSNBC shitlibs. They created homelessness as a side effect of them making housing very expensive... in order to placate those same rich MSNBC shitlibs who you think are being defrauded.
California's ruling class is a landed gentry of boomers that all bought into the housing market before Prop 13 froze their tax rates in place. They will weaponize anything to stop any construction which they think might lower their property values. Hell, Beverly Hills used their school district in order to launch a frivolous lawsuit against the LA Metro D line expansion, because Beverly Hills is full of rich idiots who think public transit ruins property values[0].
So California can't get rid of homelessness - not because it means the homeless shelters[1] will be out of a job, but because homeless people are the natural consequence of making housing unaffordably expensive. The only actual solution to homelessness is the one thing California will never do on pain of death. The homeless shelters are there to create moral cover for NIMBYs making the city too expensive to live in. So the homeless shelters aren't ripping off the shitlibs; the shitlibs are paying them to sweep the problem under the rug, and they are dutifully doing so.
[0] Cars ruin property values, because cars require lots of very expensive infrastructure like highways and stroads, and nobody wants to live or shop next to a giant pollution generator. In contrast, access to public transit increases land value! But the California gentry all drive so they don't care about this.
[1] Please interpret "homeless shelters" to mean "any government agency involved with homelessness management". Technically speaking SF has a lot of unsheltered homeless because, well, living unsheltered is just not as hellishly awful as it is in other cities.
When I was first trying to start companies, I would ask everyone for advice. Some people are more engaging and helpful than others. Some people expect something in return.
In SV, in the 90s/00s, no one wanted anything in return. Everyone was there to help. We all understood that the entrepreneur’s path is a nearly impossible one, and if you have somehow followed it to success, you want to try to guide others to that successful place.
After ~20 years I’ve left SV but I retain the mentality :) AMA
There’s a large group of people who want to help and see you succeed- even if it won’t benefit them directly.
I stepped away nearly a decade ago so I don’t know how true that is for the tech “scene” today, but it was really great and inspiring for a very young transplant like me.
sad but that’s why I left. To use a tired DnD analogy, SV used to be kind of a chaotic/neutral place, I liked that. We all helped each other. Now it’s lawful/good but good implies moral choices, many of which I agree with but for some
disagreement means shunning. So I left.
That's so sad to hear. I only met him once about acquiring my High Scalability blog. That didn't happen, but it was obvious he was one of those wise people who was both kind and very smart. Not a combination we see often in this world. A real loss...
One of the regrets I have is not following through when Om messaged to hang out a couple of months ago. A painful reminder to take some time off your busy lives to catch up with old friends. You never know if you’ll get another chance.
Wow, Om was one of my first bosses. It’s hard to separate my memory of him from the era; he defined it. I have such nostalgia for both. He loved tech and startups… not buzzy tabloid stuff, but true journalism. A lot of people may not know GigaOM, but he helped shape a generation of tech.
Thanks for everything, Om. I was a fan before I worked for you, loved my time on Pier 1 in SF, and have always appreciated your steadfast love for technology.
I still remember him being one of the best writers about tech (a bit more than "journalism" in that a lot of it was of more evergreen value...) from the dotcom boom and then the peak "interesting" web apps period (2004-~2015 or so, when AJAX/etc was still new, and things hadn't calcified so much). Didn't know about his later health issues, I assumed he had just moved on to other interests naturally. RIP.
I’m too young and too far away from the Valley to have ever met Om or been influenced by his early blogging work. However, I have avidly followed his blog ever since I came across it maybe 10 years ago. I love his writing. So crisp and honest, yet it had depth. His blog was one of the few I’d look forward to every day. I was waiting for him to return after he promised he’d do so in his last blog post. I certainly didn’t expect this. Om Shanti, Om. You will be missed.
Personally, it's sad news for me and many other founders Om helped.
Back in 2008, my company, TringMe, was making news with browser-based telephony. We had been covered by TechCrunch, but never by GigaOM. So I decided to email Om directly and ask, half-jokingly, "Are we not worth your time?" I also asked if he had any advice.
He apologized, explained that health issues had limited his writing, assured me it was never personal, and then offered a simple piece of advice: "Bring me fresh and exclusive information."
We took that advice seriously. Our next launches, VoicePHP and the first Mobile VoIP app for BlackBerry, were both covered by GigaOM.
What I remember is not the coverage, but the kindness in his reply. He did not have to respond to a founder he barely knew, let alone with honesty, encouragement, and actionable advice. We stayed in touch after that.
Thank you for sharing this. While everyone remembers his writings, encouragement, and contributions to tech/business, the photos put up by him are beautiful as well.
I liked the mid-2000s, gigaom and techcrunch actually had articles worth reading (not all, TC got sorta gossipy rag at one point). Om's were generally well thought out.
Om and I went a long way back. I tried to convince him RSS was the way journalism could escape capture by Big Tech. In retrospect, showing him the ad-blocking features of my feed reader might not have been the most persuasive...
He was a tremendously funny character. What's little known about him was he was a bag fiend just as much as a camera lover. A big chocolate enthusiast as well, until his heart troubles forced him to be more careful.
Someone who enjoys collecting backpacks, briefcases, messenger bags etc. I recall meeting him by chance near South Park and comparing notes on our bags of the day.
This is so sad to see. I consider myself lucky to have worked with Om for a few days as he was advising the company I was working for during a big growth stage. I'll always remember his kindness and wisdom.
I started out as journalist so I always appreciated great writing when I reinvented myself as a tech entrepreneur. There were three writers beginning in the nineties who were my tech troika: Kevin Kelly, George Gilder and Om Malik. Sadly now the only one still writing regularly is Kevin Kelly.
I remember watching GigaOm on Revision3 back in the day, I think I stumbled upon it via Diggnation... nope I think it was CrankyGeeks actually.
It was the first newsletter I actually subscribed to back in the day! Sad to hear about his passing, his appearances on podcasts introduced me to the more business side of tech where I was just a hobbyist teen at the time.
I knew Om when I was an ankle-biter writing for a Gawker blog. He was gracious and generous. Felt like everybody's favorite uncle. I hope I can be as kind to others as he was to me.
I interacted with Om a few times. Genuinely good soul. I met him a while back - about ~15 years or so. In spite of his busy schedule he took time out to speak with me.
Gave me some valuable tips on startup world.
I don't say this about a lot of people but the world is less of a place without Om.
You were way too young to leave us Om. I will miss you.
Sidenote: In the heydays i.e. about 15-20 years back or so Techcrunch and GigaOm were competitors. Techcrunch was founded by Michael Arrington, known for his brusque and no holds barred blogs and barbs. He would roast his competitors alive, if he could. Well, all except Om. For Om, Micheal had nothing but praise.
"My favorite thing Om wrote was actually an interview with Brunello Cucinelli in 2015. And to this day, I think it’s the single best thing you can read on running a business. Better than any book, better than any article." -Jason Fried
I paused to read whenever a new Om’s essay popped up in the RSS feed; for me, Om was an uniquely observant voice of tech, who never compromised and always looked at the world from a human perspective.
I had started blogging (on blogspot!) those days and like many others, I also used to follow Om's articles on RSS.
I still remember very clearly coming across his article where he had linked to my blog. I felt on top of the world! Because why would a renowned SV journalist link to a lowly blog?
I'm quite sure that my reason to continue blogging over all these years can be attributed to that small gesture.
Just the title here has me transported to a time and place long forgotten.
Om Malik was the guy who had the biggest influence on the direction of my life, by far. It was through him I met Naval Ravikant in 2007, and then through Naval I met my co-founder that led to my startup exit in the '10s.
Luck surface area. I really owe so much to Om. I really can't imagine where I would be without that chance.
I never met or knew him but, like many here, I've been following his blog for a decade or so. By impression and reputation he was a kind, thoughtful, and creative soul who did good by the world - and I'm saddened that he has gone. My condolences to his friends and family.
Really sad. I grew up reading his writing. I emailed him some thoughts on one of his blog and he immediately replied in a lovely way very recently. What a shock and a loss.
We almost went with Om for our seed round, and he remains on my list of "one of the good ones". It's rare to meet folks where that becomes so apparent so quick.
I used to be tech-journalist in an earlier avatar and Om was someone who I always turned to for inspiration and context. I learnt a lot from the way he wrote, thought and perceived the world of technology. Om shanti, I wish you a great new beginning.
So many years reading his newsletter, and forever grateful for Om. He replied to a cold email a long time ago with very specific, helpful advice on a project I was working on. What a legend!
GigaOm was one of the early publications that my younger self enjoy to follow, it was a good formative years. Later I knew when it got acquired that the OM of GigaOm was from its founder.
Sad! He (and Michael Arrington) were the first two tech bloggers I read religiously back in the web 2.0 days. Had Malik’s personal blog in my RSS feeds until now. It has been only a week or so since I read his last post.
My condolences to family and friends. Om writting has always been a reference since Web 2.0 era. Also enjoyed his photographabout friends and travel. Sad news RIP
Sad. I remember first meeting Om in NYC, just as he was getting ready to move to the Bay Area and before his blogging career took off. As a side gig, he was one of the originators of the South Asian social scene (desiparty.com). Spoke with him briefly and just remember him being nice and friendly. RIP Om!
I had a very similar single experience with Om: I was introduced completely randomly while he was at True Ventures; he couldn't have been nicer, more curious, or more genuine despite me almost certainly reading like a total waste of time.
It's both heartwarming, and bitterly sad, to see so many other posters confirm he was one of the good ones.
I'll repost what I wrote on his wall just now. Probably the most impactful SF/SV passing for me since Jobs.
"I first met Om in the mid-2000s when I started in public relations. He was patient, kind – not what you’d expect from a journalist hounded by every PR agency trying to get column inches. I met him again when we were fundraising for my first startup in 2006 – he listened with intent, he provided genuine feedback, he supported us emotionally. I would see him occasionally at the odd event or two in the years that followed. He always had a smile, always gregarious, always maintained a presence without agenda – or effort, for that matter. He embodied the hidden human amid the sterility and coldness that would slowly engulf Silicon Valley in the years that followed. I’m blessed to have benefited from his kindness across the few brief interactions, and I wish his family and friends the comfort in knowing he left an outsized impact on many of us."
The guy was a mensch. He made this space welcoming because he cared about the individual.
A sad day for us who learn of his passing. I hope it was painless and peaceful, as befits a person who gave so freely of himself. His collected body of work is a trustworthy chronicle of the Internet and the WWW's glow up era. It will inform generations to come. They will know Om too.
And through the same work, he remains alive to us; we who sought his dogged, prodigious, plain speaking influence, insight, and direct access to the beating heart of the place where it was all being invented and grown and scaled and blown up and resurrected.
Om's writing brought the excitement and possibility of the world to me, circa 2004. A 25-something B-school student, in faraway Pune, India, viscerally experiencing and studying the telecom boom at home, while also looking towards The Valley to see what might come to be, next.
I read him on GigaOm, and his various other later avatars / manifestations, but he is always going to be "Om Malik on Broadband" for me. As he will be for many of my cohort.
Take care of your heart, people. If you smoke, quit. If you eat a high cholesterol diet, change it. If you don’t exercise, start.
Heart disease sneaks up on you, and it can happen to anyone. There are frequently no warning signs, as without an angiogram, there’s no clear indicator in normal checkups (EKG can look normal the day before MI, coronary arteries are the same density as surrounding tissue on normal no-contrast xray).
Most people’s very first sign that they have heart disease is a totally unexpected first heart attack. 60% of them die of it, within minutes of their first symptom.
If you have familial history, be extra careful. There are new groundbreaking drugs like Repatha that can slow the progress a TON.
You aren’t special, it along with cancer are the #1 cause of non-accidental death if you make it to adulthood. It doesn’t discriminate.
My experience of Om was only through his written word, but a new article or post by him was a thing of joy. Not to agree with, but simply to hear a good, honest voice.
As soon as I read this, I thought, "Wait a sec, hasn't it been a little while?"
My sincere condolences to his family and colleagues.
So sad. I first met Om in 2001 or so. I pissed him off because I wouldn’t meet with him to do an interview for our startup. He always loved getting the early scoop and we weren’t ready for any publicity. In later years, we would laugh about it and I gave him the early scoop on the next one. During those years he became a friend and we would sometimes grab lunch and chat about all manner of things, from tech to family. I dished on some of what I watched go down in the dot-com bubble for his Broadbandits book. Later, I would go on to write contributed articles for GigaOm. Goodbye, buddy. 60 is too young. You were one of the best. Maybe you’re getting the early scoop in a different way.
“For the soul, there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain”.
Great guy. Check your bmi and fix your diet today not tomorrow till it hits normal, you’re running out of time. Cutting out sugar alone will get you half way to the target ideal healthy weight.
I just remember on a podcast, he said he thought eventually amazon would have physical stores. Listening to this I thought that sounded terribly outlandish, and so did the cohosts. Their whole deal was to make online retail so much smoother than brick & mortar. Then a few years later, amazon announced physical stores.
Black bar for Om please. Truly sad for this loss, was so grateful for his impassioned writing and storytelling about our industry. You will be missed deeply Om. May there be all the pens in the world for you in the afterlife.
About 11 years ago, I cold-emailed Om for his guidance. I was an absolute nobody, living thousands of miles away. Not only did Om patiently explain how I should think about my career, he kept in touch over the past decade checking in on how I was doing. I left journalism last year to do something else -- coincidentally, again, following Om's footsteps -- and had been meaning to write a long email, sharing so much. I deeply regret missing the chance to have another conversation with him.
Om has been deeply impactful to my journalism career and beyond. He was way too kind and leaves a big vacuum.
You might find it helpful to write the email, if you can find the time. Even if you never get to send it.
Or maybe even more if you do send it
"Om patiently explain how I should think about my career" - care to share what Om explained to you?
Say more..
Oh wow. What?! Just this morning I had an occasion to go thru his site/blog.
Still can't believe it. 60 is too young.
I met Om finally in 2013-ish at one of his GigaOm events in the SF Bay Area. Before that, I had been a long time reader of his GigaOm blogs and other writings at Fast Company, Red Herring, Light Reading, and elsewhere, including his book Broadbandits. He was one of the few bloggers / reporters who wrote it as he saw it; his takes were often brutally honest and pointed. He called upon the excesses of various telecom execs during the dot-com and telecom bust of 2000-2001/2. His book Broadbandits is basically an invective of the go-go days of telecom companies' incestuous deals (now seen in the AI companies too).
I had a few more occasions to meet him at dinners around the Bay Area. He was always gracious, and listened intently to what people said. As a venture partner, he focused on the people (founder) and their stories much more on the businesses.
I had heard about his troubles with his heart (~age 40-ish), which made him turn his life around to focus on only a few things that brought him joy - writing, photography, travels.
He will be missed. RIP, Om.
--- (Update: the book is Broadbandits (not Telecom Bandits, as I mistakenly wrote)
The guy was legit awesome and so kind. I have similar experience
My GigaOm backpack is still going strong - good merch
what brand?
I’ll share my favorite Om story.
It was 2010 and we were launching Twilio SMS. I went over to his office to pitch him the story, hoping we would cover the launch. He listened for 10 minutes while I walked through it, then said
“Yeah yeah I’ll write about it. But I want to talk about your health. Are you taking care of yourself? You could lose some weight…”
He wanted everybody to learn from his health journey. While mostly I wanted him to cover our news, and it was terribly awkward… walking home, I realized it was nice to be seen as a person not just a founder, a startup or a tech story.
Thanks for sharing this one, Jeff. I was a big fan of Twilio since launch, and I think I remember that article (I was at AWS back then, in a Tech Evangelist role, so most "new" startups on the block passed in front of me one way or another).
I'm sure there are thousands of stories about Om, and only some of them are here in this thread.
I briefly met him in 2012 or 2013, but didn't really interact with him much. But I kind of liked him a lot, and kept following his writings.
RIP.
That's an incredibly nice story.
Are you taking better care of yourself?
lmao welp
This is devastating. Om was the godfather of early tech blogging and lifted up so many people around him. He was kind, caring and compassionate.
When I first started blogging around 25 years ago, he would have been amongst the first 10 readers. He linked to me, emailed me privately with feedback, praised posts and would call bullshit when he saw it.
He was never competitive with other blogs or bloggers and was never tied up in drama. He was very often a mediator in behind the scenes conflicts and was obsessed with truth over getting the scoop.
He loved tech and startups and most of all loved seeing other succeed and didn't have a gram of resentment within himself.
Everybody from that post-dotcom crash era of tech owes Om a large debt of gratitude. He will be missed. RIP Om.
He was a genuinely good person, and a genuinely honest voice, in an industry that had very few back when he was one of its pioneers, and has far, far fewer of those things today. A lot of people will write nice words about Om, and he deserves them, but a lot of those people won't necessarily live the values that they admire about him, because that's a lot harder to do.
He was unfailingly kind, but he did not ever compromise on doing the right thing, or calling out moral failings. It's a wonderful tribute to him to see so many people talk about how Om supported them, or opened doors for them, or lifted up their careers; I think the thing we owe him is not just to carry that work forward, but to do it with the same character, conscience and consistency of principle that he did.
what are your best Om stories?
GigaOM was truly awesome at its best. Om was a special guy, I met him a few times during my years in the Bay Area. He really embodied that selflessly-helping side of the Valley: helping others with no expectations, just because it’s good. He helped one of my startups get some exposure. I keep trying to pay it forward. I will miss him.
"the selflessly-helping side of the Valley"
Never having lived in the valley, I've struggled to understand what it means.
Can anyone share some examples?
There is a really tremendous streak of people helping people with no strings attached that I hadn’t found anywhere else I’ve lived. Especially but not exclusively on the engineering / product side - for a long time you could take a greyhound to Soma and have a couch to crash on and a job interview lined up without knowing anyone. Introductions are made without a second thought (extremely contrary to my east coast experience where to get an intro, it must be “worth” something to the third party), it is (was? I moved away a few years ago) an extremely special and collaborative place.
As a life-long east coaster, I am reluctant/unwilling to make an introduction of someone I don’t know at all. It’s not that I have to get something of worth to make an intro, but I think my intro carries an implied vouch (at least a tiny one) and I can’t do that if I don’t know you.
If I know you and can actually vouch for you, I’ll happily make any intro where I stand to gain nothing.
I somewhat frequently get a cold outreach asking me to recommend someone I’ve never met to something/someone I know and I can’t understand how that ever works.
Yep - a very common view/philosophy outside the Valley. For whatever reason, that's not the culture at all in SV. Actually "vouching" for someone is still gated by people's reputation, but introductions are understood to be less of a personal 'I think this person is worth hiring' and more of a 'You are both working on something interesting in a similar area, I think you should talk' or commonly, 'This person has some very weird but interesting ideas about something I know you're interested in'.
Random example but I was working with an algae biofuel company during the cleantech boom and we were having analysis problems as the equipment we were using kept fouling due to the harsh desert conditions where our ponds were. I was at a birthday party and obliquely mentioned that issue to a friend who had asked how it was all going and before I knew it, he'd called his former coworker who'd founded a company that successfully launched similar equipment to Mars which was obviously not user-serviceable so was built to be extremely robust. There was no 'ask' from anyone involved and nobody got richer from the exchange, but it was just a random occasion to connect people who might find each other interesting that was completely common in my SV experience.
I think the “Valley” is just sufficiently expensive and/or newly settled that the probability a person would be a net negative to introduce was low enough that there did not need to be as much gatekeeping as there is in the east.
If you were knowledgeable enough to move to the Valley, if you had the wealth and connections to move to the Valley, then you already passed some of the checks needed to be someone who would be a sufficiently good bet to introduce.
It might already be the case that the Valley has changed to be more similar to the East.
I think you and I (also east coast) seem to have similar philosophies. I'm more retired than not these days. I'll certainly respond to a query by email or talk at a conference about my various former professions/experiences (which more often than not never get responded to). But I'm not going to refer someone just because we went to the same school but I've never met or because we had coffee for 30 minutes (unless they really impressed me in some way).
I think the strength of the "vouch" is understood to be much weaker in Silicon Valley - it's more like - I've talked to this guy for 30mins to an hour and I can vouch that he (or she) is not a waste of time for you to talk to them for a similar amount of time. It's not a vouch that they're the next Steve Jobs or you have diligenced their background.
SV is more a connection when you introduce someone. “You two might get along” kind of thing. And since everyone was there for tech it was guaranteed.
East coast is more of an introduction, with the implied vouch. Setting up a business relationship.
Does that not extend beyond tech founders? I hear that SF has one of the highest rates of homelessness...
It’s a fair point about the valley’s tremendous wealth and problems, but what would Om say? It’s a little off the topic of remembering his life and work?
Not even the richest person can simply cure thousands of people of addiction and set them on the right path in life. If you want to prove me wrong, surely even with non-millionaire resources, you could afford to just take in one into your home, feed them, and fix their problems. I’ll be genuinely glad to be proven wrong.
You don't need to cure everyone to improve the homelessness situation.
There's plenty of great examples of governments deciding to deal with drug abuse in a more humane way, resulting in much better outcomes, see Portugal or Switzerland etc
> I hear that SF has one of the highest rates of homelessness...
My understanding is that homelessness in California is a business similar to dating apps (tinder etc).
If dating apps would actually find you a partner, they would all go out of business. So dating apps mainly keep you on the hook, fishing for subscriptions.
Who's benefiting from SF homelessness?
most probably all the bullshit government "agencies" run by people mostly interested on getting a salary.
If you erradicate homelessness all these jobs woudlnt exist.
Do you think your tax money really goes to get people out of the streets?
You may be right, but your angle of causation is wrong. California is not creating homelessness to milk money out of rich MSNBC shitlibs. They created homelessness as a side effect of them making housing very expensive... in order to placate those same rich MSNBC shitlibs who you think are being defrauded.
California's ruling class is a landed gentry of boomers that all bought into the housing market before Prop 13 froze their tax rates in place. They will weaponize anything to stop any construction which they think might lower their property values. Hell, Beverly Hills used their school district in order to launch a frivolous lawsuit against the LA Metro D line expansion, because Beverly Hills is full of rich idiots who think public transit ruins property values[0].
So California can't get rid of homelessness - not because it means the homeless shelters[1] will be out of a job, but because homeless people are the natural consequence of making housing unaffordably expensive. The only actual solution to homelessness is the one thing California will never do on pain of death. The homeless shelters are there to create moral cover for NIMBYs making the city too expensive to live in. So the homeless shelters aren't ripping off the shitlibs; the shitlibs are paying them to sweep the problem under the rug, and they are dutifully doing so.
[0] Cars ruin property values, because cars require lots of very expensive infrastructure like highways and stroads, and nobody wants to live or shop next to a giant pollution generator. In contrast, access to public transit increases land value! But the California gentry all drive so they don't care about this.
[1] Please interpret "homeless shelters" to mean "any government agency involved with homelessness management". Technically speaking SF has a lot of unsheltered homeless because, well, living unsheltered is just not as hellishly awful as it is in other cities.
When I was first trying to start companies, I would ask everyone for advice. Some people are more engaging and helpful than others. Some people expect something in return.
In SV, in the 90s/00s, no one wanted anything in return. Everyone was there to help. We all understood that the entrepreneur’s path is a nearly impossible one, and if you have somehow followed it to success, you want to try to guide others to that successful place.
After ~20 years I’ve left SV but I retain the mentality :) AMA
There’s a large group of people who want to help and see you succeed- even if it won’t benefit them directly.
I stepped away nearly a decade ago so I don’t know how true that is for the tech “scene” today, but it was really great and inspiring for a very young transplant like me.
https://steveblank.com/2011/09/15/the-pay-it-forward-culture...
Not technically the valley but I crashed on couches in sleepy hollow and san rafael before I started making money out in the Bay.
"valley" and "selfless" in the same sentence is surprising...
sad but that’s why I left. To use a tired DnD analogy, SV used to be kind of a chaotic/neutral place, I liked that. We all helped each other. Now it’s lawful/good but good implies moral choices, many of which I agree with but for some disagreement means shunning. So I left.
Really? I’d think more like chaotic good -> lawful neutral (at best).
That's so sad to hear. I only met him once about acquiring my High Scalability blog. That didn't happen, but it was obvious he was one of those wise people who was both kind and very smart. Not a combination we see often in this world. A real loss...
"I like to write like a human, steering clear of jargon and B-school speak."
https://om.co/about/
https://om.co/2020/07/30/write-like-a-human/
Wow. I've been following Om since 2011 and this is such a sudden news. I just opened HN and this title shook me. It literally did. Wow. RIP, Om.
One of the regrets I have is not following through when Om messaged to hang out a couple of months ago. A painful reminder to take some time off your busy lives to catch up with old friends. You never know if you’ll get another chance.
This was his last post: https://om.co/2026/06/08/taking-a-few-days-off/ He seemed to know that something wasn’t right. I really loved his writing.
Rest in peace.
I never met Om but I worked for firm in college that was close to him. He seemed like a very kind soul. This is very sad.
Very sad reading his penultimate blog post: https://om.co/2026/06/08/taking-a-few-days-off/
Sounds like he was reading something he enjoyed in the last few weeks, I hope.
Wow, Om was one of my first bosses. It’s hard to separate my memory of him from the era; he defined it. I have such nostalgia for both. He loved tech and startups… not buzzy tabloid stuff, but true journalism. A lot of people may not know GigaOM, but he helped shape a generation of tech.
Thanks for everything, Om. I was a fan before I worked for you, loved my time on Pier 1 in SF, and have always appreciated your steadfast love for technology.
Alas https://om.co/2026/06/08/taking-a-few-days-off/
I still remember him being one of the best writers about tech (a bit more than "journalism" in that a lot of it was of more evergreen value...) from the dotcom boom and then the peak "interesting" web apps period (2004-~2015 or so, when AJAX/etc was still new, and things hadn't calcified so much). Didn't know about his later health issues, I assumed he had just moved on to other interests naturally. RIP.
I’m too young and too far away from the Valley to have ever met Om or been influenced by his early blogging work. However, I have avidly followed his blog ever since I came across it maybe 10 years ago. I love his writing. So crisp and honest, yet it had depth. His blog was one of the few I’d look forward to every day. I was waiting for him to return after he promised he’d do so in his last blog post. I certainly didn’t expect this. Om Shanti, Om. You will be missed.
Personally, it's sad news for me and many other founders Om helped.
Back in 2008, my company, TringMe, was making news with browser-based telephony. We had been covered by TechCrunch, but never by GigaOM. So I decided to email Om directly and ask, half-jokingly, "Are we not worth your time?" I also asked if he had any advice.
He apologized, explained that health issues had limited his writing, assured me it was never personal, and then offered a simple piece of advice: "Bring me fresh and exclusive information."
We took that advice seriously. Our next launches, VoicePHP and the first Mobile VoIP app for BlackBerry, were both covered by GigaOM.
What I remember is not the coverage, but the kindness in his reply. He did not have to respond to a founder he barely knew, let alone with honesty, encouragement, and actionable advice. We stayed in touch after that.
Thank you, Om. Rest in peace.
Why hasn't HackerNews changed the color of the top bar? I thought they did that to honor folks in the tech industry that died.
A tragic loss. Amongst his many other talents, Om was a wonderful photographer; you can see some of his photos at Glass: https://glass.photo/om
Thank you for sharing this. While everyone remembers his writings, encouragement, and contributions to tech/business, the photos put up by him are beautiful as well.
Thanks. Two more:
Daniel Agee from Glass posted a photo and tribute to Om about his help in the early days of getting Glass started: https://glass.photo/cm/LCGjX2IqUWtK288zq5dSt
And Christopher Michael has posted a wonderful photo of Om: https://glass.photo/cm/LCGjX2IqUWtK288zq5dSt
I liked the mid-2000s, gigaom and techcrunch actually had articles worth reading (not all, TC got sorta gossipy rag at one point). Om's were generally well thought out.
Om and I went a long way back. I tried to convince him RSS was the way journalism could escape capture by Big Tech. In retrospect, showing him the ad-blocking features of my feed reader might not have been the most persuasive...
He was a tremendously funny character. What's little known about him was he was a bag fiend just as much as a camera lover. A big chocolate enthusiast as well, until his heart troubles forced him to be more careful.
You will be missed.
A bag fiend?
Someone who enjoys collecting backpacks, briefcases, messenger bags etc. I recall meeting him by chance near South Park and comparing notes on our bags of the day.
This is so sad to see. I consider myself lucky to have worked with Om for a few days as he was advising the company I was working for during a big growth stage. I'll always remember his kindness and wisdom.
I started out as journalist so I always appreciated great writing when I reinvented myself as a tech entrepreneur. There were three writers beginning in the nineties who were my tech troika: Kevin Kelly, George Gilder and Om Malik. Sadly now the only one still writing regularly is Kevin Kelly.
I remember watching GigaOm on Revision3 back in the day, I think I stumbled upon it via Diggnation... nope I think it was CrankyGeeks actually.
It was the first newsletter I actually subscribed to back in the day! Sad to hear about his passing, his appearances on podcasts introduced me to the more business side of tech where I was just a hobbyist teen at the time.
RIP
I really encourage people to go through his writing, there's a lot of wisdom in there.
Im sorry for your loss Matt.
Oh no. Rest in peace Om. We interacted a few times back in the Web 2.0 back when I’d write for ReadWriteWeb.
You were one of the sharpest writers in the scene. You understood product, builders. You had empathy, and so much less ego than everyone.
I always looked up to your insights. I knew that you took the time and care to think. Thanks for sharing all that.
So sad. :(
Om was off my radar for the last 10 years or so, and then I recently encountered an article he wrote (https://om.co/2023/02/05/why-modern-leica-m-is-a-great-lands...) about his adoption of Leica M cameras. He had a wonderful eye: https://www.photosbyom.com/
I knew Om when I was an ankle-biter writing for a Gawker blog. He was gracious and generous. Felt like everybody's favorite uncle. I hope I can be as kind to others as he was to me.
I interacted with Om a few times. Genuinely good soul. I met him a while back - about ~15 years or so. In spite of his busy schedule he took time out to speak with me. Gave me some valuable tips on startup world. I don't say this about a lot of people but the world is less of a place without Om. You were way too young to leave us Om. I will miss you.
Sidenote: In the heydays i.e. about 15-20 years back or so Techcrunch and GigaOm were competitors. Techcrunch was founded by Michael Arrington, known for his brusque and no holds barred blogs and barbs. He would roast his competitors alive, if he could. Well, all except Om. For Om, Micheal had nothing but praise.
Malik means king and this guy was / is one of the kings of tech journalism and writing. RIP
"My favorite thing Om wrote was actually an interview with Brunello Cucinelli in 2015. And to this day, I think it’s the single best thing you can read on running a business. Better than any book, better than any article." -Jason Fried
https://om.co/2015/04/27/brunello-cucinelli-2/
> Malik was also a frequent guest on the former CrankyGeeks podcast with John C. Dvorak.
That takes me back, he was always great on that show.
Too bad they had a falling out when Dvorak questioned the logic of hiring Vivek Kundra (remember him? of course not!) as the nation's first CIO.
> (remember him? of course not!)
I long for those days.
Someone needs to even out Dvorak!
I paused to read whenever a new Om’s essay popped up in the RSS feed; for me, Om was an uniquely observant voice of tech, who never compromised and always looked at the world from a human perspective.
This has been one of my favorite ones, reminding us to simply remain human in the face of incentive systems pushing us away from that goal: https://om.co/2026/04/08/banksy-satoshi-the-unmasking-impuls...
Om was attentive to details and generous to share - when he discovered my weather app (https://x.com/om/status/1579948290745176064), he was so kind as to write a whole article about it, without me asking for it in any way: https://om.co/2022/10/11/weathergraph/
I was so proud to be able to send Om a lifetime license. I wish he had gotten several more decades of use out of it.
Thank you, Om!
Nostalgic post from back in the day when he wrote an RIP post for a friend, Dean Allen.
https://om.co/2018/01/18/dean-allen-rest-in-peace/
I had started blogging (on blogspot!) those days and like many others, I also used to follow Om's articles on RSS.
I still remember very clearly coming across his article where he had linked to my blog. I felt on top of the world! Because why would a renowned SV journalist link to a lowly blog?
I'm quite sure that my reason to continue blogging over all these years can be attributed to that small gesture.
Just the title here has me transported to a time and place long forgotten.
Thank you, Om.
Om Malik was the guy who had the biggest influence on the direction of my life, by far. It was through him I met Naval Ravikant in 2007, and then through Naval I met my co-founder that led to my startup exit in the '10s.
Luck surface area. I really owe so much to Om. I really can't imagine where I would be without that chance.
I never met or knew him but, like many here, I've been following his blog for a decade or so. By impression and reputation he was a kind, thoughtful, and creative soul who did good by the world - and I'm saddened that he has gone. My condolences to his friends and family.
Really sad. I grew up reading his writing. I emailed him some thoughts on one of his blog and he immediately replied in a lovely way very recently. What a shock and a loss.
Om shared with me some very personal thoughts and I think I’m not alone in considering his loss immeasurable.
We almost went with Om for our seed round, and he remains on my list of "one of the good ones". It's rare to meet folks where that becomes so apparent so quick.
I didn't realise he was a Stephenian (University of Delhi).
GigaOM was influential, the techcruch era :).
What a journey!
I used to be tech-journalist in an earlier avatar and Om was someone who I always turned to for inspiration and context. I learnt a lot from the way he wrote, thought and perceived the world of technology. Om shanti, I wish you a great new beginning.
So many years reading his newsletter, and forever grateful for Om. He replied to a cold email a long time ago with very specific, helpful advice on a project I was working on. What a legend!
Very sad. Such a thoughtful writer. He always had an angle that no one else had. Will miss reading his words.
GigaOm was one of the early publications that my younger self enjoy to follow, it was a good formative years. Later I knew when it got acquired that the OM of GigaOm was from its founder.
rest in peace
Om had a very honest voice - I never met him, but have read his takes for a very long time now. Om Shanti.
Om had grace, and will be missed by many.
Sad! He (and Michael Arrington) were the first two tech bloggers I read religiously back in the web 2.0 days. Had Malik’s personal blog in my RSS feeds until now. It has been only a week or so since I read his last post.
Always enjoyed reading him online. Rest in peace.
My condolences to family and friends. Om writting has always been a reference since Web 2.0 era. Also enjoyed his photographabout friends and travel. Sad news RIP
Sad. I remember first meeting Om in NYC, just as he was getting ready to move to the Bay Area and before his blogging career took off. As a side gig, he was one of the originators of the South Asian social scene (desiparty.com). Spoke with him briefly and just remember him being nice and friendly. RIP Om!
His latest thing was https://crazystupidtech.com/ - a joint newsletter with Fred Vogelstein.
Very sad, feels like an end of an era.
Oh, bummer. I only met with him once - a mutual friend put me in touch with him. He was wise, gracious, and generous with his time. Bon Voyage Om.
I had a very similar single experience with Om: I was introduced completely randomly while he was at True Ventures; he couldn't have been nicer, more curious, or more genuine despite me almost certainly reading like a total waste of time.
It's both heartwarming, and bitterly sad, to see so many other posters confirm he was one of the good ones.
I'll repost what I wrote on his wall just now. Probably the most impactful SF/SV passing for me since Jobs.
"I first met Om in the mid-2000s when I started in public relations. He was patient, kind – not what you’d expect from a journalist hounded by every PR agency trying to get column inches. I met him again when we were fundraising for my first startup in 2006 – he listened with intent, he provided genuine feedback, he supported us emotionally. I would see him occasionally at the odd event or two in the years that followed. He always had a smile, always gregarious, always maintained a presence without agenda – or effort, for that matter. He embodied the hidden human amid the sterility and coldness that would slowly engulf Silicon Valley in the years that followed. I’m blessed to have benefited from his kindness across the few brief interactions, and I wish his family and friends the comfort in knowing he left an outsized impact on many of us."
The guy was a mensch. He made this space welcoming because he cared about the individual.
A sad day for us who learn of his passing. I hope it was painless and peaceful, as befits a person who gave so freely of himself. His collected body of work is a trustworthy chronicle of the Internet and the WWW's glow up era. It will inform generations to come. They will know Om too.
And through the same work, he remains alive to us; we who sought his dogged, prodigious, plain speaking influence, insight, and direct access to the beating heart of the place where it was all being invented and grown and scaled and blown up and resurrected.
Om's writing brought the excitement and possibility of the world to me, circa 2004. A 25-something B-school student, in faraway Pune, India, viscerally experiencing and studying the telecom boom at home, while also looking towards The Valley to see what might come to be, next.
I read him on GigaOm, and his various other later avatars / manifestations, but he is always going to be "Om Malik on Broadband" for me. As he will be for many of my cohort.
GigaOm is dead, long live GigaOm.com.
Very sad to hear.
He had a great creative spirit between business ventures, writing and photography.. a man of many talents.
Take care of your heart, people. If you smoke, quit. If you eat a high cholesterol diet, change it. If you don’t exercise, start.
Heart disease sneaks up on you, and it can happen to anyone. There are frequently no warning signs, as without an angiogram, there’s no clear indicator in normal checkups (EKG can look normal the day before MI, coronary arteries are the same density as surrounding tissue on normal no-contrast xray).
Most people’s very first sign that they have heart disease is a totally unexpected first heart attack. 60% of them die of it, within minutes of their first symptom.
If you have familial history, be extra careful. There are new groundbreaking drugs like Repatha that can slow the progress a TON.
You aren’t special, it along with cancer are the #1 cause of non-accidental death if you make it to adulthood. It doesn’t discriminate.
A handful of unsalted nuts consumed daily helps the heart.
Note: peanuts are legumes not nuts.
RIP Om. One of truly honest voices in tech journalism. You will be missed.
What a great loss. Thank you for your writing and photography
Sad and shocking.
Many of us grew up reading GigaOM in the early 2000s when I was new in CS.
Condelence with his family
On its launch, GigaOM had great influence in Brazil's Porto Digital startup scene back in the days.
RIP
Black bar?
My experience of Om was only through his written word, but a new article or post by him was a thing of joy. Not to agree with, but simply to hear a good, honest voice.
As soon as I read this, I thought, "Wait a sec, hasn't it been a little while?" My sincere condolences to his family and colleagues.
fondly remember meeting Om many years ago
I was so anxious I couldn't sleep the night before
then in the morning when I walked up to true ventures I was such a sleep deprived mess I worried I will just waste his time
he was a bit surprised and humored, I think, we grabbed some coffee and had a great conversation
ty for your kindness
RIP Om
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.
So sad. I first met Om in 2001 or so. I pissed him off because I wouldn’t meet with him to do an interview for our startup. He always loved getting the early scoop and we weren’t ready for any publicity. In later years, we would laugh about it and I gave him the early scoop on the next one. During those years he became a friend and we would sometimes grab lunch and chat about all manner of things, from tech to family. I dished on some of what I watched go down in the dot-com bubble for his Broadbandits book. Later, I would go on to write contributed articles for GigaOm. Goodbye, buddy. 60 is too young. You were one of the best. Maybe you’re getting the early scoop in a different way.
The first and seminal Indian tech blogger. I looked up to him. RIP.
I met Om once in SF over a meal. I could tell he was a kind soul. RIP.
May his memory be a blessing
Very sad news. :(
Om was a bright light and so very kind. RIP
I had only briefly heard about him in the past, but it's sad to hear he passed away.
Revisiting some of his old writings, I see he was deeply a humanist, and I love that. I especially liked https://om.co/2026/06/07/the-myth-the-mythos-and-the-man/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_Malik
Enjoyed his writing/commentary on all things tech over the years...
May he rest in peace.
“For the soul, there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain”.
Om will be missed.
Techcrunch - GigaOm and Gawker. Good times - good guy - RIP and my condolences to his friends and family.
he had such a great influence on the blog community for so many years, he will be missed. RIP Om.
Oh my God. Oh no. Rest in peace :(
Very classy guy, sad day.
Mods, we should have a black bar for this.
He was a deeply influential person, who also was amazingly talented and a wonderful human being. The trifecta!
I sadly never met him, but even typing the word “was” above made me have the deepest sigh.
Great guy. Check your bmi and fix your diet today not tomorrow till it hits normal, you’re running out of time. Cutting out sugar alone will get you half way to the target ideal healthy weight.
Om, rest easy brother!
I just remember on a podcast, he said he thought eventually amazon would have physical stores. Listening to this I thought that sounded terribly outlandish, and so did the cohosts. Their whole deal was to make online retail so much smoother than brick & mortar. Then a few years later, amazon announced physical stores.
Rest in peace Om.
RIP Om
Why isn’t there a black bar at the top of HN yet?
Black bar for Om please. Truly sad for this loss, was so grateful for his impassioned writing and storytelling about our industry. You will be missed deeply Om. May there be all the pens in the world for you in the afterlife.
Oh fuck. I used to swap notes with him every now and then, drifted away over the past couple of years. Had no idea.
No black bar? I guess Om was before the mods' time.
I think we've reached the point where so many people who were influential in early computing are dying that HN would just have a permanent black bar
:(
One of my first ever freelance clients, his site gigaom. This was back in 2009-10. RIP
I remember him talking about that on This Week In Tech (Twit). RIP Om